tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51725773107738970572024-02-20T14:54:08.532-06:00Recipes and ruminationsCan a fat guy write intelligently about food? I hope to provide evidence that there is more quality than quantity to my gustatory adventures.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-40668216520005105772011-06-24T23:21:00.000-05:002011-06-24T23:21:20.066-05:00Happy Pride weekend, everyone!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTgytwc4OBxqdoM_pdq5Tf0lmLJiN80ALfQUSATyaRLfXL1etV1SWLlQo_Qm3YJIm5NOSlL64DG771SD9O9GKBALvUiLS7yZgk3zR1kCozHTojUSsr2G3r21Ztuc3rfwBtCvrI5ySmElK/s1600/pridebridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTgytwc4OBxqdoM_pdq5Tf0lmLJiN80ALfQUSATyaRLfXL1etV1SWLlQo_Qm3YJIm5NOSlL64DG771SD9O9GKBALvUiLS7yZgk3zR1kCozHTojUSsr2G3r21Ztuc3rfwBtCvrI5ySmElK/s640/pridebridge.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
The weather is with you! Have a fabulous weekend!brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-20365630427608563802011-06-11T01:43:00.000-05:002011-06-11T01:43:08.584-05:00Grilling tonightI like my grill and I'm a picky snob about it. I have a simple Weber grill that uses real charcoal. Gas grills are just not real grilling as far as I'm concerned; if you need to add all manner of accoutrements to get "real charcoal flavor," <i>yur doin it rong</i>. Oddly enough, you get real charcoal flavor from real charcoal. Wet wood, smoke chips, special rocks, blah, blah, blah. You're not doing anything I can't do with a broiler in my oven.<br />
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But, just not any charcoal will do. Use real wood charcoal like Royal Oak, Cowboy, or any other stuff that actually is recognizable as wood when you open the bag. If there's a logo on your briquettes, again, <i>yur doin it rong</i>. Kingsford pastes spent wood palettes together and you can taste the nasty chemicals of both the wood and the process to make the briquettes themselves. DON'T USE THEM. Ick. Really.<br />
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To start the coals, I use a chimney starter (actually it's a #10 can from a restaurant with the top and bottoms cut off) stuffed with 2 sheets of newspaper and filled with good charcoal. It can be a sort of pain to light, but you can avoid the second great sin of most barbequers -- lighter fluid. Would you take a drink of it? A long, deep breath of it? No? Then why are you allowing it to "flavor" your food? I look forward to the day when this stuff is outlawed and even the simplest burgers and dogs are freed from the stench of petrochemicals. Of course, I imagine those that can't wait the 15 minutes for the chimney to do its work will just use gas, but they'll end up killing themselves off soon enough...<br />
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Real wood charcoal burns faster and you may need to use more of them for a long spell for larger items and they also tend to cost more than briquettes, so look for deals in places like Menard's or Home Depot and purchase a couple bags when they're on sale. Real wood charcoal has the advantage of burning hotter than regular briquettes, so you don't necessarily need more at the beginning, but you'll have to add them with a bigger cut. This is truly an advantage when using indirect heat because the smoke flavors will fill your grill and your meat will benefit from the extended exposure. You'll get that great pink layer of smokey taste without having to resort to the messy nonsense of soaking wood chips or other silly tricks.<br />
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There are two basic ways of controlling the heat of your grill; amount of coal burning at one time and the amount of air that you allow in the grill. Carburation is a more of an art than a science as each grill, the contents and the desired effects vary with each grilling session. The basic rule of air flow is the more the air vents are opened, the hotter and less smokey the fire will burn. If you start to close the vents, the more smoke you'll get and the cooler the fire will burn. The position of the vents also matter as the smoke will drift in the direction of the upper vent.<br />
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But don't think that you have to only cook animals on the grill, smokey asparagus, peppers and onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other roots take on the smoke also. You can cook whole roots (potatoes, parsnips, turnips, beets and carrots) for about 40 minutes, onion halves (this keeps them from falling through the grill) and peppers for 20 minutes and romaine lettuce drizzled with olive oil for about 7 minutes and served with bleu cheese and olives as a salad.<br />
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A couple of examples of heat control:<br />
<ul><li>Cooking tuna steaks - I like mine hot outside and raw inside, so a big pile of coals with the lid off is the way I typically do them. 5 minutes or less a side.</li>
<li>A large (+4 pounds) cut of meat - I recently did a bone-in leg of lamb on the grill with two small piles of coals pushed to the sides so the meat is not directly heated. I placed the grill's top vent in line with the leg and left it open about 50% and added a couple of coals every 30 minutes until the leg's temperature was about 130F (nearly 3 hours for this one) and then took it off and let it set to come to 140-145F the perfect rare/medium rare for lamb.</li>
<li>Potatoes (sweet and regular), beets, carrots and parsnips benefit from indirect heat also, but you can build a regular pile in the center and then put the spuds towards the edge of the grill and put the vent over them half open to draw the smoke and heat without burning the skins. Make sure to roll them every 15-20 minutes to prevent burning.</li>
<li>Burgers can go either way depending on if you want a nice rare char (use direct heat with no lid) of if you want a nice smokey flavor (really nice for cheeseburgers - cook 'em like the beets, and spuds mentioned above).</li>
</ul>I've also heard of cracking an egg into a half of a red sweet pepper and grilling it until the egg is done, but I've yet to try that. That would allow me to grill something I never thought I could grill...brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-4700617517079337502011-05-22T02:40:00.000-05:002011-05-22T02:40:09.391-05:00Foraging for garlic mustard and a recipe<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNzXLHu92Wo7piqO4IJr0UKjK7cAGVCzhd7OM1PH0VJRNYYTdJKns2xWNtehuOao_-UPy8otY5yPs6SPoYJN8WAPXCUFaKEaM9faFwy9aeA92bKPBQpspM7XMKSqGD4wnn7IJn-pb01uA/s1600/Lambs-quarters.Mature.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNzXLHu92Wo7piqO4IJr0UKjK7cAGVCzhd7OM1PH0VJRNYYTdJKns2xWNtehuOao_-UPy8otY5yPs6SPoYJN8WAPXCUFaKEaM9faFwy9aeA92bKPBQpspM7XMKSqGD4wnn7IJn-pb01uA/s320/Lambs-quarters.Mature.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lamb's Quarters</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I've been away, I apologize.<br />
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I've been baking (more later), and Monster Gramma has been canning. We're cooking our own dinners mostly and things are pretty mellow here at Casa de Batata. Spring has finally shown up and our gardens are in. This has proven more difficult than last year as the Winter That Wouldn't End kept me from preparing the ground and getting plants in said ground. <br />
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Another part of the failure to get growing was a failure of our attempt to start plants from seeds. I'm not sure what we did wrong, but evidence points to the wrong starter medium. The plants got a great start, but became really leggy. More investigation is needed.<br />
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In the mean time, the opportunity presented itself for a bit of self-guided foraging. Upon reading <i>The Omnivore's Dilemma </i>by Michael Pollan, wild foods came to my attention. He specifically mentions <a href="http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Lamb%27sQuarters.html">Lamb's Quarters</a> and <a href="http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Purslane.html">Purslane</a> as nutrient-rich and easily obtainable. When I decided to work some of my considerable Google-Fu on the plants mentioned, I was astonished that not only did I recognize them as a gardener, but I had been throwing them out without even so much as a second thought!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-d7T3whv5YE8LqHkl8Xn3Y6Q1e8aKH_RVsZIrA6BSz1g6-dW8KZ6mFGgNLG5FYrI8qKfAzSQ3KyJSiN_Jni9fHMaEdMd7m26ZKlRr-CgasYlfYiFgJFzOgVDOgll2jr3GvrgE4tjr82XI/s1600/Purslane.Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-d7T3whv5YE8LqHkl8Xn3Y6Q1e8aKH_RVsZIrA6BSz1g6-dW8KZ6mFGgNLG5FYrI8qKfAzSQ3KyJSiN_Jni9fHMaEdMd7m26ZKlRr-CgasYlfYiFgJFzOgVDOgll2jr3GvrgE4tjr82XI/s320/Purslane.Photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Purslane</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Both plants are easily recognizable and you'd probably remember them from your last weeding session. Both show up later in the season, but show up they will. In my garden I have a sort of "dead spot" where all manner of greenery shows up and I'll make damn sure that I don't discard these extremely nutritious plants in the future.<br />
