Eclectic Eats

Anaheims... Stufffed with cheese and chorizo.

2011-07-09T16:36:00.001-05:00

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2011-07-04T11:04:00.000-05:00

Yummy lazy breakfast of my own perfectly smoked salmon, scrambled eggs with green onion and cream cheese.

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Dance in my seat good!

2011-06-16T18:34:00.000-05:00

There are some things that just have a mixture of flavors that when you taste it... you can't help but smile and do a little dance. Chimichurri (or my version of it...) does just that... it makes me happy.

The flavors are phenomenal on steak (cooked rare, of course), and chicken, and salmon, and shrimp, and seared scallops, and dipping bread in it borders on religious...

I don't care what people say about it's roots and uses in Argentina... whether it is or is not the 'ketchup' of Argentina... to me... it is a trifecta of flavors and good for you to boot!

I make my Chamychurri like this...

1.5 cups of flat leaf parsley
5 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of sherry wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of lime juice (fresh)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice (fresh)
3/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 good sized shallot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup extra light olive oil
1 teaspoon of kosher salt

I like mine nice and textural...a quick rough chop of the parsley, garlic, shallots, and salt/pepper first... pulse in the food processor about 10 times. Then add the citrus, vineagar, oregano and red pepper flakes. Pulse 10 more times. I like to let mine sit for about 30 minutes before adding the olive oil. Then add the olive oil and let sit for 30 minutes more. It will stay bright green for the first day or so and then gets a little army looking... but the flavors are still amazing... if not better.

You can also pulse everything BUT the citrus and vineagar and freeze in a ziploc bag until needed. Adding lemon & lime juice and vineagar once thawed.

I have to tell you.... chimichurri potato salad is phenomenal... just don't think vampire Bill will come calling anytime soon...

Retro Kitchen

2011-04-23T09:09:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about recipes that my grandmother, grandfather and mother made when I was younger. Recipes to follow in subsequent posts. The nostalgia caused me to pull out two cookbooks that started me down the path of loving to cook.

The first is Fannie Farmer Cookbook... the one I have was printed in 1965 (before I was born), and it's original printing was in the late 1800's. This book is a mess. LITERALLY. I learned how to make pancakes from this book, every cookie and brownie, how long to cook a turkey, and so on. It is covered with years of batter,spatters and love. I should really get it rebound so I don't lose it entirely. You can still get it. The latest revision was in 1996 and Amazon has the Anniversary Edition. And even though anything and everything can be found on the internet these days, there is nothing like the intimate experience of using a cookbook. I have notes in the margins and I would take it over a Google search just about any day.

The other is The New York Times Cookbook published in 1995, the most recent also available on Amazon.

I cannot speak to either reprinting. But will most likely get them for my girls to start their collections.

The recipes are classic, simple and free of any artificiality. The most amazing thing to me is that these books are both picture free. I have dozens of cookbooks. Most with beautiful photographs. But I always turn to these again and again and again.

My walk down memory lane has me wanting to make (3) dishes in particular: Salmon souffle; creamed chipped beef, and Finnan Haddie.

Fish souffle was a common occurrence in my childhood. And strangely I have never tried to make one (or any other souffle for that matter). So that will be first. A great way to use canned pink salmon.

Cream chipped beef was my grandfather's specialty (among many other dishes that I have never and will never be able to reproduce - he canned his own 'heirloom' tomatoes and any dish he made using them has NEVER tasted the same when I make them - I see a canning and pickling post in my future). Shit on a shingle... great on toast and boiled potatoes.

Finnan Haddie... my grandmother made this. She was not a great cook. Far from it. Prune whip and scalloped cabbage took up an entire session in therapy:) Finnan Haddie is smoked haddock (Scottish) and it gets soaked in milk, incorporated into a white sauce and served on potatoes. The sauce is a gorgeous saffron gold. Smokey. Delicious.

Next post: Bechamel or white sauce. Once you know how to make a basic white sauce (that both the souffle and Finnan Haddie require) you can make any number of things, including: homestyle macaroni and cheese, Mornay sauce, moussaka, lasagna, pot pies, cream soups, and casseroles. Bechamel is considered to be the mother of all French sauces, and is used in many Italian (besciamella) and Greek dishes as well. It's a good skill to have in your cooking arsenal.

