Chef

Iron Chef Recap Monday!

2010-02-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Iron Chef America
Season Four Episode One
Iron Chef: Mario Batali
Challenger: Chris Cosentino
Battle Garlic

In his introduction, AB says that Chris Cosentino is head chef at Incanto (making his specialty Italian food) in San Francisco, and participates in endurance bike racing in his spare time. Sounds…fun?

Heh, awesome. When asked which Iron Chef Chef Cosentino wanted to use to “test his skills”, Chef Cosentino responded, “The dude in the shorts and orange clogs.” Love it!

Now, there’s one thing that I hate about the secret ingredients, and that’s that they always seem fairly stacked toward one chef or the other. And they just do that – like giving Bobby Flay blue corn, or giving Morimoto, who is a specialist in a cuisine that doesn’t use chilies, chilies. They just stack the secret ingredients. And I actually don’t think they did that here. Batali claims his specialty as “Italian” and Cosentino claims his as “Rustic Italian”, and there’s probably not anyplace Garlic would go better then with two guys who cook Italian food, right? Fairly matched ingredient, Food Network Food Buyers. Nicely done.

That was kind of a rad trick. Both of Chef Batali’s sous Chefs, Anne Burrell and Mark Laudner broke up the garlic heads by shaking the daylights out of them. There’s no really nice way to describe how to do this, but roughly break the head, then put it in a bowl with a lid (they both used another bowl as a lid), and shake the bowl. The peels will come off the garlic, and you’ll be left with just the cloves. Nice trick!

I’m a little perplexed by Chef Cosentino – he just put massive amounts of garlic into the deep fryer. Skins and all. AB says that he did it likely to infuse the oil with the garlic, which is nice, but how much flavor is there in garlic skin? I’m sure it was a time saving measure and I’m making too much of it, but just the same, right?

Chef Cosentino is hanging with those garlic skins – they just went into a pot. Garlic, garlic skins and everything. Are we all missing out, not cooking with garlic skins? I’m starting to wonder!

Time for the introduction of the judges! First judge up, Ted Allen. Ted is introduced as the author of “The Food You Want to Eat”, which as a completely unbiased observer, if you don’t own his book yet, get it. No cookbook collection is complete without it!

Next up is Donatella Arpaia, who used to be an attorney and now owns many successful restaurants. She also never hesitates to come running when Food Network calls, which is something they don’t point out. But really –s he’s on this show A LOT.

Lastly, you know him; you may or may not love him. Jeffrey Steingarten. The author of “The man who ate everything”, and evidentially no one has appeared more times in Kitchen Stadium then Jeffrey. So evidentially, he never hesitates to come running when Food Network calls either. Something that’s always perplexed me about Jeffrey is how he’s always in the last chair during the introductions and the first chair during judging. Think about it. It’s true!

Smooooth, AB. We just went back to the talking head judges segment, and AB says he’s going to give everyone a quote. For whatever reason. The one he unleashes on Jeffrey Steingarten is “There is no such thing as a little garlic”, and then he asks Jeffrey’s opinion. Jeffrey responds that that’s silly, and he wishes AB hadn’t said that. Nice!

Ted and Donatella don’t come right out and say it, but I get the feeling that they wanted to respond the same as Jeffrey. Ted’s quote was “Garlic is the ketchup of intellectuals”. To which his response was “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that. Garlic is a really unique flavor, and it’ll be interesting to see what the chefs do with it today.” That’s about as “I’m avoiding your question!” as it goes, isn’t it?

Chef Batali is making a green garlic emulsion. For those keeping score at home, an emulsion is a combination of two liquids that wouldn’t normally go together. In the case of the green garlic, it’s olive oil and egg yolk. Thanks AB!

For those keeping score at home, Chef Cosentino is currently working with a caramel pine nut sauce, and squab liver. No guesses on whether they will go together, but we’ll see. There’s also some hullabaloo over the squab heads. And I’m amused that the spell checker has alerted me to every use of “Cosentino” or “Batali”, but says hullabaloo is OK.

Chef Cosentino is making snail flakes. They blanched snails, froze them, and they are now using the deli slicer to slice them. Really. It looks like a bowl of corn flakes, but their black and snail-y. Delicious?

Chef Cosentino has opened the pressure cooker, and produced pork belly and honeycomb tripe. File this in your “I didn’t need to know that!” file – honeycomb tripe is from the second of the four cow stomachs. So keep that in mind. If you ever see tripe on the menu, and you’re not a particular adventurous eater, pass it by. It’s stomach.

No worries, the snails and the caramel pine nut sauce didn’t go together. Actually, I don’t recall the caramel pine nut sauce going into anything, but he does have a garlic brittle, so maybe that’s where the sauce went.

Ok, now we’re up to the judging, so this part of the recap will take some time. I want to make sure I get this all right, in terms of the dishes presented and all that.

First dish up for Chef Cosentino is a Cheese Crostini with ricotta and baby rapini. The bread is rubbed with raw garlic and garlic infused olive oil is drizzled over the top. Ted Allen makes the comment that the judges will not be making out after the battle. Donatella looks a little nervous.

Second up is a sea scallop crudo with sizzled garlic. The “sizzled garlic” appears to come at the hand of some fresh out of the frying pan olive oil. I can’t help but wonder if he plated it this way because it looks a hot mess. Don’t get me wrong, the dish is nicely done. But when you place some nicely done, impeccably seasoned scallops on a plate, and glop some olive oil over the top of each one, it takes away from the effect. So I can’t help but wonder if the table side oiling of the scallops wasn’t to preserve some plating points – because his beauty shot of the dish had the oil already on.

In the judging of the second dish, Donatella puts her hand on Jeffrey Steingartens arm, and he retorts “Don’t touch me.” To which she calmly responded “You know, I don’t really hear that from men.” Oh, you two!

Third up, we have our appearance with the shaved snails. Chef Cosentino made a garlic egg yolk pasta and sautéed the snails in butter and garlic and tossed them over the top. He calls it a “play” on esc argot.

Fourth dish is a garlic roasted squab with garlic flan. This dish has become something of a legend in the world of Iron Chef since the original airing of this episode. And jeeze a lou, Chef Cosentino looks petrified to be presenting this dish. It’s squab sautéed in butter. He’s got the squab talon holding a clove of garlic, and the squab heads, cut so the brains can be eaten. He also made Sauce Royalle, which he makes a point to break down the contents. Since he did, I will too – garlic, cream, squab liver, bread, onion and squab stock. This dish prompts Ted Allen to go “You Chef people ain’t right!”

The tripe is back! Chef Cosentinos fifth dish is the “Eighty Garlic Clove Braised Pork Belly and Tripe”. It looks pretty delicious for being…you know, stomach. Although in foodie circles, Chef Cosentino is pretty legendary for his love of the organ meats, so it shouldn’t be nearly as surprising as it is, I think.

Everybody loves the tripe! He managed to pull one over on Jeffrey Steingarten even, who says he’s never had tripe done in the style of a potato chip. Maybe that’s a clue in to what it tastes like? Aah, forget it. I’ll just eat potato chips!

The sixth dish – yes, sixth – is a garlic infused honey mousse with garlic pine nut brittle, which means this is where the caramel pine nut sauce turned up. I won’t like – I’m so curious of the taste of pine nut brittle, that I almost want to try it.

The garlic mousse apparently has honey vinegar in it, which has to be something Chef Cosentino made himself, because I’ve been to lots of grocery stores, and never seen anything like that. But everybody is generally enjoying the brittle, except Jeffrey who says he thinks that the combination is a little too savory and that you lose the garlic a little bit, which doesn’t make any sense, honestly.

At any rate, Chef Cosentino has presented, and looks generally pleased with his work.

Mario Batali is so weird. I know that part of the schtick of Iron Chef is that you have to play along, with the bowing, and the “Chairman”, and the whole bit, but even still, he takes it one step beyond. The “Chairman” just said it was an honor to watch him cook, and he responded “It’s a luxury to be here.” What on earth does that mean? A “Thank you” would have sufficed!

First up from Camp Batali is a Garlic Bruschetta with Lomo. Ooh, I stand corrected – this is a trio. Garlic Bruschetta with Lomo, Tortilla Espanola (which looks like a teeny omlette), and a Brandade Stuffed Piquillo Pepper. The Brandade is made with potato, and the Tortilla Espanola, which normally requires potato, is made with a 50/50 mixture of potato and garlic, just to infuse extra garlic. Ted Allen comments that he’s fascinated with the tortilla, because adding the garlic seems to have made it sweeter, which he wouldn’t have expected.

Next up is a garlic stuffed shrimp with spicy potatoes. And their taking “shrimp” generously, because during the battle, they were calling them langostines, and freaking out on how langostines and shrimp aren’t the same thing. So go figure.

Third (or fifth, if you count the trio as three individual dishes) is Cod with Green Garlic Emulsion. The judges don’t seem that enthused with this one. Like, they seem like they like it all OK, but they aren’t estatic. Donatella points out that the peppers enhance the flavor of the dish. You don’t say that about a dish that your estatic over, do you?

Fourth up to the plate is a Hot And Cold Garlic Soup dish. This actually seems interesting, but I don’t know that I’d want two bowls of soup. He introduces the cold “gazpacho style” soup as being made with garlic, almond, water and orange melon. Does that mean it was water melon AND orange melon? Or does that mean he blended garlic, almond, orange melon and water? I’m not really sure.

The hot soup is a Sopa De Ajo, which is garlic, pimentone (which I’m certain I butchered the spelling of, but it’s evidentally a chili flake of some sort), water and bread. Topped with a quail egg ravoli. That soup actually sounds really good, doesn’t it?

The judges agree that the hot soup is twice as successful because of the pairing of the cold soup, but Jeffrey points out that he’d be just as happy with the cold soup as a stand alone item.

Fifth dish out of the gate is a Lamb Chop with Escalavida and Garlic Mosto. The lamb was served something like a lamb lollypop – a clean bone, with a small portion of lamb at the end. They cut to Jeffrey, who is holding it sort of like you would a lollypop – this length of bone, and nibbling carefully on the lamb. I don’t know why that makes me laugh, but it does. The judges seem to enjoy the zucchini blossom almost more then the rest of the dish.

Well that seems to be a pretty even match. Interesting. Verdict, party of one!

The winner is, perhaps little surprise to anyone, the Iron Chef. Aww, Chef Cosentino looks kind of disappointed. At the end of the episode, if you watch for it, you see the breakdown of possible points. Each judge has 10 points available for taste, 5 points for plating, and 5 for originality. Meaning a 30 is a perfect score for taste, a 15 is perfect for plating, and a 15 is perfect for originality. A 60 overall is a perfect score.

Chef Batali had a total score of 25 for taste, 13 for plating, and 8 for originality. Which to be read, means that his dishes tasted good, were plated great, but weren’t terribly original.

Chef Cosentino had a total score of 24 for taste, 7 for plating, and 13 for originality. So his dishes tasted good, were extremely original, but the plates didn’t look that great. Which furthers my theory that the sizzling oil was a bad idea. But really? For serving squab brains, he should have gotten originality bonus points!

Worst Cooks In America Makes Me Want To Be A Bad Cook!

2010-01-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

So I'm not an Iron Chef, and I'm probably not good enough to try out for Next Food Network Star or anything, but I do alright. I have a few recipes up my sleeve people would probably pay for. :D Certainly alot of recipes that people are glad to see when I make them.

Worst Cooks In America makes me wish I sucked!

Worst Cooks In America, for those that haven't been throttled by the commercials on Food Network, is sort of like Top Chef, except the cooks suck. Yes, really. They took 12 of the worst cooks that they could find, and they bring them to "kitchen boot camp" with Chef Anne Burrell and Chef Beau MacMillan.

"Kitchen Boot Camp" appears to consist of "I'll explain the recipe, I'll write it down, and then you do it.", which is risk, especially for a guy that considers condensed tomato soup to be a fine statement of his culinary skills. Serious. Could not make that up.

So Chef Beau and Chef Anne start out with a group of 24 contestants, and the contestants have to make a meal that is a genuine statement to their culinary abilities. Which Chef Beau and Chef Anne then have to eat.

They montaged it so we didn't have to watch it all, but we saw a boiled whole chicken, chocolate pancakes that probably would have broken a window if they'd thrown them, a lady who made soup by combining lots of other cans of soup, and a guy who didn't actually cook anything because he believed that food wasn't meant to be "good", it was meant to be "functional". Ooh, and a girl that made a "three cheese maccaroni and cheese" with one of the cheeses being COTTAGE cheese. Man I wish that was a joke, and Chef Anne did too. After the girl said that cottage cheese was one of the cheeses, Chef Anne let out a dismayed "Cottage!", which was plain to anyone was her attempt at covering up what she really wanted to say, which was "Are you kidding me right now?!"

So then Chef Beau and Chef Anne had to each pick out who they believed to be the six worst cooks in the group - but the trick to that part was - the cooks they picked didn't stay with them. Chef Anne took the cooks Chef Beau picked, and the reverse.

In the end, when they've whittled it down to two, the final two must cook a meal for a panel of judges, including the notoriously hard to please Jeffery Steingarten. The judges though, are of the impression that Chef Beau and Chef Anne are the ones cooking the dinner. So it's important that they whip them into shape successfully, otherwise "their reputations are on the line". I don't know if it's THAT big of a deal, but they seem to think it's a big gig, so who knows?

I, like I said, am not a bad cook. I even fancy myself to be pretty good at it. Truthfully, Worst Cooks In America (which is getting modest reviews) makes me wish I was worst, because what I wouldn't give for a 10 day boot camp with Chef Beau and Chef Anne!

And I've already learned one valuable lesson about dealing with Chef Beau - do not unnecessarily garnish a dish. One of the guys tried that last night (he claimed to not understand that they were to copy the dish, but what did he think they were doing?!), and Chef Beau just got unnecessarily angry about it. Do not unecessarily garnish your dishes with Chef Beau!

Culinary Good Deeds

2010-01-04T11:53:00.000-08:00

I baked like a woman possessed over Christmas break. Homemade noodles, no bake cookies, scones, chocolate chip cookies, fantasy fudge, and the list goes on. My oven shut off when I was asleep, and that was about it.

So, when Christmas ended, I found myself scared to put on pants with a real waist for fear of finding out they wouldn't fit anymore, and with a freezer full of the leftovers from all my pre-christmas baking.

I knew for sure I didn't want to eat them, and I knew for sure I didn't want to waste them, but what on earth was I going to do with them?

As odd as it sounds, I placed an ad on Craigs List. Yes, really.

I was amazed and in awe of the responses that I got. A woman that was layed off and her husband was laid off and her brother in law just moved in with them because he was diagnosed with some health problems. A retired Marine that lived alone (believe you me, I'd fill a freezer for him if he'd let me), a college girl that wanted to be a better baker but couldn't afford it, and the list went on. There was a guy that I'm not quite sure was above board, and a woman that was too busy to bake for her ladies group at church, and more.

