Food Blog:
Cook In.
Eat Out.
Miss Tenacity.
New Mexico.
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Thursday, October 28
Off Like a Post-Drunken-Party Halloween Costume
Have yourselves a sugary weekend. I'm off to the wilds of Phoenix for some blister-lovin' fun.
Don't forget: Tuna is your friend (and mine).
Time posted: 15:26 [permalink]
The Real Thing
PB&J is a real thing. You just can't beat it. There are lots of mild permutations, of course, but all must involve soft bread, jam, and peanut butter.
Now, some companies have introduced imitations... imposters, really. Clif, Inc., the creator of Luna Bars has a flavor called PB&J.
Guess what it tastes like? Yup. Energy bar. And if that weren't enough, in addition to the fake PB flavor and the gross "jelly" bits, there are RAISINS in the bar. Now, I've never made a PB&J with raisins - have you? Didn't think so.
Hey, Clif - stick to the good stuff. LemonZest is a good example.
Don't even get me started on Uncrustables. Someone already invented PopTarts, okay?
Time posted: 15:13 [permalink]
Sunday, October 24
Housewarming Party Food
I made food for a friends' housewarming party this weekend. I gathered up a few of the photos of the food that I took just as the guests were arriving. This was an informal gathering, so mostly I tried to make finger food, rather than "stand up buffet" kind of fare that I've done for other events.
Since game 1 of the World Series was on, of course there were peanuts and 'cracker jack', and roasted rosemary pecans:
 
Then some savory nibbles - shrimp/mango cups, and baked ricotta w/kalamatas:
 
One of the sweet items was candied apples with almonds - the first time I've attempted to crystallize fruit. They tasted great, but were more like sweet fruit leather than purely crystallized.
Other things that I did not get pictures of included Guinness Ginger Cake, Chocolate Chile Bites (a fabulous Clotilde recipe), Bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese, herbed cheese spread, twice-fried plaintain chips, and savory biscotti. I might be forgetting something, but there was definitely a lot of food. No one leaves a party that I've cooked for feeling like they need to hit a drive-thru on the way home. *grin*
Time posted: 22:29 [permalink]
Kitchen Trauma
So I had a rather klutzy Saturday. First, there was the aforementioned finger-lopping (shown here all nice and sterile):
Next, a close encounter with the oven left me with a Tyler Durden-esque bit of branding:
(There was a third incident which thankfully was not documented.) I'm healing well, thankfully. Viva la Bactine!
Time posted: 22:21 [permalink]
Saturday, October 23
Kick start the morning
I typically have a simple breakfast on the weekends that I am at home: coffee and a bowl of enhanced yogurt. Here's the enhancement process, in photo essay:
Take 1 cup yogurt:
Add 1T flax oil, and mix in:
Add a few tablespoonfuls of bran (wheat today):
Top with 1t brown sugar (or molasses), and handful of chopped dried fruit:
Finish with handful of granola for crunch:
With my coffee, this satisfies me until the other half is fully awake and ready for some real food (in a few hours, usually). Mmmm, bacon....
Time posted: 10:21 [permalink]
First Blood
It only took a week, but my mandoline has claimed its first blood:
The tip of my pinky (on my knife hand, doh!). And, no, that's not where it landed. I repositioned it for the photo (and was having trouble making the macro-mode focus correctly). I was unable to get a decent photo of the gushing finger itself, so consider yourselves lucky.
Time posted: 09:45 [permalink]
Friday, October 22
Spaghetti Squash for Newbies
I had never cooked a spaghetti squash before last night. Shocking, I know.
Definitely the hardest part was getting the thing cleaved in half in the first place. My big chef's knife isn't currently as sharp as it could be, but with the assistance of my 2lb rubber mallet, I 'thunked' my way through the tough gourd. Once done, it went into a 400 degree oven, cut sides down, with no seasonings. I let it go a loooooong time, and finally took it out after about 90 minutes. After it cooled, I started scraping out the inside, which true to its name, did look like yellow angel hair pasta. I guess I wasn't sure that it would "work" - like it would have cooked to a mushy paste like all other winter squashes, or something. But no, those strands are tough and they came out looking like all the photos I've seen of dishes with spaghetti squash. Neato!