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Since I've been awakened to the usefulness of "weeds," we've purchased a couple of plant identification books and one on foraging for wild greens called <i>Edible Wild Greens</i> by John Kallas. This brought a new collection of plants to my attention, especially dandelions, garlic mustard and field mustard.<br />
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I have a dog and we will go to a "dog park" by the Minneapolis airport a couple of times a week. Sheila is 13 and not really interested in running much now a days, so I get a chance to examine the flora as she wanders from squat to squat. In my travels around the park, I've noticed all manner of edible plants: dandelions, wild onions, garlic mustard, shepherd's purse, and raspberries to list the ones my novice eye can recognize.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWCgrxzV6uqZVI-Fuah6OebDDOz420kZBzOuTJl7ceEgyndhNsEUIMDZy_djX2_eOq_yvEaUXYbY8wnFtaWxiuQ6HO8S0xw9TkGjQKXbo0eET9l-Y-TlZxxvMmThpBYOn1jAgLuLSm4ce/s1600/Garlic+mustard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWCgrxzV6uqZVI-Fuah6OebDDOz420kZBzOuTJl7ceEgyndhNsEUIMDZy_djX2_eOq_yvEaUXYbY8wnFtaWxiuQ6HO8S0xw9TkGjQKXbo0eET9l-Y-TlZxxvMmThpBYOn1jAgLuLSm4ce/s320/Garlic+mustard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garlic mustard</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Today, I wandered into my favorite patch of <a href="http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/alpe1.htm">garlic mustard</a>. I found it over a month ago and I've been harvesting young greens from it since (it makes a wonderful green to go with scrambled eggs). Now that the temperatures have finally reached into the 70's, it has begun to bolt (grow a flower stem) and flower and it has quadruped in size since I've first spotted and harvested it. <br />
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Garlic mustard is interesting in that it is first and foremost considered a noxious weed; it emits a toxin from its roots to stop other plants from growing near it. Its copious seed production can create patches that overtake native species and drive out local flora and the fauna that feeds on it, so eating it will help stop its spread, give you a tasty and easily obtained vegetable, and provide you with a tremendous burst of fibre, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. You can find it quite easily and if you crush one of its heart-shaped leaves (as it probably is now at this time of the year), you'll smell the garlicy odor that give this plant its name. <br />
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It has a slightly bitter, peppery, and garlicy taste that I find pleasant, but others may find a bit strong. Boiling or sauteeing this plant will reduce any of the strong flavors. I like adding the leaves to regular salad greens to add a little punch. You can also try making what I had for dinner tonight: garlic mustard pesto. This is different from your typical pesto in that it doesn't have any real garlic and that it has an almost "fresh-cut grass" nose and taste. This is particularly tasty with a hearty whole-wheat pasta. It also freezes well, so if you find a healthy patch, dig 'em up and make a big batch.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Garlic mustard pesto</span><br />
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<b>2-3 cups garlic mustard leaves and tender stems</b> (like asparagus, you can eat the flowers, buds, leaves, and stems where the stem snaps when bent)<br />
<b>2/3 cup grated Parmesan, Romano or other hard cheese</b><br />
<b>2/3 cup (or more) Extra Virgin Olive oil</b><br />
<b>1 cup nuts</b> (I used pecans as that's all I had, but I think that pine nuts or walnuts would work as well)<br />
<b>1/2 tablespoon salt</b> <br />
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Put the garlic mustard tops and leaves in a blender or food processor along with the cheese and pulse until the garlic mustard has been chopped fine. Add the nuts and process until the nuts have been chopped fine and then begin processing the mix by continuously running the machine and gently adding oil until the desired consistency. If you wish to back off on the oil, plan on adding more garlic mustard leaves and/or stems and flowers to add liquid.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-70657949198522272132010-11-27T17:47:00.000-06:002010-11-27T17:50:32.644-06:00This ismy Must Have at Thanksgiving dinnerCranberry sauce with Pinot Noir<br />(Bon Appetit Nov 1997- Caprial's Bistro)<br /><br />1 Tbsp veg oil<br />2 cups cranberries (about 8 oz)<br />1 Tbsp minced ginger<br />2 cups pinot noir or other dry red wine<br />(we use pinot noir or zinfindel)<br />1 1/2 cups sugar<br />3 Tbsp chopped crystallized ginger<br />1 tsp curry powder<br />Large pinch of Chinese five-spice powder<br /><br />Heat oil in saucepan over med-high heat. Add cranberries and fresh ginger, stir until cranberries begin to burst, about 3 min. Add wine and sugar, boil until mixture is reduced to 2 1/2 cups, about 15 min. (Note, we have found you definitely need to cook it way down. The flavor gets wonderfully intense if you do. One way to tell if you have cooked it long enough, the mixture takes on the color of the wine and thickens slightly) Add the crystallized ginger, curry and 5-spice powder. This recipe is very forgiving. Any ingredient, more or less doesn't hurt.<br /><br />Give this a try. You won't believe how incredible this is. I also use this as a jam; it's also good with peanut butter.Monster Grammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371015238199750620noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-74550032170904766282010-11-21T01:56:00.000-06:002010-11-21T01:56:46.411-06:00Bread failureI've attempted to make a Wild Rice and Onion loaf recipe from <a href="http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/wildriceandonionbread">here</a>. There isn't anything wrong about the recipe, but the environment is all wrong here at Casa de Batata. We have an old house here in South Minneapolis and it is a bit, um, drafty, to say the least. Since the place is insulated with newspapers from when the house was constructed, it does leave a bit to be desired in the protection-from-the-winter department.<br />
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Raising a dough in cool conditions isn't a problem here in November, but the second fermentation requires more time (which I didn't have) or a higher temperature (which I didn't think of). Having a cold house is part of the cheap way we live but why I didn't have time is part of the reason we live extravagantly.<br />
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We are rarely home, so keeping a warm house makes little sense. The animals have fur and live quite well without temps in the 60's. The humans are rarely home and the need for warmer temperatures are seldom so we don't need the thermostat set high. And, referencing back to the inadequate insulation, it doesn't make sense either.<br />
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Regardless, this is a long way around to the point that we have a cold house and with a bit of thought I figured that my rolls and my loaf didn't rise because of the temperature of the kitchen. Of course, there is no way to fix the recipe or the loaves, but I do see a future where their participation for my Thanksgiving meal has been, uh, cemented, as perhaps as the ingredients of the dressing for the turkey. I just need to let it go stale.<br />
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Lesson learned; make sure that you have the oven ready and that the kitchen is in DefCon1 when the time to proof stuff is ready. Luckily, at Thanksgiving this is difficult. By the bye, should any of you find yourself without a place to be, or a place where you wish not to be, let us know as our Orphan Thanksgiving always has a seat for you, just let us know and we'll make a place for you. I promise to raise the buns correctly this time.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-68018827189988058552010-11-14T02:41:00.000-06:002010-11-14T02:51:20.875-06:00Baking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OKHF7mhrEZnODVMYxxojueaXru_uEJMlTHbBX8HJtLIQ0exhSZpf9UT3Clt3FNxpkmd3PuZByFl_7k3V-5qL7vtnJevOQFVMcKCKenVFrJyeVd0bV6ficUia_Df-fjkIWIR4jNZ9sT0s/s1600/bread.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OKHF7mhrEZnODVMYxxojueaXru_uEJMlTHbBX8HJtLIQ0exhSZpf9UT3Clt3FNxpkmd3PuZByFl_7k3V-5qL7vtnJevOQFVMcKCKenVFrJyeVd0bV6ficUia_Df-fjkIWIR4jNZ9sT0s/s320/bread.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I'm baking.<br />
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Yup, you heard me right, I'm baking. I feel as if I'd just taken off the training wheels, or, better yet, found myself wobbling upright on my own two legs. I wish I could explain the feeling of accomplishment I feel right now. 30+ years of "there's no way I can learn to do this" is washed away in one weekend of "shut up and try."<br />
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I stumbled across a web site called <a href="http://www.thefreshloaf.com/">The Fresh Loaf</a> and followed the <a href="http://www.thefreshloaf.com/lessons/yourfirstloaf">first lesson</a>. I don't know why this was such a challenge for me, but I decided to make a loaf of bread. Perhaps the simplicity of the instructions, the fact that I wanted more than anything to bake, the fact that I needed to feel a victory, I can't say, but I mixed flour, salt, and yeast with water, and worked the dough by hand.<br />