The woman that was laid off was the first response I got, and so the goods went to her. I was so amazed by the responses, that I ended up making extra stuff for her. :) It was really kind of awesome to give them to her too - because I could tell that she was a person who really needed her day brightened up by a cookie.

I had such a great time doing it, that as soon as I replenish my supply of gladware, I intend to do it again!

Chicken Noodle Soup! Or, Theresa Actually Cooks Real Stuff!

2009-12-19T19:49:00.000-08:00

I decided that today, I was in the mood to cook something really fancy. So I went to one of my fanciest cookbooks, and picked out a recipe. Oddly, the Mission Of Hope Cancer Fund cookbook? Really fancy. It's even got a recipe in it from one of the Iron Chefs. And we're not talking Cat Cora or Michael Symon here kids. We're talking Chen Kinichi. Oh, yeah. Apparently he cooks at (or cooked at at the time of the book being published) a restaurant in New Orleans. Of all the places in the world, right?

At any rate, I selected Chicken Noodle Soup. Except I did it the semi-homemade kind of way.

The recipe called for an onion, a full bunch of celery and 2 cups of carrots. And peas. And a full fryer chicken!

I had a couple of things working against me here, that lead to my embracing the "semi-homemade" version of this recipe:

1)I only had $20, and had to purchase EVERY ingredient on the list

2)I cook for a picky eater who was likely to pick out only the chicken and the noodles and waste all this celery

3)It was 4 pm, and I didn't want to have to mess with cooking a whole chicken.

So the good people at Kroger kind of saved me here. They have frozen mirepoix, which covered me for onions and celery (and carrots), and then I got a frozen bag of peas to cover me there. Throw in a $5 chicken, and a bag of egg noodles, and your pretty well out the door!

It doesn't call for any herbs or anything. Brown the vegetables, put in the chicken (of course, if your not doing it the semi-homemade way, you have to cook the chicken and all of that), stock, noodles. Set.

I did make a blunder at the end, and I dumped in the entire bag of noodles, which made it really chunky (it made it pretty much entirely noodles and chicken, I won't kid you), but if you are like my boyfriend and like the stuff out of soup but not the broth, then even the blunder isn't so bad. :)

I don't have permission to republish the recipe, although I wish I could. It's very simple soup, but very delicious. Although admittedly, it didn't satisfy my urge to cook fancy food. So that was a bummer.

Vile Swill!

2009-11-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

So if I'm starting a review that way, it can't be positive, right? Well...yeah. That's pretty much the long and short of it right there.

Today I stopped at the gas station to get gas on my way to school, and I notice that they have a new drink called ALO Drink. Why not, I figure, and I pick two - ALO Exposed and ALO Enliven. Pick up a juice for my three year old, prepay for my gas, and I'm out the door.

I get back to the car, and pick out which one of the ALO drinks I want to try. I chose ALO Enliven, which promises all the health benefits of ALO, with the vitamins of 12 fruits and vegetables.

The website says ALO Enliven is 25% aloe vera and aloe vera pulp, which therein lies a bit of my problem. The ALO drinks were housed with the water and juice. If I have a grape juice, I know what I'm getting, every time across the board. If I open a Smart Water I know what I'm getting all the time, every time.

I open an ALO drink, I get a drink that I have to chew. Yes, CHEW. Good for my orange juice. Not good for my bottled water or juice.

The texture was slightly strange and the mouth feel was horrible. Kind of slimy. And the "pulp" was awful. I found that it actually got somewhat better if I didn't try to chew the pulp and just swallowed it whole, but by that point, the texture and mouth feel was just too much to make me interested in trying it again.

It says on the website that they sweeten the product with a natural sugar, but you could have fooled me - I didn't taste any sweetness at all.

I read on their website that they've done quite well in customer polls and been mentioned in several magazines and what not. I can't imagine - if they were the best, what on earth was the worst?!

This is horrible, horrible stuff. And now I have $5 worth of stuff that seriously, I have a little anxiety attack when I think about having to drink it again. It's that level of horrible. Skip this purchase, big time.

Just so you don't think I'm making it up and that there's no way a product this horrible could really exist:

ALODrink.

ALODrink: It's horrible. It's overpriced. We're not really sure how we're still legally allowed to sell it. Pass it by on a grocery store shelf near you!

I Live, And I'm Super Excited!

2009-11-08T21:07:00.000-08:00

So poor Chef has kind of gotten lost over the last few weeks, and I do apologize for that.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've actually been doing alot of footwork for the blog though. According to my Comp 2 professor, I can't legally republish recipes without permission from their authors, so I've been digging out cookbooks of mine, and contacting the authors to seek out permission to republish in the blog.

I'm very close to getting permission to republish one!

When I start republishing recipes, I do intend to test the recipes as often as time and being reasonable will allow. One of the books I've almost got permission for, the first recipe in the book is holiday punch, that starts with a base of two bottles of wine. Yeah...I live alone with my fiance and a three year old. We don't have any chance of drinking two bottles of wine before they go bad. :O So that one will go untested at least. Unless I can find someone to drink wine. I told my fiancee that he was taking the punch into work, he didn't look that excited at the prospect. :D

The Christmas Cookie Club And How You Can Really Eat The Cookies

2009-10-24T19:40:00.001-07:00

Local author Ann Pearlman is gearing up for the release of her latest book, The Christmas Cookie Club. It's the story of a group of friends that gather together every year to do a Christmas cookie exchange, and their stories that they have to share from over the previous year. One is facing the end of her marriage, one is facing a high risk pregnancy, and their individual stories wind together throughout the book.

Learn More About It.

Proving that perhaps, it is who you know, Pearlmans youngest daughter works at Zingermans Roadhouse in Ann Arbor (who, incidentally is a regular James Beard nominee).

Enter the partnership with Zingermans to offer the cookies for sale!

Learn more about that!

All the recipes from the book, and a Zingermans original, sold in a hollowed out book, with original artwork on the front. I've not tried them, but they do look delicious!

A suitable gift for the reader or cookie addict in your family!

Theresa And The Story Of The Most Convoluted Dinner I've Ever Made..

2009-10-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Often times, when I ask what's for dinner, my fiancee will challenge me to make Chicken Fricassee.

Today, I went "I see you your Chicken Fricassee, sir!", and googled that stuff right up.

Let me say, the finished product was so good. Soul food in the finest sense of the word - hearty, creamy, and with enough substance that it really settles into your ribs. It does, however, have a great ability to grow, so when your plating it, plate about half of what you think your going to want! We both learned that the hard way!

Thomas Jefferson's Chicken Fricassee.

That is the link to the recipe I made. Why it's cited as being Thomas Jefferson's, I don't know, but there you go.

The recipe could not have been simpler, both in terms of ingredients and in terms of the actual process. The only thing that made it so convoluted was that it took so bloody many steps!

Brown the chicken. Take the chicken out, make the gravy. Put the chicken back, let it simmer. Take the chicken AND the gravy back out (but store them seperatly, naturally), and saute the onions and mushrooms. Then put the gravy back in, then put the chicken back.

Doesn't it seem like that could have been streamlined at least a little? It wasn't at all hard, and the ingredient list is fairly short, there was just so many steps to it. Although oddly, I looked in another cookbook that had a chicken fricassee recipe, and it had a shorter list of steps, but a longer list of ingredients. So evidentally, it's an either or type of situation.

My next step was a pumpkin cake. Came from my Bisquick cookbook. Basically, it was bisquick, pumpkin pie pumpkin (which either my Kroger doesn't have pumpkin pie pumpkin yet, or alot of people were baking pie today, because I had to go with canned pumpkin, rather then pumpkin pie pumpkin), egg and sugar. Bake. If I'd gotten the pumpkin pie pumkin, I can imagine that it would have tasted like a really great piece of pumpkin pie. Don't get me wrong, it was still delicious, it just wasn't what I imagine the good people that wrote that book in the 1970's were really going for.

But I bought the big can of pumpkin, so I get to try pumpkin pancakes too!

And thus, we bring to a close an entry that included more mention of pumkin then I'd ever thought possible. Good night and good eats!

Marlboro: The Cookbook. Kid You Not.

2009-10-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

So I can't resist the call of a good kitschy cookbook. I just can't. If it's something goofy and offbeat, I am SO there.

Some recent finds include:

Cooking With Friends. Like, Friends the TV show.

Soupcon I: Seasonal Samplings From The Junior Leauge of Chicago

Sugar Plum Fare from the Scholarship Committee from the National Ballet School

The Hagen Family Cookbook. Evidentally, this family went together, collected all their recipes, and had them published into one book. It's really heavy into Norweigan foods, which is interesting.

And the Marlboro "Cook Like A Man" cookbook, which leans heavily on the talents of one Bobby Flay, because every recipe contains enough pepper that I got uncomfortable just reading about them. Looking over the cookbook prompted my fiancee, who is a smoker himself, to go "Yes, because you've killed so many of your taste buds smoking Marlboros, that you have to use that many peppers, just to taste the food!"

Good eats! I plan to work my way through at least one of them soon!

New Recipe Day – The Party Continues!

2009-10-06T19:42:00.001-07:00

Can you tell what I'm doing right now? If you guessed sorting out my recipe box, you win…well, the satisfaction of knowing you were right, I guess. J It's not much, but it's something.

Grilled Bruschetta Chicken With Orzo Pasta

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

½ cup Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Dressing, divided

2 tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup Kraft Shredded Low Moisture Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

1 pound dried orzo pasta

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Minced fresh parsley (optional)

Place a large sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil over half of your grill grate. Preheat grill to a medium heat.

Place the chicken in a non-reactive container or zip top plastic bag. Add ¼ cup of the dressing and turn the chicken to coat. Place the chicken in the refrigerator and marinate for 15 minutes.

Combine the remaining dressing with the tomatoes, garlic, cheese and basil.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. Place chicken on grill grate and grill for about 6 minutes. Turn the chicken over and place, cooked side up, on the aluminum foil.

Top the chicken with equal amounts of the tomato and cheese mixture. Close the grill lid and finish cooking for 6 to 8 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the orzo according to the package directions. Toss the cooked orzo with the olive oil and parsley if desired. Serve the chicken with the tomato topping over the cooked orzo.

Source: Busch's.

New Recipe Day

2009-10-06T19:32:00.001-07:00

New recipe today! Because – well, because why not?

Grilled Lemon Fish With Asparagus

5 medium lemons

½ cup Kraft Sun Dried Tomato Salad Dressing

4 fish fillets (recommended salmon, cod or tilapia)

1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed

Cut 1 of the lemons in half and juice to make about ¼ cup lemon juice (be sure to remove any seeds). Combine the lemon juice with the dressing and whisk to combine.

Place the fish fillets in a non-reactive container or zip top plastic bag. Pour half of the lemon juice and dressing mixture over the fish. Coat the fish with the dressing mixture and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Toss the asparagus with 2 tablespoons of the dressing mixture and set aside.

While the fish is marinating, preheat the grill to medium heat. Slice each of the remaining lemons into 4 slices each.

Clean and oil the grill grate. Remove the fish from the marinade and discard the marinade. Place 8 of the lemon slices directly on the grill grate. Place the pieces of fish directly on top of the lemon slices. Brush the fish with the remaining dressing mixture. Close the grill lid and cook for 5 minutes.

Carefully turn the fish over and top with the remaining lemon slices. Place the asparagus on the grill so that it is perpendicular to the grill grate. Grill the fish and asparagus for an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and the asparagus is tender crisp. Carefully remove the fish from the grill and discard the bottom layer of lemon slices. Serve the fish with the top layer of lemon slices and the grill asparagus.

Source: Busch's. The IGA store by my house has a ridiculous amount of recipes that they just give out for the taking. A lot of them, you can actually buy prepared in the store. I'm not really sure why it's practical though – seems tremendously cheaper to make it yourself, doesn't it?

Once Again, It's Time For...No, Thank You Bobby Flay!

2009-10-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

I do this on a periodic basis, if your new to the haps 'round these parts. I like Bobby Flay. Alot. He's got a reputation for being a little sharp on the pronounciation of some things, but if you just hang with him a minute, he'll learn ya a thing or two.

Case in point.

Thanks to Throwdown: Philly Cheese Steak, I learned that the correct cheese for a true Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich is, in fact, the Wiz. Cheese Wiz. That's a high faluttin' sandwich you got yourself there, Philly!

At any rate, I had a few peppers gifted to me that were about to go bad, so I did what Bobby Flay would do...roast the peppers right on the roaster (which gave my Type A Fiancee the vapors, I swear...), slice up an onion, let 'em cook until their falling apart on themselves, slice up a steak, slather on a thick amount of wiz, and enjoy my semi-authentic Philly Cheese Steak. I say "semi" because, well for one, I'm not in Philly, and for two, I doubt they use Wonder bread in Philly. :D

It's good eats!

No, Thank you Bobby Flay! Now, if I could just find all the spices for your 16 spice rub!

Red Lobster Restaurant Review

2009-09-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, we got the chance to go out to eat at Red Lobster.

We go in the door, and the hostess sends us to someone else to put in our name. I think she said Peter, but there was no one named Peter at the table she sent us to, so that might not be right. We comply, and head to the second person to put in our names. He tells us he's not sure of how long it's going to take to get to sit down, and he'll let us know in about 5 minutes. We were still missing members of our party, so that was fine by us. We didn't mind waiting. Now, our total party was going to be four adults and a child. Keep that in mind, it comes into play later.

Five minutes comes and goes. Ten minutes comes and goes. Our party is all together now, and no guesses for when we're getting seated.

I go ask, again, when we're going to get seated, and I'm not sure, but he was kind of giving off an air like he'd forgotten we were there - he starts stammering "Oh, um...oh", and has to get out the sheet of paper with our names on it, that was IN THE TRASH.

Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Twenty five. Thirty. THIRTY FIVE minutes. Not only had he never told us when he was going to seat us like he'd promised, but he appears to have very little interest in doing so.

So I go back in, again, to ask for an explanation. He tells me that because we're a large party, it's taking more work to find us a table, and he has to wait for a big enough table to open up for us.

I stop now to point out three things, which I also pointed out to him:

1 - since when is four adults a large party?

2 - it's real hard to keep a three year old calm and entertained for thirty five minutes, and he's running out of time before my son is going to start tearing stuff up. If you've ever tried to keep a three year old quiet, calm and entertained in an adult environment for thirty five minutes, you know - I wasn't making a threat. That was a promise.

3 - the entire front section of the restaurant was empty. And we'd been left waiting for thirty five minutes. For a table. In a restaurant that was half empty. Can you say "We straight up forgot to seat you?"