Bacon et des oeufs

2011-04-13T20:35:00.000-05:00

Was craving bacon, eggs and toast on the way home from work tonight... and this is what I came up with.

The classic Lyonaise salad is a perfect Spring dinner... I omitted the croutons in lieu of puff pastry cheesestraws though...

Ingredients

2 heads of fresh frisee lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
8 strips bacon
4 teaspoon chopped shallots
4 Poached egg
4 Tbsp wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

Freeze bacon for 15 minutes. You'll be happy you did! Cutting the bacon into 1/2 wide pieces. Cook bacon until crispy and remove from renderings. Add chopped shallot to bacon fat and saute until shallots are opaque and starting to carmelize. Stir in mustard and vinegar.

Pour dressing over frisee and toss. Top with crispy bacon pieces and a freshly poached egg (still hot, whites softly cooked - yolk completely liquid).

The classic beauty of this salad is the combination of textures (which I admit I lost a bit by not having croutons - but you make do with what is at hand) and flavors. Cut up the egg and allow the yolk mix and coat the frisee.

Sooooo good!

As for poaching an egg... I brought salt water to a simmer (where pea sized bubbles are gently coming up from the bottom of the pan). Crack your egg into a smal bowl and gently pour it into the pan (repeat for more servings). The fresher the egg, the better it stays together (vinegar is not the answer). Remove the egg once the whites are just cooked through and the yolk is unset... allow to drain through the slotted spoon onto a towel and place egg on top of the salad you have plated.

Typically homemade croutons would complete the textural pleasure of this salad... but today I had some puff pastry sheets and some cheese.

Lay out the first sheet of puff pastry. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese and parmesan. Then season with salt and pepper. Top with second sheet of puff pastry and gentle roll the flatten the two sheets together. Using a pizza cutter I sliced into 1/2 strips and twisted each strip onto a cooked sheet lined with parchment. Bake 22 minutes at 400 degrees.

What better way is there to have breakfast for dinner? And my daughter was excited because she is in her first year of French at school :)

Bread new world... the early years

2011-02-20T16:50:00.000-06:00

I have begun to go through the therapeutic process of NOT being scared of baking... I mean ask me to make anything... bulgogi, sushi, beef Wellington (with bought puff pastry)... anything... really... just DO NOT ask me to make pizza dough, a crusty baguette, or dinner rolls... I quake in fear and intimidation..

I recently read an article about using a dutch oven and NOT kneading the dough... the idea was that people like me who where terrified by baking a loaf of bread could do it...

One does not necessarily have to go with the other... I am not afraid of the kneading part... heck not even sure what gives me pause... but what I have found it this... I do knead it (it gets a better texture and chew) and I do bake it in a covered dutch oven... the crust is sublime!

The pictures below are of one of my first loaves... note that the crumb is quite fine... it was a fabulous bread toasted... I have also tried aging a batch of dough in the fridge for a few days... gives a nice pre sour dough taste without mucking around with a starter.

I will do a step by step and types of flour I've been using next time... but for now... I do have a loaf in the (dutch) oven to go with from scratch chicken soup on a rainy winter day.

The best $6.99 that I ever spent

2010-12-26T08:37:00.000-06:00

Popcorn...

I have always loved it. When I was little my mom made the most incredible popcorn balls. I remember they were wrapped in colored cellophane and hung on our Christmas tree... caramel-ee and sticky...

In high school I worked at a movie theater that showed indie films... I think "The Gods must be Crazy" played for over a year in one of the auditoriums... they had amazing popcorn with Vermont Cabot butter... I made popcorn every night and melted pound after pound of real butter. I would always get a small cup of buttered popcorn and stand at the back theater watching movies like "Stop Making Sense", "La Chevre", and "Repo Man"... it was and remained for some time the best popcorn I ever had...

I remember the novelty of Jiffy Pop was always fun to bring camping... and we have had several air poppers over the years... which seem to spit out more kernels unpopped than popped... I plodded along with another air popper... the kind that launched a scalding kernel into the corner of my eye (I have the scar still)...

Microwave popcorn was (and is) too salty...

I saw a microwave popcorn bowl somewhere (Amazon I think) and thought "that's neat, but I bet it does not work well"...

A few months ago my old air popper gasped it's last breath...

