Gastro Nerds

I am over here, Silly!

2008-05-08T17:27:00.002-05:00

You just THINK that I haven't been posting... but really, this has all been a bad technology experiment on my part...

Come See How much more work I have to DO!

GastroNerds.com

You Bird Brain!

2008-04-13T20:58:00.004-05:00

Photo: Via: Sweet and Sour Spectat or

I guess that is isn't a surprise to disclose that I love the Food Network. Yes, my secret love, Alton Brown is the host and he displays his geeky cuteness and geeky knowledge all together. Sigh.

But today's episode really did take the cake.

It was the challenge between Mario Batali and challenger, Chris Cosentino.

Now, the thing is that I will eat just about anything. I think you may have seen pictures of me and know that is the truth. But escargot ran through a meat slicer? Ok, I get that it made it easier to slice, but I saw it! It looked nasty. The sauce that it was mixed with looked tasty and I love home made pasta. But still. ew.

And then? The squab. I love squab. I know that they are different from the nasty rats with wings that you get in any major city. And I know that there WERE no pigeons or squab in North America until they were introduced by some (likely) homesick Brit, who expected to eat the food of his childhood. That being said, taking the feet, wings and skulls of the little fuckers and then eating them is kind of nasty. Particulary when the little deep fried claw is holding a garlic clove (our secret ingredient) and that you are supposed to suck the brains of the squab out of it's little head. Ok. Not face to face, but rather from the back of the skull, but does that REALLY make it much better?

I say NO!

Thank god, Mario Batali won this challenge!

Birthday cake

2008-04-04T14:41:00.007-05:00

I know most people have visions of buttercream dancing in their heads when they think of birthday cakes.

In my family, we dream of ice cream, chocolate crunches and plastic roses.

Yep, We are Carvel people.

Oh, my sister and I and even my brother... How we fought over those plastic roses.

They don't make them that way anymore. And that is ok. Eventually we outgrew the need to have an ice cream cake for our birthday every year.

But my Dad? Not so, much.

He still loves an ice cream cake. So that is what I try to find for his birthday every year. The pickings are slim here in Chicago. Although the Jewel does have a cooler with Carvel cakes in it, it just isn't the same. So this year, I decided to try my own hand at making one.

I bought four pints of gelato from Whole Foods in three different flavors and came home to get cracking.

Not having the chocolate sprinkles I used graham cracker crumbs. I would take softened gelato and spread it in a lined cake pan. (I lined my with tin foil, which I wouldn't do again, but I didn't have enough cling film). The order of was chocolate, cherry, chocolate and almond cappacino. Each layer was separated by the graham cracker crumbs and each layer was allowed to freeze before the next was added.

oh! And as the extra added surprise, I decided to make a cherry compote. Frozen cherries and sugar, cooked until jammy. Except, there was a distraction. Haha... yeah. I know. Who would have guessed. Family dinner coming up, who'd guessed I was distracted. Well the compote over-cooked. How much? Let's just say instead of a nice simmer, it went to hard ball stage. So... now instead of cherry compote, I now have created cherry crunch. Not what I wanted originally, but yummy.

Afterward I removed the cake from the pan and peeled back the foil. The cakes of my childhood were always frosted in some way. So I considered a coating of whipped cream. In the end I went with a richer option. Ganache.

Poor Imelda and MonAnge. They panicked as they watched me spreading still slightly warm chocolate (it has to be... or it just won't spread!) over slowly melting ice cream. MonAnge wanted to help... but as time was of the essence, I didn't feel this was a moment for a cooking lesson. We will practice ganache spreading with a cake that stays solid at room temperature.

The cake oozed a bit as I was frosting the sides and the chocolate began to harden quickly. I got everything covered and popped it back into the freezer to save the day. It solidified nicely and kinda pretty too, if I think so myself.

And what did Dad think? Well, he seemed touched that I would MAKE an ice cream cake. It was certainly more rich and luxurious than the ice cream cakes of old. And best of all? Not hard to make.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Fishy Fools

2008-04-01T11:02:00.002-05:00

Image: Chocolate Trading Co.
What kind of fool believes in April Fish?

Well, the French do. And they may have been the originators of the April Fools jokes that are so common on April First.

It turns out that King Charles IX (yes, Fun Daddy, Charles VIII is dead.... Damn you, Monty Python and your Flying Circuses!) decided in 1564 to change the date of the new year from April 1 to January 1. The Catholic Church eventually changed the New Year's date officially in 1582 when it adopted the Gregorian calendar. Those people who didn't learn of or recognize the French government's change were the April Fools.

But the fish? Where did they come in?

Well no one really quite sure.

It is possible that the fish is a reference to leaving the zodiacal sign of Pisces (Feb. 19- March 20). Maybe because for most years, the time after April 1st was part of lent, a time of fasting, or eating fish instead of flesh or fowl. Either way, the French tradition included putting a dead fish on the back of the fool. Stinky? Oh, yes. And hopefully quickly discovered.

Today French children are more likely to use paper fish or stickers and eat fish shaped treats.

What the Blarney is this?

2008-03-17T17:19:00.004-05:00

There is no corn in this beef!

Well, at least not in the pot. And there is a logical reason for that as corn refers more to small kernels or corns of spice. Like... um, peppercorns. or allspice...or kernels of salt. Because at its heart corned beef is a salted dish, brined in fact.

In the last couple of years it has become popular to brine meats before roasting them.. We have brined turkeys a couple of times with great success. But corning? Well, it was something of an adventure. And we, GastroNerds love an adventure.

The brine for corned beef was simple enough... a combination of salt (kosher), brown sugar, water, pickling spice and sodium nitrate (sold as InstaCure No. 1). Yes, I know that nitrates are bad for you, but it is St. Patrick's Day, for the sake of all that is Holy! Live a little.

The salt in the mixture helps draw water out of the meat which decreases the chances that the water will be used as a conduit for introducing bacteria into the meat. The nitrates, mix with the fixed iron in the muscle tissue and help preserve the nice pink color.

Yeah, I know, I could make it just as tasty without the nitrate but pink is my favorite color... and besides, I think the end product would have had that dead grayish color of boiled meat... which is decidedly un-appetizing... so, I think that I will stick with my chemically altered meat.

The point is that the experiment worked and was very tasty. We ate our corned beef with boiled red potatos and cabbage that was coarsely chopped. I know that seems like heresy as even in my childhood, it was deemed a pre-requisite to eat that cabbage as a big wedge. But if you will indulge me for a moment, you will notice that our cabbage has some color... and some texture... which made it awfully tasty. Thanks to Alton Brown for the suggestion. Oh, and as a result of cooking it that way, we avoided the explosion of hydrogen sulfide as it was being expelled by the cabbage leaves. This worked at both ends of the dining process (TMI? Sorry, but everyone farts)

Now for those of you who want to tell me that no self-respecting Irishman would eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, don't get your undies in a bunch. I am aware of this. You would more likely eat stew or a boiled dinner including smoked butt. I know... that is what my "Currie" mother often served us. On the other hand, this is the American tradition, which naturally means that it got screwed up. The Irish wouldn't drink themselves into a stupor (at least, just one night a year), drink green beer (which is revolting) or paint shamrocks on their cheeks at a parade.

They would go to mass.

Still want to be authentic?

Thank you, Thank you

2008-02-18T18:08:00.003-06:00

And You! My adoring public as a modestly accept this coveted award.

For years now, I had hoped to obtain a Poppy and because of you, my dreams have been realized.

Stay tuned for my long awaited veal and sicillian gratin post...

And the very seasonal corned beef and cabbage where we discuss the merits of corning our own beef (thank you very much!)

explain please?

2008-01-15T22:14:00.000-06:00

Why am I obsessed with bread these days?

Granted, I am on a streak...

I am baking like the wind...

if that is a term... I am not even using recipes... I am free fall baking (is that a term?) ok, if it isn't I am defining it by baking generally the same thing with minute variations from day to day. I don't open a cookbook... I don't consult a recipe... I just think about how bread is supposed to go together and behave accordingly...

If I don't have enough water? I add more... I know how the bread dough is supposed to feel and I knead it until it feels right. I doubt that I am a bread savant. I know that a certain amount of flour and yeast and water and salt will yield a certain amount of bread.