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Confession time: I hate the feeling of dough clinging to my hands, clumps between my fingers, that sensation of stickiness drives me nuts. This may have something to do with my fear of baking.<br />
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I managed to get past the feeling of the wet dough (with the help of lots of flour) and created a smooth, satiny final product -- that didn't stick to my hands, much to my relief. It raised, I punched it down and shaped it, it raised again and I put it in an oven. It baked and I had bread.<br />
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That's it. "Golly, that's all there is to this?" I felt sort of stupid. Huh, that wasn't hard at all. So, I pulled out my bread baking books (I have a couple) and took a look at the first recipes.<br />
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I made the first recipe from <a href="http://www.sullivanstreetbakery.com/recipes"> Jim Lahey's</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/My-Bread-Revolutionary-No-Work-No-Knead/dp/0393066304"><i>My Bread</i></a>, an artisan loaf that is simply made by mixing flour, yeast, salt, and water and letting it set for 18 hours. You then roughly shape the loaf and let it ferment a second time and drop it in a hot Dutch Oven or casserole dish and cook it at high heat for 30 minutes and then with the lid off until the loaf browns.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mxR1T23LBqCuiXxHB415KOfFf1fHBgeDLXLDFn5sn6Z19dvlg_2lQ01yhWvOO_f_r2szqpcex82UdnlpMyfvu1JKNEhA7wniNH_MfFbAHaL0gBo-zZNirljiWWMR6p5AstRdHh2sG7Ub/s1600/lahey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_mxR1T23LBqCuiXxHB415KOfFf1fHBgeDLXLDFn5sn6Z19dvlg_2lQ01yhWvOO_f_r2szqpcex82UdnlpMyfvu1JKNEhA7wniNH_MfFbAHaL0gBo-zZNirljiWWMR6p5AstRdHh2sG7Ub/s320/lahey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
This loaf is amazing. The smell, the crumb, the taste, the texture and the crust are just something to behold. I was convinced to purchase this cookbook by a focaccia <a href="http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/recipes/105379668.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU">recipe</a> in the local paper. I managed to make one (actually two; with first, the non-stick pan's "non-stick" coating flaked into the bread, ruining it) and I was impressed with the ease of it. He gave me the confidence to try a "real" bread and you can see the result.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBmbheYAS4xZxvorI74SNBSfiTIiozG36PQUDJPWLMf5WNy4Snqt_34mKdicZ_lMBkPKNpLPAzGx1XIFP0K1WM9bPLbaQ7KUqXZupkm6H6hXrjAlIBADCRI2udUhxwvcP5ZZemkA8LOy7/s1600/tassajara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBBmbheYAS4xZxvorI74SNBSfiTIiozG36PQUDJPWLMf5WNy4Snqt_34mKdicZ_lMBkPKNpLPAzGx1XIFP0K1WM9bPLbaQ7KUqXZupkm6H6hXrjAlIBADCRI2udUhxwvcP5ZZemkA8LOy7/s320/tassajara.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I then followed the <a href="http://www.culinate.com/books/collections/all_books/The+Tassajara+Bread+Book/Tassajara+Yeasted+Bread">basic recipe</a> from Ed Brown's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tassajara-Bread-Book-Edward-Brown/dp/157062089X"><i>The Tassajara Bread Book</i></a> and this is the opposite of the "fire and forget" Jim Lahey recipe. You make a wet "sponge," let it sit, and then add oil, salt and more flour and then knead the dough, let it rise, then punch it down and let it rise again. You then split the dough into loaves, shape them and then let them rise once again in the bread pans. You finally bake it. This is the labor-intensive loaf that most people (especially me) fear. The true amount of time needed is considerably less than you would think, so the work is worth it and kneading the dough is fun.<br />
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I've much more to learn and a long way to go, but I'm having a blast and I've essentially conquered a fear or overcome a prejudice or basically improved myself in a non-destructive manner. Go, me! I had no idea that flour and/or yeast was an addictive substance...brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-37979365187527559892010-09-07T19:47:00.001-05:002010-09-07T19:47:45.291-05:00I never learnMy hands are burning and I can’t wear my contacts. Brother Yam and I pickled jalapeno peppers yesterday. The peppers didn’t seem hot at the time….Monster Grammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371015238199750620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-5286709079423924012010-08-25T20:30:00.000-05:002010-08-25T20:31:45.875-05:00DinnerI haven't been taking pictures of what I'm cooking in a long while because most of my cooking seems to take place after sunset. And so my pictures come out looking a little crappy, since I have a little point and shoot and photos look terrible when taken in unnatural lighting. I like to see the texture and the food come to life on screen. While I never reached the goal I had set for myself (silently), I was never as displeased with my photo taking skills as I have been lately.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I felt that I had to document my endeavors tonight because of the very special gift I received recently. <a href="http://fatboybiking.blogspot.com/">Mr. and Mrs. Yam</a> who live all the way out in Minneapolis, MN sent me and Mr. Beany a little present in the mail. I generally hate all presents unless they're edible, and this present was most certainly edible. It was:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJnKXJKcA9LM97n_ZKMy5RNvNFRCgHjLHF8NVQ8AnZLPQtvRL8kZzE0ZxdwcfKWVqbNbvJSPs33OZvJ4KDsH6qoY-hy0yIUDezRB0hahIkelaM9ixYse_oyyZ5rApSmTyZF8kZlFd35M/s1600/CIMG0349.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJnKXJKcA9LM97n_ZKMy5RNvNFRCgHjLHF8NVQ8AnZLPQtvRL8kZzE0ZxdwcfKWVqbNbvJSPs33OZvJ4KDsH6qoY-hy0yIUDezRB0hahIkelaM9ixYse_oyyZ5rApSmTyZF8kZlFd35M/s400/CIMG0349.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509194936123416002" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Genuine Minnesota Wild Rice!</span><br /></div><br />Mr. Yam wanted to know what I'd do with it. And for the longest time I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. This present was so special, I didn't want to ruin it by...say...cooking it!<br /><br />But I did. Tonight. I was feeling very Mexican-y. So, first we needed some starter courses. I made tacos. With corn tortillas (store bought) filled with crimson clover sprouts, cooked black beans (seasoned with TVP and "chicken" broth), home made salsa (made with heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, onions, salt), and a mixture of shredded hard goat cheese + blue cheese. Divine, is the only way I can describe the taco.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxvKi0lKAAPo6mOkg68X6z82wlFdOEE5LRHkJCAW3LtUErjbLUZeNE5hLDLXBr8Iu3xeyxwhPkkiVf5XBDbXOVHbnr1h4y2uc3_4zNT21v2-gXhRtt1bMmDxhzzbNGaJwUq8qALdul4A/s1600/CIMG0356.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicxvKi0lKAAPo6mOkg68X6z82wlFdOEE5LRHkJCAW3LtUErjbLUZeNE5hLDLXBr8Iu3xeyxwhPkkiVf5XBDbXOVHbnr1h4y2uc3_4zNT21v2-gXhRtt1bMmDxhzzbNGaJwUq8qALdul4A/s400/CIMG0356.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509198069104750098" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">A very crowded taco.</span><br /><br /></div>Then I spent about an hour looking up wild rice recipes...and nothing really appealed to me. So I decided to make up a stir fry dish.<br /><br />First I cooked the wild rice.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJShctyrS3Gx3osIciER9QAGL3BrqVSP76RFASOUk2JH3KOGKcxUHnS71U2isjXllIQjuaz1_o31VCdvlh026H7kYNREl0e7OF1YLHx1Q9X3Gq2kmI_v8WSMVprRLfSpqBvglGOqU-zIM/s1600/CIMG0376.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJShctyrS3Gx3osIciER9QAGL3BrqVSP76RFASOUk2JH3KOGKcxUHnS71U2isjXllIQjuaz1_o31VCdvlh026H7kYNREl0e7OF1YLHx1Q9X3Gq2kmI_v8WSMVprRLfSpqBvglGOqU-zIM/s400/CIMG0376.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509199110108178258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Cooked Minnesota Wild Rice</span><br /></div><br />Then I made the stir fry: onions, lotso garlic, vegan chorizo (from a local latino grocery store), two red Antohi peppers, half a head of purple cabbage all stirred around in some olive oil. Toward the end, I added fresh lemon juice and a palm full of cilantro.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3o0tJTKcnLyopATgTQnLeKgPbeaMcz5Oxd614u4s_v7f8RWRG-pFoVBjoffyYQLSiKSaizhkhcuB6tWf_UisSM471oLwjAvxwmU_VaU2JAhVg6YBuPf60ilHT6J5r8b0eS0yRHCBPf8/s1600/CIMG0374.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3o0tJTKcnLyopATgTQnLeKgPbeaMcz5Oxd614u4s_v7f8RWRG-pFoVBjoffyYQLSiKSaizhkhcuB6tWf_UisSM471oLwjAvxwmU_VaU2JAhVg6YBuPf60ilHT6J5r8b0eS0yRHCBPf8/s400/CIMG0374.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509200928167036130" border="0" /></a>The picture doesn't look like much, but the veggies on top of the wild rice was absolutely delectable.<br /><br />All veggies are from my <a href="http://www.suziesfarm.com/index.php">Suzie's Farm CSA share</a>: the best CSA in the universe.<br /><br />Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Yam for such a wonderful present. I will have a California surprise for you soon.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">reposted to <a href="http://themway.blogspot.com/">The Middle Way</a>.</span>Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03068855919147458057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-7064781026218331372010-08-16T21:25:00.000-05:002010-08-20T17:33:13.951-05:00tomato confit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VPo0LjXW0xcqrELUSciPqnihGMmws28AiURl2tHioQ8NEr-snNxGeUNeOZzt7qbbPXKsTyNT_-SVXFBUcEnITrUonbgCgRH0cpY3KUV6C56yBczfZ-Yx68fgAwsRzuit-M_X5cc8mU-d/s1600/confit1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8VPo0LjXW0xcqrELUSciPqnihGMmws28AiURl2tHioQ8NEr-snNxGeUNeOZzt7qbbPXKsTyNT_-SVXFBUcEnITrUonbgCgRH0cpY3KUV6C56yBczfZ-Yx68fgAwsRzuit-M_X5cc8mU-d/s320/confit1.png" /></a></div>Tomato confit<br />
