Hello boys and girls. Earlier I wanted to talk about gender roles and the continuation of unrealistic expectations for the modern woman in our times. Then a geek knocked at my door and made me look at pretty computer hardware I cant afford and now i’m too depressed to talk about something else that depresses me.
So we’re going to talk about something that makes me feel competent and happy, Cooking.
This my friends is a quiche. Dont panic.
OK, have I mentioned that I have a deep love of indian food? I do yanno. Im just terribly intimidated by the array of spices* needed to cook it “from scratch”, so I tend to stick with pre-packaged stuff for it. I highly recommend Patak’s here in Canadia, because while their stuff tends to be very mild by proper Indian standards, it’s not flavorless either- just tamed a bit for those of us who aren’t born with asbestos palates.
A common accompaniment with Indian dinners though is Naan bread. Mmmmm bread.
We used to just buy it with the other things when we went to the market. But then one day I said to myself, “Self, you make bread. This is bread. Why are we paying this much for bread that is just flat?” And since Self didn’t have a good answer for me, off we went to consult the Font Of All Knowledge. Continue reading
Also, as some of you are aware, I celebrate the Solstice. In celebration of the return of our life-giving, nourishing sun, I shaped tonight’s bread into a rustic form:
Here we go. Gramma’s on the way and Aunt Suzie and the twins will be here by noon. Bobbie has to do the vacuuming and Bill’s getting the extra table leaf. Cousin Fred says he’ll get a cab, but he’ll probably call sniffing for a ride anyway, and Jannine’s picking up her Tom at work and having the kids’ nanny bring them earlier in the day… dinner for seven at eight or was it eight at seven and you kids turn down the sound on Call Of Duty before I get a sniper rifle myself!!
AHHHHHH!
OK, stop, relax. Couple things to help you keep it together. Continue reading
Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook by Anthony Bourdain
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
A bland and less amusing work than his earlier “Kitchen Confidential”, Bourdain is less aggressive in this followup. Medium Raw is less acidic and more mellow, but occasionally his old “fuckit” attitude shines through. Go ahead and order the fucking fish on mondays, just shut the hell up about it already.
It’s almost conciliatory in places. The explanations of an older man trying to explain his angry-young-man period to the ravening crowd he’s just discovered is behind him. Perhaps an attempt at making amends to a community he readily admits he’s not really a part of any longer. Some assholes are still assholes. Some assholes are not really assholes, they just annoyed way back then before understanding dawned.
Leave this one on the shelf if you have anything more interesting hanging around, but it doesn’t quite fit into the category of “I can never get that time back” either. Definitely a bottom of the barrel material though.
Guess what’s for dinner!
No?
Here’s a hint:
No, Seriously, that’s a very nice picture of what we’re having for dinner. Continue reading
Salad for Dinner: Simple Recipes for Salads that Make a Meal by Tasha DeSerio
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Nothing extraordinary. Salad for Dinner is neither a new concept, nor it it really handled any differently here than 1000 other books giving recipes for salads topped with steak, bacon or fruit.
The photography is lovely, and I admit that it’s worth a look for the fair selection of salad ideas involving whole grains. Might not be a bad idea to add this to the cookbook shelf, if just to have something to take down and flip through on those dog-days when it’s too hot to even contemplate cooking.
So we’re a few days into the post Thanksgiving Day thing. Or a month past it, depending on which side of the border you’re on. And if you’re with me on one of ye olde Social Networks, you’ve seen this picture:
This was one yummy bastard of a bird. Godly, if i say so myself.
Now I tend to go along with a quote I’ve heard attributed to Rosa Lewis, once of London’s Cavendish hotel. “The best food is made with the best, freshest ingredients and simply cooked.”
Sometimes simplicity is what’s called for. Continue reading
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
First: I’ll say this. I cook. I generally spend more time on the outer aisles of the supermarket than on the center ones. I already knew what braise means, and have done it fairly often. I make my own bread. Anyone looking at my blog knows this. I read and I cook and I have done both pretty much as far back as I can remember.
This book however is not for people like me.
This book is for that friend who is afraid of her own kitchen but wont admit it.
We all have them. Her kitchen is always pristine, down to having unstained, unscarred potholders, and a pretty bowl of those paper sphere things on the counter. And the only thing she can use in it is the microwave.
Now I happen to be of the opinion that anyone who claims they cant cook either doesn’t want to, or hasn’t really tried. And when I write up recipes I keep the terminology out of it. Probably the most technical word I use is “simmer” (which I tend to use interchangeably with “burble” which I think is quite descriptive of the state being described.). I’ve been told I have succeeded in making them “like you’re right there telling me what to do”, which is my aim.
Here, Kathleen Flinn succeeds at that on a level I can only aspire to. She addresses a lot of things I see over and over. Shopping carts filled with boxes and TV Dinners instead of veggies and cheeses. Folks living in drive through lanes “because it’s faster” which it usually isn’t if you think about how long the line is. How to hold a knife properly, and the fact that, despite what you tell baby, that knife probably isn’t anywhere near sharp. Not properly sharp* anyway.
Flinn takes the scary out. She demystifies and reassures. What to do with a whole chicken. Why that recipe tasted so bland. That the stuff in that box, can or jar is cheaper if you make it yourself, and it’s not usually terribly hard, or time consuming.
Seriously, I cant think of a better gift this Holiday Season** for the woman in your life who says “My mom can cook, but I cant” or “I should be eating better, but I don’t have TIME”. Wrap it up and give it to her with a good chef’s knife and a thick wooden cutting board.
Just be warned. You might be in danger of having to eat food that doesn’t have anything you cant pronounce in it.
And you’ll find the Author’s site, with her active blog at kathleenflinn.com
*Pro Tip: If you have to push from the shoulder while cutting through anything but bone? Your knife is dull, and you’re going to hurt yourself.
** Pro Tip: Spouses and boy/girlfriends shouldn’t attempt this unless an interest in learning to cook has been expressed. Unless you really enjoy being cold-clocked with a cutting board because she wanted a bracelette instead.
“We’re out of bread…”
“UG! Why didnt you tell me before? I dont have time now!”
Hah, that’s a familiar conversation for home bakers. Even with the love I have for the folks at Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day the process takes about four hours (2 hour rise, 40 minute rise, 45 minute bake, then cooling.).
With a bit of tinkering, Ive managed to work out a slightly faster whole wheat loaf that is quite acceptable for sandwich-making situations. It’s a honey-sweetened wheat, with the super-soft crust that’ll keep the kids from whining about wonder bread. And you can have it ready in time for lunch.
Superfast Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
(adapted from the “Healthy Bread In Five Minutes A Day” 100% whole wheat sandwich loaf)
Take the time to dissolve the yeast into the water, but then you can just dump everything else into the bowl. Mix it up into a wet sticky dough.
In your microwave, nuke a cup of water for three minutes, and leave it there. Basically we’re turning your microwave into a place that yeast will love (otherwise known as a proofing box). Now, cover the dough in it’s bowl, and pop it in the microwave with the cup of hot water, letting as little steam escape as you can. Let it rise in there for an hour, and it should have doubled.
Grease a loaf pan, and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Now take your risen dough and use the gluten-cloaking technique the ABin5 folks taught us, pulling a taut skin around the dough and shaping it. Pop it in the pan. Nuke that hot water to boiling again, then pop the loaf pan in. This time give it about 25, 30 minutes. It should be poking its head up nicely by then.
Now just bake at 350 for about 45 minutes turning halfway through, or until a thermometer registers 210 degrees at the center of the loaf. Cool and slice.
Apply sammich stuff. :)
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