I put the guts in 2 bowls, one garnished with parmesan-nutmeg-S&P, the other with parmesan-butter-sage. The latter is here at work with me today so I will report on that later.
Time posted: 08:04 [permalink]
Wednesday, October 20
Whole Foods can kiss my La Montanita
I had a brief love affair the last year. Through it I experienced luxurious cheeses, mouth watering bulk trail mix, and the BEST protein energy bar ever. Alas, like all affairs, the time came when I realized that I was putting much more into the relationship than I was getting out of it.
Each time I indulged in a rendevous, I spent: at least 30 minutes of extra driving time, a tab that seemingly never went below $50 when I grabbed the inevitable high-ticket item (chocolate, cheese, meat, etc), and time negotiating the inevitably crowded aisles.
This last visit (yesterday) a few more insults were heaped on. First, the fish guy proceeded to sell me fish that he knew I would be freezing, neglecting to tell me that it had already been frozen once before and thawed, and ALSO not pointing me to a case behind me with still-frozen specimens of the SAME item for $5 less per pound. That is 1) RUDE, and 2) disrepectful of the fish. Next, I have to cruise around the store looking for prepacked nuts and chocolate, as both of them had been MOVED to random locations in the store, by dint of being on wheeled carts. That's very annoying. Then, as I am getting ready to leave, I swing by the energy bar aisle to pick up my afforementioned favorite bars, and they are no longer carried. This nearly throws me into a rage as I politely ask the clerk how I can get some. He is not helpful, suggesting I purchase something similar but much more expensive.
The benefits of Whole Foods, as it exists now:
1. The best cheese selection in town, and the balls to keep their cheese at room temperature (as it should be).
2. Callebaut chocolate for $6lb in bulk.
The drawbacks of Whole Foods:
1. Inconvenient location
2. Sky high prices on anything that is not on sale or their store brand.
3. Constantly moving displays.
4. Annoying and/or not very helpful clerks, including the fish guy.
Wild Oats and La Montanita, I'm coming home.
Time posted: 08:59 [permalink]
Monday, October 18
Caught in the Crossfire
Now, I don't watch CNN except for times of actual crisis. It took some actual doing to get me to even find out that Jon Stewart had been on Crossfire and took those two guys (and most of the current media industry as well) to the cleaners. Watch the video, read the transcript.... and weep for the sorry state of affairs in journalism today.
Time posted: 08:15 [permalink]
Saturday, October 16
Mulligatawny
When I first started cooking for myself I used a cookbook 'written by' Reader's Digest entitled "Great Recipes for Good Health". It featured items that were low in sugar, fat, sodium or all 3. I used some of the recipes in there (baked fish, frittatas) but many I flagged for future cooking and then never got around to. One of those items was Mulligatawny Soup, which means "pepper water". It was supposedly invented around a hundred years ago when the British who were occupying India wanted a soup course, but none was forthcoming in the typical Indian meal. So pepper water was invented.
Its basically curry lentil soup, with some key traits - the base of the soup is pureed, so the back drop is a luscious orange color from the carrots and the tumeric. Any additional ingredients (there can be none if you choose) float in this thick, aromatic sludge. And I mean that in the best way, of course.
Here's how to make it:
Start with 1 chopped onion (I used half each of red and white), a few small chopped hot peppers, and 2 cloves of pressed garlic (not shown).
Sweat those gently in 1T fat (I used bacon fat) with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon each of the following spices:
(that would be: tumeric, ground coriander, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and a few pods of cardamom, smooshed)
After it has started to make the whole house smell great, it will look like this:
Next add your thickeners (1 carrot, 1 potato, 1 apple; all cut small):
At this time also add about 3 cups of chicken stock and 1/4 cup red lentils. Bring to a simmer and cook until the veg are softened. They will have also turned very yellow:
Remove the cardamom pods, add a knob of tamarind paste, and puree to desired consistency. Add some coconut milk to taste (I used a little, but some recipes call for 1 or 2 cups):
Once heated through, add any other non-puree worthy accoutrements. I added some more diced apple, a crumbled slice of bacon, and a spoonful of ginger preserves, for a little sweetness:
Stir it all in, and enjoy. This recipe makes 4 "normal" servings, or 2 big ones. Mmmm.... big ones.