I was walking through Target and saw a simple melamine (I think) type bowl and plastic lid with vents... calling itself a microwave popcorn bowl... $.6.99... couldn't hurt to try it...

The instructions were lacking at best... "Pop corn with or without oil"... that was it... I was excited to try it out... and put 1/2 cup of popcorn in the bowl with NO oil for the same 4 minutes I put microwave bags in for...

I stood and watched and listened... and within 30-45 seconds it was popping away... I realized there was a 1-2 second gap a few seconds too late the first time I used the bowl... the lid was pushing off and a few of the kernels were burnt... conversely... the popped corn was fluffy and tender... and there were only 20 or so kernels unpopped.

The next time I used 1/3 of a cup and put it in for 3:15 minutes... I still ended up stopping it earlier... but this time none of the kernels were scorched and there were maybe a total of 15 unpopped kernels....

I am a convert! I have figured out MY microwave timing and a third of a cup is perfect. I never use oil and transfer the popped corn into a new bowl as soon as I take it out of the microwave.... there a single tablespoon of butter is enough to flavor the whole bowl...

There is another bowl I saw on Amazon that uses a heating element pad... that eventually wears out... and needs to be replaced. The Nordic Ware is the one I got... and I will never use anything else...

A couple things to note... the bottom of the bowl gets REALLY hot... so set it on a cutting board or plate rather than something that could be affected by the heat... and you want to get the lid off quickly once you get it out of the microwave so that the condensation does not dampen the crisp corn...

1 tbs of melted butter is perfect for the 12 cups of popped corn and just enough so the salt sticks.

My preference is no oil and to not use the bowl for serving... it wipes out cleanly once cool and nothing more need be done to the bowl...

If you like popcorn and want a chemical laden free snack that is both extremely cost effective and easy to make and clean up after... this is the bowl I would go with...

The French Macaroon

2010-12-23T18:49:00.001-06:00

I have decided to jump on the 'macaron' bandwagon... pictures of misses and hits as well as my stream of cookie consciousness to follow...

When they are good... angels weep... when they are not good... well... I am hoping not to cross that road....

.

Pain Perdu...

2010-11-21T13:15:00.000-06:00

One of the great breakfast comfort foods is French toast… and probably like me, many of you grew up on commercial white bread dipped in egg and milk… but it is so much more than that…

The origins of ‘French’ toast are vast and varied… some say that the dish comes from France… others say that a tavern in Albany, New York invented the dish… and in fact the French do have a dish they call pain perdu. But pain perdu (meaning lost bread) like many similar dishes around the world like this is typically made with stale bread. The thought being that if not used the bread would otherwise be ‘lost’. I have also heard it said that the ‘perdu’ refers to the bread being ‘lost’ in the custard like egg dip…

The recipe below is what I consider to be a straight forward classic (as far as my childhood and gastronomic memories are concerned)… but you can substitute other breads in place of a good baguette as well. Challah is used in Jewish cooking and the eggy bread is wonderful… the Italians use panettone with is rich and decadent (a really good Christmas morning splurge)… denser breads like pumpkin or zucchini bread can be used, but the dip does not penetrate as well… so it is not as custardy. Brioche and Hawaiian bread are lovely as well.

This morning I used a simple white bâtard (shorter and thicker than a baguette) from my local market. I sliced is last night and left it in a cold oven on a cookie sheet to dry out (making my own stale bread). If you like a really custard-like center, an inch thick is perfect. Some prefer a drier center… if so go with a thicker slice.

*it should be noted with regret that a pain was perdued in the

making of this blog post... our dog has the speed and tracking

ability of a raptor on the hunt*

What you will need:

(8) slices of white Italian or French bread – approximately 1 inch thick

(3) large eggs

(3/4) cup half and half

(1/4) cup milk (skim, whole… take your pick… although using skim milk with half and half to me seems a lot like having a Diet Coke with a Double Whopper with cheese

(1) Tbs. honey (warmed) or brown sugar (I like brown sugar)

(1/2) tsp cinnamon* (optional) – I like using pumpkin pie spice

a pinch of salt

butter for frying

You can make you custard mix (eggs, half and half, milk, salt, sugar, spices) the night before as well… and refrigerated until use. As I mentioned, I like my French toast nice and custardy in the center… and I find that a bread that has any kind of crust that requires you to rip it with your teeth when eating it fresh needs a longer soak… the best way is to place the bread slices is in a rectangular cake pan, then pour the egg mixture over it, and let it rest for about 15-20 minutes, flipping once. Place on a rack for a few moments to rest.