<br />
Why is that when the temperature and humidity rises, I get the urge to cook and bake. I hate the heat; somehow standing over a hot stove or canning pots of boiling water makes it better. <br />
<br />
So, last week’s heat brings me to tomato confit - tomatoes cooked in fat. Simple enough, but the results are amazing. I googled a bunch of tomato confit recipes. Some of them were kind of putsy, blanching the tomatoes first, deseeding the tomatoes. Me, I don’t care so much about it. I want to keep this as simple as possible. Why do tomatoes need to be deseeded? I have not gotten a good answer from everyone I’ve asked. It is a texture thing? Or a visual thing? Do the seeds react with the heat and become toxic?<br />
<br />
I got some ripe tomatoes, a good handful of thyme, rosemary and basil from the garden. Turned the oven to 200°. In a sided jelly roll pan, I poured a some olive oil, sprinkled some kosher salt and pepper. Washed and chopped the herbs, sprinkled them into the oil. sliced a couple of garlic cloves, added them to the herb and oil mess in the jelly roll pan. Added a pinch of sugar. Cut the tomatoes into 1 inch chunks. The tomatoes went into the pan, cut side down. Put it all in the preheated oven turned on the oven fan. After an hour, I stirred the tomatoes. Every half hour after that, I opened the oven to let moisture escape. The tomatoes collapse and start to dehydrate. Juice from the tomatoes mingle with the herbs and olive oil. The color of the tomatoes deepen. About two and a half hours later, I pull them out of the oven. And when they are cooled, I jar them up and stick it in the fridge. The confit can last about 2 weeks in the fridge. I’m trying to freeze some, but am a little concerned that the tomatoes will totally disintegrate, which would be ok for sauces.<br />
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My house smells so good.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WYYGzGDVvTwuuqRg49H4RfOJVj5eB52xnWh6xALfmfDPbE3D9UEH-jMFfC6_VH84qEwt9zAxOuI-eg-sCjs2RWcXp1db84zqwgXiLZIuFo99Ujcti-_HmyVPEe7cVukrNrAr1n0qCBNq/s1600/confit2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WYYGzGDVvTwuuqRg49H4RfOJVj5eB52xnWh6xALfmfDPbE3D9UEH-jMFfC6_VH84qEwt9zAxOuI-eg-sCjs2RWcXp1db84zqwgXiLZIuFo99Ujcti-_HmyVPEe7cVukrNrAr1n0qCBNq/s320/confit2.png" /></a></div>Monster Grammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371015238199750620noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-7389767340657310882010-08-01T19:38:00.000-05:002010-08-20T17:28:36.439-05:00It's hot. It's humid. It's time to boil vinegar.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4NPJi-YG2dhBV_OXFlUMij2gYGlwbHnuZt26W1cj2Qee3tR_tVT9Xs93X5ez3wTdKTMR50hMS_59miHBj7nl9NKKWgvGT8BYPUz1eH0P9xImy8_rF3fCgWYqC4Y_QVgbv501j8wk-8id/s1600/okra_carrot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI4NPJi-YG2dhBV_OXFlUMij2gYGlwbHnuZt26W1cj2Qee3tR_tVT9Xs93X5ez3wTdKTMR50hMS_59miHBj7nl9NKKWgvGT8BYPUz1eH0P9xImy8_rF3fCgWYqC4Y_QVgbv501j8wk-8id/s400/okra_carrot.png" width="267" /></a></div><br />
Ok this site has been quiet long enough.<br />
<br />
Some know me as Susu. Some know me as Mrs. Yam. One five-year-old I met camping last year knows me as Monster Gramma.<br />
<br />
It’s now August and it’s hot and humid. Summer is not my season. I hate being hot. I hate sweating. So, what am I doing today? Pickling, which entails standing over pots of boiling vinegar, water and spices. This is an activity that forces one to be hot and sweaty. It’s 85 degrees and I’m guessing a dew point of 70. Minnesota is just not pleasant this time of year.<br />
<br />
The Good Brother Yam is really good about indulging my whims. This morning’s whim was getting up early to go to the farmer‘s market, just to see what vegetables looked good for pickling and then have three or four pots of boiling water going on the stove for a while. We don‘t have air conditioning. The house is going to be hot enough without adding more heat and humidity. Oh well. That‘s life and hopefully, the pickles will make it worth it. Foregoing breakfast and, more importantly, coffee, we head to the <a href="http://www.mplsfarmersmarket.com/">Minneapolis Farmer’s Market</a> - the one on North Lyndale at 8 am. That seems to be the sweet spot for Sunday mornings. After the hardcore marketers and before the church people show up. <br />
<br />
Maybe it’s not too late for teeny tiny cucumbers. Baby carrots would be good. I’m thinking of the mixed vegetable pickles that are made by just sitting on the counter. However, I do have a quest. I have okra pickles on the brain. I’ve never had a pickled okra before, but I have to make them. I’m not sure why. I was *really* hoping for little tiny okras. That market is pretty big, so I figured I’d find something to pickle. We did find beautiful little okras and long thin purple carrots from some of the Hmong farmers. We also picked up with some heirloom tomatoes (Green Moldovan and Vorlon), sweet corn, and a melon from the <a href="http://www.gyslandbros.com/">Gysland Brothers</a> - Todd and Reid are crazy heirloom tomato growers. I’m guessing 70 or more different varieties. They also do red peppers. Those peppers are another post…<br />
<br />
We forgot to get eggs, so we stopped at the <a href="http://kingfield.org/farmers-market/">Kingsfield Market</a> to pick up some eggs and the <a href="http://www.chefshack.org/">Chef Shack </a>was there. Brother Yam had a brisket taco and I had a black bean and sweet potato taco for breakfast. That alone was worth the stop. <br />
<br />
We dropped off our goods at home and then wandered through the <a href="http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/">U of M Arboretum</a>. Brother Yam took pictures of their vegetable gardens (we are already planning next year’s garden). By this time, we are both dripping with sweat and we are getting crabby because of the heat. So, we spent some time checking out the library and bookstore, for the air-conditioning as much as for the books. I need to find the book Self-Sufficient Gardener (or something like it, I’ve already forgotten the name) by John Seymour. Brother Yam found a book to help identify weeds. It’s too bad that isn’t a lending library. When we got home, I checked my canning books for recipes. Since I‘m pretty new to canning, I rely pretty heavily on recipes. My main go-tos are Bell Complete Book of Home Preserving edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine and The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving by Ellie Toff and Margaret Howard. That book is worth getting just for the strawberry jam recipe. I also refer to Stocking Up edited by the editors of Organic Gardening and Farming. I also check out <a href="http://www.foodinjars.com/">Food In Jars</a> website and more recently <a href="http://www.punkdomestics.com/">Punk Domestics</a> website for ideas and inspiration.<br />
<br />
While I was perusing my books for recipes, Brother Yam made us some cocktails. We had some left over cherries from making a cherry liqueur with sour cherries we picked in Door County last year. They were pretty boozy. He put them in a blender with some ice and lime juice and came up with a pretty refreshing beverage. It gave me the strength to face pots of boiling liquid on this horribly hot and humid day.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEnKxJMn3QKCkee8zVqO_mp4hXdsLLdr6EiJ9mezW6DXgbuoIvBLDXnODa5LjWiK_hSsUZrsl97O_zcapCsDPnimNcomMGPc2Eiya4s2X7yqaPROLgH62QUhtgV6d2ImHsAHA8vYIDOzy/s1600/okra_carrot2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEnKxJMn3QKCkee8zVqO_mp4hXdsLLdr6EiJ9mezW6DXgbuoIvBLDXnODa5LjWiK_hSsUZrsl97O_zcapCsDPnimNcomMGPc2Eiya4s2X7yqaPROLgH62QUhtgV6d2ImHsAHA8vYIDOzy/s320/okra_carrot2.png" /></a></div><br />
I found a straight-forward okra pickle recipe in the Home Preserving book.:<br />
<br />
3 cups of water<br />
3 cups of white vinegar<br />
1/3 cup pickling salt<br />
2 teaspoons of dill seed<br />
3.5 lbs of small whole okra<br />
4 cloves of garlic<br />
2 hot red peppers - halved and seeded.<br />
<br />
Prepare cans and lids. This makes about 4 pints.<br />
<br />
In a large stainless steel sauce pan, combine water, vinegar, pickling salt and dill seeds. Bring to a boil until salt is dissolved. Reduce heat to keep hot until ready to use.<br />
<br />
Pack okra into hot jars. Add a clove of garlic and ½ seeded pepper. (I did not seed my peppers and I used a whole pepper. I like spicy pickles) ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover okra, leaving 1.2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Add more liquid, if necessary. Wipe rims and place lids on the jars. Screw bands until resistance is met and it is finger-tip tight.<br />
