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Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Now, THESE are tips!
Posted
10:39 PM by Mike
Fellow blogger Joshua Farber, who's given us some kind words in his blog, pointed out to us this great set of cooking tips, courtesy of The Onion. Take a few minutes; you'll be glad you did. Thanks, Joshua.
Monday, April 28, 2003
Not necessarily brain surgery ...
Posted
11:08 PM by Mike
OK, so I know this little tip is probably best filed under the "Well ... duh!" category, but anyway...
Tonight I broiled flank steak again. The only bad thing about broiling ... well, anything, is having to clean the broiler pan.
Usually I give the top rack of the broiler pan a coat of non-stick cooking spray. Tonight it occurred to me that I should be also be spraying the bottom tray of the pan; after all, that's where all the grease and messy stuff falls when the steak cooks. So I did and, voila, cleaning was much easier. (I also sprayed the underside of the top rack.)
Like I said, it's not earth-shattering, but I might as well share it.
Saturday, April 26, 2003
'Dirty Shoelaces'
Posted
10:48 AM by Cathy
Hi! My first post!!
Although I love food and eating, I really don't get the idea of wanting to spend MORE time in the kitchen. I think Mike and Ricky are avoiding doing laundry or something.
Anyway, I do want to share a dish my family lovingly calls "Dirty Shoelaces". It's a vehicle to use up the lovely pork roast or other pork left-overs. (I don't know that it would work with moose).
First, cut the pork into bite-sized pieces as you boil a pot of water. Boil 2 or 3 packages of ramen noodles (depending on size of family and amount of meat) and drain. Throw the meat into the hot pot and add the cooked noodles. Stir in 1 pack of the pork seasoning that comes with the ramen, and a bit of oil (my family prefers a squirt of squeezable "butter"). Toss in a reasonable amount of frozen corn and give it a big stir. It's warm and yummy, even though it looks a little like dirty shoelaces.
I get requests for it frequently, but I don't think I'd take it to a church supper unless I came up with a better name!!
From Mike: Perhaps when you took it to church you could call it "Holy Shoelaces."
Comfort food
Posted
12:55 AM by Mike
For dinner earlier this evening, I was thinking of a nice, quick chicken meal served over noodles, but I didn't want a thick, creamy sauce. I wanted something lighter. So, I improvised with this:
First I melted a couple tablespoons of butter in about a tablespoon of olive oil in my big skillet. Then I put in four chicken breasts to sear. While they were cooking, I chopped an onion and several stalks of celery, along with a whole bunch of cloves of garlic (I didn't really count; I just kept going until it looked like "a lot"). I added these to the pan, let them cook with the chicken for a couple of minutes, then I poured in two cans of store-bought, reduced-fat chicken stock (I love this stuff). If I had had some mushrooms on hand, I would have added those, but I didn't
I left the chicken to continue cooking in the veggies and broth while the egg noodles cooked.
At the last minute, I added some corn starch in water to the sauce to thicken it slightly. I let the sauce boil to get the thickening going, then let it simmer for a couple more minutes before serving.
The family enjoyed it. In fact my wife said, "You know what this tastes like? Comfort food."
I think that's about the best compliment a cook can get.
Wednesday, April 16, 2003
They call him Flipper, Flipper ...
Posted
11:42 PM by Mike
I know I shouldn't do this kind of thing ... it can only lead to trouble. But I can't help myself.
I've been going flip-happy in the kitchen. That's right, I've been channeling my inner-Emeril and flipping food in the skillet as often as possible. You know what I mean, right? ... Those little flips of the pan that turn the food over so you don't have to use a spatula? Right. That's my new little kitchen gimmick.
Of course, the reason that real chefs flip their food is because they're turning out a lot of dishes at one time and have a tight schedule to keep. They're in a hurry and are saving precious seconds - and unneeded food implements that just add to the kitchen clutter - by not having to reach in there with a spatula.
I, on the other hand, am doing it only to be cool. This, of course, coming from the guy who almost cut off his fingers in November. You can only imagine the potential disasters.
So far, nothing serious has happened. There was, of course, the incident with the spinach, which taught me that I don't know my own strength and that cats are afraid of flying spinach.
Tonight I made omelets, which are my favorite things to flip. In my earliest attempts to flip omelets, I wound up serving scrambled eggs for dinner, but I've gotten better and better. Tonight I had three perfect flips out of three.
Still, I shouldn't tempt the fates by bragging. It's only a matter of time before I wind up with egg on my face, literally.
Friday, April 11, 2003
Speed lasagna
Posted
12:38 AM by Mike
Tonight, even though it wasn't on the menu, I had a craving for lasagna. Now, the past few times that it's been on the menu, I've created it in advance and frozen it. This evening, however, I didn't have one prepared. That was OK; I had been dying to see just how fast I could create a lasagna from scratch, using "real" ingredients, in other words, no canned sauces, etc.