Cooking French toast, ike pancakes, requires a good handle on your heat. Melt the butter in a frying pan or griddle over a medium heat… place slices of dipped bread in the pan. Resist the need to play with it for about 2 minutes, then flip. If you did well you should have a nice golden crust. If your crust is a chocolate brown – turn down your heat. Cook second side for another 2 minutes.

Serving suggestions: powdered sugar and fresh berries, warm berry compote, maple syrup, honey butter. You really can’t go wrong with any of them.

We interupt this program...

2010-11-10T05:47:00.000-06:00

No cooking for the next few days cher.. headed to N'awlins... I am there for business so I won't see much of the city... but we will be about 2 blocks from the French Quarter... hoping to have some good shots of the "wild game" I am hunting (Cafe du Monde beignets, an oyster po'boy and a muffaletta with NOLA bread)...

Laissez les bons temps rouler (bien que le sommeil semble bien trop)!

Oh... so cool

2010-10-31T10:12:00.002-05:00

Light box + mini Gimp tutorial (thanks to Brad!) = a lot of fun playing with food and my camera...

Picture from previous post... tweaked with Gimp

A moment of geeky happiness

2010-10-30T14:42:00.000-05:00

When you photograph food... home lighting can give off shadows and the flash washes everything out... so in order to avoid all that.... I built my own light box!!! For $27... Bonus

Needed:
(1) see through rectangular storage bin
(1) white sheet (or cloth)
(2-3) goose neck lamps (I used 2 for the picture below)
(1) matte poster board... color of your choice...
Lightbulbs - I used GE Reveal CF's 75 watt

Now all I need to do is play around with the manual settings for my digital point and shoot... which will do for now... at least I know how to 'evaluate white balance'... and that's half the battle!

Larb Gai (Thai chicken salad)

2010-10-29T19:35:00.005-05:00

Larb Gai is my favorite dish when going out for Thai. Larb refers to minced/chopped meat and seasoned a certain way. Gai is chicken. I mean I like other Thai dishes… but as I look over the menu pondering on curries and tofu… I start to think of all the flavor in this dish… and it pulls me in… seductive really…

Larb Gai is typically served luke warm over lettuce or thinly sliced cabbage and is found under “Salads” on the menu… I usually ask them to leave off the lettuce because wilted lettuce in the leftovers flavors the dish negatively in my mind… I figure I will get my lettuce quota elsewhere. Brown rice is a nice accompaniment.

I love this dish… and have been eating it in restaurants for years… literally. So why have I never made it before? I mean it’s a perfect meal. High protein… insane flavors… get some good carbs with a little brown rice on the side… I’m making it!

Here we go… from what I have been reading… to be true to the taste of this dish… nothing can be omitted except the galangal… which I don’t have on hand… fresh ginger will have to do.

1 pound of chicken breast (boneless/skinless), pulsed/coarsely ground in food processor

- doing this at home is fresher and less fatty. You can also use boneless thighs… or beef, pork, duck, and even minced fish… cook in a dry non-stick pan... break apart with a spatula... keep heat low... you do not want to carmelize your meat. You also do not want to drain the liquid that comes off the chicken... I actually found the breasts on their own do not give off much liquid... and think a balance of breast and thigh will work better next time.

2 tbs toasted rice powder

- I was not able to find this in my quick trip to the market… but I have made my own from white jasmine rice… and then ground it up in the coffee grinder I use for flax seeds… could not be easier... toast in a non-stick pan on medium heat until caramel colored. This adds both a characteristic nuttiness and thickens... too little gives you soup... too much... congeals... so start with a tablespoon at a time.

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh)

2 tablespoons chopped shallots

3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves (the mint at my local grocer was amazingly fresh)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

*The lime juice, fish sauce and pepper flakes are a matter of personal taste…

add more or less… I like extra extra extra lime juice*

2 tbs of chopped unsalted peanut (my own addition to this recipe)

Once the chicken is cooked... remove from the heat and add in the other ingredients... the residual heat will soften the shallots and meld the other flavors. Allow to cool to luke/room temp and serve.