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Place filled jars into canner. Make sure they are covered with water. Cover pot and bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove lid and wait 5 minutes, remove jars, cool, listen for the ping (I added this step) and store.<br />
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I can hardly wait to try these. I’m thinking Bloody Marys.<br />
<br />
<br />
I found a fun carrot pickle in the Stocking Up book:<br />
<br />
2-3 bunches of carrots<br />
2 cups of vinegar<br />
1.5 cups of water<br />
0.5 Tablespoons of whole cloves<br />
0.5 Tablespoons of allspice<br />
0.5 Tablespoons of mace<br />
0.5 stick of cinnamon<br />
0.5 cups of honey<br />
<br />
Pare carrots and cut in strips that are the desired size and length of your canning jars, if possible. (the carrots I used were so small, I did not need to cut them). Boil in water until just heated through ( I didn‘t do this, as my carrots are so young). Pack hot carrots lengthwise in hot sterilized pint jars. Make a syrup of vinegar, water and spices. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add honey. Bring to a boil again. Pour over the carrots. There should be a ¼ inch headspace. Process pint jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.<br />
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I used purple carrots and the color of the raw carrots is spectacular. I hope they retain the color. I wish I had Brother Yam take some pictures of these before I canned them. They’ll probably turn grey as a result of the processing. <br />
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While my pickles were boiling away in the water bath, I took a cup of Greek yogurt, added a little milk, some sugar, a splash of orange blossom water and mixed well and threw it in the freezer.<br />
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I hate being hot and sweaty. I'm going to take a shower.Monster Grammahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371015238199750620noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-58924924669305270652010-04-23T13:47:00.000-05:002010-04-23T13:47:51.552-05:00Recipe I have to tryThe One True Crab Cake<br />
This recipe is from former Maryland First Lady Mrs. Tawes's My Maryland Recipes. I consider it canonical, the only recipe you'll ever need.<br />
<br />
I've had tarted-up, trendily seasoned, so-called crab cakes served to me by elitist chefs in the flyover states. But we East Coast lumpenproles know the blue crab's delicate flavor is easily overwhelmed by strong spices and funny sauces.<br />
<br />
Crab cakes are poor people food! They are to be bound with mayonnaise and breaded with cracker crumbs the way God and Mrs. Tawes intended.<br />
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Mrs. Tawes’s Maryland Crab Cakes<br />
<br />
(makes 8 to 10 cakes)<br />
<br />
1 1-lb. can of back-fin lump crab meat, or 1 pound of claw crab meat, or a combination of 1/2 pound of claw meat and 1/2 pound of regular grade<br />
2 eggs<br />
2 Tbs. mayonnaise<br />
1 Tb. Kraft horseradish mustard<br />
1/4 tsp. salt<br />
1/8 tsp. pepper<br />
5 drops Tabasco<br />
1 Tb. chopped parsley<br />
cracker crumbs<br />
fat for frying<br />
<br />
Combine all ingredients except crumbs and fat and mix together lightly. Form into desired-size cakes. Do not pack firmly. Prepare cracker crumbs by rolling out saltine crackers into fine crumbs, then pat or roll lightly on the crab cake. Fry in 1 1/2 inches of hot fat in iron frying pan on both sides until a golden brown. Remove and drain on absorbent paper and serve immediately.<br />
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c/o <a href="http://hamletta.blogspot.com/">hamletta</a>brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-70376783038545316322010-03-13T23:16:00.000-06:002010-03-13T23:18:46.608-06:00Fine dining<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlWBY7twMbpQXXNKdt1_lyQdglliyGulVut614gq_EXK5YpYKx7DIASP5vANiiYL1AQrR9HW83vpjb3D7UPOchBJTL53Is2-YHXsCQOVjLXOth3DAcl9LVlFjo9rIm5ENyT2Tf664vkxD/s1600-h/carrots_and_ginger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlWBY7twMbpQXXNKdt1_lyQdglliyGulVut614gq_EXK5YpYKx7DIASP5vANiiYL1AQrR9HW83vpjb3D7UPOchBJTL53Is2-YHXsCQOVjLXOth3DAcl9LVlFjo9rIm5ENyT2Tf664vkxD/s320/carrots_and_ginger.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br />
Today was a good food day. Me Darlin' Mrs and I got up early to make it in time for a seat (two of about 10) at the <a href="http://www.colossalcafe.com/">Colossal Cafe</a>. Sunny-side up eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast were transformed from simple morning staples to new heights. The eggs were right on, the bacon was cooked crisp with a touch of cayenne and black pepper, the hash browns were acutally hash <i>browns</i>, not hash tans or hash whites. The toast was awesome; home made bread that was freakin' <i>grilled</i>. Buttery, golden brown on one side and still warm and soft on the other, or as Mrs Yam said, it was toastvana, the best toast she's had in a long time. She's a toast junkie, so if she says this is good toast, it's good toast. This is an example of a simple meal prepared with such skill and grace that it transcends into a meal to remember.<br />
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Thusly fortified, I went to work at the <a href="http://www.cityofrichfield.org/RichfieldLiquorStores/index.htm">liquor store</a>. On my way out, I asked my boss, "I'm having steak tonight, what is something that I have to try?" Bryan, someone whom has never failed me, recommended a marvelous Cabernet Sauvignon by <a href="http://ghostpines.com/">Ghost Pines</a>. The subtle tannin loomed in shadows, never announcing its presence, but you are fully aware of it nonetheless. It tasted of blackberry and dark plum and sour cherry. There may have been other flavors, but I think I over-seasoned the surloin to catch any other notes.<br />
<br />
Dinner consisted of the prime dry-aged surloins, cooked on a hot cast-iron skillet au poirve style (with unfortunately too much salt), carrots with ginger sauce (see recipe below) and green beans with mushrooms and a Balsamic vinegar reduction sauce. We also baked up a rye bread from the <a href="http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/"><i>Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day</i></a> for our fresh loaf.<br />
<br />
We cooked the steaks in a dry skillet at 450 degrees after the skillet had been in the over with the bread for about 20 minutes. Beforehand we made the carrots and ginger shown above:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>2 large carrots peeled and cut into 1/8 inch disks</li>
<li>1 inch piece of peeled ginger diced finely</li>
<li>1 tablespoon butter</li>
<li>1 tablespoon olive oil</li>
<li>1/4 teaspoon cayenne</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon mustard powder</li>
<li>1 teaspoon cardamom seeds</li>
<li>2 teaspoons of honey</li>
<li>1/4 cup water</li>
</ul>Melt the butter over medium heat and saute the ginger, mustard, cayenne and cardamom seeds until fragrant and the ginger is soft (about 5 minutes). Add the carrots and the olive oil and turn the heat to high to cook the carrots until they start to soften (about another 5 minutes). Add the honey and water, reduce heat to low, stir to incorporate honey into the sauce and cover and cook the carrots until they are cooked until they are mostly soft, like an al dente (about 10-12 minutes).brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-25973301010952851932010-03-01T20:43:00.000-06:002010-03-01T20:43:07.753-06:00MeatI'm not a vegetarian; I may not be a dedicated carnivore, but I will not deny myself meat. Dinner to me is quite a bit different than the slab of steak and an ignored vegetable that passes for fine dining for a good deal of my Midwestern neighbors. Typically, meat is more of a flavoring, an adjunct to the entire meal than the star. Curries, burritos, soups, stir fries, salads, etc. will all include meat but they are not typically the main focus of the recipe or meal.<br />
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I take the ingredients with which I cook seriously, I like organic and/or heirloom vegetables and fruits not because of some esoteric desire for the good of the planet, but because they generally taste better. They were grown with care from good stock and it shows up on the plate quite readily. The difference between the tomatoes I grow (as an example) and the sad, hard, tasteless tomatoes found in a typical grocery store is a difference that can be measured in orders of magnitude. And no, you're not going to find heirloom tomatoes now -- hence eating them when there plentiful. If you can't eat them fresh, it's time to learn to can and save the flavor until the next fresh batch ripens like our ancestors did.<br />
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But I'm not here to talk about tomatoes, but good, fresh dead animal. Flesh. The muscles and fat of once living and thriving beings. Being the carnivore we are. I believe veganism is an artificial construct of a modern society, a aberrant behavior that would not normally allow its followers to survive in the wild. It is possible to be vegetarian, if you are of the ovo-lact sect. To be a healthy human, you need the nutrients that are available from animals or animal products. Vitamin B12 is an example. You can get it from meats, milk, eggs and such, or you can get it from suppliments. If getting my nutritional needs is a choice between eating locally raised dairy and meats or from some pharmaceutical mystery plant in China, I know where I'm placing my bets...<br />
