The Blank Plate

Grill-out?

2011-08-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

What do you guys call a lazy afternoon satiated with grilled food, beer, mojitos and sangria? As a California native, I'm most used to the term Barbecue. However, my friend Nadya, from Massachusetts, says cook-out. In the meantime, we had invented our own event, termed a grill-luck, when we ask guests to bring various food items to grill, often around a theme, like grilled pizzas or grilled tacos. But yesterday was an impromptu fest which I spontaneously called a grill-out.

Since barbecues make me think of cloyingly sweet baked beens, macaroni salad with too much mayo, and blank hamburgers, I think Grill-out has the opportunity to conjure up fresh garden fare, grilled specialties and summer drinks! The other weekend, we enjoyed grilled squash and potatoes. I seasoned it with a spice mix inspired from a recent Gourmet. I have used this mix on everything to give it a fragrant but smokey flavor; flatbread, veggies, rib-eye steaks, couscous..... and I suspect that I will be use up the whole bottle! This unusual combination elevates your dish to grill-out specialty!

Tabil Spice Blend

3 TBS coriander seeds
1 1/2 TBS cumin seeds
1 TBS caraway seeds
1 TBS black peppercorn
1 TBS paprika
1 TBS salt

1. Mix in grinder.

2. Use it on whatever sounds grill-out worthy.

3. Enjoy dish with a mojito or some sangria.

Hitting the Ground Running

2011-07-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

Since Monday was a holiday, many of us pummeled into the work week, doing our best to make up for the lost day. And often, I feel like I pummel into my day trying to make up for lost time. And I often skip breakfast. But I am trying to make a conscious effort not to, so that I have the fuel and energy to do some real pummeling!

However, I think the marketing guys really get you on breakfast. They sell all those sugary yogurts and processed breads and cereal bars that purport to have extra fiber or calcium or whatever, but also come laden with preservatives. So here are my make ahead alternative to a a sensible breakfast, cherry yogurt and toast

Cherry Yogurt

2 cups pitted cherries
splash of tawny port
1/2 tps vanilla extract
honey (to taste)
3 cups plain yogurt

1. Cook cherries over medium heat with port, vanilla and honey.

2. When cherries have softened and become juicy, take them off the heat approx 10 min.

3. Mix cherry mixture with yogurt.

4. Divy up into little Tupperware's to take with you when your on the run!

5. Have a little sip of port and go to bed with a smile on your face knowing a yummy breakfast awaits you in the morning.

They call me mellow yellow

2011-07-05T10:41:00.000-05:00

Our garden has finally produced a harvest. And our produce is decidedly YELLOW, yellow summer squash that is! Look at these puppies! So we made colache with corn and vietnamese crepes that were also yellow from the little bit of turmeric that goes in them.

Carbajal Colache

an ear of corn
2 yellow squash
1 tomato
1 onion
couple cloves of garlic
cheese (optional)
cilantro/ green onion

In a small saucepan, boil tomato with cloves of garlic (peeled whole).
Meanwhile slice and dice onion and squash
Strip the kernels off the corn.
Begin to saute corn, squash and onion over medium heat.
When tomato is cooked (approx 10 min) blend with boiling water and garlic until it becomes a thin tomato broth.
Pour this mixture over the sauteed vegetables, and place lid over for another 10 minutes.
Serve with crepes, tortillas, tostadas with cheese, cilantro and green onion on top.

The best laid plans!

2011-06-27T12:42:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone for your input on what to do with the Tilapia. You all shared a part of my weekly adventures in meal planning. Unfortunately, for all the wonderful plans I have, sometimes, they don't work out. See, Wednesday, the day of the post, I did intend on cooking the fish alongside the salad. But I got lazy, and thus, after frying the wonton wrappers, just served the salad sans fish. Thursday night, Gil had pizza with his coworkers and I ate granola. Friday, I had a burger with Nadya and Gil had to fend for himself. So Saturday comes along and the fish was still there in the fridge. But then, Gil decides to make ceviche and who can't turn down ceviche! Plus, we had fresh cilantro from the garden, it was a great meal after breaking in my new bike.