Thinly sliced cabbage or lettuce for serving (if looking for roughage... and a more salady kind of dish)

- If I include it at all I like a mixture of thinly sliced red and white cabbage in lieu of lettuce.

This is great served with rice as a main dish… jasmine, sticky, brown, or even black imperial… be careful with this rice though as the cooking water turns a beautiful cabernet color (which counters and clothing may not appreciate ).

Ezekiel English Muffins (quick post)

2010-10-23T19:08:00.000-05:00

I like a slice of Ezekiel Bread now and then...

Recently I found the Ezekiel English Muffins (they had them at my Super Target, believe it or not... I didn't even have to go to Whole Paycheck)... yum! Perfect for breakfast and they stay with you for several hours.

The Ezekiel products are sprouted grains and flour free... the muffins have a great carb profile (26 grams for a whole muffin), 8 grams of protein and total calories 160... this with some almond butter... or cream cheese and jam for a splurge is my go to breakfast now... I have converted my 14 year old too!

I find the best way to store them is in the freezer... I place the whole muffin in my toaster oven on the oven setting (300-350) until thawed and crisping on the outside... then I slice in half and finish on the toaster setting...

These muffins are begging for a slice of smoked salmon and some good cream cheese!

Bulgogi

2010-10-23T18:28:00.002-05:00

Bulgogi... "what's that"... a funny little word that refers to the method the meat is cooked in Korean cooking... I have done it using beef and chicken alike... a really flavorful marinade... and the quick cooking of the very thinly sliced meat makes for a really good dish... in our house it's extremely kid friendly... as I keep the heat out and add it in later in the form of the wonderful Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce...

Cook on a hot grill, a table top grill and stove top plates... worth the time and effort and a great meal for sharing...

One thing I did learn along the way in my experimenting... is that raw pineapple if used in lieu of the kiwi can only be on the meat for about 30 minutes or else the meat just falls apart (literally)... there are enzymes present in raw fruit that do not present the same problem in canned pineapple.... not to mention that it looks very unappetizing once cooked...

I have a great Asian market close by... I can find anything I could possibly need to create a Chinese, Japanese or Korean meal... it's fun to just walk through and look everything... I buy my garlic, rices, soys, seaweed wrapper, miso there (among other things)... fun, fun! The ginger was so fresh today that the skin was almost translucent and the new rhisomes were sprouting out...

Ingredients:

1 pound thinly sliced steak beef or skinless chicken breast
1 bunch green onions cut into 2-3 inch pieces

Marinade:

2 tbs soy
1 tbs dark soy
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs rice wine or Korean white vinegar
4 tbs brown sugar
3 cloves of garlic
2 inches of ginger
2 tbs toasted sesame oil
1 peeled kiwi (tenderizes) or Asian pear

vegetable oil for your grill of choice

Combine all of the marinade ingredient in a blender or food processor (I find the blender works best). Pour over the meat and green onions... allow to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours (longer for tougher cuts of beef).

If beef is not sliced, slice into thin, finger-length strips (if you freeze the beef for 20 minutes, it will be easier to slice).

If you can, ask the butcher at the meat counter to slice for you in very thin strips. Korean and/or Asian grocery stores will often have meat for Bulgogi pre-sliced for sale... which is where I typically find mine...

Grill along with the marinated green onion sections...

Serve with Boston lettuce (Iceberg too, if you like), cooked white or brown rice, Korean white vinegar, and Huy Fong Chili Garlic Sauce (addictive). I am working my children up to the addition of kimchee...

Other ways to serve the meat is in a noodle dish with lots of veggies... or as part of a bibimbap (the best part is the crispy rice at the bottom of the stone pot!).

* Not my own pictures of this yet... once I get a light box finished... the pictures will follow...

Who cut the cheese? (Not me!)

2010-10-20T20:38:00.000-05:00

I have issue with cheese… and I don’t mean gastrointestinally…

Throughout time mankind’s ability to see something edible in the oddest of places fascinates me...

Kopi Luwak "Hey Bubba, did y’all see what just came out of that cat's bee-hind? I think we should roast it and sell it for $60 a pound! But maybe we should wash it off first. (Don’t ask me why the Malaysians sound like rednecks…)

I have to say… I’ve tried it… and while it does not taste like shit…

Not really feeling the allure… and I do loves me my coffee

Okay, for those of you not familiar with Kopi Luwak… it is basically coffee beans eaten by a certain type of cat (civet)… the beans are collected once the cat has evacuated them… mainly ‘harvested’ in Indonesia, Sumatra, Bali, Java and the Philippines.