I jab a finger at that table, and go "Um, what about that empty table right there?", he claimed that that was in the smoking section (didn't see a single person smoking), and since we'd asked for non-smoking, he was waiting for a table for us.

I responded "I'll take it. Seat me.", and he did.

Our waiter, thankfully, was much better then our host, and we had a great time. He was quick with the suggestions for good eats (in fact, that's pretty much how I ordered. "Which of these do you recommend?", and he'd tell me one, and I'd order it. Dessert, same thing - "What do you recommend?", and he'd bring it.), he kept the drinks flowing, and he was always easy to find if we had a problem or question. I'd like to mention him by name, but I honestly don't remember it. It was an unusual name. Bennett? Benton? It started with a B, and it was an unusual name. I know that much.

The food was alright. I ordered the Fresh Lobster, and truthfully, lobster just isn't a food that's all that impressive to me. I'm a big seafood eater, and I know that Lobster is supposed to be seafood at it's finest but...it's just OK to me. So that's pretty much all my entree was. OK. I did hear raves from the people around me for theirs though.

The desserts were good, although a bit perplexing. I ordered Key Lime Pie (which you know was a prepared dessert they cut a slice off. Red Lobster doesn't have a pastry chef!), and it came with a raspberry sauce, which seemed a strange match to me. But it was delicious, none the less.

At the end of the meal, the manager got a lobster out of the tank so that my three year old could touch it, which was really fun in its own right. My son loves to stop at the lobster tank at the groucery store, so it was fun for him to get to try to touch one. If your interested, he (the three year old), reported that it "felt like ice".

All in all, the waiter saved the day. Because we had a host that forgot we were there, I had an entree that was only OK, and a flat pop, but thanks to the work of the waiter, I left the restaurant with a positive impression. That was no small feet.

Gorilla Bread!

2009-09-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, in a fit of sheer boredom, I made Paula Deen's recipe for Gorilla bread. Or, actually, I called it "Baby Gorilla" bread, because it called for two things of biscuits, and I only had one.

Since I was informed by my Comp 2 teacher that I legally can't reprint recipes without permission, and I don't have it, here's the link:

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipe_view/618

It's like cinnamon rolls on steroids. And I'm sure it's not the least bit healthy - cream cheese, butter, brown sugar, regular sugar, and some cinnamon on a biscuit? That doesn't sound even a little bit healthy to type it out. But it is quite tasty! I recommend it!

In the google search, there's a link for a modification to this recipe that includes bananas and chocolate, and that might have to be next weekends trial. Can't wait!

And The Reasons I Love Jon Stewart Just Keep Growing...

2009-09-19T11:24:00.001-07:00

And the hits just keep on coming!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-18-2000/indecision-2000---iron-chef

The Daily Show does Iron Chef!

I had some technical difficulties and couldn't imbed the video, but go watch it. It's funny.

The Theresa/Paula Deen Project Is Off To A Rousing Start!

2009-09-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

The Theresa/Paula Deen Project is off to a rousing start!

My unsuspecting first recipe was Mexican Chicken:

One 10 3/4 ounce can Cream of Chicken Soup
One 10 3/4 ounce can Cheddar Cheese soup
One 10 3/4 ounce can Cream of Mushroom soup
One 10 ounce can Ro-tel tomatoes
1 whole chicken, cooked, boned and chopped, or 4 cups leftover cooked chicken
One 11 1/2 ounce package flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, stir together the three kinds of soup and the tomatoes. Stir in the chicken. In a greased 13x9 inch pan, layer the tortillas and the chicken mixture, beginning and ending with tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese over the casserole and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

---

I put alot of footwork behind this recipe. I bought a package of chicken breasts, and I had a package of chicken legs, and boiled the both. Then I pulled the chicken - which admittedly took a long time, because the little buggers were HOT - mix up all the soups, throw them in the oven, good to go, right?

As we sat down to dinner, my fiancee confided that he didn't believe that this recipe was worth the amount of work that I'd put into it.

Can I tell you? The picky eater, who never gets adventerous, and hates to try new stuff? Had THREE plates. THREE! T-H-R-E-E. Can you tell that I feel like I've slayed giants here?! And not only did he personally have three plates, but my three year old, who eats like a bird, cleared his!

I'm on FIRE!

This recipe serves 8, so I divided the recipe into two different plates, and put one in a glass casserole dish that we cooked today, and put one in one of those disposable pan, that my non-chef picky eater fiancee has been given instructions for ow to reheat for another day this week. I take college classes on Tuesday and Wendesday, and that'll make a perfect dinner for another night. Even someone who doesn't cook can hang with "warm it up until the cheese melts"!.

I've also got a mess of chicken left to do something with. The Chicken Casserole recipe is probably my next suspect. I've got all the ingredients, save for pimentos. And you know, for having the reputation that all of Paulas recipes start with a pound of butter, an awful lot of them start out with a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Until tomorrow! :)

The Theresa/Paula Deen Project?

2009-09-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last night, as a joke, I suggested The Theresa/Paula Deen project to my fiancee as a joke. He took me up on it!

If you don't know the spirit of which the joke was intended, here's a few facts:

The Julie/Julia Project is the blog that the movie Julie And Julia was based on. Julie Powell decided to cook her way through Julia Childs "Mastering The Art Of French Cooking", and keep a blog while she did it.

My fiancee is quite a picky eater. Like, the level of picky that it's easier to tell you what he will eat, then it is to tell you what he won't eat. And we got a new kitchen table this weekend, and for some reason, he got all sorts of inspired, and started talking about Paula Deen.

Which brings us back to my suggesting the Theresa/Paula Deen Project, and him taking me seriously. He was totally into it. Go figure!

So I selected "The Lady & Sons Too!" this afternoon at the bookstore, and I'm in the process of making the Mexican Chicken recipe as we speak.

The Theresa/Paula Deen Project might have gotten it's official start! Exciting!

Food Journaling

2009-09-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

This isn't usually the sort of thing I write about here, but does anyone else food journal? I just picked up a notebook to start a food journal, and it's funny how fast it seemed to work.

Weight Watchers is an organization that really preaches the importance of the food journal, and they say that the reason is that once you have written record of everything going in your mouth, lots less stuff will go in your mouth!

And I've already got proof that it works. We went to Wal-Mart today, and got a big package of pringles. We get the ones that are portion measured out already (they fit in Jims lunch box the best), and I broke one out and gave it to James (my three year old).

I wanted one of those packages of Pringles so bad, my mouth was nearly watering. But I did NOT want to have to write down that I'd eaten it! So I didn't take one.

Viola! Just like that, the food journal worked! I lived, clearly, without the pringles and I got what I wanted and didn't have to write it down.

Yay for food journals! :) It doesn't have to be fancy - mine is a 30 cent notebook from Staples that's pink, and I just hooked an ink pen through the wire.

I'm weirdly proud for turning down those pringles. Man, that dress better look smokin'. :D

Michael Chiarellos Rules For Cooking

2009-09-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

Right now, I've got pretty much every Michael Chiarello cookbook my library would let me take out at once, and I found something fun that I thought I'd share.

In the front of "Flavored Oils: 50 Recipes For Cooking With Infused Oils", he offers his "rules for cooking". They are:

1)Don't cook if you don't want to.

2)Don't cook when you are full.

3)Shop when you are hungry.

4)Cook with the ingredients in the biggest displays. This is usually produce at the peak of its season.

5)Make the food your own - substitute and experiment - just never say "I can't make that because I don't have that exact ingredient."

I like number four. It makes total sense, but who thinks of that? I never had.

YouTube! What's UP?!

2009-09-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

I have a cousin that is currently mourning the loss of the youtube, swearing that it just isn't what it used to be.

At the same time, I'm mourning the loss of Top Chef. Yes, it's true. I just moved, and the only cable company I could get doesn't carry Bravo as part of their basic cable package.

At this point, insert my "YouTube! What's UP?!"

I present, ladies and gentlemen...Top Chef!

Alright! Top Chef is back in my life, baby! I have know idea if this is the complete episode. The user that posted these seems to have only posted two parts, so it's either the whole episode, or all he was willing to post.

Interestingly, or maybe not, Eve, who owns a restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan (not far from where I am), is a brunette in all the pictures of her that the papers and blogs around here are running, and she's a blonde on the show. Bravo makeover?

Gluten Free?

2009-09-02T13:03:00.001-07:00

Little obsessed with the idea of trying to make a gluten free cake, won't lie to you. I got the idea in my head, and now I seriously can't get it out. Evidentally, I need a trip to a specialty store, because everything that I'm finding says gluten free isn't an easy think to do - there's alot of stuff that goes into substituting for cake flour!

But, I just found a gluten free red velvet cake recipe that in it's own way, looks better then original red velvet.

If I can, I'm doing it this weekend. Family cookout, and I'm gonna taste test, and make them decide which is better. Admittedly, I'm a pastry chef at heart, so they generally cringe when they see me coming for fear of what confection I've got neatly tied under my arm, but this might be a challenge their willing to take on!

Farmers Market! Yeah, Baby!

2009-08-29T10:39:00.000-07:00

I have been missing the Ann Arbor Farmers Market so bad! I finally, finally got to go this morning.

My customary first stop, as it was this morning, was the Zingermans food booth. I say food - usually all they bring out is cheese. If you don't know Zingermans from my constant bragging on it, hit them up online. They have a catalog, you could order most of their stuff. You should be ordering most of their stuff!

They have a deli in Ann Arbor, and they make, grow, bake, and come up with as much stuff as it's reasonable to do on their own, and anything they can't, they've pretty much got the inside track on what's the best out there. Apparently, they grow good olives in Iowa, because that's where they get theirs. Iowa. Who knew?

At any rate, back to the cheeses. They are always quick with a sample, or with a recommendation on how to use their cheeses. Although admittedly, I tend to not get as far as their recommendations, I usually smear it on a cracker, or a piece of fruit if I've got one, and go to town.

I sampled the Honey Almond today, which I went ahead and bought. Although, I need to find something to do with it, because it's a bit of an acquired taste, I think. I also sampled their Lincoln Log cheese. It's a aged goat cheese, and I think it's a little closer to what people generally think of when they think of goat cheese. Firm texture, nice feel in your mouth - a little similar to Ricotta in both respects - with a interesting aftertaste of beer. The suggestion for using the Lincoln Log was to slice it up, and melt it over a hamburger, which sounds really good.

But I knew I'd end up sharing with James (my three year old), and I knew he wouldn't go for beer, so we went honey almond. Got a yummy for dinner, stored right in the tank! :D

Our next stop was the Roos Roast booth. I've been recognized!

The last time I got to stop at the Roos Roast booth, I came here and blogged about my visit. The guy was totally cool, the coffee was good, the coffee names were funny, I was in love!

I mentioned today during my stop that I blogged about them last time I was here (I'd actually sent them a link to the post), and the man running the booth today remembered coming to my blog to read about it! Shout out! How funny is that?

I get a total, total kick out of giving a little extra press to local businesses, and I'll do it again today.

I love Roos Roast!

I just read something in Rachael Rays magazine that says that flavored coffees are out, and flavored teas are what's in style. Don't tell anybody at Roos Roast! Although they don't do flavors like I think the Rachael Ray piece was talking about, just the same - no one mention it!

Because I don't drink caffiene, I don't get to partake in all their yummy flavors - Lobster Butter Love and Rich French Neighbor are two that always stand out for me, but their De Calf is excellent! Smooth, mellow, with a little substance to it, if that makes any sense. I was driving home, happily enjoying my coffee, trying to think on WHY I liked the coffee. It's hard to describe - it's just got a nice body to it. It makes me happy. It's happiness in a cup - how's that for advertising?!

I was asked to pass along the message that Roos Roast is a hard drink to find. And it kind of is - they have a list of places that you can see them in the average week, and well, let's put it this way - if there's a Farmers Market to be had in Washtenaw County, they are there!

But if you don't have access to Washtenaw County and their Farmers Market schedule, might I suggest ordering online? roosroast.com, they ship anyplace. If you live in an area where it's possible to do it, they even deliver by bike!

Ok, I was just poking around on their website, and I found, and I kid you not - Coffee Camp. Really. Every way you can figure out how to talk about coffee - where it comes from, how to roast it, how to brew it, how to drink it...their talking coffee at Coffee Camp. Oh, I'm so there!

I love the people at Roos Roast, and I love their coffee. Enough that I'd consider buying a coffee pot to make some at home! The vibe at their stands is always really fun as well. Everybody's laid back, hangin' out, just making good coffee. Love!

Our next stop was the Stod's Berry Farm. I won't lie - not the cosmetically most attractive berries out there, but the price was good, and my three year old deserved some reward for trooping around the Farmers Market behind me all day, didn't he?

He got one. A pint of blueberries. And, our berry friend threw in a extra half pint for free! My son ate so many that his lips were starting to turn blue! I was joking that that would happen, but I didn't know that that could actually HAPPEN! It's very temporary - by the time we made it back around the corner, he was fine again.

We made another stop at a stand that I didn't catch the name of, and admired the gorgeous bounty of Heirloom tomatoes, and mused on the watermelons. I'm so curious on whether a orange or yellow watermelon tastes different then a red, but in the end, I decided I just didn't want to carry around a three year old AND a watermelon, so I figured that that'd be a quest for another day.

My last customary stop is the people at Pillar's. It's a little street cart that serves tamales, and plantains, and lots of other yummy treats. I usually walk up to the cart, go "I want the lunch special. What do you recommend?", and see what happens. The lunch special is a tamale, with sides of black beans and rice, some sort of slaw (that I always promise I'm going to know the name of so I can blog about it, and I promptly forget), and plantains, and a drink. The last time I went, the drink was a hibiscus tea, but I truthfully don't know what the drink was today. It was hot, so it wasn't the same hibiscus tea. I actually was so contented with my coffee from Roos, that I haven't tried the drink from Pillar's yet!

Alright, in the time I've been sitting here, I'm pretty reasonably convinced my three year old has lost every reasonable brain cell he's got left, and I need to remember to send my email to apply for coffee camp!

Got A Crush On Michael Chiarello!

2009-08-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm two timing on my Culinary Boyfriend Michael Symon, but I gotta do it.

All season long on Top Chef Masters, they've been showing promo shots of Michael Chiarello barking orders at some non-descript ponytail.

That non-descript ponytail, as it turns out, belongs to none other then Season Twos "I've got no apparent reason to be so angry, but what the h**l else am I gonna do in this joint?" villian, Miss Betty Frasier.

Have I told you all lately how much I love Michael Chiarello?

Cat Cora Becomes A Mom...Again!

2009-08-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

Cat Cora had her baby! I knew she'd been pregnant, but I'd not ever heard that she had the bub. She did, and fairly recently too!

I realize this is a questionable source at best, but:

Cat Cora Is A Momma!

