Food Blog:
Cook In.
Eat Out.
Miss Tenacity.
New Mexico.
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Friday, June 25
Strawberry Ice Cream
Here's mine - I think it still needs some tweaking.
1/2 cup cream
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 pint strawberries
juice of 1 lime
basalmic
Slice the strawberries and toss with 1/4 cup sugar and the lime juice. Toss/stir every 30 minutes for about 2 hours.
Meanwhile, make custard with the milk, cream, sugar, and eggs. Chill when done.
Stir in the syrup from the strawberry mush, and as many of the strawberries as you want at this point. The more you hold in reserve, the chunkier the ice cream will be later.
Process with your ice cream maker, adding the rest of the strawberries and a splash of balsamic as you are transferring it to another container to harden.
The main flaw? Too crystallized. I think the milk to cream ratio was far too high, and the water in the milk froze in an icy way rather than a creamy way. I'll do better next time, I promise.
Time posted: 08:18 [permalink]
Wednesday, June 23
Peaches in Greece?
I just made a pretty weird salad. Though, I do know people that would say that about every plant-based concoction I eat from a bowl.
Basically, the salad is a greek one, minus tomatoes but plus fresh chopped baby peaches. So: chopped cuke, feta, kalamata olives, red onion, peaches, salt&pepper. No olive oil, however, so its a little dry. The flavors are weird together, but not bad. I think the biggest clash might be the red onion and the peaches.
But the dryness AND that flavor conflict might be tempered if I had marinated the red onions in lime juice beforehand (which I would normally do).
Eeeenteresting....
Time posted: 14:39 [permalink]
Tuesday, June 22
Travel Preparations
I will be off in the wilds of Colorado for over 2 weeks, starting Friday. I will be able to send some posts, but not as many as usual.
Fortunately, I *will* be cooking - I have my portable one-burner gas stove, and I will have occasional access to a "real" kitchen. The only caveat is little to no access to refrigeration (besides the nightly temps in the 20s).
Before I go I will:
1) cook up a shitload of oat groats, since they take over an hour to cook at 7000', and would take probably 2 hours at 9500 (where I'll be). They will be stored in individual servings in a cooler.
2) Mash up those overripe avocados in my fridge and limejuice them to keep them from getting worse. They will be added to the oatmeal (not as bad as you might think) or other things as necessary.
3) Divvy up into small containers lots of dried semi-instant foods: lentil soup, granola, muesli, refried beans, noodle cups.
4) Load up the huge amount of other foods I've set aside: V8s, Starkist tuna meals (a true godsend in the prepackaged food category), assortment of spices, hot beverages, and trail mix.
I take a lot of food when I go on a trip - better to have too much. Some will come back home, of course, but the variety will be a boon when I'm bored up there. The lack of fresh veg will be disconcerting, but I'll get some on the way up and see how long they last. After that I'll be eating daily salads at the Avalanche, because salads are a way of life for me now. Yum.
Time posted: 12:25 [permalink]
Mike Bolton, and *not* the character from Office Space
Now doesn't that conjur up some scary thoughts? As a strange and unfortunate confluence of a very tacky "Ultimate Romance" cd collection tv commercial I saw over the weekend and my current attempts to stop caffeine intake for a few weeks, I got a song in my head:
"Tell me, how am I supposed to live without YOU?? After I've been loving you so long..."
Argh. Frustrating, isn't it? There actually is a valid reason for giving up coffee/caffeine, but its boring so I won't go into it. But it must start Saturday, not Monday during a work week. I got nearly nothing done yesterday; it was horrible. I even started eating candy in some kind of compensation (though it didn't perk me up).
End result: I'm back on the bean for 4 more days. Ahhhhh...
Time posted: 07:21 [permalink]
Monday, June 21
ISOLATED IN THE WILDERNESS?