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I've ordered dry-aged, grass fed and grass finished beef from my rancher friend Brad Crabtree at<a href="http://www.echolakeranch.com/"> Echo Lake Ranch</a>. I've purchased from him before and I've never been unhappy with his products. He cares about his land, his animals and his livelihood. Considering the cost of dry-aged beef and what it could cost you (think of the price of steaks at Manny's downtown), Brad's meat is a steal and I'm perfectly happy to have a freezer full of it for the price of four dinners at the venerable steak joint. Granted, the cuts don't run over about 8 ounces, but who the hell can really eat a 25 ounce cut of meat (shut up, Chuck)?<br />
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More importantly than the dry-aging and the hippy farming is the fact that I know the rancher. I trust him and I know that what I'm ordering is the realy thing. There are no legalistic clauses such as "access to pasture." The sheep and cows live off of the land that Brad takes care of and that land takes care of Brad and the cows and sheep. This is real ranching without the need for fuzzy phrases; his love of what he does and the happiness of the animals under his care are testimonial enough to show the meaning of "organic" or "grassfed" or whatever name you need to use show that quality is will show through whatever language or frame or reference you choose.<br />
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There are plenty of health benefits of eating animals that lived as they always have. This great hunt that has developed for Omega-3 fats is silly, beef has all the Omega-3 you need. But not just any beef, but cattle that has grazed on grass. Cows don't eat corn and can't digest it. The CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operation) has taken a cow and placed it into an alien environment and it shows. These poor critters don't get excercise, fresh grass but are forced to stand around in a toxic mix of their own waste and mud, eat a corn mush full of vitamins and antibiotics (necessary due to standing around to the overcrowding and standing in their own filth). This makes it cheaper to grow cattle, but we are starting to see the effects of this economy scale and the hidden costs are staggering.<br />
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So, I fight against it in my own lonely little way. A handshake and a welcoming embrace from Brad and a couple of boxes of what was once a happy cow. Butchered carefully by people not under any pressure to process a certain number a day so there are no feces-flecked walls and wounded workers. It is more expensive, but the costs are more true to their real value. Perhaps it is more expensive, but in the end it is a real value. Grass-fed and grass-finished, prime, dry-aged beef for $6-$7 pound. Compare that to upwards of $25 a pound from the grocery store. The cattle live better, the grass grows better, Brad has a job he loves and I benefit from the happy chain. Win-win-win-win.<br />
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It's a deal I can live with, and so can others.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-54509122528061635342010-01-24T02:10:00.000-06:002010-01-24T02:10:43.836-06:00Sour milk biscuits<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7H3oMNQls8fjgIPwTVnuaDZAJ-6HUToBADtTAXJylFOCkF5dBVdteX_TJSybt9AuBiBnBwf0QrwLeOZ67uM6hzUUp7XyHsEvrcP3Xg6mgBa8pxsqkAwgpPAfQJK7r-edRSIkQXrYM76Ii/s1600-h/biscuit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7H3oMNQls8fjgIPwTVnuaDZAJ-6HUToBADtTAXJylFOCkF5dBVdteX_TJSybt9AuBiBnBwf0QrwLeOZ67uM6hzUUp7XyHsEvrcP3Xg6mgBa8pxsqkAwgpPAfQJK7r-edRSIkQXrYM76Ii/s320/biscuit.jpg" width="214" /></a><br />
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We've been buying our milk from local dairies and the milk is the old-fashioned non-homogenized-cream-on-top-in-the-returnable-glass-bottle milk. This milk is noticeably richer in its mouth-feel and the flavor is an astounding leap from the cardboard carton you get from your supermarket. This milk is still alive, an almost fleshy liquid with substance and body.<br />
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As wonderful as this is, this, ah, <i>aliveness</i> comes at a cost -- the milk sours fairly quickly. It goes "bad" but it is not spoiled, it's just sour. The lactose (milk sugar) has been consumed by the wee beasties and has been turned into lactic acid. In other words, it has been fermented.<br />
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When it reaches this state, you can set it out on the counter until it begins to get "chunky," and then line a colander or sieve with cheese cloth, pour the glop in and save the forming curds by tying the corners of the cloth together to make a satchel and allow the whey to drain off. The results that are left in the cheese cloth is cottage cheese. You know what to do with that, right?<br />
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You could also take the sour milk and use it exactly as you would cultured buttermilk; you could make pancakes, bake cakes and doughnuts with it or use like I did and make biscuits. This is the recipe that I used:<br />
<ul><li>2 cups flour</li>
<li>1 cup sour milk<br />
</li>
<li>4 teaspoons baking powder</li>
<li>1 teaspoon salt</li>
<li>4 tablespoons cold lard (you can use any fat you like, but make sure that it's cold)</li>
</ul>Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.<br />
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Mix the dry ingredients together. Put the cold shortening into the flour mix and then using a pastry knife, a pair of knives or your hands, mix the flour and fat until you get a grainy mixture and the fat is cut up to pea sized chunks. You don't want to overwork fat and melt it, you want it cold. Make a well in the center of the mix and add the sour milk and stir until you've combined the milk and flour into a sticky dough. Flour a work surface, a rolling pin and your hands well and take the dough and drop on your work surface. Work some flour into the dough by gently kneading until it gets a soft -- don't handle it too much. Roll it out to about a 1/2 inch in thickness and fold over on itself, turn it 90 degrees and roll it out until it's again 1/2 inch thick. Fold and repeat a couple more times. On the last time, fold it on itself and leave it. Now you can cut it with a biscuit cutter or I just square up the dough and cut six square biscuits to avoid waste.<br />
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Place biscuits on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until brown.<br />
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The bread in the background is also from today's baking -- more on that later. Let's just say that we've found a book that has changed the way I bake...brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-70921766716899075672009-12-01T00:00:00.000-06:002009-12-01T00:32:27.534-06:00Eating wellIn an old post, <a href="http://happysimplelife.wordpress.com/">veganruthie</a>, had admitted that she sometimes had trouble eating at home regularly and wound up feeling bad about such actions and her supposed lack of discipline. I had commented and mentioned that my rational for eating at home was that my home cooked meals was often million times better than the fare offered at most restaurants. And while I do patronize restaurant that focus on local, organic ingredients, it is not something I can afford to do very often. Besides, my friends don't have to put up with my whining if they eat something I made since I have a policy of never apologizing for what I make - and usually I don't have anything to apologize for.<br /><br />I had made these beet burgers (pictured below) this past summer. It was based on <a href="http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/restaurant-reproductions/restaurant-reproduction-bestever-veggie-burgers-from-northstar-cafe-096967">this recipe </a>and I topped it with some delicious goat cheese.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgAK_lYAYm-ycWkFaKodGPsSBuTvQo2DRLLVQD3ZMaRTJ6NTykzfFjWFTrmfnBrfYq903QJG_j0Aiow3OXV05squlbeqUAaFZRk32jqA1Ph5yZyfmdtbOBzBuvSrXOCaklGgCJx3x031s/s1600/CIMG0568.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgAK_lYAYm-ycWkFaKodGPsSBuTvQo2DRLLVQD3ZMaRTJ6NTykzfFjWFTrmfnBrfYq903QJG_j0Aiow3OXV05squlbeqUAaFZRk32jqA1Ph5yZyfmdtbOBzBuvSrXOCaklGgCJx3x031s/s400/CIMG0568.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410144757284439986" border="0" /></a><br />I had gobs of beets and a general lack of interest in the world of beets (besides the gorgeous color). This was a really good way to consume them.<br /><br />But this post is not really about my beet burgers. It is about eating well and eating good food. If an amateur like me can come up edible food based on a recipe I found on the internet, I am not off base in expecting good food when I pay hard earned money for it. Every time I think about the cold, hard bread offered as appetizers in restaurants, or the watered down pho, or the unclean forks offered in restaurants, is it any wonder that I will complain about it to anyone who will listen?