July 24, Cat and her partner Jennifer welcomed baby Nash, who joins baby Thatcher who was born in April (no, Cat is not a superwoman. She and her partner were pregnant at the same time!), 2 year old brother Caje and 5 year old brother Zoran.

Yay for Iron Chef babies!

And from the "that's cool, but probably more information then I needed" files, I found this tidbit online:

April 4- Iron Chef Cat Cora and her wife, Jennifer, welcomed a son, THATCHER JULIUS. Jennifer gave birth to Thatcher and Cat is due with a baby boy in July. The couple are also moms to sons, Zoran, 5, and Caje,2. Zoran and the baby Cat is carrying are from Jennifer's eggs. Caje is from Cat's eggs. Thatcher's biological mother is unknown. The same sperm donor was used for all of their sons.

So that means that Zoran and Nash are biologically Jennifers, Caje (which I assume is pronounced "Cage", but I don't know) is biologically Cat's, and Thatcher was a wildcard? In a weird way, I like that they all had the same dad. That's funny that they are all boys too. I don't know why. It just makes me smile. Perhaps because I live with all boys, so it makes me feel better when other people do too?

Jack In The Box Commercial. Woah.

2009-08-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

This commercial is SO messed up. I'm laughing thinking about it, but I seriously couldn't help but go "OM...What the what now?" when I was watching it.

Pasta Salad...Forever. Pasta Salad Forever.

2009-08-04T06:50:00.000-07:00

My mom is in town this week, and I made a couple of pasta salads for the big grill out fest on Sunday.

I made a "summer salad". Saute up some zucchini and summer squash, green onions, parsley, dill and goat cheese, and toss with some orzo pasta.

I also made an Asian pasta, without anything to dress it up. Angel hair pasta, toss it with 1/3 cup of Soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, and green onion.

The Summer Salad was terrific as it was (might have used a little lemon zest or something to brighten it up just a touch), but the Asian pasta was too plain. My fiacee asked me if I'd made ramen noodles. Hah! It could have used something to make it a little more fancy.

Incidentally, I've got both of these salads coming out my nose. I didn't think anything about it - I fired up two pots of water to boil, and when they did, I tossed in the pasta. I never guessed that little envelope of dried orzo pasta was going to cook up to like, two pounds worth of pasta. Seriously. It goes on forever!

Is delicious though. :)

The Live Blog Of The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

2009-08-02T18:54:00.000-07:00

I'm trying the craziness known as live blogging!

OMG, The Best Thing I Ever Ate Pizza. Are you kidding?!

Ted Allen: Graziella's Pizza in Brooklyn, NY. He prefer the Arugula and Parmesan. Incidentally, he says that's about two blocks from his house, so if your in for a little Ted Allen sighting, hit it!

Duff Goldman: Gino's East in Chicago. Sausage and Pepperoni. Why am I not surprised? He seems like a pepperoni and sausage guy. At any rate, he's FLIPPED over the disk of sausage. Like, FLIPPED. They also ship too, so if your dying to try the sausage disk, you totally can.

Mark Summers: Osteria Pizza in Philadelphia. He's a purist - he likes the Margarita pizza. Talkin' trash about LA too - says you can't get a good pizza there. True?

At this point in the show, I've lost interest in the "fight" aspect they're trying to bring in. Just talk to me about the food!

Tyler Florence: Serious Pie in Seattle. Chanterelle mushrooms and truffle cheese. Why is it not that surprising to me that Tyler Florence likes a pizza with toppings like that? I think they thought that would be more interesting then that. Heh.

Alex Guarneschelli: Five Points Pizza in NYC. The Yukon Gold Potato. Is interesting, yes? I'm intrigued by that. I'd try that. Actually, I'd try all of them, although Duff and his sausage disk flipped me out a little bit.

Adam Gertler: Likes pizza for breakfast. And he wants you to know about it. Little Dom's in LA. The Breakfast Pizza. See - Summers was wrong!

John T. Edge: Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix, and the Rosa is the best choice. Pistachio, red onions, and a whole bunch of other stuff I was trying to process. lol! It looks a little intriguing. Hmm. The guy that runs the place insists that he be the only pizza maker. Hmm. I bet that place always has a line! Heh. "Blistered to hell crust". lol!

Commercial note: What Would Brian Boitano Make? How much do I love whatever marketing person came up with THAT?!

Aaron Sanchez: Chocolate Pizza at Max Brener in NYC. OMG. Is anyone besides me a little bit in love with Aaron Sanchez right now? It's chocolate, and marshmallows, peanut butter, hazelnuts. OMG. I just...OMG. That's all I've got.

Cube Steak Mania!

2009-07-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

To give you a idea of why this was such a big deal...I haven't eaten a cube steak in over three years. But I had this recipe, and I couldn't resist trying it out, and so I made it. My fiancee was convinced that I'd lost my mind, asking him to buy cube steak when we went to the store, but he obliged.

Cube Steak Dijonnase

2 12 ounce cube steaks
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1/3 cup dry vermouth
1/2 cup whipping cream or half and half
2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard

Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper.

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy, large skillet over medium-high heat. Add steaks in single layer and cook until browned, turning once, about 3 minutes per side.

Transfer to work surface; cut each steak in half.

Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and sage, saute until soft, about 30 seconds.

Add vermouth; boil until slightly reduced, about 30 seconds. Stir in cream and mustard.

Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Divide steaks among plates, spoon sauce over top, and serve.

Busch's Market Recipe Card

I won't lie to you. I substituted my butt off for this recipe. I couldn't find sage, so I substituted thyme. I forgot to get Vermouth. Google recommended that I use a dry white wine, white grape juice or chicken stock. I didn't have any of the three, so I substituted Bourbon. I didn't have half and half, so I substituted milk with a generous amount of butter. And I didn't have whole grain Dijon mustard either.

So basically, I took the idea, and made it my own. :D

First time I've eaten a cube steak in three years! It actually gave me a little bit of anxiety, but I did it!

And the sauce makes good pan gravy for mashed potatoes too!

Playing With The Wendy's Nutritional Information. Feel A Little Ill.

2009-07-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

So, just as I'm about to suggest burgers for dinner, I see a blog that lists Wendy's Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty as being a high calorie item. I scurry to Wendy's website, to find out the calorie requirements for my usual choice, a number one, no cheese, and one of these frosty treats. I've only had the coffee toffee frosty once, but you know...

My usual? With the frosty? Runs me a tally of ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY CALORIES. Really? Is it that tasty?

If your on Weight Watchers, that's roughly 32 points. In one sitting. Last time I was on Weight Watchers, that was like two days worth of points. In one sitting!

Pardon me while I scrape my jaw up off the floor. Holy jeeze.

Just to see what it'd take to tap this thing out, I did a little Wendys math - the fully customized burger, which includes cheese, cheese sauce, 4 strips of bacon, mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, honey mustard, dill pickle, onion, lettuce, tomato. Large fry. Large sprite. Large Coffee Frosty.

One thousand seven hundred and eighty calories.

For only a slightly larger amount of calories, you can have (and stay with me here):

A grilled chicken Caesar salad
A order of Sweet Asian Boneless wings
Broccoli & Cheese baked potato
A cup of mandarin orange slices
A small cup of chili
A junior vanilla frosty
A medium light lemonade

Which is quite a bit more food then I think anyone would want to eat in one sitting. All that weighed in at one thousand eight hundred and ten calories.

Wendy's math. A little gross. lol!

Middle Of The Week Farmers Market!

2009-07-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

So, thanks to the wonder that is Vacation Bible School, I got to make it out to the Ann Arbor Farmers market in the middle of the week this week!

Gorgeous eats this week - lots of fresh fruits and vegetables to be had, everywhere you looked. Made me a little sad I was doing Farmers Market on a budget. :D The snow cone lady, who is a customary stop when I've got my two year old with me, had fresh blueberries with her this week. Between snow cones and blueberries, he would have been her best friend!

So I made a couple of my usual stops, and added in one new friend. When I get to the Farmers Market, I usually make a cruise through once, scope the sights, and then go back to the stuff that looked interesting.

Roos Roast

This was my first stop, the really cool people at Roos Roast coffee. They make free trade coffee, with funny names like "Lobster Butter Love" and "Rich French Neighbor". If you order in an area where it's possible to do so, they deliver your coffee on bike, and all their stands are set up off the grid. This is my first experience with the cool people at Roos Roast, but I hope to make it back to see them again!

Because I don't drink caffeine, I'm a bit of a tough coffee customer. Most places only have one coffee I can have, if even that. Wednesday was kind of a dippy, dreary day, and so Roos Roast was running a special that you could get a hot coffee for only $2.

The guy running the stand (who I learned later from their twitter was named Brian. Shout out to Brian!) forever earned a soft spot in my heart for a few reasons:

1)Not only that he had decaf (their decaf is called "Decalf". Hah!), but he acted shocked that I dared to think they wouldn't. And

2)He patiently allowed me to stand there while I doctored the coffee up. I'm a coffee doctorer, I admit it.

Like I've been saying this whole time - I love the people at Roos Roast! Smooth, mellow, delicious coffee. My cup was filled to the brim, and as I happily walked away, Brian told me if I needed any more ice (I got an iced coffee) or anything like that, to just pop on by, and he'd be happy to help me out. Shout out to the people at Roos Roast! I'll probably be back this week for another! :)

My next stop was my main man, one of the reasons I go to the Farmers Market at all - the Zingermans cheese guy. Aah, Zingermans. How do I love thee?

Zingermans Creamery

Zingermans Creamery hand makes fresh cheeses that they sell at Farmers Markets all through the area. They are always really good to you when you stop by their booth - they generally have a few cheeses out that you can sample to, and they are always ready with a recommendation if you want to try something new, like I did on Wednesday. I usually run in, get my City Goat, and split. I told the guy that I wanted something new, and he suggested the Sharon Hollow.

Sharon Hollow isn't totally new to me, I've had it before, but I wanted something different, so I was game. He said that they'd made a really good batch of cheese that day (yes, THAT day. I was buying cheese at 9 in the morning that had been made the same day. Hows that for service?!), and I had to try it.

Man, he wasn't kidding. Smooth, mellow, with a nice creamy flavor. Delicious! I got the Sharon Hollow rolled in chives, which was really good - every time you bit into a chive, it offered a little spike of peppery goodness to offset the creamy goodness from the cheese.

He's also quick to offer suggestions on how to use the cheese. I think he said that the ways he liked it the best were over a crusty baguette, or crumbled into a pasta salad. I won't lie - their cheese is so good, I just sit down with the cheese and a sleeve of Ritz crackers. :D

My last stop was the street cart of Pilar's Catering.

Pilar's Catering

I am a total convert to the ways of Pilar's. I made my first stop there a few months back, got just a order of plantains, came home, and went "I don't get it!", and kind of wrote it off.

Oooh, no, no, my friends! I had to get the whole deal!

The next time I went back, I got the "Farmer's Market Special", which is a tamale, a little salad, some rice and beans, the plantains, and a drink. Oh man. My life was changed forever!

They use everything as natural and organic as they can get it, and the recipes are really authentic - their website says they do "traditional Salvadorian cuisine", and their head chef, Chef Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers is from Salvador!

I've tried the Vegan Tempeh tamale, and the Jalapeño and Cheese, and their both delicious. I'd actually be hard pressed to name a favorite! And the plantains, in the context of the entire meal, are fantastic! I wish I could figure out which of their salads listed on the website is the street cart salad, because it's a knock out.

And the hibiscus tea is delicious as well. It's an acquired taste - the first time I had it, I took my first swallow, and went "What is happening in my mouth right now?!", it was a little sweet, a touch tart, and had a little bit of a woody note on the back of my tounge.

By the last swallow, I was ready to get back in the car and drive back to Ann Arbor for more! Hibiscus tea is an acquired taste, but try it - you'll love it!

So here's to my tasty adventures at the Farmers Market! :) I met my son at Vacation Bible School, and we went out, and got ice cream! As you can tell, Wednesday was a very good day to be a foodie at my house! :D

It's Time For Everyone's Favorite Game Show...

2009-07-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

...thanks, Bobby Flay!

I've long been on the quest for all the necessary ingredients for Bobby Flay's 16 Spice Rub, with one mythical ingredient escaping me. Pasilla Chili Powder. I don't know why it seems so illusive, but it does.

I just googled pasilla chili powder, and found this most excellent little store, Dean & Deluca.

Dean And Deluca

And they've got EVERYTHING. It's kind of out of control. It must be an amazing store in person! They've got black truffle barbeque sauce, pure foie gras, brillo de treviso cheese, and a million of other things. If you've always wanted to try something you saw on Food Network or Top Chef, but it was never anything your market carried, chances are Dean & Deluca has it - and they ship!

I'm positive that I'v seen Bobby Flay in this store on his show Boy Meets Grill. I like that show alot, because he shows lots of cool shops around the city, in addition to the cooking.

Pasilla Chili Powder, $6.25 for 1.9 ounces. Thanks, Bobby Flay!

Joes Crab Shack...Oy, Vey...

2009-07-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I convince my fiancee to take me to eat at Joes Crab Shack. I've been seeing their delicious looking steam pots whirl around my TV for a while, and I wanted one like WOAH.

So, we go. And to eat at our local Joes, it's quite a trek - it's not anywhere you'd just go - you have to make a pretty specific trip.

We get seated by a hostess that I can only assume was under the influence of something, because she was looking at the restaurant like she'd never seen it before. Kid you not.

We put in our order. And we wait. And we wait. And we bloody wait some more. Eventually, a manager turns up to explain that because we've waited more then 20 minutes, he'll "take care of it", but offers no explanation for what that actually means.

The food eventually turns up from around the corner.

My steam pot? I won't lie - I got the West Coast steam pot, and the crab legs were so hot that I could hardly touch them, and I probably could have played basketball with the shrimp. And as for the delicious looking pot full of seafood? Don't be fooled. They bring a normal, regular size plate inside the pot. It's just like any other entree, just a little more gimicky. Like I mentioned - the crab legs were so hot I could hardly touch them, everything else was...room temperature? I ate the majority of it (the "majority of it") pretty much consisted of the crab legs and shrimp. And a ear of corn on the cob, which is a food you just can't screw up, even if you serve it cold, which they did)

My sons food was freezing cold. He's pretty temperature sensitive, so it wasn't an earth shaking tragedy, but really? That's pretty gnarly. If I sat there for 20 minutes, the very least you can do is serve me hot food.

The bill comes, it's $58. We were pretty rattled. Food that was OK if you were being optimistic about it, a server that I'm not sure remembered we were there, and cold shrimp - that weren't supposed to be cold?! And you want $60 for that!?

The managers offer to "take care of it" meant my fiancees dinner was free. Which brought the meal down to $31. Which isn't bad. Crab legs for 2, and a kids meal shouldn't be $60.