Time posted: 21:45 [permalink]
Thursday, October 14
Memory laden food
I responded to a question about foods that bring back home memories, with this:
Food item that brings back many fond memories but that I could NOT eat now:
My birthday 'cheesecake', every year from ages 8 until about 16. This was not actual cheesecake - I did not even discover that there was such a thing until my late teens. When I first heard that you baked real cheesecake I was horrified: "It would MELT!", I thought.
My mom's cherry cheesecake was a graham cracker crust, topped with a mixture of cream cheese and cool whip, and then topped with cherry pie filling, and chilled. Me and my siblings got to pick our dinner and dessert of choice for our birthdays (my dinner was lasagna, which my mom still does a great job with).
But that cheesecake.... way too sweet for my palate nowadays.
Food item with history that I would surely eat.... my dad's chili, served up with garlic bread. And, on the other side of the sweetness spectrum, my grandma's raisin pie at xmas. Yum.
Time posted: 21:29 [permalink]
Wednesday, October 13
Soupy Spicy Weather
Yesterday before I left work I realized I was having a craving for a quesadilla. Cheesy gooey grilled goodness. In addition, I had my tiny container (1 1/2oz, approximately) of Horseman's Haven Level 2 green chile burning a hole in my fridge. "That hole should be in my gut!", I said to myself.
Arriving home I was famished, but still took my time putting everything together. In the end the contents of my quesadilla were: 2 eggs, 2oz cheese, 1 teaspoon green chile, cilantro, 1 strip bacon, 1/2 sliced avocado. This was put in 1 folded-over 9" tortilla and browned to a crisp in the bacon fat. Yum. For those of you who are familiar with my chile tolerance, that ONE TEASPOON of level 2 was nearly inedible, it was so hot. But it gave me a great endorphin rush soon after finishing, and that's half the point. Mmmmmm, tingly lips....
Once the burn had passed I had a small 2nd course of salad with cukes, red bell pepper, red onions, feta, lemon juice, red vinegar, and olive oil. The onions were left to marinate in the acids while I ate my quesadilla, so they had softened up both in texture and in taste.
I briefly watched some of the World Series of Poker "tournament of champions" and was impressed by the psychology of the game. The lone woman at the table was doing a number on most of the men and had them second guessing everything they did. Very impressive.
Then, I made soup. With a head of celery in my fridge and the weather being decidedly fallish, I once again made puree of celery-walnut. The recipe can be found in an earlier post from April. Again I only blended the soup, which does give it a certain "chewiness" owing to the fiber in the celery. To compare results, next time I will strain it as well and see if it turns out nice and velvety.
Time posted: 11:51 [permalink]
Monday, October 11
Weekend eats
I've gone SIX DAYS without a post until this morning - eesh. Allow me to fill you in on my recent food activities:
WEDNESDAY: Went out to Chilepeno's again. Possibly because we brought guests who had never been there before, we had only OK food and the worst service thus far. Everything took far too long, and some items were cold by the time they arrived at the table. However, the primary cook/owner was not there, so perhaps that was a factor.
THURSDAY: Can't remember... I think I made some soup at home for dinner. Oh, but I do remember eating the last of my cinnamon ice cream. Yum.
FRIDAY: Visited Teriyaki Chicken Bowl for the first time in years, and had a decent and cheap lunch. They even substituted all veg for the rice with no charge. Yay for cabbage! For dinner I had an errand to run in Santa Fe, so we hit Horseman's Haven afterwards. As always, I had the huevos rancheros with green. I've found that their morning-hour potatoes are better - in the evening they do a hash-brown treatment on french fries, rather than the homefries of the AM hours. But the beans were good as always, and the chile very flavorful. Unfortunately they were either having a mild day or I have a higher tolerance than I thought, as the chile didn't give me the expected post-pain endorphin rush. I got a container of Level 2 to take home which will deliver, just as soon as I decide to use it.
SATURDAY: Had a meeting in Durango at 11, so I headed to the Caravan farmer's market at 6am to get a few items, especially some apples for breakfast. I love apple season. Picked up plums, apples, carrots, yellow-hot peppers, golf ball sized red and yellow onions, beets, and garlic. No chile was being roasted - did that season come and go before I even knew it???