My goal? Two nearly perfect non-sourdough baguettes.

I did the best that I could!

I can't help but giggle

2008-01-15T08:11:00.001-06:00

Being a Nerd means that I have been identifying Luis Guzman in movies for years... And frankly I deplore that he was never included in the now defunct Fametracker's "Hey It's That Guy!" column.

However, when I saw this... I had to giggle a bit.

It is awfully good cheese... although if you asked my father, New York State Sharp Cheddar is better...

A baking experiment

2008-01-13T18:07:00.000-06:00

I know, I know...

I am supposed to be using recipes in actual books... but sometimes I can't help myself...

A little flour, a little yeast, some water, olive oil and salt...

What do you have? Bread of course.

And the girlies love it when I make fresh bread... and so today I goofed around again...

2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of unbleached flour
1/4 cup of ground flax seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons of flour

mixed with
1 1/2 cups of warmish water
1/4 cup of unbleached flour
1 package of rapid rise yeast
2 tablespoons of honey

Let the liquids mix together for 10 minutes or so until bubbly.. then pour the entire mess into the dry ingredients. Once they are mixed together pour out onto counter and knead (this dough was stiffer then the last time I made bread... so we will see how it effects the finished product.)

put in an olive oil coated bowl, coating the dough and cover with a damp towel and let rise for 1/2 hour (it is rapid rise yeast after all). After rising pour back onto the counter and cut in half... form into baguettes (that is the kind of pan I have... )slice the tops of the bread to make pretty marks (this makes me feel like I am a real boulanger) and recover with the damp towel and let rest for another 20 minutes...

Pop into a 375 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes or so... or until it looks crusty and smells bready... Oh, and I put a pan of water into the oven too... I think this helps with the crustiness...

I will come back on and tell you how it worked out.

But it smells good and looks pretty good too....

I am going for more of a country bread feel this time... You know of course that riots over bread led to the end of the Marie Antoinette, but did you know at the time the baguettes that we see as "official" French bread were available only to the people of Paris... if you lived in the countryside your bread by law was required to be coarses, harder? In some cases there was virtually no flour used in the bread and often contained ash and sawdust. This was seen as a way to keep the peasants hearty. White bread would make them soft. And brioche? Heaven forbid. Oh, and it was probably brioche that La Reine was speaking of when uttering the famous quotation (or completely made up quotation) that cost the queen her head....

A Moral Dilemna

2008-01-11T13:15:00.000-06:00

Is it right to fool with tradition?

For instance, cassoulet is a wonderful dish from Toulouse and Carcassone in Southwest France that is made of white beans and roasted meats, such as pork, mutton, sausages, bacon, goose and duck. Naturally, something this delicious should cook for four to five hours, not counting the twelve hours needed for the beans to soak overnight.

Seventeen hours... a full day really, to produce a dish full of flavor and tradition.

Or... maybe

Twenty minutes to pre-cook the beans in the pressure cooker, ten minutes to prep and assemble the other ingredients, chicken (I had no duck handy... but this is a dish that varies from village to village, so I think that I am safe on that account), smoked sausage, garlic, green onions, bay, thyme, rosemary, celery tomatoes (canned, diced and sun dried for different flavors), bacon (nature's candy!). I returned the beans to the pot with these ingredients, some home made beef stock (I used up the chicken... must make more this weekend) and turned the Mimi on low pressure for 15 minutes.

Within an hour... Voilà! Semi-authentic Cassoulet.

Now, I am almost afraid of what other long cooking dishes I can accomplish in an hour. And is it the right thing to do? Well, it is certainly delicious!

Good Luck Feast

2008-01-01T20:14:00.000-06:00

New Years Eve has traditionally been a meal where people try to gather good luck for the next year... traditionally (and ironically across cultures) food items that are round (like coins), golden (like... duh, gold) and green (American dollars or the color of the rebirth of the earth) have been considered good luck. Herring is often considered good luck as well... at least it was according to my Bohemian Grandfather, but frankly, I can't work myself up to needing this kind of luck.

Our menu selections?

Filet Mignon with a mushroom sauce (both the mushrooms and filets are round representing coins)
Cheddar cheese risotto (golden color)
Asparagus (green the color or rebirth)
Garbanzo bean salad (golden and round!)

The good thing that I can report was that the meal was delicious and that the broth for both the sauce and the risotto as well as the garbanzos were all prepared in the Mimi!

Oh, and the grownups had some champagne too! And yes, it was really champagne... it came from the Champagne region of France... I know the difference....

Happy New Year!

I have a good reason...

2007-12-30T19:49:00.000-06:00

I know that I said that I wasn't going to disappear again... but I had a really good reason.

See, Fun Daddy's mother, the Angel and Imelda's grandmother died suddenly earlier this month.

We first got the indication that she was unwell before Thanksgiving.. but honestly, Fun Daddy and I assumed that she had an ulcer.... not quite as it turned out.

It was cancer. Lung cancer. Small cell lung cancer. and it had already spread. to her liver.

If you have done any research at the National Cancer Institute's website (and I don't really recommend it unless you have to) you will find that this configuration is lethal... and fast.

And so it was.

By the time that they diagnosed the cancer my MIL had mere days left. We heard on a Friday that she was starting chemo on Monday. Saturday night she was back in the hospital. Sunday afternoon, they asked Fun Daddy to come home.

And we all went. We drove all night, but got there by Monday morning. she was beginning to fail. We went straight to the hospital. She was aware, but unable to talk due to a respirator. But she could still indicate what she wanted or didn't and we could tell that she was pleased to see Fun Daddy and the girls. During the day she did worse and worse. By evening we arranged for a priest to say the Last Rites. By 4 am we were called back to the hospital and by 9:30am on Tuesday she was gone.

sooo... gotta a complaint now? I thought not.

There is a food story here though.

While Fun Daddy was preparing his eulogy.. or words of remembrance according to Grail the Church Lady... and no, I am not making that up... he was thinking of the things that his mom did for him. And naturally, as the lady of the house, one of those things was cooking.

Now truth be told, my mother in law did not really care for cooking. but she accepted that it was her responsibility and took it seriously, if unimaginatively. And odd short cuts abounded in her repetoire . Despite my father-in-laws high blood pressure which should have been a contraindication for processed foods, boxed rices, potatoes and canned vegetables were wild in their menus. But an egg? Bitch, please! no one used those things. So it is a bit odd as far as I can tell.

One thing that I used to notice was that she would use those old Soup Starter kits... dehydrated veggies and bouillion mostly that you mixed with your own meat to creat your own soup. She did it slightly differently though. Her chicken and the soup mix, itself was all cooked together in a pressure cooker. Now this was an old pressure cooker and frankly scared the crap out of me. I had heard enough stories about them to know that if you are unfamiliar you can bloy your kitchen up. I didn't understand how she managed to be so fearless about this monstrosity.... particularly as she was an exceptional fearful woman. But so it went.

And the broth was always amazing. Thick, tastey, almost gelatinous. But still... at what cost of danger.

So I was sticking with my own method... Stock a la crockpot. It worked... and was good.

Still, with my mother-in-laws passing, I started doing a little research on pressure cookers.

And that is when I found a wonder. The electric pressure cooker. Controlled my an even cooking temperature that was automatic.

So this weekend I did it.

I purchased the electric pressure cooker. And tested it out on an old favorite. Chicken stock.

The smell was intense and amazing. The color deep and rich.

And so I introduce to you my new kitchen tool:

The Wilhelmina Neuman Memorial Electric Pressure Cooker... or the Mimi, as I plan to call it for short.

And already it is in use... Chicken Stock, Beef Stock and dehydrated garbanzo beans... cooked from dry in an hour. sigh.

I am looking forward to this.

We gathered together...

2007-11-27T22:58:00.000-06:00

To ask the Lord's blessing...

Ahh, if only the turkey had considered this philosophy... or the cocktail shrimp...

That being said we cook as a family in my kitchen. Things learned? The turkey cooks much faster in convection oven... We had a humongous turkey... in the over 20 lbs variety.. it would have been done in 3.5 hours if we hadn't turned off the convection.