<br /><br />I do have to mention a good <a href="http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/no_utensils_no_problem/6978/">restaurant</a> experience however. I love Ethiopian food. The injera bread, the lentil curries, the meat dishes are all simply YUM! But this restaurant I recently visited outdid all my previous Ethiopian restaurant experiences. The spices are handground by the owner's mother. The meat is sourced from local and sustainable farmers. The food is cooked slow. The experience is simply sheer pleasure. After the main course, I decided to treat my mouth to some crème brûlée. The perfect portion size, the perfect level of sweetness...what could I say. It was hard earned money well spent.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDeCvtUU2wpUHhuBMrCrMS46oproTUlk5vGT5k6gro9FZeLqQWgyVnfuZmnHceCiOD7yS0zMHAK0tsxKPiJeAvBtrQ5d_TVbOassnpb4uE9F4Tc3AjkwwYK1jp3FxO0brpq4N1qPUdAn5/s1600/CIMG0585.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDeCvtUU2wpUHhuBMrCrMS46oproTUlk5vGT5k6gro9FZeLqQWgyVnfuZmnHceCiOD7yS0zMHAK0tsxKPiJeAvBtrQ5d_TVbOassnpb4uE9F4Tc3AjkwwYK1jp3FxO0brpq4N1qPUdAn5/s400/CIMG0585.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410150851449469506" border="0" /></a><br />Ultimately the act of eating is the only act where you pay homage not only to the earth that sustains us, but also to one's own body. Because without good food, what is the point of eating?Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03068855919147458057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-50188272034513960922009-10-13T09:23:00.000-05:002009-10-13T09:23:43.109-05:00You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you were only jokingVia <a href="http://food.theatlantic.com/nutrition/why-are-doctors-selling-out-to-coke.php">Marion Nestle</a>, I found out that the American Association of Family Physicians has taken money from none other than Coca Cola for the <a href="http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/media/releases/newsreleases-statements-2009/consumeralliance-cocacola.html">"development of educational materials to teach consumers how to make the right choices and incorporate the products they love into a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle."</a><br />
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Wow. So the doctors have apparently given up and are now siding with the bad guys. "Empty calories are good for you and Coke will give us money to conduct studies to show that's true." Are you guys going to "partner" next with the tobacco companies? What word comes to mind...<br />
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Oh yeah, whore.<br />
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I can't think of anything else to say -- I'm just stunned.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-22101332760267642752009-10-05T20:20:00.000-05:002009-10-06T15:47:19.729-05:00These were sold in Ireland for a while......until somebody read the packaging.<br />
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</div>brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-9008191408228435872009-09-29T08:41:00.000-05:002009-09-29T08:41:38.082-05:00Autumn has arrived......riding the mighty Northwestern winds.<br />
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It's getting to time to enjoy the fruits of our labor and gardens. As the temperatures drop, the rains come in and fall foods start looking more and more yummy. G'bye lettuce and hello squash.<br />
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We have been busy cooking and canning, so I apologize for the dearth of posting, but there are some pictures and commentary coming soon. In the mean time, let me tell you about what my dear Mrs has made that completely captured me: tomato confit (cohn-fee).<br />
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Confit is a way cooking and preserving food and in this recipe (more handwaving than units, sorry) Mrs Yam has taken the tomatoes from our garden and saved them thusly:<br />
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Drizzle oil in a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet and in the oil drop fresh basil and thyme and a couple of crushed cloves of garlic. Cut tomatoes in half and sorta swish them around in the herbs and oil and drizzle more oil over the top of the tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes in a low oven (250F) for about three hours until the tomatoes have collapsed, but have not completely dried -- they should still be soft. Put tomatoes and the liquid in a clean jar and it should keep in the fridge for a couple of months.<br />
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Put them over hot pasta or into salads or sandwiches.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-80017464494348611722009-09-20T18:48:00.000-05:002009-09-20T18:48:47.153-05:00Things I'll never buy againWhile many people strive to cook more, they only look at cooking as creating an entire meal or a large item like a loaf of bread or a cake. Much of cooking is the mundane, the miniscule, the overlooked, the small things. To understand how to cook, cook more. That may sound simplistic, but it really is the crux of the matter.<br />
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Is this person familiar? He (it's almost always a male) decides to cook a meal and now the entire household is put on notice -- "Do not enter the kitchen/backyard I'm cooking/grilling." He then tends to make a production of creating a single meal with all the energy and activity of one of MacArthur's south sea island invasions. Cookbooks, the right music, a glass of beer or wine,.pots and pans banging, curses thrown high and low, an emergency run to get a forgotten ingredient. Then, after an interminable five hours or so, dinner is produced with a flourish. This happens once a month or less, but everyone is expected to ooh and aah and deal with the false modesty of "this was just a little thing..." while others are left to clean up, of course.<br />
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Normally, he couldn't be bothered to help feed the kids, or to make something for a pot luck. Cooking is work and the day to day can be a grind. But with practice you gain skills and can accomplish simple tasks faster, recipes and snippets of recipes become second nature and can be prepared without thought and your preparation time really starts to drop off.<br />
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With more people trying to cook at home in an attempt to save money, you can also save a bunch on your grocery bills by not buying things that you can be easily made. Look inside your refrigerator and tell me the number of bottles you have. Go ahead, I'll wait.<br />
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Yup, that's a bunch. Think of them as somewhere between $2 and $5 each and you can see where some of that lunch money went. Well, if you want to start claiming some of that money back and get some important kitchen time in, think of making what's in those bottles yourself.<br />
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A quick list of things I'll (hopefully) never buy again:<br />
<ul><li>salad dressing</li>
<li>soup</li>
<li>mustard</li>
<li>canned beans</li>
</ul>Salad dressing is the place to start -- you can make what you need quickly and easily and you don't have to give up a lot of room in the fridge and when you make it when you need it, it's always fresh. Start with a vinaigrette; this dressing is basically 3 parts oil to 1 part acid and flavorings. Acids can be any vinegar you have handy, wine, citrus juice or any combination. Seasonings can be as simple as salt and pepper and a bit of garlic powder. A bit of mustard acts as an emulsifier to keep the oil and acid combined and adds some nice flavor besides. Mix it up and serve on salads, vegetables, fish, etc.<br />
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Soup is something that you really should just make yourself. It's a great way to use up the bits of things that are migrating to the back of the fridge and to add variety to your diet. Soup is easy to make, just add stuff to water and simmer it. That's all there is to it. You needn't get crazy and make cream soups or bisques or potage du thisorthat, just cook some vegetables in simmering water, add spices and you have soup. Add other things to keep it interesting, such as pasta or beans. These act as thickeners besides, giving your soup a little more body. Experiment, you'll be fine.<br />
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Mustard is something I've just started making, but simple condiment is anything but simple. Look at all the mustards at your local grocery store! You can start out making your own grainy style mustard by simply soaking 3 tablespoons mustard seeds with 3 tablespoons liquid (water, wine, vinegar or beer) and a crushed clove of garlic for a day and a half. But the soaked seeds in a blender with a pinch of salt, a 2 teaspoons of honey and start blending in pulses. Add water until you get the consistency you want. Bang! Whole grain German style mustard for about a quarter ($0.25).<br />