The recipe I used was a combination of a version I had seen on the show "America's Test Kitchen" and the "Lazy Man's Lasagna" recipe in Kathleen Daelemans' "Cooking Thin," as well as some improvisation on my part.
Some might consider my use of no-cook lasagna noodles as a cheat, not to mention a violation of the FoodDork "no-helper" pledge. Well, I might have thought so too at one time. Then I saw the no-cook noodle taste test on "ATK" and decided to give them a try and gosh, weren't those things tasty! I used my favorite pasta brand, Ronzoni, which, as it turned out, was the favorite of the "ATK" taste-testers.
Anyway, I started the timer, set the oven to 350 and went to work. First, I put about a tablespoon of olive oil in my 12-inch skillet and began wilting some baby spinach, adding about two tablespoons of red wine vinegar and a pinch of kosher salt about midway through the wilt. Then I scraped the spinach into the food processor and pulsed it a couple of times. Total time: 7 minutes.
Next I sliced some mushrooms and chopped some garlic and put them in the same skillet, to which I had added a little more olive oil. Total chopping time: 7 minutes.
While the mushrooms and garlic were cooking, I opened four cans of whole tomatoes (as I've explained before, I always use whole tomatoes, never tomato sauce), drained the juice into the skillet and dumped the whole parts into the food processor (without washing it first, thus saving a little time). Again a few pulses, then I poured the pureed tomatoes into the skillet. (If I hadn't been going for a speed record, I would have roasted the whole parts under the broiler for a few minutes first.) Time for processing tomatoes: 5 minutes.
I added a little bit of salt and pepper and a touch of oregano into the tomato/mushroom sauce and let it simmer while I mixed the processed spinach with about a pound of ricotta cheese and a few herbs and spices. Time for this step: 5 minutes.
Then it was time to build the lasagna: Sauce on the bottom of the pan, then a layer of noodles, some ricotta, some shredded mozzarella, more sauce, then another two layers of the same, all topped with a layer of mozzarella. Into the oven it went. Time for the building step: 5 minutes.
Total prep time: 29 minutes. Of course, it takes about an hour, including a rest time, for the lasagna to cook, which means it's usually a late meal. That's why speed of prep time is important. Note that this was a no-meat lasagna, by the way. This is mostly to save calories, but the added benefit is that it saves time. Of course, I'll try to shave off some minutes of prep next time. Also, I can set the oven to 375 and cover the tray with foil and take off a few minutes of bake time.
The family loved the speed lasagna, by the way.
Thursday, April 10, 2003
Not that big a fan
Posted
3:23 PM by Rick
No sooner had I posted a blog declaring my love to BBQ (see below) than I came across the following true news story from Chuck Shepherd's News Of The Weird site: "And in February, a 45-year-old Japanese tourist attempted to board a flight at Miami International Airport carrying a canister of gasoline, two boxes of matches and a barbecue grill, and he was taken into custody when he refused to give them up." [CNN-AP, 2-18-03]
I'm not that big a fan.
That's right, grapefruit juice!!
Posted
2:56 PM by Rick
If there's one place I am a true food dork - i.e., beginning lover of learning about cooking - it is in the world of outdoor BBQ.
Get ready: I just tried a new recipe for a sauce that had as one of its main ingredients grapefruit juice. The taste was excellent and different, though I put in too much pepper for my wife's liking. Suddenly I have an idea: What will happen if I use various fruit juices along with the needed ingredients to add spice, heat (sorry, Karen), etc...
I may set aside a day soon and try using these: Orange juice, pineapple, pineapple-orange, apple (apple cider is already an ingredient in many recipes), grape (that might be weird). If wines can be fruity, why not BBQ sauces?? I'll let you know if something grabs me.
Tuesday, April 08, 2003
And speaking of the cutting edge ...
Posted
1:19 AM by Mike
Reading Rick's earlier post about his onion-cutting near-mishap caused an involuntary twinge in my fingers.
You see, I wasn't so lucky during my own onion-cutting episode back in November. Even though the onion was cut in half and resting securely on the cutting board, I was going too fast and the blade slipped from the top of the onion to my fingers, which were holding the onion at a lower level. I chopped off a hefty chunk of the right side of my middle finger tip.
Just a week later, with a nice, thick bandage around my left middle finger, I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the family, including my sister and brother. Cutting sweet potatoes to make candied yams, I made a similar mistake as before, cutting too fast on the curved top of a slippery item. This time I took off a major portion of my index finger tip, including part of my fingernail.
Because I was right in the middle of preparing dinner, I needed to bandage it in a way that would allow me to continue cooking. I wrapped it in gauze and tape, and then pulled a latex glove over my hand. That seemed to work. For awhile, that is. Because of the severity of the cut, it wouldn't stop bleeding, so the gauze was soon soaked with blood, which leaked into the glove.