The girls will now and forever more play an important part of the creation of the meal... Their accomplishments this year? The Angel prepared candied sweet potatoes that included mini marshmallows and candied pecans. Imelda? She was in charge of cranberries and is responsible for jellying them.. However there was no Jello Brand Gelatin to be had in her concoction... she used real... plain... Knox Gelatin and fruit and juice.... I have to admit that she was not entirely sure that it would work... yet somehow it did. (Told ya' baby!)

We had good old fashioned mashed potatoes that were peeled and cut within an inch of their past lives... (The Angel likes to use the chef's knife) after being drained they were mixed with butter and cream cheese which I find a bit richer than cream.... They were eaten up quickly. We even had soup... Pumpkin soup, with cumin and coriander and chiles.. very American. The soup was topped with sweet and spicy pecans.

Dad made the stuffing and therefore I am unable to report the actual recipes.. but I can tell you that there were apples and walnuts involved.... oh.. and it was really dressing. Because we are adherents of Alton Brown's belief that stuffing is evil, it is important to point out that our seasoned and damp bread was cooked and served in a container other than the germy uncooked turkey. Why dry out the turkey meat and create a haven for bacteria at the same time? (btw... turkey picture courtesy of the Angel)

My worst dish? steamed asparagus.. I got a little distracted when Dad took over the kitchen for the ending of the cooking...(he taught his grand daughter's how to make gravy AND how to carve a turkey) to say that it got a little over cooked would be an understatement. Eh. So it goes...

My favorite part of the meal was the dessert. In years past, we made too much dessert and ate none of it.... This year we clued in. I made one item. Not a pumpkin or apple pie... but maple. I have to admit that I got the recipe over at Smitten Kitchen. It was a breeze and sooo, so good, that I wish I had some leftover. (tart picture courtesy of Imelda)

As you can see, it turned out to be a pretty good day. Good food and fun with family... Heck, the girls are not even trying to strangle each other in this picture! Can you top that during the Holiday Season? Oh, you probably can... but it is a big deal here! Now all we have to do is get ready for Christmas...

Tea with Nigella

2007-11-18T15:32:00.000-06:00

Yes, that is Imelda and I... at the Ritz Carlton... having tea with Nigella Lawson... She spoke beautifully about love, loss and food... Food and memory of family was the over all theme of her discussion. In particular, how do you create those kinds of memories in your own family when we all lead such busy lives. She described some of her favorite foods from childhood and from her family now and how she manages to keep it all going...

Pointing out that three pre-early teenage kids inevitable means extra mouths to feed, I had to laugh as I recalled the day my girls brought six, yes, SIX girls over for an inpromptu sleepover... Since her children are the same ages as mine, I definitely felt a connection to her. Maybe it is what connects all mothers, or women in general.

She lamented how television and chefs have complicated cooking making it look so precise and complicated when in fact, it can be as simple or as complex as you wish to make your meal.... When told by an editor that she needed to list the amount of parsley that the dish she was writing about should be sprinkled with, she described being completely perplexed. How should SHE know how much parsley the reader at home wants to use. And that is part and parcel what I like about her. It doesn't have to be complicated, nor should it be.

She told a story about coming home at the end and literally wanting to cry at the thought of chopping onions... so she used scallions... just because they are so much easier to chop up. Also she pointed out that when you are hungry at home and want nothing more than roast chicken and mashed potatoes, the last thing you want to see on your plate is eggplant stack. And you know what? She is absolutely correct.

The things that she tends to worry more about are the freshness of the ingredients that she uses when cooking. She will try to use organic if it is available but only worries overly when it comes to eggs and milk as there has sadly been too much cancer in her family. Other than that, she claims to buy her food from the people that know it best. Meat comes from the butcher, fish from the fishmonger... All things that I feel strongly about myself. So I can't argue there...

Cooking at home should be about feeding your family and creating memories together.

I know that Imelda and I won't forget this experience....

Awww, Shucks!

2007-11-12T14:18:00.000-06:00

Cash Advance Loans

Doggies need food too!

2007-11-08T15:05:00.000-06:00

And believe it or not, I made treats for my pooch, Cinnamon.

The ingredients?

Two eggs, a handful of dried parsley, a cup of flour, another of cornmeal, a little garlic and a container of chicken livers. The package that I used was from Perdue Chicken and contained 1.25 lbs. I took all the incredients and poured them into my food processor and whirred them around until it was smooth. The smell was nasty and so was the look of it... but this is for my sweet pooch.

I poured the mixture into a foil lined jelly roll pan and then into a 3750 oven for 25 minutes. And no, the smell did not improve. But Cinnamon went NUTS, so I could tell I was on the right track.

After the treats cooled I cut them with a pizza cutter and placed them into a zip-lock bag where the stench is contained from both man and beast.

But Cinnamon is happy. Hell, she is my slave currently. So I think I did alright by her.

All American Fall Dinner

2007-10-30T22:53:00.000-05:00

I love when it gets cool outside. Why? because then it is time for me to make chili!

Chili is such an American dish.

The main ingredients, beans, tomatoes and chiles, both sweet bell types and dried spicy were all cultivated originally in the Americas.

For my chili, I use black beans, more accurately, black turtle beans, because they are naturally full of antioxidants. A member of the common bean family that has spread through the world to include snap or string beans, shell beans such as the French flagelot and Italian Borlotti, pinto, white, kidney, pink and yellow beans.

Tomatos were also native to Central and South American and have become the most commonly cultivated fruit in the world. Fruit? Vegetable? Eh... It really is a fruit, but we eat it like a vegetable... except for my mother and the Angel... Someday I will look up the picture of the Angel's first tomato.... she ate it straight from the fridge like an apple.... she was 15 months old. Yeah, the diaper rash was wicked.

And crazy is what the Europeans thought the Aztecs were when they saw them eating those tomatoes... See, the conquistadors recognized that the tomato was a member of the deadly nightshade family... along with the eggplant, tobacco, chile peppers and potatoes. But the reality is that the fruit of the tomato is edible.. very edible. I oven roasted some tomatoes by quartering some romas and drizzling them with olive oil, salt and pepper and baking them in the oven until they start to carmelize. The flavor gets sweeter and smokier and are a nice addition to the canned fruit.

The last major ingredient are the chiles. The chile's also a member of those crazy nightshades... but like the tomatos and beans quickly spread throughout the world. We call them peppers, but that was a misnomer that was caused by Columbus... having found chiles when he landed in Santo Domingo, he felt that they must somehow be related to the pepper (piper nigrum, et. al) because of their spiciness. (Also as Columbus had failed to find the gold or other spices that he was tasked to locate, he probably felt that should come home with something that Queen Isabella was hoping to locate!) As sailors began to trade the goods that they found in the New World throughout the Old, these new "peppers" spread. Today, India is the largest producer of chiles (how is that for irony? Columbus searches for India and pepper and finds chiles that are then exported to India who then produces huge numbers of them).

My version of chili includes fresh and dried, mild and spicy peppers.. and because I can't over-spice the chili because of the girls delicate (cough) palates, I ended up adding chili sauce too! My other ingredients include a small amount of finely ground beef (I find that it browns and breaks up better...) onions, a beer (to deglaze the pan after the browning... I like to get all the flavor that I can out of the meat), oregano and then coriander seed and cumin that I grind together in my mortar in pestle.... oh, and my secret ingredient (also of American origin), cocoa powder... it worked for the Aztecs and Maya... it works for me too... Everyone always notices it, but they NEVER know what it is.

Yeah for fall and chili!

Holy cow!

2007-10-18T13:13:00.000-05:00

Has it really been that long since I posted?

That is just crazy.

Well, in all fairness the school year is off going at a whirl and my girlies are not eating the fine school lunches this year.

The national Student Lunch Program was begun in 1946 by President Truman. Lunches are supposed to meet basic guidelines, containing no more than 30% fat and must contain one third of the daily requirements for protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, iron, calcium, and calories. Of course I think that we still allow ketchup as a vegetable, but as it turns out that concept might be smarter than I would normally give Ronald Regan credit for... since the lycopene that is present in tomatos is far more concentrated in ketchup because it is made from tomate paste.

That being said, most school lunches are revolting. At my kids despised them... of course, being middle school/junior high girls they aren't interested in eating anything normal or healthy at the moment. So naturally every day there is an argument... I suppose they are better off eating bread and fruit then nothing...