Every time I go eat at Joe's, it kind of just serves to remind me why I don't go there more often. Something ALWAYS happens - the service is lagging, the food is weird, or like in the case of yesterday, the quality control takes a bit of a holiday. For families in this economy (I mean really. Two adults and a kid, it was $60. I come from a family with five kids. There's no days that we could have afforded to eat at Joe's), Joe's just isn't a practical buy. People these days don't have alot of extra money or time, a fact the good people at Joe's apparently don't understand.

Battle Pineapple The Follow Through

2009-07-20T07:30:00.000-07:00

So I guess I was reading the room wrong. Chef Symon won Battle Pineapple pretty handily, with a score of 50 to 41.

Incidentally, he used Speck, which makes this the second time I've seen that on a food show this week. The impression Top Chef Masters left me with was that it was some kind of breading technique, but apparently according to AB, it's actually a form of proscuitto?

Guess what that means it's time for!

According to our friends at Wikipedia:

Speck is a distinctively juniper-flavored ham originally from Tyrol, a historical region that since 1918 partially lies in Austria and partially in Italy. Speck's origins at the intersection of two culinary worlds is reflected in its synthesis of salt-curing and smoking.

...and there you go. Apparently, if your going to google Speck, you gotta be a bit more specific. That was the 6 or 8th result down. But Speck Electronics (shout out!) is doing great. lol!

Because I Can't Edit...

2009-07-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have an Iron Chef follow up...

One of the dishes was especially interesting to me - they took fresh tuna loin, cored out the center with an apple corer, cored out a slice of pineapple, and then inserted the pineapple into the center. Then they took some Thai basil, and wrapped the basil and the pineapple and tuna loin in this big thing that sort of looked like a fajita, but it was thin like a piece of puff pastry. The name is entirely escaping me right now. Grr...

At any rate, they then pan seared it, unwrapped, sliced and served. So you get this delicious piece of bright red tuna with this perfect little spot of yellow in the center. It looked delicious and fun - I'd love to try it!

New Iron Chef!

2009-07-18T23:04:00.000-07:00

I've made little secret of my entirely in my head love affair with Michael Symon, and guess who was on Iron Chef America in an all new episode this past Sunday?! My boy, Chef Symon!

His competitor is Chef Akhtar Nawab, the executive chef at elettaria in NYC, and he comes to elettaria via Louisville Kentucky, San Franscisco, and a Indian mama. Aah, the mama! :)

They are in Battle Pineapple, and I was kind of hating it for Chef Symon because I often feel like they stack the ingredients for or against one chef or the other, and I didn't feel like pineapple looked that great for my boy, but he seemed pretty stoked. So maybe I'm reading the room wrong here. We'll see.

If your FAST, turn on Food Network right now, and you can see it. If not, check out elettaria online:

Elettaria NYC

ETA: Follow up. I was reading the room wrong, because Chef Symon won the battle, 50 to 41. There you go.

Temporary sign off...

2009-06-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be temporarily signing off the Chef blog.

Yesterday, we had a random summer time black out...and it zapped my computer. Like, it won't even turn on. Since we're busy trying to get ready to go out of town, and then we'll be out of town where there's no guarentee to internet anyway, I bid you a sad temporary adios.

Food for thought on the way out:

Next Food Network Star. I'm baffled that Katie is still there, and they sent Teddy home. Yes, I understand their reasoning - that he just didn't have the chops to be on TV. But you know what? She's not interesting TV and she's serving them raw food.

What's a girl got to do to get kicked off around here?

Twitter Taught Me Something. Get Out!

2009-06-22T11:21:00.000-07:00

So, I just got friended on Twitter, if that's even the right way to say it, by the Ohio Food Service (shout out!), and I learned something from looking at their feed! :O

We all learned yesterday that I have a weird fascination with Michael Symon, and he's opening a new restaurant!

Bar Symon will open in Avon Lake Ohio, on June 29th. The head Chef will be Matt Harlan, who is coming to Bar Symon from Lolita. Andy Strizak will be taking over as head chef at Lolita.

Matt Harlan To Head Up Bar Symon

That is a link to a blog from a guy named Douglas Trattner, who is the food critic for the Cleveland Scene magazine.

Who knew?

Theresa Learns!

2009-06-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks Bobby Flay!

I'm watching Throwdown: German Chocolate Cake right now, and I just learned something.

German Chocolate Cake is, in fact, not German. It's named for a man with the last name German.

From whatscookingamerica.net:

German Chocolate Cake is an American creation that contains the key ingredients of sweet baking chocolate, coconut, and pecans. This cake was not brought to the American Midwest by German immigrants. The cake took its name from an American with the last name of "German."

1852 - Sam German created the mild dark baking chocolate bar for Baker's Chocolate Company in 1852. The company name the chocolate in his honor - "Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate." In most recipes and products today, the apostrophe and the "s" have been dropped, thus giving the false hint as for the chocolate's origin.

1957 -The first published recipe for German's chocolate cake showed up in a Dallas newspaper in 1957 and came from a Texas homemaker. The cake quickly gained popularity and its recipe together with the mouth-watering photos were spread all over the country. America fell in love with German Chocolate cake.

Food Network Is Doing Better Then I Thought, And I Still Love Michael Symon!

2009-06-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Food Network has been running advertisements for this show called "The Best Thing I've Ever Eaten" all week, and I've been looking at the commercials all week, going "zuh?". That sounds like a pretty one off situation, right? Like, how could they make a whole show out of that?

They did better then I thought. Every show has a theme - this weeks is "Totally Fried", and they are trotting out a mess of celebrated foodies to talk about the best thing they've ever eaten. So far, they've interviewed Aaron Sanchez, Duff Goldman, Giadia De Laurentis, Alexandra Guarnaschelli, and my culinary boyfriend (and I'll admit to that!) Michael Symon.

And if your interested, their favorite things included the fried shrimp heads at The Red Cat in New York (note: they aren't on the menu, you've got to request them), the doughnuts at Lola in Seattle, the pork rinds at The Publican in Chicago, and the Fried Brussel Sprouts at Lolita in Cleveland.

I'll tell you - I've personally had the fried brussel sprouts at Lolita, and they deserve to be up there on the list. Their kind of amazing - crunchy, soft, salty, with this little tang that you can't quite place. It's really, really unreal.

Guy Fieri is on right now, and his favorite fried thing is Mufungo. i'm kind of just getting a kick out of hearing him say Mufungo.

I love Michael Symon. Don't know why. I'm fascinated by the guy. I celebrate getting to watch him on TV, I drove all the way to Cleveland to get to eat his food (note: don't pass up the roasted caramelized onion soup with duck breast. Don't. You won't be sorry). I might lose it if I ever got to meet the guy. So he says the pork rinds at The Publican are the best there are, they are the best there are! And if you know Michael Symon, or if by luck you happen to BE Michael Symon, please introduce us! :D When I went to Cleveland, they said there was no guarentee if the Chef would be in town, which he I guess wasn't, because they said he was out of town most of the month I was there. If you had your choice between meeting with a tourist foodie and wannabe food writer, and going to South Beach in FEBRUARY, which would you pick?!

Me too. Hate to say it, but me too. :D

So, to sum up, since this got all kinds of tangent-y...

-The Best Thing I Ever Ate is a better show then I expected. Very informative.

-As if I didn't have enough reasons to want to go to Chicago already. I don't know how everyone in Chicago doesn't weigh 10,000 pounds. All the food!

-I am in love with Michael Symon. He is my culinary boyfriend. I should make that a little less stalkery and say "culinary hero", but I'll save the political correctness for when I've made it famous. :D

Theresa Learns!

2009-06-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

I'm watching a rerun of Top Chef Masters right now, and Hubert Keller made Scottish Salmon Mi Cuit.

I couldn't help but go "ok, but what did he DO?"

Oh, google!

Apparently, you can Mu Cuit lots of stuff. Tomatoes, chocolate, caramel, plums. Salmon. Lots of stuff!

After chasing all over google creation to find out, I learned that it means "semi-cooked" (you'll also see "partially cooked" as an option as well). So he served semi-cooked salmon.

And there you go...

Macaroni Grill And Some Twitter Randomness

2009-06-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

Went to dinner at Macaroni Grill in Ann Arbor today.

Caesar Salad with almost no dressing. The waiter swore that that's just how they do their salads, but like - really? What restaurant is saving a ton of money by not putting dressing on their salads? The only people who got dressing were the people who requested it on the side.

Got Shrimp Alfredo. It was actually very good - not overly saucy, shrimp were cooked perfect. Enormous portion - I've got enough to have some for dinner tonight, and don't think I won't! :)

I got a Lemon Passion cake, and really, that's where it all started to go a little pear shaped. The waiter told me it was alot of citrus, and I was like "Yeah, dig it! Bring it on!" It seriously tasted like straight sugar. It was SO sweet. I didn't start to taste any citrus until I got into the frosting, but by then, my teeth were so itchy because of the sweet from the cake, that I didn't even make it into the frosting. Blech.

I did try my cousins chocolate cake, and that was out of this world. Deep flavor, sweet, mellow. Great mouth feel. Knock out. If I knew the official name of it, I'd name it, but I didn't order it, so I don't. Heh.

So it was a bit of a mixed bag, but I'd recommend it. The appetizers were good (they've got a basil pine nut pesto aioli on the menu that I seriously HAVE to find a reason to try. Like, what is that?!), the basil in the bruchetta tasted so fresh it was practically straight out of the ground, the chocolate cake was to die for, and they kept the wine flowing. Which, if your on the wagon, you don't care about. But I'm just putting that on the table.

So thumbs up-ish.

As for my twitter randomness...why? I'm searching out and following foodie people, and I don't understand. I searched for Bobby Flay (who has over 10,000 followers), and six or eight things came up. Who would fake being Bobby Flay? Why do you not have anything better to do with your life then that?

And don't sign me up for the "Twitter is teh awesome!" brigade just yet. It's OK. I'm not in love.

Chef Searches Youtube...

2009-06-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

...for foodie videos, naturally.

I found a kind of cool one, with Tom Collichio. Check it:

Top Chef Masters

2009-06-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

I'm going to kind of try to write this up week by week. My analasys might get a little more in depth as I watch reruns through the week.

Let me just say, I'm kind of glad that this is a show that isn't taking itself all that seriously. As much as they're all chefs and they want to win, they sort of all are acting like this isn't the be all and end all (which is the way some chefs act on Iron Chef, so this is a nice change). This is a show that kind of has the potential to choke on itself a little bit, and I'm glad to see that at least so far, it's not.

They are also doing it a little different then Top Chef. They have 24 contestants (a full half a seasons worth more then they are used to on TC), and rather then bring them all out at once and pick them off one at a time, they bring out four, and determine the "master", and that "master" goes on to the final round. They'll go through six groups of four, which will leave them with six "masters", and they'll compete for the official title of "Top Chef Master".

Tonights competitors:

Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys)
Christopher Lee (Aureole)
Michael Schlow (Radius Restaurant)
Tim Love (The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro)

Quickfire: Make a dessert for a panel of Jr. Girl Scout judges
Elimination Challenge: Make a three course meal in a college dorm room

The far and away winner for both was Hubert Keller, which kind of left me wondering if the producers had been thinking the show was going to have a bit more fight to it then it did. Because it kind of didn't. You saw Huberts food, and you just KNEW.

And, recipe of the week, because Tim Love kept talking about his pozole:

Authentic Mexican Pozole.

Naturally, technology won't let me just straight copy the recipe, and my sinus infection that kicked my butt in the middle of class earlier won't give me the patience to let me find out why. Click on the link. It's worth it.

Although, if that one is "authentic", then check out Chef Love's pozole on the show (I'll give them a little time to get the stuff up on the website). Now I kind of get why they were busting his chops over it. It's not even close. I mean, I understand the constraints and stuff, but his kind of looks like chunky chili (if you can imagine), and that's not really what a pozole is, as far as I understand.

Overall, good show. Can't wait until next week. Michael Chiarello is in the previews, busting someones chops for not getting to the cutting board fast enough. Good for him - never thought he had it in him. Can't wait!

Tofu Alfredo...I Gotta Say, I Kind Of Love It...

2009-06-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

I am nothing, if not open minded. Cloth diapering? Why not? Soy Milk instead of Cow? Bring it on. Tofu noodles instead of regular? Oh, sure.

So my recent culinary experiment was tofu noodles. I don't know if anyone has heard of Hungry Girl, but they are often singing the praises of the tofu noodle - all of the fun of pasta, with none of the bad stuff (gluten, sugar, CALORIES), and I actually found some at my friendly neighborhood Meijer store.

So I got the fettucini noodle, and made some alfredo sauce out of my Betty Crocker cookbook...which I'm madly looking around trying to find, so I can give you the recipe. Alright, found it. Check it out:

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream
3/4 cup rated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper

In a 10 inch skillet, heat butter and whipping cream over medium heat, stirring frequently, until butter is melted and mixture starts to bubble; reduce heat to low. Simmer 6 minutes, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper.

That's just almost painful it's so simple!

The noodles, you just drain, rinse, microwave for one minute (or boil on the stove for two to three), pat dry with a towel, and serve. You can have vegetarian - or with a little more work vegan or completely gluten free - alfredo on the table in six minutes. Tell me that that's not completely dangerous information!

With the sauce, I'll admit to taking a bit of a short cut, and having it not entirely pan out. I got green can parmesan cheese, and the sauce had to be RIPPING hot, otherwise you could tell the difference in the texture.

As for the noodles - a little more snap then a noodle might traditionally have (although I'll admit to liking my noodles a little overdone anyway, so that might be why I think that), similar mouth feel, smooth in my mouth, didn't taste any different then I'd expect any other noodle to taste.

I was truthfully impressed with both the sauce recipe, and the noodles. So impressed, that I nearly drowned myself in tofu alfredo last night. Eesh. So it's low cal, but your probably not supposed to eat the whole package by yourself. :D

From The "Theresa's Sure Up To Speed" File...

2009-06-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

I got Bobby Flay's new burger cookbook the other day, and I noticed that he mentioned a burger from Bolo, his first restaurant, and spoke of it's success on the menu in the past tense.

Back to Google - Bolo closed!

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/12/hasta-luego-bolo/

Long story short, the building got bought out and demolished. Bolo had been on the NYC Culinary scene for 15 years. So...there you go.

Cat Cora's Crispy Fried Chicken

2009-06-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

One of my newest cookbook finds is Cat Cora's Cooking From The Hip, and I made her Crispy "Fried" Chicken for dinner the other day. I made the comment on our twitter (follow us on twitter, @ChefBlog) the other day that I felt like it was a good Zehender's substitute, and I realized that to most of the world, that means nothing. So I had some explaining to do!