I just realized that during the "hand off" in Iraq on June 30th, I will be:
1. Hundreds of miles away from anything resembling a metropolitan area.
2. Doing what I love.
3. Far away from the usual connectivity I have to current events via the web and TV.
4. Going to bed early, rising with the sun, playing all day long, and eating well.
This makes me very happy.
Time posted: 08:43 [permalink]
Sunday, June 20
cold cold goodness
I have ventured into dangerous territory, and received my Ice Cream Maker in the mail late last week.
So far, coffee-almond ice cream and an over-the-top mocha sorbet (from Ms Pika) have been made. Both have been fantastic. I already have a "try me!" list in my mind: strawberry, ginger, cinnamon, banana chocolate.... mmmm.
Will post recipes soon, once I come up with some.
Time posted: 11:12 [permalink]
Friday, June 18
Sushi Payday
Every payday, a few people from work go to Sushi Hama for some fabulous sinus cleansing via raw fish and wasabi. I have only gone a few times, but its definitely time to get back in that groove, since it is DAMN good. Yum!
Time posted: 14:00 [permalink]
Thursday, June 17
Summer Soup
Why the heck would anyone make soup in the summer time? Same reason you make it during the rest of the year - its easy!
Cook some veg, add flavorings, liquids, etc. Puree, then add more chunky things if desired. Could it be more simple?
In addition, working in an office that is kept at 68 degrees tends to make soup palatable even in the middle of summer.
Post-Enchilada Soup (made from extras after making black bean enchiladas)
Juice and remaining few beans from a can of black beans
Chicken stock (from boiling the chicken breast)
small piece of chicken breast, shredded.
Heat up the liquid stuff, season it any way you'd like, add cream, whatever. I added 5 smashed garlic cloves to the simmering liquid. Puree, then add the chicken. There ya have it. Another soup "freebie" for your list.
Time posted: 13:45 [permalink]
Green goings-on
I've been back to eating a lot of salad - at least one big one per day. Typically I was using a 'generic' baby greens mix, but I've gone around on the mix and other things. This week it was spinach and dandelion greens. A bit bitter (which means I probably got older and/or inferior dandelions), but good on the tummy.
There are supposedly studies out there that link consumption of dark leafy greens (lots of chloryphyll) with increased hemoglobin levels in the blood (altitude training!). Other sources claim dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and alfalfa have been used for many years as a "blood cleanser". So far I have not been able to locate one directly on PubMed. It seems that a lot of other sites talk about these effects without linking to a real study, so who the hell knows. If you believe it will work, it probably will have some effect.
Green leafy stuff is good for you no matter what, right? Jeff Steingarten may disagree... he devotes a whole essay to the dangers of salad, especially "designer" salad with all its bitter leaves; the reasoning is that things that are naturally sweet are that way to attract consumption, and things that are bitter are so because they have toxins to discourage consumption. Interesting theory, even if it comes from someone that hates salad.
Time posted: 13:15 [permalink]
Wednesday, June 16
I think I'm turning hippy-nese, I really think so....
I went to Wild Oats last night and bought no less than 4 separate kinds of produce, all organic. What does this mean? I'm kind of scared....
Time posted: 08:14 [permalink]
Saturday, June 12
Silvery Winnow
So I'm scrambling up the side of a mountain, watching the dark clouds start to build, and wondering how smart this all is.
But 2 hours later, they break up slightly and are more puffy and white than flat-bottomed and grey, so all is well.
I will post photos later of the lovely Silverton and its Anvil Mountain & summit. Hope you all are having a fantastic weekend, whatever you are doing!
Time posted: 16:02 [permalink]
Thursday, June 10
Slaw update
I just ate the "traditional" slaw that I made out of Julia's book, and it was still tasty after 2 days. The apples were even still crunchy(!).
The asian slaw has also been mostly eaten and has a great bite to it. I will likely make both again, especially when I can get better quality cabbage (the head I had, from Smith's, was ok but not great).
Tonight, its burgers! Probably with asian slaw on the side. Hehe.
Time posted: 13:18 [permalink]
Wednesday, June 9
Good New Mexican does exist....