Talk like a Pirate Day

2007-09-19T22:38:00.000-05:00

Well ok...

I am not going to Talk Like a pirate... But lately I have been drinking like one!

When I was out on Long Island, I stopped at a little local liquor store where I found this strange looking bottle of rum... first off, it was 375ml (thank god, it comes in larger sizes). The gentleman who ran the shop, while applauding my new summer hat (the only hat that I have ever found that looks attractive on me... which is helpful for a person who WANTS to be a hat person) told me that this selection was a genuine sipping rum.

Now, I have heard these claims before. But I have never have truly experienced one.

Well, this is it!

It is sweet and spicy and subtle. I loved it. AArrgh!

Now, I have found another bottle, here in Chicago. And every evening I take a snifter. My one complaint? It is volatilizing much faster than I would have thought. On the plus side though, it makes it sweeter and more liqueur like.

Ahhh... the Pirates life for me!

A meal fit for a Tsar!

2007-09-15T11:53:00.000-05:00

That is what the girls fixed for us last night.

Beef Stroganoff in fact.

So elegant, so tasty... such an old dish...

It turns out that beef braised in sour cream has been a classic part of Russian cuisine since the medieval period. Often the classic dish was flavored with mustard but did not include onions or mushrooms.

In fact, it was not until the fall of Imperial Russia that the dish became popular. It was brought to the U.S. by Russian and Chinese immigrants (where it was a very popular dish) and was served over rice or noodles.

The name Stroganoff is also something of a mystery. We know that Russian dishes are commonly named for the household that the chef worked in rather than the chef himself... So as nearly as we can tell Beef Stroganoff is named after the prominent Russian family.

For my girls, this was one of the first dishes that they learned to make. It gave them pride to be able to tell people that they could make something that sounds so impressive and elegant.

Cupcakes!

2007-09-10T09:55:00.001-05:00

S'more Cupcakes that is!

Inspired by everyone's favorite girl scout camping treat, the first recorded version of the recipe for s'mores appears in the 1927 edition of the Girl Scout Handbook. I created these little nuggets using regular cake mix and mini marshmallows that were dropped into the bottom of the liner cups. After baking the cupcakes per the box directions and letting them cool I dipped each cake in a rich chocolate ganache and then sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs.

Yummy!

Oh, I think that my guests this weekend thought so too... I only have six left of the 48 that I baked!

Whoa!

2007-09-09T21:26:00.000-05:00

You folks must be thinking that I don't eat anymore.

Silly people... trust me. I am as fat as ever.

And I will get back to what I have been doing... over this last month. Really.

In the mean time I am previewing something that I started with my husband, Fun Daddy, or as he prefers to be called, Kevin. He came up with this crazy idea. See, we at Chez Maman drink a bit of wine..

Oh, Ok.. alot of wine. Why not find some way to talk about it online.... See Kevin thinks he can come up with some way that I can at least write off my wine drinking.... Crazy, I know. who would believe that.

In the meantime, feel free to take a look...

VinoVerve

in the meantime, I will be cooking and eating and drinking mostly wine (although today I am onto cheap beer! whhoa!)

Birthday Dinner for Daddy

2007-08-14T21:24:00.000-05:00

We went out for Fun Daddy's birthday. Due to menu related issues, we ended up at a local favorite, Almond. We have eaten here a bunch of times before. It really isn't a place for kids, but they are flexible and have always accomodated our girls. They are good diners after all. Plus they have a lot of side dishes and sandwiches that can appeal to those under the age of 12.

Here are a series of pictures that I took that evening. Fun Daddy felt that the appetizers and side dishes somewhat outshone the main courses, but that is because he did not order the steak frites with bordelaise sauce and marrow. That was outstanding! The girls and my MIL ordered the croque monseigneur... a traditional French sandwich of grilled ham (jambon) and cheese (grueyere). This version was topped with a mornay cheese sauce and served with pickled vegetables. The girls ordered the frites as well.

The wine that we ordered included a provencal rose, Domaine Ott, and the Burgans Albarino. These were very tasty.

The one problem that we did have was our waiter, a beautiful, tattoo'd and sadly somewhat dim asian boy. He brought a glass of the rose instead of the bottle and we waited about half an hour for wine to be brought to us... it was a downside. But at least he was decorative. Sigh.

An old entry

2007-08-10T21:10:00.001-05:00

As I go through my files I find a ton of pictures from before we left for vacation.

Here are some pictures that I took after BlogHer... and I am experimenting with photographing my lunches and dinners...

This lunch was taken at David Burke!

Here we are drinking Kung Fu Girl Riesling.

Tomato Salad

2007-08-10T17:34:00.001-05:00

Now I am really in trouble.

My FIL is asked me to make time honored recipes in this house...

This time? The tomato salad.

It really isn't much of a trick. Chop up some tomatoes.. I use a large dice as you can probably see.. Chop up some basil (I chiffonade.. just because I can). Through on a vinagrette. MIL usually uses olive oil and balsamic vinegar... I added some Dijon mustard, garlic and lemon juice..

Guess who didn't eat any?

Sigh.

Birthday lunch

2007-08-08T14:41:00.001-05:00

Yes, this is Imelda's birthday lunch... table level

We ate at JLX in Sag Harbor and it was lovely... I saved the food pictures for dinner.. which I will post later... but I was practicing my food photography...

How is it coming along?

Now I am in trouble...

2007-08-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

We are out on Long Island and we will be here for a couple of weeks...

My mother-in-law has a limited repetoire of dishes, but they are all considered classics within the family. Therefore, I screw with them not.

Or at least we don't talk about it.

Or we didn't.

Until Fun Daddy spilled the beans last night. Literally.

See one of those classic dishes is the green bean salad. The recipe was originally that of Fun Daddy's Boma. Everyone spoke highly of it... but especially when Boma made it. But, she passed away in 1991. Since then, the salad has been the sole domain of my MIL and it is lovely and tasty.

She hand frenches green beans (haricots vertes) from the market... cooks them, drains them, cools them, adds chopped shallots and parsley and then dresses them with a vinagrette of white vinegar and olive oil. It really is quite tasty.

Over the past six months or so I have been goofing around with the recipe. Why? Because I can and that is what I do.

First I cheat by buying frozen frenched green beans. Frenching them by hand, while an act of love, is not something I would put my time into. Instead of simmering, I blanche the beans... not so much that they are the greenish grey of a canned green bean, but the bright and crunchy green that says, "Wow! See how fresh I am?" (please note that Boma's beans were also unmercifully cooked as well... and NO. I am not speaking ill of the dead, but of the dead's food... slightly different, I believe).

After blanching them, the beans are immediately plunged into a bowl of ice cold water...Yes, I have THAT much ice these days...no more running the cold water for me! This stops the cooking process and keeps the color of the vegetables.

I throw the finished vegetables into a bowl and add chopped shallots (or green onions, or red onions, or yellow onions... you get the idea), the chopped parsley and then toss on my own home-made vineagrette which tends to vary but generally includes:

2 T. Dijon mustard
2 T. Sherry vinegar (red wine vinegar or verjus work too, I prefer the oomph of the sherry)
a pinch of french thyme
some garlic powder,
sea salt and black pepper to taste
and 3T. olive oil.

These go into a covered jar and are shaken until emulsified.

Pour over the beans and toss... serve immediately before the vinegar start changing the color of the beans and making them look grey as if I had cooked them for a hour anyway!)

Personally, I like my version better. But I would never say that... it isn't nice to top your hostess... Not that this stopped Fun Daddy. Sigh.

No wonder the woman never eats anything that I cook.

BlogHer07

2007-07-28T09:56:00.000-05:00

I am here!

And it is amazing... you can't shake a stick without hitting a food blogger here. Not that I would do that.

Today I am going to learn how to hone my skills... (Assuming that I have any to being with...) and to learn to take better food photos

Squidtastic!

2007-07-25T12:27:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love a good fish story..

I know I can't!

And this one was bloody irresistable!

This is what I saw this morning from the Associated Press:

Voracious Jumbo Squid Invade California
- - - - - - - - - - - -
July 25,2007 | MONTEREY, Calif. -- Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday.