Cooking Plans and a Quandary

2011-06-22T17:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I stopped by the store do some shopping. This week, I plan to make:

Now the quandary. I saw they had some fresh wild caught tilapia on sale so I bought it. Now I must figure out how to use it. I could cook it

with tofu as a filling for the vietnamese crepes
with a sesame oil and soy sauce to serve with the salad
with Romesco Sauce and served with the Spanish tortilla.

What do you think?

Sandwiches, they are what's for dinner!

2011-06-22T13:38:00.000-05:00

One of the most frequently requested meals at our house is the sandwich. Usually associated with lunch, sandwiches can make an awesome dinner time meal. So I thought I'd list some of my favorite parts about having sandwiches for dinner.

In the mid-atlantic summer, they are cool and refreshing.
They are fast and easy to make.
They are versatile, and can be made with what you have on hand.
No pots and pans to clean!

Optimality Theory and Lobster Pot Pie

2011-06-17T13:41:00.001-05:00

Allright, now that I have a Ph.D., I must bring some nerdiness to this blog. In linguistics, there is a theory of phonology known as Optimality Theory (aka OT). It is in my humble opinion that much of our talk about food and diet should be viewed in this framework as opposed to the absolutist terms it is quite often discussed.

Basically, in Optimality Theory there are constraints. You can imagine constraints like "No high fructose corn syrup" or "Cannot take more than 3 hours to cook". We all have our constraints. And these constraints get ranked. So, Too LONG can be ranked over No HFCS. If this is the case, then it is more important to have something quick and convenient than something that doesn't have HFCS. Consequently, the No HFCS constraint can be broken so long as the higher ranking constraints are not.

I think this analogy works well because I think we are constantly fighting against contradicting constraints when it comes to food. And I think lots of people make their rankings and then assume everyone else doesn't have the same constraints when they do, they are just ranked lower. I think this model allows us some flexibility. It allows us to break our constraints sometimes and understand that we are still abiding by other constraints that we have. We make our compromises. We have constraints based on diet (vegetarian, vegan, organic) time, convenience, and money. And it is impossible to satisfy them all, but we should consider it a victory when we achieve some.

Turning to the recipe for today, in general I do not follow recipes from a certain TV chef whose cooking show is based out of the Hamptons. Ingredients she uses are often outside of my grad student (and now unemployed) budget. But my husband and I were drooling as the channel flipped by a recipe for Lobster Pot Pie. So here the two constraints came head to head, affordability and mouth-watering.

What was my compromise? Well the big one was subbing imitation lobster for the real deal. Frankly, if I bought real lobster, I would serve it with butter salt and pepper and a nice green salad. But I had no guilt enveloping the imitation stuff in a velvety sauce, frozen veggies and pie dough. (Apparently, Mouth Watering also outranked MAX calories as well). Secondly, the Barefoot Contessa calls for Pernod, which again, I am not going to buy JUST for this recipe. I subbed some leftover white wine, which I think actually is an improvement over the original. The sauce is very rich and the wine adds a level of acidity. Finally, although not particularly expensive, I swapped fennel for fennel seeds just because it involved less chopping.

Another note, one of the reasons I made this recipe is because I had made tart previously this week, so I had pie dough on hand, otherwise the recipe is quite labor intensive. That said, it is a very sumptuous dish that is perfect for a rainy summer evening.