So, I'm in the kitchen with a latex glove on my left hand, the index finger of which is this big, bulbous mass of sloshing bright red. Ever see those Flintstone cartoons where Fred accidentally hits his finger with a hammer and the tip of his finger is suddenly as big as his whole hand? That was me.
My sister asked, "Are you sure you can keep doing this?" My brother asked, "Are you sure we won't be eating part of your finger for dinner?"
I finally had to remove the glove and rebandage the finger with a lot more gauze and tape. This time it held and I was able to finish dinner with no further mishap (the dinner turned out great, by the way, if I do say so myself). My fingers have now both healed nicely, thank you; you can't even tell where the damage was.
And since then my knife skills have improved; I haven't cut myself again (knock on cutting board). And I've gained a valuable dose of humility. But then again, that is the essence of FoodDorkdom - learning by doing, or, in our cases, learning by almost cutting our fingers off.
Monday, April 07, 2003
On the cutting edge of technology
Posted
5:56 PM by Mike
I thought folks might get a kick out of seeing this new bit of technology, as reported on the BBC Web site (not sure how long the link will last).
 It's a Web browser built into a cutting board. The idea is for cooks to be able to download recipes, tips, etc., from the Web and have them close at hand.
Note: To get to the part about the Web-browsing cutting board, first you'll have to scroll past the item about the toilet-mounted Web browser that can, if desired, print out directly on the toilet paper.
Friends you meet along the way
Posted
12:13 AM by Mike
One of the great things about publishing blogs is the opportunity to meet and make friends along the way. In our case, it's the folks who run food blogs of their own.
When I run the FoodDork logs each week, I take notice of who's sending folks our way. Many of the links, as it turns out, come from other food blogs.
For instance, there's Deb, whose site, Murray Hill 5, features both a photo gallery blog (what a great concept) and an "In My Kitchen" blog. Or there's Elaine and Co. over at RecipeSpot, a nifty team-blog concept wherein participants post their favorite recipes from a variety of sources. And just tonight I learned that Betsy and Jim over at the aptly named BetsyAndJim.com have recently added a link to us. Thank you!
Not all of the blogs who send folks our way are food-related. For instance, Joshua gave us a nice write-up on his blog, Not All Who Wander Are Lost, and as a result we received quite a few new visitors.
We thank all these fine, generous bloggers and hope that we can do our part to send Web surfers back their way as well.
Saturday, April 05, 2003
Food Dork Hall of Fame
Posted
5:24 PM by Rick
This is my most recent attempt to get my picture hung in a coveted spot among the truly great dorks of history:
Always chopping my onions in a food chopper, I decided to whip out a knife and chop as would a chef, by hand. Grasping the round onion with my left hand I placed the not-too-sharp knife (both my downfall and salvation) on the far edge of the onion and pressed down with my full body weight on the knife and onion.
Yes, what happened is precisely what you think. In a blink of the eye, the onion shot under the knife and before I could stop, for one brief moment, I found myself pressing a knife with full weight onto the fingers and thumb of my left hand. Nothing is missing (I just counted to make sure) but that feeling is still enough to give a man nightmares.
I now slice onions as I saw it done a few days ago on TV: Taking a very sharp knife, I gently place it in the center of the onion, and without much pressure cut the onion in half. The two halves, no longer round, can easily be sliced. Perhaps every one else in the universe knows this, but then again, how will you make it into the Hall of Fame??
From Mike: While I can empathize with Rick's experience (as I describe in a later post), I must append this Official Dork Disclaimer: The actions in this post do not accurately fit the definition of "dork" as is used within the context of "FoodDork." In said context, the word "dork" means merely "someone who is overly enthusiastic about something." The actions described by the poster are more accurately described by the word "klutz." It is recognized by the Bureau of Dork Behavioral Studies, however, that one's behavior as a dork can lead to behavior as a klutz, and vice-versa. (For the complete list of Dork Behavioral parameters, send an SASE to the BDBS, ASAP.)
FINALLY! FoodTV.com enters the 21st century
Posted
11:52 AM by Mike
Hallelujah! FoodTV.com, arguably the finest food site on the Web, has left the Dark Ages of the 600-pixel-wide page and has redesigned its site, taking advantage of the available real estate and spreading out to a full 800 pixels. (Perhaps I was a little overly neurotic, being a Web designer, but that 600-pixel page used to drive me crazy. I even e-mailed them about it.)
 The site has all the great features as before - one of the finest cooking education areas on the Web, an amazing recipe database, etc. - but in a nice, nifty, new - and WIDER (!!!) - layout.