First, the recipe, and I'll explain a few tweaks I had to make, and one I didn't have to make, but did:

Ingredients

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup light buttermilk
1 2 1/2 - to 3-pound fryer, cut into pieces (2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs, 2 wings)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage or 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cornflakes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425° F.

Pour the olive oil into a baking pan large enough to hold the chicken pieces in a single layer without crowding. Using your fingers, rub the oil over the dish so that it's completely but lightly coated.

Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry. In a wide bowl or on a large plate, season the flour with the salt and pepper. Dredge each chicken piece in the flour until it's completely coated. Tap the chicken against the side of the bowl to loosen any excess flour and set the pieces aside. Discard the flour.

Crush the cornflakes by placing them in a big resealable plastic bag, carefully pressing the bag to push out the air. Seal the bag (leaving as little air inside as possible) and crush the flakes using a rolling pin. Pour the crushed flakes into a wide bowl or onto a large plate.

In a bowl large enough to dip the chicken pieces, mix the buttermilk, mustard, cayenne (if using), paprika and sage. Give each floured chicken piece a good buttermilk bath all over, then roll in the crushed flakes.

Arrange the chicken pieces in the prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, lower the heat to 375° F, and bake for another 25 to 30 minutes, until cooked through and crispy. (The juices should run clear when the meat is pierced with a knife.) Serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

As for my tweaks: I honestly didn't notice in the recipe that it says to put the spices into the buttermilk. I thought the recipe went "Dredge in the flour, dip in the buttermilk, the cornflakes, the spices", and I went "Yowza, that's alot of steps!" so I mixed the spices into the flour. Turns out, I was supposed to have put the spices in the buttermilk. So that was the tweak I made that I didn't have to make.

I also didn't have cornflakes, so I used crushed club crackers instead. I can't imagine the difference was enormous, but I'll try it the right way next time, so we'll see.

I also had to tweak the spices, because I found myself strangely out of both paprika AND sage when I went to make it. My Better Homes & Gardens cookbook says Marjoram is a good substitute for paprika, and Cayenne pepper is a good sub for sage, so I subbed. Cat Cora's tip for this recipe is that if it's got to feed kids, go a little light on the spices, and I did - not only because I had to feed a kid, but because I was subbing spices left, right and center. Next time I think I'll spice it up better.

Now, as for the Zehender's reference:

There's a restaurant in Frankenmuth, Michigan called Zehender's. They serve "authentic" German style chicken dinners. Fried chicken, cottage cheese, cranberry relish, mashed potatoes and gravy, butter noodles...trimmings that go on forever! And you can buy it all you can eat, so they will seriously just keep bringing you food for forever.

Now, I don't know that Zehender's would go winning any James Beard awards (sidebar: if you don't know the James Beard awards, I'll put it like this - a James Beard award is to a chef what an Oscar is to an actress), but it's good food, it's a crazy fun place to go, and sometimes, isn't that all that matters?

Cat Cora's Crispy Fried Chicken recipe is a pretty solid stand in for the Zehender's experience. I was really impressed. Although, it loses most of the "crispy" when you store it in the refrigerator overnight, so the leftovers weren't nearly as exciting. Ha!

Check them out online!

Zehender's Restaurant. Their website says they are the largest family owned restaurant in the nation. Who knew?

Silk Soymilk - Is Good!

2009-06-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

At my sons tap class on Tuesday, we were talking about milk, and one of the moms said that she'd started her daughters on soy milk, after one of them had a stomach bug in the fall.

She said that the Very Vanilla flavor was delicious, and you'd feel like you were drinking a dessert. Suffering from an incurable sweet tooth, I figured I'd give it a shot.

I don't know that I'd go as far as saying it was like drinking a big vanilla cupcake, but it was good - smooth flavored, sweet without being overwhelming. A little bit of a different mouth feel then regular milk, but really, if you didn't know you weren't drinking regular milk, you wouldn't know.

If you twisted my arm and told me I had to tell you something was the matter with it, I'd say it's that you can't cook with it. I got the Very Vanilla flavor, and I'm flipping through the recipe index on the Silk site, and don't see a single recipe that says you can use the Very Vanilla. With the sweeter recipes, you could probably get away with it, but none of them are calling for it. At $3 a gallon, I kind of need my drinks to multi-task!

Check them out online!

http://silksoymilk.com/Default.aspx

Silk Soymilk

It's New Cookbook Day!

2009-06-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Here at Chef, we're still grinning over our new cookbook find - Cat Cora's Cooking From The Hip. The book encourages improvised cooking. Get the idea of the recipe, and then sub at will. I've not tried any recipe in full yet, but to celebrate the day, I'm printing up a new recipe for everybody. Not from the book though, although that's coming! :)

Beef in Chipotle Sauce

1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
3 1/2 pounds beef roast, such as English or Chuck
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 tablespoons freshly minced garlic
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup drained canned diced tomatoes
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped chipotle chilies (we use canned)

Combine salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and coriander. Cut meat into 2 inch by 4 inch chunks and rub seasoning mixture over beef. Cover and chil about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in large ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add half of meat and brown on all sides, about 9 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining pieces of meat. Reduce head to medium.

Add onions and garlic to the same pot and cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add stock and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits.

Add tomatoes, lime juice, and chipotle chilies. Return emat to pot and arrange in a single layer. Bring to a boil; cover and cook in oven until meat is just tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

Tip: This is delicious served in a heated tortilla garnished with guacamole, chopped tomatoes, and sour cream.

Information:
active time: 25 minutes
Passive time: 2 hours
Roasting time: about 1 1/2 hours
Yeild: 4 to 6 servings

Eat well, in celebration of new cookbook day!

Why Steak Tartare?

2009-05-31T19:39:00.001-07:00

As I was watching Iron Chef tonight, I wondered something - what is Steak Tartare, and why can we eat it?

Legend has, the Tartare tribe (who were so bad, that they are the reason the Great Wall of China was erected), were so busy causing mayhem, that they would carry cuts of meat seasoned with spices under their saddles. They wanted to eat, they whipped the meat out from under the saddle, and took a bite.

From chow.com:

3 medium oil-packed anchovy fillets (optional, adjust salt if added), rinsed and minced
2 teaspoons brined capers, drained and rinsed
3 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 large egg yolks
10 ounces USDA prime beef tenderloin, cut into small dice, covered, and refrigerated
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley leaves
4 teaspoons olive oil
3 dashes hot sauce (such as Tabasco)
4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
3/4 teaspoon crushed chile flakes (optional)

Combine anchovies (if using), capers, and mustard in a nonreactive bowl. Using a fork or the back of a spoon, mash ingredients until evenly combined; mix in egg yolks.

Use a rubber spatula to fold remaining ingredients into mustard mixture until thoroughly combined. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately with toast points or french fries.

They advise that if you intend to serve the meat tartare style, to let your butcher know, so s/he can be certain to give you the freshest cuts.

At any rate, the trick seems to be in the cut and treatment of the beef, that allows it to be eaten in a raw state. Got to say - I hear you, but I'm not convinced I'd try it. I'll take a Vegetable Tartare, thanks. ;)

The Things You Find In The Supermarket When Your Not Looking...

2009-05-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

I found tea. It sounds so easy, I know.

There is a company called Honest Tea (get it? Say it out loud!), and they make a "Peach Oo-La-Long tea that is "just a tad sweet", that I think I like very much!

And guess who's on the label? Opus! The creator of Opus, Berkeley Breathed (Opus is a charector from Bloom County cartoons. I'm sure you'd know him if you saw him) used to put sweetener into their Honest Teas, so the creators made a deal that they'd sweeten their tea a little, if they could use Opus on the bottle.

Opus is a heck of a cover model. And likes his Oo-La-Long on ice, if your wondering.

Well, File This Under "Who Knew", For Sure!

2009-05-30T20:52:00.000-07:00

Carpet bagging. I've heard the term before. To be honest, I'd always assumed it was slang for something naughty. What? Who knows!

Turns out, at least to our Australian friends, it's not only NOT naughty, it's a method of steak preperation!

Steak. Rock Oysters. Teriyaki marinade, and some toothpicks.

Cut slits in the steak, stuff with the oysters, "seal" with the toothpicks, marinade, grill and enjoy.

Who knew? Something my finance WON'T do with a steak. I'm curious enough that I'd probably give it a shot, but just looking at it on paper? I'm wicked squicked out. Heh.

Chef Caves To The Pressure...

2009-05-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

...and gets a twitter.

Follow us as we tweet too! We're ChefBlog.

The Chocolate Sugar Cookie Experiment

2009-05-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Last week, I decided I needed chocolate sugar cookies. No particular reason why. Just the curiosity of making a chocolate sugar cookie. You know - you can make chocolate cake and vanilla cake. Can you make chocolate sugar cookies?

I get my son enlisted in my chocolate sugar cookies, and I hit up my friendly neighborhood google, until I find a recipe. This is the one I pulled up:

Chocolate Sugar Cookies:

2 3/4 cups (355 grams) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (75 grams) unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon (4 grams) baking powder
1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough.

Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.) Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to the prepared baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking.

Note: If you are not going to frost the baked cookies, you may want to sprinkle the unbaked cookies with crystal or sparkling sugar.

Bake cookies for about 10 - 12 minutes (depending on size) or until they are firm around the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing, if desired. Be sure that the frosting on the cookies dries completely before storing. (This may take several hours.) Frosted cookies will keep several days in an airtight container. Store between layers of parchment paper or wax paper.

Makes about 36 - 4 inch (10 cm) cookies.

So that's the recipe I pulled up.

Can I tell you - I didn't love it. And sometimes that sort of comes in the build up to something that you decide will be SO good, that by the time you get access to it, it's never as good as you want it to be. But still. It was kind of meh.

I was hoping for a nice, fluffy, cake-y cookie. It was a harder, firmer cookie, with much more snap to it then I was hoping for. Admittedly, I didn't hang with the "Let it settle in the refrigerator..." stuff in the recipe, and I just sort of made it work, so maybe some of that would change if I did it that way, but I can't imagine that it would have. And the reason I didn't hang with that stuff is simple - ever tried to tell a two year old that he's got to wait for a cookie? Yeah - you won't hang with that stuff either. Try it, and tell me I'm wrong!

So, overall, like I said - I didn't love it. I actually had batter left over that I didn't even bother to make. But the recipe is right - they do make a nice looking cookie:

I took my son James to the store, and we each got to pick a frosting to go with our cookies. Mine is the white (cream cheese) and his is pink (strawberry, don't ya know?). His pick was actually for the blue frosted sugar cookies that were already made, which would have taken this entry from "the chocolate sugar cookie experiment" to "how on earth did I eat the whole thing?!". Thank heaven for small favors. :D

I Didn't Forget That I Forgot!

2009-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't gotten up to any foodie trouble in the last few days, but I've got some fun pictures to post. I just need to find some time to do it!

Big? Single? Chef? Fox Wants To Find You Love!

2009-05-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

We all know how well this goes, right? Right?! This is the unedited text of the email that was sent to me from some site that I can't figure out how to pry my email out of their address book.

FOX TV - "MORE TO LOVE"
LOOKING FOR A "LEADING MAN" WHO IS HUSKY, HANDSOME, BIG, BROAD & Single!
We are looking for "A Real Man" that America can relate to.
Are you loveable guy?
(THE REAL SINGLE WORLD IS NOT ALL SKINNY-MINI'S)

Finally, a relationship show about real people looking for real love.
The Executive Producers of the hit show "The Bachelor"
along with 495 Productions is looking for a husky leading man for a groundbreaking new show on primetime TV called "More to Love." The Bachelors we are looking for can have any occupation. Example: Perhaps you are a single Police officer, EMT, Fireman or cook who would love to meet fantastic women who have your same passion in life?
Not necessary, just an example We are looking for a REAL leading man... an outgoing, charming, handsome, broad & big single guy who appears 25-35yrs old & who is looking for love!
(no six pack required )
We are looking for a man that America will love!
If you think you are a great candidate or know someone who would be a GREAT STAR on this groundbreaking, prime time series, contact us immediately. Forward on to all your friends and family. You can be located anywhere in the country.

If you are a bigger guy who loves women--curves and all--then you could be the star of your own show. The producers of "The Bachelor" are looking for YOU!

EMAIL US IMMEDIATELY IF INTERESTED: Billywonka@aol.com
Include your full name, contact number, age, current pictures, occupation & why you think you're the perfect guy for the show. The more information the better!!

Theresa Finally Finds Out What Mille-Feuille Is

2009-05-17T14:55:00.001-07:00

In one of my culinary classes, we went on a tour of the Oak Point Country Club. They had an item on their menu called "Mille Fueille", and that sounded so intriguing, that I wrote it down, so I'd remember to go find out what that meant.

I finally remembered to go look!

I found out a few things.

One, according to Google, they spelled it wrong. It was spelled on their menu as "Mille-Fueille", and Google immediatly corrected me as "Mille-Feuille". So there is that.

The second thing I found out? It looks amazing! It's slices of puff pastry, sandwiched with jam, cream, or confectioners custard. They are called "vanilla skies". Which I don't know French, but I'd imagine that that's what "Mille-Feuille" translates too, or close to it, anyway.

I pulled up a recipe, just for fun. Aww, technology. It won't let me copy the recipe. Google it. From the looks of the pictures, you won't be sorry!

Farmers Market Finds!

2009-05-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

So, you know I love to come on and talk about all my delicious finds at the Farmers Market.

I was dissapointed that I missed the good people from Zingermans - I look for them every week!

I did find the Sansonetti Foods booth, which I had missed the last time I was there, and I was chatting up the woman a little, as much as the busy farmers market crowd would let me.

I told her that I had gotten their Michigan Apple Glaze, and I know I told you all about it last week, but I'll mention it again. The stuff is crazy good. I've tried it with everything I could think of - I've had it with Mexican food, I've had it with pizza, I've had it with Stir Fry. It's just really never NOT delicious!

Today, my son (my usual partner in crime) was with me, and we selected the Premium Marinara to try. Delicious as always. Smooth, mellow, and really tastes of fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic. I know that with spaghetti sauce, saying it tastes like tomatoes is like "Yeah, duh!", but sometimes you get spaghetti sauce that you have to doctor, or sauce that tastes more like chemicals and preservatives then the actual stuff in the sauce, and with my friends at Sansonetti's Gourmet Foods, you don't get that. They tell you tomato, they mean tomato!

It did get the two year old stamp of approval too. In fact, he asked for extra! If you've got any experience feeding a two year old, you know the two year old stamp of approval is no small feat!