Alcoholic beverages that contain intentional human saliva… the word lugee comes to mind…

Many cultures do this still… but why did they start?

Chocolate… raw cacao tastes awful… I don’t care what the Whole Foods crowd says… so what I want to know… is back in the day… some Mayan said “Hey, this tastes like shit… let’s see what we can do to gussie it up”… Um… when I eat something that tastes bad… I tend to not want to eat it again… unless it was liver and my mom was watching… and then I just covered it with any and every condiment I could find.

So here I am… milking a goat, sheep or cow or what not… and I suddenly think to myself… !eureka!…enzymes (although I don't believe they called them that)… bacteria… mold… Oh! And we’ll let it sit around for a few weeks… that will be PERFECT… magnifique! Mwah!

I don’t get it…

Okay… so it’s partly texture… I can hone in on the most minute piece of hard cooked egg white in a potato salad… tofu in an exercise in torture… cottage cheese should be abolished more than any Chicago fois gras…

Smell is another… kimchee, limburger, cooked pork chops, ripe cantaloupe, fish sauce… there are some things I have slowly moved past issues of aroma… kimchee for one… but others… I just can’t…

So cheese… I wish I could explain my cheese neuroses… it baffles many… and it is “to be continued”

Ginger Syrup, Part 2 (No willpower, none, zip, diddily, bupkus)

2010-10-18T20:28:00.001-05:00

Okay, okay... I did not make it til the weekend to try my hand at a gingertini... I shake my damn Christmas presents too...

The only thing I was missing was the candied ginger at the end of a toothpick....

My Gingertini:

2 oz Vodka
1.5 oz My Ginger Syrup
1 small slice of lemon

Shake on ice... strain... pour... and enjoy while it's icy...

As an aside... The Ginger People make a "ginger juice"... and while they say theirs is just ginger and citric acid... they would have to add some water... I figured out that mine (with a bit of added sugar) is 6 cents an ounce... theirs is about 73 cents an ounce...

I get just the fresh punch I am looking for... for so much less... I think the next step will be to try it in a salad dressing or noodle soup...

Ginger Syrup

2010-10-17T19:40:00.003-05:00

I adore ginger... Asian inspired foods with fresh ginger, candied ginger, real ginger ale, ginger tea... gingerbread!!?

Wow Bao in downtown Chicago makes a homemade ginger ale... when it's good... it's very good... when it's not... it's club soda that somebody just waved a slice of ginger in front of... hit or miss... but I keep trying when in the area to see if it's the good stuff... fresh, pungent, delicious...

Recently I was in Burlington, Vermont at this lovely little restaurant called A Single Pebble... some of the best Chinese food I have ever had... before dinner I decided to try their signature martini... a (you guessed it) ginger martini... sublime... the ginger was fresh, peppery, yet smooth... in perfect balance with the vodka... and it came with a small piece of candied ginger at the end of the toothpick...

I got home and knew I really wanted that fresh ginger flavor in a drink... with selzer or iced tea... vodka... whatever...

Let the experimenting begin... first I poured over the internet looking for ginger syrup recipes... and each sounded too "cooked"... but I found one that I thought I would try...

6 cups of water, 2 cups of white sugar, 2 cups of chopped ginger... simmer for an hour...

Well... it had the peppery heat of ginger, but none of that raw freshness I was really after... I used it for a couple days... in iced tea, seltzer... and it tasted more like ginger candy... cooked!

Back to the drawing board... I could taste it... conceptualize it... and I only wanted it slightly sweet... something I could make inexpensively to have on hand.

I have it!! Make a simple syrup... but add the finely chopped ginger in after the syrup is removed from the heat... sugar is hypertonic... so I figured between the heat of the syrup and the sugar... w00t!!

Now this makes a large volume... but we use it up quickly... you could cut it in half or quarters or eighths...

8 cups of water, 3 cups of sugar (I will only use 2 next time), 1.8 pounds of peeled ginger root I pulsed in the food processor.... the ginger probably yielded about 1.5 pounds after peeling...