Poor John, he's been to some questionable New Mexican joints and isn't impressed. He writes about this in Life With a Knife, and I feel obliged to point out the decent places I've found in town and around the state:
Mary & Tito's
Garduno's (yes!)
Monroe's
Horseman's Haven
Also, my own green chile cheeseburgers are pretty damn good. Heh.
Time posted: 22:48 [permalink]
Tuesday, June 8
I am Feta!
Cheese Test: What type of cheese are you?
Time posted: 13:42 [permalink]
Slaw.....
Finally got around to making some homemade slaw, both "regular" and Asian style. Here's the ingredient list for each:
Classic coleslaw
1/4 head cabbage, shredded
1/2 green apple, sliced thin
1 medium cucumber, chopped or sliced
1/4 cup flat parsley, chopped
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1t whole grain mustard
2T white wine vinegar
1t salt
1t sugar
celery seed
Dissolve salt/sugar in the vinegar/mustard juice, then toss with rest of ingredients. Toss a few more times in the next hour or two before serving. Drain if necessary. Before serving, mix in up to 1/3 cup mayo (or not at all). Toss in some celery seed if you'd like.
Asian slaw/salad
1/4 head cabbage, shredded
1/2 red onion sliced thin
1t grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1-4 thai peppers, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1T rice wine vinegar
1t chile oil
1t toasted sesame oil
1t sugar (or sweet ginger/chile sauce)
1/2t powdered ginger
1t salt or to taste
Combine dressing to dissolve, then toss with 'dry' ingredients. Keep tossing until it smells really good. Eat whenever.
This Asian slaw just kept smelling better as I tossed it a few times in the hour after making it. We'll see how it is today (12 hours after making). I don't know if the cabbage will get a little soggy, but I'm betting the flavors will still be great.
Time posted: 08:18 [permalink]
Priorities
The last time I was at Food Hole (aka "Whole Paycheck"), there was a couple behind me in line that were purchasing 4 types of items: red meat, cheese, wine, and chocolate. Add coffee and they've about got all the vital necessities covered. I actually commented to them that they had their priorities right, and they grinned.
This time it was me buying all those things, and despite the hit at the register, I think I did well. Stocked up on some trail mixes, granola, and energy bars for my vacation in the mountains, and of course got some cheese, chocolate, and wine. Oh, and I found a 14 year balsamic (250ml) for $9(!). Once I try it I'll decide if I need to go back and buy a case. If its good, that's a steal.
Time posted: 07:56 [permalink]
Wednesday, June 2
weekend with stir fry
I spent the weekend in Colorado with some friends,
who always love to cook for people. Not what those people might have in mind or be craving, mind you, but rather exactly the same stuff that they would cook if I wasn't even around. So its nice because they are not catering to me, and I get to live their food lifestyle for just a bit.
Typically what is made involves lots of veggies, the main actors usually being anaheim chiles, broccoli, kale, cabbage, and onions. These are not washed unless they are actually gritty, and chopped roughly to go into the pot. Garlic is rarely used, though I've not thought to inquire why. Seasonings typically consist of olive oil and soy sauce or Bragg's Aminos (which is basically a salty protein brew). [If you follow the link to them, read up on their corporate philosophy before you buy, since they are a 'god-happy' company so I cannot condone doing business with them, regardless the quality of the product.]
Anyway, these fried veg are then combined with some kind of protein and/or grain, something in the rice/tofu/lentil family. Rarely there might be an egg, my friends' concession to actually needing digestible protein.
On the menu this weekend, we have: breakfast (steamed purple cabbage, scrambled egg, and home fries), and dinner (braised kale and rice/lentil/veg 'stew' from the pressure cooker). Eating this food makes me feel good, but its not something I can continue for more than a few days. I want animals in my gullet, not to mention dairy.
Here's a photo of the chef at work getting me drunk, while pots steam away....
Time posted: 21:12 [permalink]
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CONTACT ME: tenacity -at- gmail.com
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