An aggressive predator, the Humboldt squid -- or Dosidicus gigas -- can change its eating habits to consume the food supply favored by tuna and sharks, its closest competitors, according to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

"Having a new, voracious predator set up shop here in California may be yet another thing for fishermen to compete with," said the study's co-author, Stanford University researcher Louis Zeidberg. "That said, if a squid saw a human they would jet the other way."

The jumbo squid used to be found only in the Pacific Ocean's warmest stretches near the equator. In the last 16 years, it has expanded its territory throughout California waters, and squid have even been found in the icy waters off Alaska, Zeidberg said.

Zeidberg's co-author, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute senior scientist Bruce Robison, first spotted the jumbo squid here in 1997, when one swam past the lens of a camera mounted on a submersible thousands of feet below the ocean's surface.

More were observed through 1999, but the squid weren't seen again locally until the fall of 2002. Since their return, scientists have noted a corresponding drop in the population of Pacific hake, a whitefish the squid feeds on that is often used in fish sticks, Zeidberg said.

"As they've come and gone, the hake have dropped off," Zeidberg said. "We're just beginning to figure out how the pieces fit together, but this is most likely going to shake things up."

Local marine mammals needn't worry about the squid's arrival since they're higher up on the food chain, but lanternfish, krill, anchovies and rockfish are all fair game, Zeidberg said.

A fishermen's organization said Tuesday they were monitoring the squid's impact on commercial fisheries.

"In years of high upwellings, when the ocean is just bountiful, it probably wouldn't do anything," Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "But in bad years it could be a problem to have a new predator competing at the top of the food chain."

I think it sounds like something that you would see on a poster from a bad horror film from the 1950s but it is true. The Jumbo, or Humboldt Squid is increasingly being found in more northern waters outside of its normal range. The squid also known as the Red Devil (diablo rojo) because of the chromatophores in its skin which are used to communicate with other squid. Squids communicating you ask? Since they are found in schools as large as 1,200 individuals, they better be able to communicate. Especially since they will become cannabalistic.

The problem with them migrating into the cooler waters to the north? Well, they have disrupted the local fishing methods. But it isn't a total loss since they are commercially fished themselves. I remember seeing them for the first time at my local fishmonger, The Fishguy and wondering how they managed to find such large squid... and now of course, I know the answer. I am planning to make something with them really soon. Something that seems really red devil-ish...

Maybe, Red Devil Fra Diavolo? Yummy!

The jumbo squid is fished commercial

Do you really need to ask why they call me a NERD?

2007-07-20T18:22:00.000-05:00

Because I can win free drinks by outscoring YOU on an online trivia game!

That is why!

Yes, I outscored the owner of the restaurant that I ate lunch today, Hops & Barley and played a little Buzz Time... Then I see the magic words... win a free drink if you can outscore Presto! Presto's high score? 12,610.

15 Questions? 1000 points apiece... Yeah. I can do that. And I did.

Luckily many of the questions were food or history related. I breezed through the question about marscapone. I laughed out loud when I encountered the question about Karl Linne...

In the end?

13,002.

Enough for the cocktail of my choice! Naturally I picked one that has been the topic of the week at my house... Once I found that the kids all give each other virtual cocktails on Facebook, and my daughter has received several Sex on the Beaches.. I knew that was the cocktail for me.

Sorry for the bad picture of it. My glee made me giddy. Nothing tastes as good as free liquor!

Sex on the Beach

2 parts (4.0 cl) Vodka
1 parts (2.0 cl) Peach Schnapps
2 parts (4.0 cl) Orange juice
2 parts (4.0 cl) Cranberry juice
Mix and pour into a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with an orange slice.

Taking a Flight for Lunch

2007-07-15T18:26:00.000-05:00

Fun Daddy and I love to eat out

stop snickering those of us who know us... yes, it is obvious.

Usually though, we have trouble getting out of the neighborhood for lunch. Mes filles are getting older though and able to stay in the house for a couple of hours without burning the place down or practicing their knife skills on each other. (knock on wood)

This week we stopped for lunch at David Burke's Primehouse. This restaurant has been the site of many a family dinner. Dinner that have been blog worthy (see Maman) because of both the food and the hospitality.

This last week we enjoyed a special that they running at the restaurant. They called it the
it 777 Luncheons. 7 Wines from 7 regions for $7. I was there for Spain day and loved it!

We started out with a Llopart Rose Brut Reserva Cava. It was light and full at the same time, rich with fruit. Then we moved on to a Do Ferreiro Albarino Rias Baixas, a white from Galicia that was dry and tasty but a trifle light for me during a meal. But I can imagine drinking it at a summer party.

Then came our favorite. The Bodegas Vizcarra Ramos "Roble" Ribera del Duero, it was full bodied and smooth and so tasty that we were very sorry to see the end of it. To balance this out was a fuller tempranillo in the more typical and macho style, the Rotllan Torra "Reserva" Priorat. The Vinas del Cenit was wonderful and tasty... a complete delight.

Finally was the Jorge Ordonez Malaga wine. This wine I loved as much for the taste as the story behind how it is created. Apparently this section of Spain is so dry that the grapes are allowed to dry. Don Ordonez has 5 different levels. The wine that we drank was a level one! Unlike other wines of this type there is no botrytis involved to sweeten/dry the grapes because it is too dry to develop mold. The wine was wonderful. It was sweet and delicious without being cloying.

Over all the wine flight to Spain was amazing and better yet? All the proceeds went to charity, Common Threads. Their mission is is to educate children on the importance of nutrition, physical well-being and to to teach them to appreciate the world's culture by experiencing their food.

Just for the taste of it

2007-07-08T14:11:00.000-05:00

Blech

Diet Coke Plus.

It sounded like a good idea to me.

vitamins and that sweet, sweet nectar...

Sigh.

Alas, it was not to be.

Instead of that bubbly sweetness that I have come love... nay, crave... I got a heavy froth.... Ok, I thought, but I am getting tasty vitamins in this mix.

And was I!

Since that was the aftertaste, which was like tasting ass.

It was like chewing a multi-vitamin the trying desperately to wash it down with a tasty delicious Diet Coke.

I think I will swallow my vitamin and drink my Diet Coke separately from now on...

Dinner Party

2007-06-27T13:31:00.001-05:00

Yes, we are taking the first step. Entertaining on the small scale.

Yeah right.

So naturally, we invited two other couples to join us for dinner.

We never do anything the slow and easy way.

Of course, one of the couples run our favorite Japanese restaurant, Katsu, Katsu Imamura and his wife, Haruko Romanoff. The other couple, old friends from college and my husband's business partner, Sanj and Sapna Rathi. Definitely a group with high expectations about the quality of food that they eat.

What to fix? Something that I can do well, obviously.

So this is how it went:

Appetizers (served with Bellinis):

Buckwheat blini with Sno frisk cheese and smoked salmon
Goat cheese and teriyaki mushroom melange in phyllo (I use those little cups)

a composed salad course:

blueberries, toasted hazelnuts and Black Diamond cheddar cheese crumbles over vinagrette tossed baby greens. (yes, the vinagrette was home made... basil oil, olive oil, sherry vinager and dijon mustard mixed with salt, pepper and garlic powder)

Main course:

Allen Brothers New York strips cooked to perfection on the indoor grill (and for once we did not set off the fire alarm)

Lemon risotto (I use lots of lemon so it is tangy and carnoroli rice)

Roasted red and golden beets, glazed with a reduction of dry riesling, flavored with coriander seeds, lemon peel and white pepper

Dessert:

Individual Cherry Almond Clafoutis

I have to say, it all turned out pretty well. Our old friends, Sanj and Sapna and our new friends, Katsu and Haruko all got on well together and everyone enjoyed the dinner. Like any dinner party at Chez Maman, the wine flowed as did the conversation.

Shortly after midnight our guests departed and we relaxed knowing that we managed our first official dinner party with aplomb.

Bad Pie Baker

2007-06-23T16:43:00.000-05:00

Yes...

I am such a bad maker of Bad Baby Pie that I forgot to post a picture of my end results. Here it is in its various stages of development... Prebake. With the smoked ham front and center, (I used a 1/4 inch slice of black forest ham from Sara Lee which was then cubed.