Once the sugar was disolved in the water and it had started to simmer, I turned off the heat... I added the ginger... stirring occassionally for about 60 minutes... sieving through a fine mesh strainer... the result... on a ginger level... absolutely perfect... not cooked tasting or candied at all.

* Note the color difference (the darker one it the first one I tried - the "cooked one")

Having some in seltzer as we speak... yum, yum, yum...

In the fridge it will keep for several weeks... now to see if I can wait til next weekend to try my hand at a homemade Gingertini!!

Coffee Love, Part 3 (My happy place)

2010-10-17T14:09:00.005-05:00

*Disclaimer... I am not a coffee purist... I cannot "cup" or "profile" coffees... although I can pull elements and give them descriptors... this is just a series of posts on how I got where I am today in my search for what I feel is a good cup of coffee... and don't judge me because I get excited about the Eggnog Latte appearing on the menu at Starbuck's each holiday season...

When you come right down to it... my Mr. Coffee does the job I bought it to do... and I have figured out, for the most part, what ratio of ground coffee to water I like... a drawback to most home drip brew coffee makers is that the heating element just does not get the water hot enough to extract enough of the essential oils.... I do use a gold plated filter basket instead of paper filters... which helps with essential oil retention... while not giving me the muddiness of the French press... and I always use filtered water that I keep in the fridge (because my local water eats appliances and tastes like crap).

I did get a burr grinder... and from there I played around with coffee amounts until it was right... for me (and as it turns out, for other people I serve it to as well)... I no longer just offer tea after dinner or when people stop by... I make them coffee... without a single bit of trepidation.

For me using a Cuisinart burr grinder... I have it set for 6 cups of ground coffee using a medium grind (using 10 cups H2O according to the pot). Theoretically a burr that has cup settings is basing the amount of ground coffee on a six ounce cup. If you want to be truly anal... weigh your ground coffee each time... but this brings me back to subjectivity... and for what I have my burr set to it makes consistently good coffee every time...

This burr is not for a true coffee nerd who wants to make barista quality espresso... this is an inexpensive option for someone who likes to drink a good cup of drip coffee or French Press... simply put, it's a good grinder for the money.

The Cuisinart is noisier than say a Capresso... but for the short time it runs in the morning... it's not an issue in our house (besides, it signals that the kids need to get up... and if that does not do it the smell of freshly brewed coffee will).

* Why not an electric mill or blade grinder... these $10 grinders create inconsistencies in the grind size, basically the longer you keep it on... the finer the grind... this also tends to heat the coffee due to prolonged friction...

For a couple years I consistently bought beans from Intelligentsia, Starbucks, Peet's and the occassional fair market trade organic from Whole Foods Market... Peet's being my preferred go-to bean (not to mention they have great tea).

Enter the "new kid on the block"... I Have a Bean... my new go-to roaster.... the coffee is roasted with care, it's fresh (very often I pick it up the same day it's roasted), and they have great commitment to community... they tend to only do coffees that are in season.... meaning that if they get green beans from Papua New Guinea... they pretty much only have it during that picking season in that part of the world...

This was a new concept for me in coffee drinking... kind of like practising local, seasonal eating... it also forced me into trying other beans from other parts of the world... Brazil, Tanzania (which I did not develop a taste for), Java, Sumatra...

It is very nice to have a local, small batch roaster... and I am happy to support their mission and purpose... and the bonus is I get great, fresh coffee in the bargin.

When it comes right down to it... it's all about how it tastes to you.

Next: Bulgogi anyone?

Coffee Love, Part 2 (The mature years)

2010-10-16T08:06:00.006-05:00

Okay... so here I am... I had turned 40 (3 or so years ago - give or take a few months)... and I find my tastes had changed again... and I was no longer happy running out to buy a cup of coffee every time I wanted one.

When drinking coffee it came from one of three places.... Starbucks, a restaurant, or the work coffee maker... but I felt unfulfilled...

I was reminded of staying in Paris... the family I stayed with used a chemex and I had really liked it... I loved coffee in France... black, au lait, all the time... I was in a constant state of pure caffeine bliss for 6 weeks! I had to find a way to make good coffee... coffee I would not be embarrassed to serve to guests... "Um, would anybody like some tea?"