I also made a stop off at the Pillar's Tamales booth. I had gone to their booth once before, and gotten Plantains, and kind of didn't understand the appeal. Not because of anything the lovely people at Pillar's did...just because I don't get the appeal of the plantain. If you've never seen one before, they look just like a overgrown banana, but they are a little more starchy, with a mouth feel kind of similar to a potato. If you can imagine a banana and a potato being cross bred to each other, the result would be a plantain. You can't eat them raw, they have to be cooked. So far, I've not come across a cooked plantain that knocked my block off. I've not come up on one I hated though, to be fair.

I got the Saturday Special at the booth. That included 2 tamales, fried plantains, black beans and rice, and a side the seemed to look similar to cole slaw, but was flavored differently. I also had a hibiscus tea to drink.

I gotta say - totally loved it. I finished my plate, and could have had another! I had the Vegan Tempeh for my tamale choice. No particular reason why - I'm not vegan - it just seemed like such an interesting choice. Even the plantains were really good. The only thing I might have taken a pass on seconds of was the slaw. Like I said - it looked like cole slaw, but it had a bit more of an herbal quality to it. I even took a picture of their menu so I could remember what it was, but of course, my camera is not with me right now. Figures.

The Hibiscus tea was a bit of an aquired taste - a little fruity, but with kind of a wooden note on the back of your tounge. It was an aquired taste, but I did come around, and found myself truly dissapointed when my cup was empty. The tea did not earn the two year old seal of approval. He took a drink, wrinkled his nose, and went "No, thanks!"

Two for two! I really just can't speak highly enough of the people from Sansonetti's. Love them, love their products. When I first found their products, I was told that their curry mustard is especially designed to go with Kogel Hot Dogs. Can't wait for the opportunity to have both of them in the same place at the same time!

Spaghetti Is The Perfect Toddler Food. It Is!

2009-05-16T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today as I was making spaghetti for dinner, a thought occured to me. With a little jazzing up, spaghetti is the perfect toddler food.

Noodles for carbohydrates, mushrooms for vegetables, throw in a little meat for protein, toss some cheese on top. Perfection!

I got a $5 roast chicken for dinner last night. To be honest, it was just OK. I know I seem like I love all food...that chicken, I could have done without. Part of the deliciousness of those roast chickens are that they are so moist and delicious and this one kind of wasn't.

But, I didn't want to waste, right? So I shredded up a bit, and tossed it in the spaghetti. Can of mushrooms, handful of cheese on top, some good sauce. Perfect!

And speaking of kid nutrition, I found this article about sneaking in nutrition for kids. To be honest, many of these points just left me more confused then I started out.

The tips:

~ Most children will eat vegetables if they are a part of homemade soup.

~ Pass cooked vegetables in a food processor and add to hamburger patties, meatballs or meatloaf.

~ Finely grate zucchini or carrots and add to pancake batter.

~ Add finely chopped cooked vegetables to canned or packaged soup.

~ Add freshly juiced carrot juice to canned vegetable or tomato juice.

~ Add grated zucchini to square or muffin mixes.

~ Puree vegetables and add to chili or spaghetti sauce.

~ Add grated carrots to tuna or chicken salad.

~ Hide veggies in casseroles and main dishes.

~ Mix fat-free sour cream into a favorite salad dressing.

~ Serve raw vegetables with a favorite dip.

~ Mix regular peanut butter with freshly ground peanuts.

~ Use whole grain bread for grilled cheese sandwiches ~ the toasting will hide the color of the bread.

~ Go from white bread to 60% whole wheat for one month, then introduce whole-grain bread. You can make a sandwich using one slice of the 60% bread and one slice of the whole-grain bread. Serve with the lighter bread slice facing up.

~ Most children will eat a meal that they helped to prepare.

~ Let them make cookies with you. Use whole wheat and carob chips and they won’t know the difference, especially if they are the ones making the cookies. There aren’t too many children who will not eat their own baking.

~ You can create a desire to eat healthier treats by designating a new healthy treat as, mommy’s treat. You can say something like, "these are mommy’s very special yummy cookies, and you can’t have any, okay?" You can even place the cookies in a fancy cookie jar to increase the appeal. Let a couple days go by before ‘reluctantly giving in’ to their requests.

~ Sneak some whole-grain cookies into a bag of favorite mixed cookies, and eventually replace unhealthy cookies with healthier cookies.

~ Use cookie cutters to make fun sandwiches with whole-grain bread.

~ Mix whole-grain noodles into regular spaghetti or macaroni and cheese dishes.

~ Mix soaked soy bits in the ground beef. Slowly increase the soy/ground beef ratio in meals over time and they won’t notice that they are eating soy bits instead of ground beef.

To be honest, alot of these leave me confused. And I have a toddler, so I might be overthinking it, because I'm thinking in toddler terms, but really.

One of the points says to add fresh carrot juice to fresh vegetable or tomato juice. I don't know a kid that would drink tomato juice on a DARE. I'm 30, and I'd be pretty hard pressed to drink straight tomato juice. Oddly though, I quite enjoy carrot juice.

And what is mixing fat-free sour cream into your salad dressing going to accomplish, other then adding calories to your salad dressing? And adding peanuts to your peanut butter won't accomplish anything either. You may as well buy chunky, and save yourself the money it'll cost to buy the peanuts.

If we're talking the idea of sneaking more nutrition into a kids diet, letting them bake cookies seems sort of counterintuitive. Although I can speak to that - my two year old LOVES to get to bake!

Correction...

2009-05-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

So we all know by now that whenever I go to the Farmers Market, I love to come back, and talk about all the delicious things I saw.

Turns out, I credited one business incorrectly. I named a business called Pillar Farms, and it's actually Pillar's Tamales. And you should totally try her stuff if you see her on the farmers market scene, but I'll come back to that later. :)

Stephen Colbert Is Awesome, And Michael Pollan Eats Fruity Pebbles.

2009-05-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Colbert Platinum - $1,000 Dishes

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage

This is a clip of Stephen Colbert eating all the $1,000 dishes in New York. I'm a foodie, and I love to eat food, and I love to talk about it, but I can't fathom why I'd want to pay $1,000 for a Ice Cream Sundae.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Michael Pollan

colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Gay Marriage

In a slightly more serious note, this is author Michael Pollan, discussing his new book "In Defense Of Food". Because The Colbert Report is a comedy show at it's core, it's kind of a hit and miss shot on how much real information is going to get out there, before it just turns into comedy. But Michael Pollans message seems to be that we eat too much processed foods, and we're just eating more then our bodies can handle. Which is a really interesting idea. In particular, he named formula. He says that we've spent over 100 years trying to synthesize formula to be more like breast milk, and that we can't get it right. Which ought to be an indicator that we got it right the first time, and that we're processing the formula too much. He said it in a more educated manor, but that was the gist. :D

The Koolickle Experiement. Or "No, Seriously. Don't Drink The Kool-Aid".

2009-05-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

If you watched Feasting On Asphalt: The River Run, you probably remember the Koolickle. If you don't...imagine a bright pink pickle. Yeah.

To my delight, when I checked out Feasting On Asphalt: The River Run: The Book (I don't think that's the whole title, but it made me laugh to type it), they included the recipe for Koolickles, and you KNOW I had to try it out.

Alton and his crew stopped at Joe's White Front Cafe in Rosedale, Mississippi, and encountered the Koolickle for the first time. It looked scary, but according to ol' AB, is suprisingly delicious.

Now I know, your probably going "Koolickle?! What is that?!". It's what it sounds like it probably is - a pickle. Soaked in Koolaid.

The recipe:

1 gallon jar kosher dill pickles
2 packages unsweetened cherry Kool-Aid
1 pound sugar

Drain the liquid into a large container. Add the Kool-Aid mix and the sugar to the liquid and stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the pickles from the jar, slice them in half lengthwise, and return them to the jar. Return the liquid to the jar of pickles. Not all the liquid will fit, but make sure the pickles are completely covered. Place in the refrigerator and let sit for one week.

Now, I wasn't willing to commit to a full gallon of pickles, because I was probably going to be the only person in my house willing to give this a shot, so I bought just a regular size container of pickles.

The evidence:

The juice. I used a half a cup of sugar, and one packet of Kool-Aid. I'm not much with the math, so I'm not sure if I cut it down right. We'll have to see, I suppose. No one has ever died from a pickle, so I assume I'm safe. ;)

The pickles, rejuiced. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to wait a week. Maybe we'll just go in 24 hour incriments.

And there's another restaurant pictured in the book with a sign advertising that they have "Southern Style Sweet Pickles" in Cherry, Strawberry and Grape. So the Koolickle experiment will continue, I trust. There's lots of Kool-Aid flavors!

Link Of The Minute!

2009-05-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

I gotta give a shout out to my boy Ken in my Sociology class (What's UP?! lol!) for turning me on to this website. I said something about that I wanted to be a food writer (true story - I'm double majored in Culinary Arts and Journalism), and he said that his wife was totally into the same thing, and we got to talking about websites. He said one of her favorites was a site called Smitten Kitchen, which I'd never heard of.

Smitten Kitchen

Go ahead, I'll wait. ;)

That's an awesome blog. That's the blog that Chef hopes to be when it grows up! :O Actually, that's the blog Chef will be one day. Right now, it's pretty much just whatever I feel like talking about food, whenever I feel like talking about it (which is to say "Everything and all the time!"), but I'll get better with my camera, and all that jazz, and you'll totally see Chef grow up, right before your very eyes!

It'll be so exciting! lol!

So shout outs to Kens wife for finding the site, turning Ken on to it, and then Ken telling me about it! High fives all around! :D

TW Amigos! Bien!

2009-05-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

There is a restaurant in Howell that I personally adore, called TW Friends. I've tried alot of food on their menu, and I love it all. I have fantasies about their Smoked Salmon appetizer. Kid you not.

At any rate, they have a sister restaurant called TW Amigos, and I finally convinced my fiance that we needed to go!

Nice restaurant. Sort of at an awkward place - the strip mall is a little weird to get into - but very nice. Open space, done in lots of rich wood tones. Nicely decorated.

I got the Ultimate Burrito. Refried beans, beef, chicken and chorizo. Smothered in lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream, hot sauce and jalapenos. Kid you not, they actually request on the menu that you not alter it when you order it, because it's "already perfect".

I generally think that the word Ultimate is overused, and I won't lie, I think it was here too. It was large. Not really the best burrito I've eaten EVER. Pretty up there though. The flavors of the three meats meld much better then you'd think they would, well sauced, nice feel in your mouth, tasty and even.

And it was big enough that it lasted me through dinner on Sunday and lunch on Monday! Yeah, baby! :)

More Delicious Farmers Market Finds!

2009-05-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

Took another trip to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market this week. One of these times, I'll remember to take my camera, and take good pictures. Love the Farmers Market. LOVE!

Got another round of City Goat goat cheese from Zingermans Creamery. Good stuff. Good, good, good. I actually think about it all week. Is that weird? Probably. Hee! I get cravings for the stuff - really! There's tons of fresh asparagus at the market, maybe next week I'll try the two together? Aah, experiments! :)

Last time I was at the Farmer Market, I got some Apple Glaze from Sansonetti Farms, and I have to tell you - I missed them! They weren't there, and I was really looking forward to seeing them. I've seriously tried their Apple Glaze with everything I could think of - it's good with everything! I've tried it with Mexican food, I've tried it on pizza, I've tried it with Stir Fry. It's good stuff!

I did find a new booth at the market, Pillar Farms. They had authentic Mexican lunch - tamales, fried plantains, hibiscus tea (I'm not sure how authentic that it, but it sure sounds good!), and more. I didn't want to go for the full out lunch, because I had inlaws coming into town that I knew would want to eat, so I got a side of the fried plantains.

I gotta admit - I just don't get it! It's not my first time having plantains, and while I've never had them and thought they were downright horrible, I've never eaten them and gone "Oh, I can't wait until I get to have that again!"

So I'm sure the lovely girls at the Pillar Farms booth did nothing wrong, and I'll probably go back this week and try the full out lunch, but I just didn't get that excited about the plantains.

I also got a loaf of fresh bread. I actually made French Toast with it this morning. I had read in one of my books that the origins of French Toast were to use the milk and egg to rehydrate the bread so they could still eat it. I left the fresh bread on the counter in the bag overnight, and this morning sawed myself off a few pieces, and had some french toast.

So crazy good. Crazy, crazy good! :)

And naturally, I had my two year old with me, so we had to make a stop at the snow cone booth again. :)

Check them out online:

Zingermans Creamery

They are also on Facebook. Worth the trip, all by themselves! :)

Book Club At The Library...Oh, They Are Making This Too Easy!

2009-05-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

So I was just at the library with my two year old, and they had the ads up for the summer time book club.

I am SO in the adult club.

For the adults, it's a series of books, audio books and seminars that you complete, and the ones with the highest completion rate win a special class.

Oh, did I mention that the theme for this summers book club is COOKING?! And that one of the seminars is on CHOCOLATE?! And the special class is a cooking class with a local chef?!

Oh, dude. Bring it on.

Interesting Pasta Lunch!

2009-05-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

I've been a food slacker the last few days. Been cooking on the "let's make some space in the cabinets!" plan, so that tends to lead to pretty pedestrian stuff. Heh.

At any rate, I had a really interesting lunch today.

I went to Leo's Coney Island in Grand Blanc, MI, and I had a Pasta Greek Salad and Lemon Rice Soup.

Why is this interesting?

I have tried to take things that are traditionally salads, and turn them into pasta salads, and always failed.

Pasta Greek salad takes all the things you know about Greek salads - olives, feta cheese, beets, and the rest...and puts them on pasta. It worked suprisingly well! I couldn't stop eating it! The dressing was good, not to vinegary, the vegetables were fresh, and the noodles were soft. And I know that seems like a weird thing to say, but I've got a favorite restaurant where I can't order the pasta, because they leave it just a little north of al dente. Eesh. I know that it's supposed to stick to your teeth, but really?

Anyway, I'm all off track. Heh.

The Lemon Rice soup? I don't know why I keep trying. Lemon just isn't an appealing soup flavor! And I keep thinking it's going to get better, and it's just not! I need to stop!

Leo's Coney Island, for the note, is a good place. Good food, fast service, reasonable prices (I didn't see anything on the menu over $10). Recommended, for sure!

Now, having had the pasta greek salad, I TOTALLY want to copy the recipe! :)

Coffee Cake...In A Jiffy!

2009-05-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

So I've blogged a couple of times about this funny Betty Crocker's Bisquick Cookbook that I got at the librarys booksale, and at end of the day, I just couldn't turn it down. I made the Banana Coffee Cake. The last few weeks, we've bought bananas at the store and not really eaten them, so I'm eyeing these rapidly browning bananas, and I went "Aah, what the heck?"

The recipe:

2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Creamy Icing and chopped nuts for topping

Creamy Icing:

1/3 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons milk

Combine baking mix, sugar, butter, egg, milk, banana and 1/2 cup nuts; beat vigorously 1/2 minute.