Once in Durango I headed for Durango Joe's, a nice coffee shop with great prices, good coffee, and fantastic granola. My 2nd breakfast was granola with yogurt and a latte.
Back in ABQ at 7pm, dinner was wearily consumed at "the new morrocan joint", named Mediterranean Cafe. It is on San Mateo near Copper. The food was good, obviously home cooked, and slightly more expensive than I was imagining. My last trip to a mediterranean place was Yasmine's, which is copious and cheap, so I guess I was biased. I had bulgur wheat soup and a pastry filled with potato and onions. Both were very flavorful, if under salted.
SUNDAY: Went for the afformentioned run in the AM, then consumed a satisfying lunch at Flying Star. In terms of bang for the buck, I think I've found a winning combination: $7.17 including tax got me a big bowl of oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar, and milk, 2 turkey green chile hand-formed sausages, and a bottomless cup of coffee. When lunch or dinner at Flying Star can approach $20, I think creative selection of menu items is the key. Their food has never disappointed (mmmmm.... triple ginger cookie...), the people watching is great, and of course the free magazine-ocopia are all reasons to patronize the place.
In the evening I prepared a quick meal for our guests again, this time a black bean soup and then plum-apple crisp for dessert. It all took much less time and effort than the last dinner I prepared, which had me somewhat frazzled at the end. And the black bean soup was great - I'll be making it again.
Time posted: 12:19 [permalink]
A Nicer Slicer
I was at Target ("tar-shjay") yesterday, getting the usual items such as cat food, laundry detergent, and TP. Browsing through the kitchen section - a primary reason why I seem to always spend at least an hour in the damn place - I spotted a cheap mandoline. Recently I was thinking about getting one of these buggers, primarily because I am incapable of slicing things very thin, either consistently or at all. The "inexpensive but decent" class can be had for $20-40, and the "pass on to your kids" class is around $200. So I was happy to see that this Pyrex branded model - with a 25 year warranty - was $10. In the cart it went.
Arriving home I was still dusty and stinky from my morning run, yet I still had to get one of my carrots from the farmers market out of the fridge and turn it into 20 long slices. Cool! I don't expect that the stamped stainless steel blade will stay sharp for long, but by then I will have decided if I want a better one or I can live without it. At this point I'm guessing the answer will be the former. *grin*
Time posted: 11:24 [permalink]
Tuesday, October 5
No "Signature" for me, thanks.
I don't want to have a signature dish. When a party comes calling, cries for "that chocolate thing" will fall on deaf ears. If the family makes a holiday request for "the thing from last year", it will be ignored.
To have a signature dish, to me, says a few things. On the positive side, it can say "perfection" and "honing" and "experience". Those attributes are fine, but it also says, "stagnation" to me. It says, "I've found my 'thing' and I'm not budging from it!"
This year when you are tempted (or begged) to regurgitate your specialty once again, revolt. Rebel. Reject.
Take a different route. Give your friends and family a gustatory pleasure they've not had before. Something within their range of appreciation, but pushing the boundaries of their ordinary cuisine. Obviously don't try to unveil before your "meat + 2" parents a towering sculpture of foie gras and truffled leeks. Keep your goal in mind - to tempt and inspire, not horrify and appall. Perhaps some porcini mushrooms and a hint of truffle oil in those mashed potatoes? Let your experience and your guest's history be your guide. Above all: don't be afraid. They're your friends and family - they can't hate you forever.
Time posted: 13:12 [permalink]
Monday, October 4
A quick lesson for the day, inspired by my employer.
This is an olive garden:
This is NOT an olive garden:
Class dismissed.
Time posted: 11:29 [permalink]
Friday, October 1
Diversionary Tactics
Its October of an election year, so allow me to branch out from my usual foodie-runner musings at least a few times over the next 5 weeks....
I'm not going to offer running commentary; I think the actual content and facts illuminate plenty on their own. However, if you have a few hours to kill today, its time to take a look at the best black humor comic to have arisen from the WTC wreckage: Get Your War On. The link I have attached is the first installment, so you can read the whole sordid tale, starting from 3 years ago to the present.
Enjoy, and don't get your ass fired for reading and guffawing at work, OK?
Time posted: 08:17 [permalink]
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CONTACT ME: tenacity -at- gmail.com
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