They've refined a lot of the search, schedule and calendar functions of the site. If you use the site to plan your Food Network viewing (as I must admit I do sometimes), you can take advantage of the handy calendars, which include theme ingredients and recipe links.
(And how about this: In its Entertaining section, a feature on Sushi Parties!
I could go on, but just go check it out yourself.
If you're at all a food and/or cooking fan, as we are, and you haven't yet been there, you must visit FoodTV.com as soon as possible.
Sushi part two: The rest of the story
Posted
11:35 AM by Mike
Our friend Cathy DuGay (who, we hope, soon will be joining us on FoodDork, by the way), writes, "I enjoyed your treatise on sushi, but I have to say, my sentiments are best expressed by Pat Donohue in his song Sushi-Yucky. You can hear him sing it , too.
"I tried sushi once, also at a buffet. There was a large bowl of a green paste that looked like creamy avocado. I love guacamole, so I took a spoonful as I chose a bit of sushi. At the table, I put the tip end of one fork-tine into the green stuff and tried it. At once I wished I could cut off my whole tongue, as spitting and scraping it was not enough to erase the taste. Wasabi with that?!? Yuck!"
I replied to Cathy: "I can't believe you mistook wasabi for guacamole! What, were you at some sort of multi-national smorgasbord? ("Oooh, there's some stuffed salmon!" "No, wait, it's haggis!")
Friday, April 04, 2003
A craving for sushi, but already in over my head
Posted
12:13 AM by Mike
Recently I've developed quite a craving for sushi, particularly because of a new Chinese buffet in town that includes its sushi bar on its all-you can eat menu.
Of course (and I say "of course" to those who know their sushi), the "sushi bar" in this restaurant isn't what sushi fans would call a traditional sushi bar; it's basically just a guy behind a counter, turning out roll after roll, with some nigiri (the little fingers of rice with fish or shrimp on top) on the side, and setting it all on top of the counter for the buffet diners to come and grab. Still, to my uneducated palate it's quite tasty, and has inspired me to find out more about sushi, how it's made and how to eat it.
I sort of know the basics of how to eat sushi (in most cases, for instance, you don't nibble on the stuff, for instance; you pop it in all at once). My first question, however, based on my visits to this Chinese buffet, is how much one is allowed to take. I mean, I know it's an all-you-can-eat bar, and so, theoretically, you can take all that you can eat. Case closed. However, is sushi something with which you can fill your plate? Or, is it proper to take only a couple of pieces? I've seen folks at the bar fill their plates and I've seen folks take only one or two on small plates.
Being too embarrassed to ask the sushi chef or the waitress (sure, they would politely encourage me to take all I want, but would probably curse me and my family under their breath), I turned instead to my old friend The Web. Sure enough, in the newsgroup alt.food.sushi was found this recommendation: "The only rule at a sushi bar is to eat what you like, how you like it, and as much as you like. Anyone who tells you differently is full of it. " So, there you go.
Still, I had other questions, so I checked out other sites, finding three in particular very helpful (not counting the aforementioned alt.food.sushi): SushiLinks.com, EatSushi.com and alt.food.sushi's SushiFAQ.com.
These sites together provide a great education on sushi and sashimi and I'm learning a lot already. But one thing I'm learning is that perhaps I'm already way in over my head. For instance, take any of the discussions over on alt.food.sushi. These folks really know what they're talking about, and leave me feeling like a little kid with my limited experience with sushi bars (besides the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, I've only been to a traditional sushi bar once, several years ago). One poster, for instance, declared his disdain for any kind of rolls, "particularly those named after any American state or city." Others poked fun at what they called "designer rolls." Lots of seafood terminology is thrown around - aji and akagai, aoyagi and awabi, hamo and hawara, kaki and karei, maguro and ohyo, uni and tako (in this regard, it's not unlike being in a wine-lovers' group).
I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up, but I'll give it a try. A friend at the day job, who's a Japanophile and is well-versed in the local sushi scene (he calls sushi "one of the major food groups"), is going to accompany me to a couple of the local sushi bars to help me sort my way through the nigiri and the maki.
And naturally, FoodDork that I am, I'll eventually give the sushi-making experience a try in my humble little kitchen. Stay tuned.
Thursday, April 03, 2003
Wild About that Taste
Posted
1:54 PM by Rick
I got a great e-mail from a friend, Cathy DuGay, and here's her story in her words:
"When I moved to Pensacola, a real city girl, I got a job in a Gonzalez BarBQ place (near Cantonment). I thought it was a real treat when the boss invited me in to have some deer ham her common-law husband had shot.
"She watched me intently as I took my first bite. 'Can you taste that wild taste?' she anxiously inquired.
" 'Oh, yeah!' I enthusiastically responded, wondering what a wild taste was.
" '@!##**!' she cried. 'I cooked that @!##** thing all day trying to get the wild taste out!' "
Keep cooking!
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