Next is imediately post baking. Man, that is one tall pie! Yes, the premade (yeah, I am a cheater, what of it?) crust could not contain the bad baby-ness of this pie. It even took the crust with it, proving what a bad baby it is!

Lastly is the pie served up... the crust of the cheese was absorbed into of the pie... mmmm, tasty. That is one bad baby pie!

Cruel Food

2007-06-16T16:34:00.000-05:00

My daughter has become a vegetarian (again... we'll see how long it lasts this time). And with the zeal of the newly converted she has begun lecturing me about the utter cruelty of meat. Naturally her sources are the unimpeachable PETA and other similar organizations with axes to grind and propaganda to spread.

But what is cruel food?

Meat in general? Even those that are raised sustainably on their natural diets? Or Kosher or Halal slaughter which requires the fastest and most painless death for the subject animal as well as offering prayers to the god and thanks to the animal for the gift of its life.

What about eating animals that we consider beautiful or live with as pets? Guinea pigs were raised as food in the Andes. Horses are eaten in France. Rabbits are consumed world wide. Is their cruelty based on our sense of the cuteness of the animal or true cruelty?

Is it formula fed veal raised in boxes? What about veal fed grain and hay (which Julia Child felt should be more appropriately called calf), what about milk fed veal that live in pens instead of crates?

And foie gras, which is currently banned here in Chicago? This is an ancient method employed as far back as 2500 BCE to prepare fowl. Of course the process for creating foie gras isn't performed over the entire lifespan of the goose or duck, but rather the last 12-18 days before slaughter.. so does that make foie gras less cruel than veal?

Or what about the traditional method for preparing ortolan? Ortolan or French Buntings are caught and either raised in the dark or blinded, force fed oats, millet and figs until they reach four times their normal size. At that point they are drowned in armagnac (or cognac), roasted whole for 6-8 minutes then eaten whole, bones and all. The eater covers his head with a cloth, most likely his or her napkin in order to preserve the aroma, or as is believed by some to hide their cruelty from the sight of god.

But who is to say that vegetarianism is without its cruelty?

Jains believe that they must protect plants from harm and as a result eat only plant products that will not kill the plant by their use. You may harvest a 1,000 oranges without killing the tree, but eating one carrot will uproot and kill the entire plant. As a result Jains abstain from root vegetables.

As for myself, I am content with the knowledge that I am not separate or superior to the world around me. I am an animal and will work to meet my own needs for food in the most efficient manner possible. As a thinking being, however, I will do what I can to lessen the pain of those beings that I consume, but pain is indeed part of life. As is death. Animals would certainly do to us, what we do to them if they had the understanding or capacity to do so.

Boston Tea Part, Part Deux

2007-06-14T10:16:00.000-05:00

HA!

I am vindicated further....

I was reading an account of the Boston Tea Party in History Bites, by Judith Millidge and discovered the morning after the Tea Party, one of the "revelers", George Hewes (1742-1840, shoemaker, militiaman, privateer), reported that the boxes of tea dumped the previous evening were seen floating in the harbor and boats we dispatched to make sure that the tea sank in order to make it unusable.

Additionally, he fought with another 'patriot' to make sure that the other man did not steal some of the cheap british tea for his own personal use.

I want pie!

2007-06-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, I want it in the worst way... See, I saw the movie, Waitress, and now I am filled with longing for the pies that Jenna (played by Keri Russell) makes for her family, friends and lover..

I Don’t Want Earl’s Baby Pie (then renamed Bad Baby Pie)
Quiche of egg and brie cheese with a smoked ham center
Kick In The Pants Pie
Cinnamon spice custard
I Hate My Husband Pie
“You take bittersweet chocolate and don’t sweeten it. You make it into a pudding and drown it in caramel…”
Baby Screaming It’s Head Off In The Middle Of The Night And Ruining My Life Pie New York style cheesecake, brandy brushed, pecans and nutmeg…
Earl Murders Me Because I’m Having An Affair Pie
“You smash blackberries and raspberries into a chocolate crust.”
I Can’t Have No Affair Because It’s Wrong And I Don’t Want Earl To Kill Me Pie
“Vanilla custard with banana. Hold the banana…”
Pregnant Miserable Self Pitying Loser Pie
“Lumpy oatmeal with fruitcake mashed in. Flambé of course…”

I even want the pies that are named but not described:

Marshmallow Mermaid Pie (created during Jenna's mermaid phase)
Falling in Love Pie (there is some sort of chocolate in it that is all I can tell)
Naughty Pumpkin Pie

Sadly, there is no way to know how these pies were envisioned since the writer/director of the film, Adrienne Shelley was murdered in her apartment in NYC in November 2006. I guess I will just have to use my imagination.

I will be starting with Bad Baby Pie... and will report on its outcome in due course.

HELP!

2007-06-08T22:59:00.000-05:00

Can someone tell me if anyone in Chicago (or a reasonable drive from there) a store that has IN STOCK Bradley Smoker Bisquettes...

I bought Fun Daddy a smoker for Fathers Day that arrived early (and was too large to hide) but it did NOT come with any bisquettes... and now we are on a quest.

GRRRRR

Maman's Summer Camp

2007-06-08T22:40:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is summer vacation Chez Maman...

You might be wondering what this has to do with gastronomy or nerdiness. Well, I am getting to it!

See with mes filles now running amuck, I had to come up with something to do with them... So I have Camp Maman. Part summer school, part field trips and part hands on lessons. As we completed our first week at camp we had our first hands on day and even picked up an extra camper... The Angel's friend, Frieda.

Their assignment today?

A home ec lesson of sorts. Gather supplies for a well balanced dinner for four that costs under $5.00.

It was an adventure. Explaining unit prices, exchanging more processed, higher priced items for less processed and cheaper choices. Showing them how to estimate their costs using the scales in the store.

At the end of the trip only one camper pulled off the challenge. Frieda! Her meal of roasted drumsticks and herb vinagrette potato salad came in at $4.65. What did they learn? Food costs more than they give it credit for. But also, that you can feed yourself and you family nutritious food inexpensively. You just have to think about what you are doing.

I can't wait to hear how her meal was received at home... and to find out how the Angel and Imelda's meals turn out.

Ever have one of those nights?

2007-06-06T12:58:00.001-05:00

You know the type... You are tired and angry and want to lie in bed watching your favorite shows (mine are all on the Discovery Channel) and sip a nice cold libation?

Yeah, I had one of those last night...

I tried this out after finding it at the local fruit market...

It was lovely and refreshing. I wonder how mint got to South America? Is it one of those herbs that kind of grows everywhere or was it brought by the Spanish... hmmm, things to ponder.

All righty... the dorky side got the better of me...mint has a subcosmopolitan distribution (you find it almost everywhere) and is a good companion plant to both peppers and tomatos.

and the mojito was cuban and Hemingway's second favorite drink after the daiquiri...

On the menu

2007-06-05T12:06:00.000-05:00

This morning I fixed cinnamon ginger french toast and papaya agua fresca to the sleepover crowd at my house...

I am really beginning to get the hang of this stove thing... other than the grill portion, which sets off the fire alarm at an alarming rate...(Yes, it is always something with me).

Anyway, I am planning on writing more regularly now that I have pulled things here together (somewhat anyway).. in the meantime, here are some of the first meals that we have enjoyed!

Where have I been?

2007-06-03T18:19:00.000-05:00

Oh, I know that it has been a while...

But I had an excuse.. really.

I have been moving into the house with the wonder kitchen!

And cooking! Really! More on that later... in the meantime, I do have some interesting news...

Fun Daddy and I attended the end of season event for WTTW's, show, Check, Please! Even better, Fun Daddy and I managed to score VIP tickets courtesy of our friend, Barry.

Wow! Great food. Great drinks. I mean, really, people! Kumquat Mojitos? Margaritas made with vanilla and pineapple infused vodka? Oy! Those were amazing.. as was the Pisco sour and the real sangria served from a porron! All while listening to the stylings of the Orbert Davis Trio!

But even better was the food... All the restaurants that had been featured on the show participated...
Making the food, well, amazing!