Spread batter in greased round layer pan, 9x11 1/2 inches.

Bake 20 to 25 minutes. While warm, spread with Creamy Icing and sprinkle with nuts. Serves 8.

Can I tell you guys - this recipe was crazy good, and crazy easy. Moist and soft, you could taste the banana running through it, and taste the nice warmth from the nuts. I used walnuts because that was what I had in the house, but you could totally vary the taste and texture by changing the nuts you use.

I also liked this recipe because it was SO easy. I have a two and a half year old, and he gets so excited to get to come in the kitchen and cook with mama, and this is one we could totally do together. And a hearty thumbs up for that!

I had to make some slight adjustments to the recipe - I found out after the batter was completely mixed that I didn't have a cake pan, so I had to bake in the five small bread tins that I had. lol - it's really true! So that threw off my baking time as well. So if you adjust like I did, watch out for that. At 20 minutes, my bread pans were basically still batter.

The only beef I really had with the recipe was the frosting. I just didn't feel like it added to it at all. The recipe called for the frosting to be applied while the cake was still warm, and it completely melded into the recipe - you didn't get any added sweetness, and the banana provided enough moisture on its own, so you didn't need the frosting for that either. So when I make this again, and trust me, I will, I'll probably take a pass on the frosting.

Cookbook Finds...

2009-05-02T11:59:00.000-07:00

I went to the library book sale yesterday (and today!) and made some really interesting cookbook finds.

Betty Crocker's Bisquick Cookbook? Oh yeah, baby! Copyrighted in 1971, it's actually something I've never really seen before - the recipes are seperated out by Holidays. It includes jems like the "Christmas Biscuit Tree", "Orange Crunchies", "Hot Cross Buns", and most interestingly, a recipe for Chocolate Pudding that INCLUDES Bisquick. Say what?! That might be too interesting to not make. I have clogging practice tomorrow morning, and they always love it when people bring food. I might bring some Bisquick Chocolate Pudding. lol - am I the only one that kind of goes "Ewww..." when I read that?!

I also got Minnie Pearl's Nashville Country Cookbook, which I only flipped through real fast, but I'm sure promises to be really entertaining. :)

I also checked out the "Feasting On Asphalt: The River Run" by Alton Brown. Anyone remember the famous cherry pickles? The recipe is TOTALLY in the book. Kid you not. Cherry pickles. In the book. Oh yeah, baby!

I also got a book called "Cooking For Women In A Hurry" put out by the Culinary Arts Institute, or some such. That just looked so bizarre. I couldn't say no to it.

High five for cherry pickles and Bisquick Chocolate Pudding! I'm totally making them both. I just decided. :)

Cookbook Find Of The Week...

2009-05-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

I love to go perusing my library for cookbooks - I run up to Staples and copy off all the recipes I want to find, in the case of one, I find myself chasing all over creation for specific ingredients from the book, and I even convinced the library to just outright give me one, because it was missing pages.

One was just too interesting to pass by. "You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free!" by Roben Ryberg.

I think if you've got someone in your life living gluten free, they need this book. This book is cool.

There are recipes for everything a gluten free eater misses, and can't afford to buy the overpriced gluten free versions of - pie crusts, ice cream cones, fried chicken, baguettes, pancakes, onion rings, chocolate chip cookies, and more.

I also love that as she goes through the book, she gives different tips for Gluten Free eating, including one that I found especialaly interesting. From page 207 "Most charcoal in the United States is held together with a wheat-based binder. If you're not working with a gas grill, wood-based charcoal, or real wood, cook your serving in tightly sealed foil to avoid cross contamination", and another tip that when dining out for Chinese food, to bring your own soy sauce, and request that your dish is prepared using freshly washed equipment.

My only beef with this book, if I had to have one, is that some of the ingredients are going to be kind of hard to find. Most all the baking recipes require xantham gum, and unless you have a specialty shop in close proximity, that's going to be darn hard to come by. In the case of my mother in law in particular, it's going to take about an hour to get to some Xantham Gum. Boo for that! She also calls for things like rice flour, sorghum flour, and millet flour, which, again - if you don't have a specialty market near you, is going to be hard to come to find. So, like I said - if I had to find a beef with this book, it's that some of these ingredients might be real hard to come by, depending on where you live in the country.

Coming tomorrow, a trip to a rad grocery store, and I finally found an ingredient I've been looking for forEVER. And maybe we're baking up cookies all toddler style. We'll see. :)

Flint, Michigan. Gourmet Cooking. Who Knew?

2009-04-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

I was recently in Flint, Michigan, and there is a smoking awesome little store called Oliver T's. If you ever find yourself having a occasion to go there, by all means - do!

They have an aisle of desserts that I love to just wander around. They carry desserts (when I say desserts, I mean cookies, not cakes, or anything major) from most every major nation, and they have them seperated out on the shelf so you know what comes from where. The German desserts are all seperated out from the Italian ones, which are seperated from the Israli ones, and the French ones, and even the US and Canadian ones. Although in the Canadian section, they've actually got Oreo's, which leads me to think that the Canadians have most of the same stuff we do, if they were reaching that far in the bag. :)

They also have just about every drink you could think of. Every beer, every wine, even bottled drinks I've never even heard of before. Pinot Nior soda? Kid you not. It's a real thing.

I met a lady that made me laugh too. She was worth the trip alone! We decided that they had a special buffet style lunch that day, we may as well have a seat and eat something. The food was all Greek.

This older lady behind me in line looks at the Spinach Pie tray, scoffs, and goes "I guess that's the NEW version of spinach pie!" It took all I could do to not fall over laughing at her. Terrific, that lady!

At any rate, the reason I got the most excited for the trip to Oliver T's was the custom spice bar. They have a custom spice bar, where you can buy the amount of spice that you need - like, if you only need 1 teaspoon of chili powder, why have to buy three or four ounces, right? I got so stoked, because I found Chipotle Chili Powder on the bar. I've been wanting to make Bobby Flay's 16 Spice Rub for a long time, and I thought I'd finally chased down one of the elusive chili powders. Alas, apparently I didn't. Now my hunt for pasilla chili powder begins. Oy.

I do much, much recommend Oliver T's. They take orders online, so you can order from them, even if you don't have occasion to find yourself in Flint.

Oh, and FYI dads? They are doing strawberry dipping for kids. Chocolate covered strawberries? High five for a built in mothers day present!

Check it out online:

Oliver T's

Wine Country Soda

Food Network on DVD!

2009-04-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today, wasting time walking around Target with my son, I found some intriguing stuff:

Giada At Home Season 1
Good Eats
Ace Of Cakes Season 2
Diners, Drive Ins And Dives

on DVD, on sale. $12.99. I actually kind of like Guy Fieri (I didn't vote for him on his season of Next Food Network Star, but I'm saying!), but unless I owned one of the profiled restaurants, I can't imagine why I'd want the full season of "Triple D", as the show has become known.

At any rate, take your Food Network home with you!

I found a kind of interesting cook book at the library today, so I'll be chatting that up tomorrow. And hopefully, trying out a recipe or two from it this week!

Iron Chef: Battle Butter

2009-04-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

So I finally did get to finish Battle Butter. Not suprisingly, lots of fruits and vegetables, not alot of meat that's standing out in my mind, other then Cat Coras pork tenderloin.

A butternut squash tart tatin from Cat Cora that looked AMAZING, and a butter salad dressing that seemed equally intriguing. It got great reviews!

Iron Chef Cat Cora and Challenger chef Koren Grieveson actually TIED. I think actually only the second tie I ever rememeber seeing.

I absolutely love Mark Decascos. He plays "The Chairman", and you gotta admire his determination of charecter. But then again, pay me money to eat some of the best food from some of the best chefs in the nation, I'd be determined in my charecter too! :O

Avec Moi?

2009-04-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

On Sunday nights Iron Chef America, Koren Grieveson was the challenging chef. She is Executive Chef at a restaurant called Avec, from Chicago. I knew Avec was really familiar, but I didn't know why.

I googled them, and I've still got no idea why they sound so familiar, but hello? Who's planning a trip to Chicago?

Avec

For some reason, I can practically HEAR Michael Symon talking about Avec. Was Koren on The Next Iron Chef? Perhaps...

Or not, according to Wikipedia. Gah. It's kind of making me nuts.

But in other news, Koren Grieveson WAS nominated for Great Lakes Region Chef of the Year by the James Beard foundation, which, for those not in the know, is like The Oscars for chefs.

Since I can't figure out why I know the place, let's go eat there!

It's like buttah!

2009-04-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

In honor of Battle Butter on Iron Chef America tonight, can I just say something - am I the only one who didn't realize that there was actually enough types of butter to have a whole Battle based on them?!

Apparently, there are. In addition to the fact that pretty much any type of milk can be made into butter (including the prominent placement of Goat Butter on the show - the buyers must be especially proud of that one!), there are types! Check the action:

Cultured, which is butter made from fermented cream. With the invention of pasturization, a bacteria has to now be introduced into the cream. The result is richer, and more buttery, and prefered in Europe, apparently.

Sweet Cream, which is butter made from pasturized cream. Butter made from fresh, unpasturized cream is called Raw Cream.

Cultured is the prefered butter in Europe, so much so that in the United States, it's often sold as European butter.

Several spreadable and whipped butters also are on the market. Whipped butters in particular, are not recommended for cooking.

In the United States, anything sold as butter must contain at least 80% butterfat. Most on the market butters in the States only do slightly better then required, averaging around 81%. In the United Kingdom, butters are traditionally richer, averaging around 85%.

Butter is also an excellent medium for herbs and spices, which are referred to as "compound" butters.

Huh. Butter. Who knew?

And I will soon be posting a full on recap of the battle, including profiling the fact that the Challenger Chef is from Avec, and I don't know why that sounds so familiar, but I'm going to find out!

Delicious Finds at the Farmers Market!

2009-04-25T14:18:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to go to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market for a couple of weeks. It's sort of an off time of year to go - they are open year round, but in Michigan in April, there's not much that's in season. So it was some herbs and flowers, and just a few other things. Lots of apples and apple cidar, which seemed strange, because it doesn't seem like this was really the time of year for that.

At any rate, after taking forever to find a parking spot, we parked, and hiked across the street. I decided that I was going to take the tact of starting at the back, and working toward the door, so that's what we did.

One of our first stops was the Sansonetti Gourmet Foods booth. I have to give major shout outs to these people, because that guy was really cool. They are a locally owned business, headquatered in Holly, Michigan, which is about an hour north of here. They mainly do sauces - they have Michigan Maple BBQ sauce, Hot Sauce, two kinds of spaghetti sauce, and a curry mustard, which he told me was especially designed to go with Kogel Hot Dogs. Which made me laugh, because that's the mark of being a Michigan company - to most of the world, the phrase "Kogel Hot Dogs" means nothing. In Michigan, that's big business!

So he let me sample a little bit of everything. The Michigan Maple BBQ sauce is delicious - thick and rich, but not overpowering, and I didn't taste any pepper, or anything that would change the flavor that they were going for. The Hot Sauce I was impressed by as well. Most hot sauces have a vinegar base, and so you just get a really kicked up vinegar. Theirs, you taste, and you really get true, red pepper kick. One of the spaghetti sauces, and the name of it is escaping me right now, is really delicious. It's a spicy sauce, and he uses FOUR different kind of peppers, to get a really even flavor, and it's really great stuff.

There was a bit of confusion with the guy, which is why I'm giving them such a strong shout out. I got the Michigan Apple Glaze, which is good stuff - it's got the feel in your mouth of BBQ sauce, but has a delicious taste of fresh apples. When I was standing there talking to him, I realize that their product looks so familiar to me because they carry them in my grocery store, which I told him. He thought I meant that I worked at the store, and was like "Ooh, if you work at a store that carries our stuff, I'll give you a deal!", and he gave me a dollar off. D'oh! So I was honest, and it eventually came out that I didn't work there. Still, I felt so bad, I wanted to give him the dollar back.

Yes, I am considering buying the Curry Mustard and some Kogel Hot Dogs when I go to the store tonight. I'm just saying - the mustard was really good!

The jar of apple glaze. It says it goes well with fruits, and even that you can mix it with a little vinegar and oil, and have a nice salad dressing. Guess who is sales pitching Kogel Hot Dogs and grilled fruit for dinner tonight?!

My next stop was the Zingerman's Creamery booth. Not to be confused with Zingerman's Deli or Zingerman's Bakery, all of which are headquatered in Ann Arbor, and appear to have no connections to each other.

Zingermans does all of their cheese work themselves, and can I tell you, it's amazing stuff? They give free samples if you stop by their booth, and I tried a bit of the mozzarella and a bit of goat cheese. The Mozzarella is all hand made and mixed, and packaged by hand. It's smooth, and creamy and delicious.

The goat cheese is also packaged by hand. I know alot of people don't care for goat cheese because of the strong flavor, but those people have never had fresh! It's soft, creamy, has a really nice, mild flavor. Goes well with everything! :) I got the roasted red pepper, and the guy working the booth recommended using it in pasta salad, but I just sliced it up and put it on crackers. I couldn't help but wonder how well it would go on a bagel with a little smoked salmon, though. You'll probably be reading the results of that experiment later. :)

The gorgeousness that is Zingermans fresh goat cheese. It also comes in regular, Rosemary, and cracked black pepper. And I can tell you - the only one I haven't tried is the cracked black pepper, but if it's as good as the others? I'm so there! :)

Back to the front of the market, we found a biscotti booth. Gorgeous flavors, smelled so delicious. I settled down on the Mint Chip, and we went merrily on our way.

Honestly, I'm a little ambivalent about it. It wasn't knock me down fantastic - for as much mint as I had smelled, I kind of expected to taste more in it. It seemed just neutral. Of course, I suppose I'm being too tough on it. I mean, it's not like there's many ways to revolutionize the biscotti, you know? It's sort of is what it is. The both did by far and away have the most diverse range of flavors I've ever seen!

The biscotti. You can see the chocolate running through it. I've only tried to make biscotti once, but it did not look like that!

Nearly to the door, we found something fantastic - a snow cone booth! Oh, come on - it's not high food culture, but who isn't excited by a snow cone?! I'm waiting for my order, and I'm all kinds of excited, because I haven't had a snow cone in years, and James has never had one. And the lady is kind of getting excited, because she sees how excited I am, and I'm like "James! Check it out! A snow cone!"

And he's looking at this cup, and I'm sure thinking "Check it out! My moms finally gone crazy!"

But we pay our dollar, thank the lady, and wheel around the corner to enjoy our treat.

The syrups she used were actually nicer then I remember a snow cone being - it wasn't "Make my teeth hurt" sweet, but it tasted like candy, just the same.

I don't have any pictures of the snow cone, but suffice it to say...

...it was delicious!