* now you may ask... did I try a chemex as I started making coffee at home... yes... and I had several of them... they kept breaking (okay... I was clumsy)... also chemex takes time... you have to keep coming back to fill the top filter section... I don't have that kind of patience... still don't!

Enter the large scale roasters.... Intelligentsia, Raven's Brew Coffee, Barefoot Coffee and others... and A LOT of experimenting... sometimes with good outcomes... some... well... not.

I already felt that my ability to make good brew coffee was lacking... so I was reluctant to go there again... armed with an electric blade grinder (*GASP*... I know, stay with me), a French Press and a Moka pot... I began my journey down the rabbit hole...

I have a Moka pot... and honestly it scares the hell out of me... probably for the same reason I don't use my pressure cooker!

The Moka is the Italians answer to a percolator... although here the steam that pushes the water through the coffee grinds gets much hotter and is under more pressure... the cool thing about a Moka is the crema or coffee foam (as with an espresso maker)... here again... I think the product is more robust, thicker... and for me and my tastes makes both the Moka and French press not suitable for my daily coffee...

Hmmmm... my French Press... I have a love/hate relationship with my French Press. I love the elegance and convenience of using it... I love the robust outcome when I want an espresso feel... but I don't like the mouth feel... and I hate cleaning it...

I have not figured out if it's more than that... maybe I don't like all the essential oils left floating around...

There are horrifed coffee purists out there who feel that it's the only way to make coffee... but to me... with all the diveristy and complexity of different coffees and roasts... that's like saying that one shape of pasta works for all sauces (which is a competely different conversation.).

I mean I use it... Sunday mornings... but... it was not yin and yang yet...

But I still did not have a way to make a big pot of "everyday" coffee... so basically I goaded myself into going back to the grindstone... Mr. Coffee...

To be continued...

Coffee Love, Part 1 (The bitter years)

2010-10-15T06:25:00.005-05:00

I love coffee. However it has taken a long time to develop that love.

Up until 3 years ago I didn't think I could make a good pot of coffee. Or more simply put, my coffee tasted like shit. But... was it me... was it the coffee... was it my tastebuds?

Now taste, and what and how we taste something, is subjective. Influenced by so many things. This is something coffee snobs and purists should take to heart. The human mouth has anywhere from 2,000-10,000 tastebuds. So if you only have 2,000 and I have 10,000 it stands to reason that I would taste, or my brain would perceive things, differently. Yes?

Those people who can take one taste of a dish and tell you everything that's in it down to the 1/8 of a teaspoon of some herb or spice. The wine taster who can tell you the grapes were grown on a field with lavender after a small sip.

There are five basic tastes identified so far, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. They say the entire tongue can sense all of these tastes more or less equally.There are several tastebud maps that shows where salty is perceived, sweet etc... But every mouth is different and over time things change our taste perception... medications, age, smoking, a stuffy nose... You can even change or train your 'taste'...

I know there are things over the years that I have 'grown' to like the taste of... and some I liked... I stopped. Kinda of like listening to Foreigner on 8 track when you are 12 years old... tastes change.

Take tilapia. It's good for you... cheap source of protein. But recently something in my mouth, brain, chemistry changed somewhere... and now I cannot eat tilapia without tasting dirt... musty, earthy, peaty, root cellar, wormy dirt... so bad I have to spit it out... I have even tried on several occasions to see if this was an isolated thing... and both restaurant and home cooked tilapia alike... always the same... dirt!

Back to coffee...

When I was little coffee was Sanka or Tasters Choice at my grandmothers (I had a hippy mom... she drank tea). As I treat I would get a cup once in awhile... and I would stir heaping spoonfuls of sugar into it... it was delicious... the smell to this day of instant coffee brings me back to my childhood... so is sense of smell what determines if we like the taste?

All through school... it was not taste I was looking for, but rocket fuel... the stronger the better... and I was still adding sugar... But by now I was beginning to think it tasted "too" sweet... and then of course there was Sweet and Low... and Equal. The chemically laden pseudo sugars designed to pull the wool over your tastebuds...

My 20's was all about the hospital coffee with milk (the taste of fake creamer a turn off)... non-descript... warm... comforting... caffeinating...

Enter... the dread, evil Starbucks... and the over priced latte (which got me through my 30's :)

The dawning my my 5th decade was the reinvention of my coffee self...

To be continued...