The restaurants there were:

Café Lucci
Café Matou
Café Trinidad
Carlos' Restaurant
Carnivale
Chef's Station
Flo
Haro
Hema's Kitchen
Honey 1 BBQ
Japonais
La Pasadita
Las Palmas
Le Lan
Le Titi de Paris
Manny's Coffee Shop and Deli
May St. Café
Moto Restaurant
Myron & Phil's
Palermo's 95th
Papillon
Paprikásh
Russian Tea Time
Saloon Steakhouse
Santorini
SushiSamba Rio
Taste of Peru
Terragusto
Tre Kronor
Victory's Banner
Yassa

YUM!

Naturally we enjoyed every minute. And when you enjoy things you have too much fun for words... that means Fun Daddy and I hit the silent auction tables with gusto!

We assumed that we would have to be aggressive with seasoned charity event goers. We had learned this from the Lycee... as it turns out, the French school parents gave us the baptism by fire! 'Cuz we cleaned up at the auction...

We managed to score a barbeque, a pretty grand one that will be hooked up next week or so, a painting by Liz Tuckwell, entitled Window on the World (after WTTW), I will be working for an afternoon (and possibly, evening as chef's help at Carlo's in Highland Park. Oh and best of all?

I won the raffle!

Three of the raffle spots were to win an audition for Check, Please!... Not even an actual chance to be on the show! But me? I won the right to be the bartender on the show. Yes. I will be filling the glass of Alpana Singh (The second Rajput Singh I know! and the Youngest Master Sommelier EVER!!!) I have met Ms. Singh a couple of times, and I have always loved chatting with her. She is smart, funny and other wise amusing.

I am SO looking forward to being on the show.

What could be better for a foodie like me?

Nothing!

Salad? Groovy!

2007-05-05T13:19:00.000-05:00

I was finishing up my kid-cooked dinner of hot dogs and buttered macaroni last night. But I needed a little something more. So, after searching the fridge and finding slim pickings (we are cleaning out the fridge and pantry in anticipation of the return to the auld sod), I turned to a childhood favorite.

Salad.

And not just any kind of salad. Chopped iceberg lettuce and the dressing of my choice. In this case, red wine vinaigrette.

As I chewed through my cool crunchy treat, I thought about the lowly iceberg lettuce and wondered if it had ever had any respect?

And the truth is? Not really. Not outside the United States anyway. Within the U.S., iceberg lettuce was the epitome of 1950's, 1960's American culture. Readily available, uncomplicated and bland.

Outside? well kind of the same thing. We all enjoyed it, albeit from a guilty pleasure standpoint. Otherwise, we get to make fun of it.

But here is the thing.

Lettuce is wild!

It's antecedents were full of trouble.

For instance, Herodotus, Father of History, tells a story about Persian kings were serving salads at state dinners in the 5th and 6th century BCE. But when do you serve the salad? At the beginning of the end of the meal? Well, there seemed to have been a debate about it even in the ancient world. The Greeks, Romans and Egyptians all believed that salad induced sleep and therefore should be eaten at the end of the meal. But there were others that felt that lettuces stimulated appetites and even male virility (think fast bolting plants and dripping white liquids).

That liquid? Well it is a milky chemical called lactucarium, or lettuce opium. And it is a mild psychotropic, sedative and analgesic. For this reason, the Emperor Domitian would service salads at the beginnings of his state dinners in order to torture his guests as falling asleep in the presence of the Emperor would be the height of rudeness.

And lettuce opium? When reduced it forms a smokable paste that has been used in the U.S. since 1799.

Maybe that is what Leona’s was thinking of when they named their salad the Psychedelic Salad.

Either way, it is groovy, man.

Activate

2007-05-03T20:51:00.000-05:00

Wonder Kitchen powers... ACTIVATE!

I had to spend a lot of time in house today waiting for the Empire Carpet man to give me a hosing, um.... cough, estimate for a basement full of berber carpeting.

So after, measuring every window and closet in the place, I started goofing around in my kitchen. Stupid stuff. How to turn on the water in my complicated faucet... Yes, I figured it out.

Then I started in on the refridgerator... Or, more specifically, the ice maker, which has been an obsession for Fun Daddy. Is the water hooked up properly? Maman? Can you check on that? Well, consider the matter settled. I opened the door of the fridge side, pressed the button that says "ICE" and listened to the sound of water running into the system. Yes, it was that simple. A couple of hours later? Cubes! CUBES!!!!!

This left one final test... Yes, I did it.

I turned on the stove. Oh, that blue flame was beautiful...

I want to cook on it!

NOW!

My Shame

2007-04-29T22:17:00.000-05:00

I can't help this...

It really isn't worthy of me posting... but I can't help it.

I am watching Food Network. And turned in to see Bobby Flay's Throwdown. For those of you that know me, you know that I don't have a high opinion of Bobby Flay. This was confirmed in my brain when he was handed a victory over Masaharu Morimoto and then jumped up on his cutting board and knives... up until that moment, Flay whined like a pussy every time something didn't go his way.

Be that as it may...

This is totally unrelated.

Really. I swear.

But as I was watching his throwdown with Jasper Alexander... and what did I see?

MAN BOOBS!

Prominent

Distinct

Stacked.

That is all...

Liquid Gold

2007-04-28T21:18:00.000-05:00

We had this recently at David Burke... Liquid gold is the only correct description.

Cool design!

2007-04-23T22:32:00.000-05:00

I love cool looking stuff and this certainly qualifies.

I am not entire entirely certain why I would need a these devices to be able to roll down the table but can appreciate it that it does.

The only problem with this item? The cost -- around $140.

If you can figure out what it is and what it is for you can order this at Grand Illusions.

Yummy Soda

2007-04-22T22:58:00.000-05:00

We were at the favorite Mexican place tonight… Imelda order the Jarrito with the tamarindo flavor. I asked one of the Marias (Maria Elena, specifically) how it is tamarind became both a Mexican and Asian flavor. She was surprised to find that it was popular in Asia as well… Well, it is in Thailand, Fun Daddy and I told her…. There must be some connection.

And it turns out that there is… it is native to Africa.. particularly to Madagascar’s dry tropical forests.. and is wild in the Sudan… of course, geographically speaking Madagascar is a hop, skip and a jump to Asia… Particularly to India…

With the Portuguese so active in trading with India tamarind was eventually brought to Europe. Inevitably ending up being introduced into the Americas… especially Mexico and the Caribbean. In Mexico, tamarind is a popular flavoring in candies and sodas…. Like the Jarrito enjoyed by Imelda tonight. Although I have to say, that I find the link to Sino-Peruvian food flavored with tamarind even more interesting.. Which direction did the flavor get to South America from? From Asia with it obvious tamarind influences or from the European Spanish population…

I guess I will have to keep checking.

Can Any One Explain This?

2007-04-22T17:07:00.000-05:00

My 10 year old, Imelda gets a stomach ache every time she has a soda lately (pop or Coke for the rest of you, just to eliminate arguments). Well, almost.

See it turns out that she can drink Mexican sodas all night long (Which is NOT allowed). The Mexican sodas, Jarritos for example, are made with cane sugar. Not the high fructose corn syrup that American sodas use.

Has anyone else out there experienced stomach trouble from this stuff? Or is it just a coincidence?

Our Austro-Hungarian Feast.

2007-04-21T23:16:00.000-05:00

I went to the grocer the other day looking for ingredients for the weekend and found beautiful veal cutlets. Generally speaking we end up making veal parmesean but I really wanted to do something different. So instead we made weiner schnitzel and spatzle with a paprika gravy.

Honestly, I prepare the veal the same way whether it is for parmesean or schnitzel... first it is flattened a bit. This is done by Imelda who uses the marble mortar. For some reason, I find this a much better tool than one of those stupid mallets and it certainly has some heft behind it... then I just coat the piece in seasoned bread crumbs and then pan fried. Simple.

What we were concerned about during this dinner was the side dish... The spatzle.

Why?

Well because we made them from scratch. I had been convinced that this was a doable dish. and it turned about to be the case. Like everything that I cook, I looked up a recipe and then screwed around with it. In this case, we figured that the recipe was too big. I really didn't need spatzle for six.. That sounded like enough mini dumplings for an army and given the results that we got, I stick by that answer.