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The last one is one that I cannot stress enough -- cook your own beans. You don't eat enough beans anyway, so learning to cook them is really important. I tend to soak my beans, but that's not necessary. I like to cook mine in a crock pot so I don't need to spend a lot of time with them, but you don't really need to do much with beans after you bring them to a boil except turn down the heat and cook them until they're tender. When you have finished cooking your beans, freeze 'em with the bean water. Add 'em to salads, put 'em in your soup, grind 'em up and make a dip out of 'em or throw 'em in with sauteed greens, garlic and lemon juice for a great side dish. What people pay for beans makes me crazy -- for the price of a half a bag of beans, folks just bought a can of overcooked mush with some toxic canning water. Bleah. Make your own, ean more and save yourself a ton of cash.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-4544658923712563032009-09-11T22:19:00.001-05:002009-09-11T22:21:42.223-05:00Aw, crikey...Here I'm just trying to look at a couple of sites before heading to bed, sleep the sleep of the not-on-call for the first time in a week and I come across <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&pagewanted=all">this</a>. I just wanted to get my blood pressure down to a reasonable level before beddy-bye and this comes along.<br />
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I've been reading his <i>Omnivore's Dilemma</i> and this all sorta plays into a longish sort of screed I plan to post as soon as I can gather all the scattered thoughts in my head.<br />
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Expect it in 2013. brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-71821783733544043992009-09-11T21:55:00.000-05:002009-09-11T21:55:22.404-05:00Gone Campin'Mrs and I are out camping soon, but I will tell tall tales of open fire camp cooking when we return...brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-64233838612552739882009-09-09T23:01:00.000-05:002009-09-11T02:44:19.992-05:00Cooking from scratch<span style="font-style:italic;">This is my first post on this blog. I am so honored that bother yam asked me to be a partner in this venture. I blog about everything random at <a href="http://themway.blogspot.com">The Middle Way</a> and about <a href="http://bicyclingsd.blogspot.com">biking in San Diego here</a>. </span><br /><br />If one were to ask my 18 year old self if I would be cooking every meal from scratch and getting so much joy from the act of cooking not just for myself, but for friends and other strangers...I would have laughed and then possibly gotten very offended at the very idea. <br /><br />So in a span of 10 years I find it quite amazing that food is a subject that I spend a considerable amount of time on. The act of preparing meals is one that is so gratifying that I cannot imagine doing anything else when I cook meals. <br /><br />How did I begin cooking? The answer is very simple, I was getting homesick for homecooked meals. I was craving the beef masala from my grandmother...where every single piece of meat was marinated and then slow cooked over a wood burning stove. I was craving fried sardines - sardines marinated in a variety of Indian spices and pan fried over a wood burning stove. I craved egg masala curry - boiled eggs marinated in a coconut based curry. The reality of these meals entering my senses was remote. And no restaurant that I knew catered to my taste buds the way my mother or grandmother did. <br /><br />So I began the monumental task of trying to figure out how to satisfy my craving. It was monumental because I despise being in the kitchen. As a feminist of the 21st century I thought it was beneath me to learn how to tool around in the kitchen. No, I was destined to follow a much higher calling...that of a paper pusher. <br /><br />My initial attempts were not really disasters per say. But the beef was over cooked and raw sardines were impossible to find. I was stuck with figuring out how to make egg curry.<br /><br />And I eventually learned how to make the egg curry my tastebuds craved. It had carmelized onions and the exact level of spiciness, and a coconut milk based curry that went well with not just chappatis but also rice. <br /><br />Below is my basic recipe for that egg curry.<br /><br />Boil eggs and set aside after removing shells.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ingredients</span><br />Onion<br />Tomato<br />salt<br />pepper<br />garam masala<br />cilantro<br />one can coconut milk<br />ginger<br />garlic<br /><br />Fry onions chopped lengthwise along with minced garlic and minced ginger in vegetable oil. Add chopped tomatoes and spices. Finally add the coconut milk and let the curry simmer. Add the eggs. Slicing the eggs in half and dropping them in the curry will allow the eggs to absorb much of the flavor and spices. <br /><br />Serve with chappatis (flat bread) or over rice.<br /><br />Updated with a pictured as requested<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93PiNRa9U4v1X-x2dM1YsAV1T7GzbKJxFVSq0a80XtcqGAGEvoASiMqFp4zk5PpPOa6KlRVnYcnp01Bvr-hv85zMmsgCK-woSzDW_eysQtHgFPm-HRviNzlLakJYShdOZ9ILXJmCR22yw/s1600-h/eggcurry.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 386px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg93PiNRa9U4v1X-x2dM1YsAV1T7GzbKJxFVSq0a80XtcqGAGEvoASiMqFp4zk5PpPOa6KlRVnYcnp01Bvr-hv85zMmsgCK-woSzDW_eysQtHgFPm-HRviNzlLakJYShdOZ9ILXJmCR22yw/s400/eggcurry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5380112385696092434" /></a>Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03068855919147458057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5172577310773897057.post-53603312059118607372009-09-04T22:35:00.000-05:002009-09-04T22:35:05.212-05:00Subversive...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDZpxzihbsS7ZB00IciF3mFnzjk-YSUKIJnm_QRiuyyziFRmevOz6kqF4RnSMBXxndOO1Q9TmZ9Ubxqo3wte9it7rCflMGc10eG9fq1oTLmajdn2mSWb_B8sJOBpHi8516Be2zkuiu1Ne/s1600-h/subversive-t.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5376352689740025714" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYDZpxzihbsS7ZB00IciF3mFnzjk-YSUKIJnm_QRiuyyziFRmevOz6kqF4RnSMBXxndOO1Q9TmZ9Ubxqo3wte9it7rCflMGc10eG9fq1oTLmajdn2mSWb_B8sJOBpHi8516Be2zkuiu1Ne/s400/subversive-t.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<br />
...or so it feels.<br />
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Why does canning my own tomato sauce feel like an act of rebellion? Can I not just buy canned tomato sauce (or paste, or diced, or whole or whatever) more quickly and cheaply than spending hours cutting and peeling and standing over boiling water? Why in the world would I want to do this?<br />
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That's a good question...<br />
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Why do I fix my own bikes? Why do I cook my own meals? Make my own computers? Grow my own vegetables? Ride my bike in all weather?<br />
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Why do I want to live my life? Do for myself? Continue learning -- and by learning, I mean learning by doing and not learning by watching TV and "learning" about some subject. I want to do for myself. To fail as I did when I first started canning these tomatoes -- I forgot the lemon juice. I had to pour all the jars back into the cooking pot, add the lemon juice and start all over again after cleaning out the jars. Do I need the lemon juice? Intellectually, I think I don't, but I've never canned tomatoes before, so I follow the directions, pour out the canned tomatoes and start again. I don't know. Maybe next year I'll know, but right now I don't. I follow the directions, I learn the basics and subsume my ego, myself. I try to find Beginner's Mind. <br />
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I learn, I listen (or read) from those who know. I've never canned. I have ideas, but I've never canned and My Ideas Don't Count.<br />
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I learn. I fail. I succeed.<br />
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I have 7 quarts of tomato sauce. At what cost? I could have purchased tomato sauce for much less than the canning jars, tomatoes, lids, water, gas and pots needed. I would still be ignorant, I wouldn't have failed. I wouldn't have forgotten the lemon juice. I wouldn't have spent the time feeling the tomatoes, cutting the stems and bad bits away, smelling the scent as they collapse in the pan, sweated over the boiling tomatoes and jars. I wouldn't have forgotten the lemon juice. I would just have cans of tomatoes. An ingredient, nothing more.<br />
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I wouldn't have learned anything.<br />
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Now I know about lemon juice and hot jars and stirring and smells and sweat and I appreciate my sauce. It now has more meaning than just something that you pour over noodles. Something in which meatballs swim -- there's a lesson, some life's meaning.<br />
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Easy doesn't mean much, you don't learn, you never care, you don't remember.<br />
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Tomato sauce, jams and pickles and mustards. Living life with what is vibrant now and capturing it and the smells and sights while still vital and fresh.<br />
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Biking.<br />
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Not the safe, comfortable, easy way.<br />
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Living.brother yamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11680958644952778991noreply@blogger.com2