My version called for 2 eggs, 3/4 of a cup of milk, salt and pepper and 1 1/2 cups of flour that are combined with a wooden spoon until combined. Then the mess sits in the fridge for about an hour. So far so good. When it was time to cook my little dumplings of joy, I got a pot of water (salted of course) to a rolling boil...(Please note: on the stove in this rental this takes about 45 minutes... when my Btu dreams are fulfilled in about a week, I hope to decrease this time to about... um five minutes.)

Then the fun began.

In my imagination I expected to take the dough, load it into my potato ricer loaded with the biggest holed disc that I can find, push it through the disc and slice it off every 1/4 inch or so. Great plan, eh?

Well not exactly since the cutting process makes the dough stick together..yuck. It kind of works but it is kind of messy. 'Kay... lets try again... Now I try again but push the dough through and kind of jiggle the dough as it stretches and finally breaks off from the ricer.

The end result? Something a bit longer than I expected... BUT.... completely normal looking! WHEE! They were scooped out of the pot, drained and tossed into the pan that we cooked the veal in.. Traditionally spatzle are panfried with bread crumbs... So this worked. As you can see, they almost look edible (in my humble opinion)

This feast was served with a quick paprika gravy that was made of paprika, tomato paste and olive oil, mixed with veal stock (yes.. I cheat.. I use veal glace that I keep in my fridge.. and water... once it is cooked down a bit? I added a cup of sour cream. The thing I forgot? SALT I forgot that the glace has none... This is a pain the butt for me.. but the glace is really good.. it is just me that is stupid and forgets... or too lazy to make my own veal stock.. the choice is yours.

The fact is that dinner was amazing. so good. I expected Imelda, my 10 year old, to be enthusiastic about it as she helped cook it.. but she was overwhelmed by the flavor. Fun Daddy sang its praises also (although he sat watching Imelda and I cook.... The Angel? At the movies.)

What can I recommend? Take that trip between Budapest and Wein.. Try the schnitzel with spatzle and gravy.

The Boston Tea Party Was a Lie

2007-04-18T17:05:00.000-05:00

Yeah,

You heard me!

It was.

Just like George Washington and his cherry tree, this American myth needs to be shot down too.

Turns out the Sons of Liberty were not protesting the tea tax, they were saving their lucrative tea smuggling operation. See some of the Sons, specifically John Hancock, was illegally importing tea from the Dutch East Indies Company, bypassing British Customs and selling the tea in the 13 original colonies. Sweet eh?

Now, there was a tea tax and there was a protest. And it was working. With the illegal tea available at cheaper prices the colonists had all but ceased purchasing tea through legal sources. We win! YEAH!!!!

Except for one little problem.

The British East India Company was not thrilled to have all this extra tea available in their warehouses. So they cut their prices. LOW.... So low, that the price of tea was now below the pre-tax price. How low was that? Lower than Hancock and Co. could afford to import illegal tea for. (and yes, I know that sentence is ungrammatical)

And that is how is the Boston Tea Party came to happen. It didn't occur to stop the British from selling OVER-PRICED tea to the American colonists... It happened to stop the American colonists from buying CUT-RATE-priced tea.

Think of that the next time you want a spot...

Thank Biggie for making me remember that story and enjoy your trip to Bean-town! Maybe you too can be banned from the Freedom Trail.

Delmonico

2007-02-10T01:07:00.000-06:00

Ahhh what a meal.. the room was lovely but loud!

I started with the foie gras special served with an empanada of boursin cheese and blackberries... it was delightful beyond words and sorely missed... this foie gras ban in Chicago is for the birds... and I don't mean the ducks and geese. I enjoyed this with a sauternes. Fun Daddy started with a glass of pinot noir and steak tartare... oh yummy.

For dinner? Well Fun Daddy had the tourenedos of beef with garlic mashed potatoes and and red pepper sauce.. oh with a couple of gently fried shrip on the side... Me? I went traditional.. the bone-in Delmonico steak (my favorite cut) with Emeril's own special rub on it! Bam! What a tastey treat.

For dessert? Fun Daddy went with the Banana cream pie and a lovely port (ruby of course) I had pear tarte with gingerale icecream. oh.. and Calvados... a 1948 Coeur de Lion... sigh.

Glory Halleluia!

2007-02-03T16:31:00.001-06:00

We have titles!

2007-01-03T16:56:00.000-06:00

Hmmm Still no titles.. How odd.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b8/BeefCutTenderloin.png/300px-BeefCutTenderloin.png

2006-12-17T22:48:00.000-06:00

Hmmm, can't figure out why I can't get a title on this... but my theory is that this blog, despite its youth should have a recurring column called "Food of Our Fathers". Why? Because, we have all grown up with food that we thought sucked. For those of us who still tremblingly step up to the plate and try to recreate those dishes that we despised (perhaps as an effort to torture/and/or impart our heritage on our children.. or maybe it is just me...) and discovered that cooked correctly, the food of our forebearers wasn't as nasty as it was in our childhood memories.

How did I come to this conclusion?

I will tell you...

My childhood was filled with sauerkraut. Everything soaked in brine and cooked within an inch of its life. To top it off, it was always a sickly grey that is associated with the acid that spends too much time in close contact with protein.

How often was this kind of meal served?

Well not as often as it was eaten by my Great Aunt Mary when serving it to her baby brother, my Great Uncle Gus, i.e, twice a week. Yes, Aunt Mary was a conneisuer of Short Ribs and Kraut. In my family, the meat of choice tended to be pork... often included hot dogs or smoked butt (no laughing allowed.. smoke butt is a real food) No surprise there as my Dad was a salesman for Tobin Packing Company the best damn hot dog on the east coast along with everyother kind of meat, smoked or otherwise.

But sauerkraut? That was the German side of me.. or was it?

For many a year, I labored under the delusion that my father's family was German. This was easy as it matched the admittedly German side of my mother's family.. the Laiers or Layers as it was later termed. Lots of potatoes, pork and kraut for them.. In fact, my Mom has a story of getting sick eating too much kraut out of the barrel in the basement.

But my Miller family?

Well German is the simple answer. But it is incomplete. After years of listening to my grandfather, Gene sing "Silent Night" in German and "The Marseillaise" in French, it clicked in me.. that all this talk of Strasbourg as the "Auld Sod" meant one thing... We were not German, but Alsatian. And the quintessential meal for an Alsatian family is Choucroute Garni!

Now all the Kraut made sense!

Choucroute is the French version of Saurkraut! Chou meaning cabbage and croute.. well I guess means kraut.. whatever that means. Sauer? that is easy.. sour.. and that makes sense since the cabbage is pickled in a brine of salt.. Sauer Kraut is amazingly simple to make. It is shredded cabbage layered with salt. Really... it is that simple. The salt should not have iodine.. so pickling salt, or kosher salt are required. Sea salt, while generally my favorite salt to use in cooking will not work as that iodine is a natural part of sea salt. (Sorry being a nerd, I will no doubt have further to say about salts... and not just table salt (NaCl).

Now, have I tried this recipe? No.. but I mean too.. and I will, I promise.. so I will tell you if I manage to kill myself or actually make sauerkraut.

Now here is the trick.. when I ate kraut as a girl, it was out of a can or jar...poured right into a pot.

As it turns out that is considered wrong. At least according to the semi-French recipes that I have seen. In those recipes, the kraut is rinse in water.. squeezed dry, thrown into a pot with dry wine and spices (usually juniper berries) and cooked with the assorted pig parts of your choice.

Now, here is a news flash. I don't keep juniper berries in the pantry. Because I have never seen them? Fuck no.. cuz I hate the way they smell. They remind me of gin. A liquor I can;t drink.

Sadly though, Fun Daddy likes that crap so it is in the house.. As a result I put a splash in the cabbage... and by splash, I mean like a quarter cup. The rest of the liquid was dry vermouth, which I buy by the almost gallon most cheaply and should and could be substituted anytime you see the words "dry white wine".

So vermouth, gin, kraut... nice. ok fine, I added some French thyme too.. kill me, I can't help myself.. I like the way it smells. It makes me happy.

what else.. there should be meat too.. so I included smoked pork chops, and kielbasa. Oh and some boiled potatos. Serve them up with the mustard of your choice.

Holy cripes... this is not your mother's kraut!