Lobster Pot Pie

Time: Total: 1:45 min Prep 30 min Baking: 1:15 at 375 F
Serves: 4
Ingredients:

1 onion
2 TBS butter
1/2 cup flour
2 cups Seafood Stock
1/2 chopped parsley
1 package Imitation Lobster (or crab)
Bag of frozen veggies
Pie Dough
1 egg

Preparation:

Chop 1 onion and cook on medium for 10-15 minutes in 2 TBS butter, in a medium sauce pan. This will be the base for your sauce.
While onion is cooking, cut imitation lobster in bite size pieces and place in bowl with the bag of frozen veggies.
Chop 1/2 cup parsley (a good handful)
Preheat oven to 375.
Mix 1/2 cup flour in with onions cook for 3 minutes on Low.
Slowly mix in 2 cups Seafood stock and 1/2 cup white wine (you can premix the liquids and pour together).
Let simmer until sauce is thick and wine has cooked off a bit (about 5-10 minutes) you can bump up the heat to medium low if its gone cold. Make sure to mix the flour in and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Meanwhile, roll out your pie dough. If you have individual ceramic bowls, take these out. The pie dough will actually only be a topping, so you want to make sure you roll out enough to cover the tops of your bowls or baking dish.
In a bowl, beat egg.
Once sauce is thick, add parsley and pour over lobster and frozen veggie mix. Then pour mixture into ceramic bowls or baking dish
Place pie dough over the top of the bowls and brush on beaten egg (you will have leftover egg). Then take a knife and make 4-5 incisions into the top of the dough so the steam can come out.
Pop in oven, for 1:15 minute pour yourself a glass of wine (if you haven't already).

A new beginning

2011-06-15T10:28:00.000-05:00

I'm ba-ack! And I am ready to start blogging again. So I thought I would begin with a toast to ring in the summer. I have had a monumental year and a half since I stopped blogging and now that I am neither planning a wedding or a trip to Peru or writing a dissertation I can relax, enjoy the summer, a drink and some blogging. So here's to a summer of relaxation and lots of good cooking and drinking!!

Gil and I enjoyed a nice pitcher of blue Sangria (thank you Gina for the inspiration). If your looking for an off beat summer treat, look no further! This drink is made with blue curacao, which I had never tried before, but according to wikipedia is made from a citrus fruit grown on the island of Curacao. Originally, Spanish explorers tried to grow Valencia oranges on the island, and instead they got this mutant blueish fruit that provides the peel in which the liqueur is distilled.

This drink is best made a few hours before hand to give time for the fruit to infuse and the drink to chill in the fridge.

Blue Sangria

One bottle of white wine
A couple good splashes of Curacao
Summer fruit such as blueberries and strawberries
1 bottle of sparkling water
ice

Lares Hike: The Bulls

2010-05-24T08:08:00.000-05:00

Let's set the scene:

We were having a delicious lunch, provided by the amazing chefs at Two Nations restaurant. Here is this potato sandwich thing that turned out to be just what one wants when your hiking the Andes.

The potato sandwich was both filling and satisfying. We were enjoying our lunch break and cooling our feet off.

Afterwards we laid down and rested our eyes in the warm sun. We have no pictures of our little nap, because, well, we were sleeping. But just imagine us, laying in the grass with our hoodies over our eyes to block out the sun just relaxing our muscles after 3 hours of uphill hiking and a filling lunch.

Then, suddenly, just as I was dozing off, I hear my name being screamed. I open my eyes to see this.

We jumped up and the bulls raged at us. No my camera is not on zoom, this is how close they got.

Thankfully we were able to jump up on the rocks and soon enough the Quechuan bull owners (I guess) came along and corralled them up. And before we knew it the bulls were gone. But our hearts were pumping and our adrenaline was up. And this is how we started the difficult afternoon climb to our camp. Soon, >hint< >hint<. Dad will post about the goings-on at camp! That was a night to remember! (Although I don't think I will ever forget nearly getting stampeded by a bull).

Trek to Lares

2010-05-19T15:18:00.000-05:00

There will be many more stories to come, but this is the first post about our Lares Trek. As you can see, the landscape is beautiful, but here are the basics. The trip was 32 kilometers or 19.9 miles in two days for hiking. We started at 9,999 feet and went to the campground at 15,419 feet for an elevation gain of almost 5,500 feet on one day. We carried light packs weighing somewhere in the 20 pound area. That night was something else to explain later. The highest part of our hike was a whopping 4900 meters (16,075 feet). We descended from 16,075 to 10,960 (a total of 6,115 feet). We broke camp at around 6:30 arriving in the Hot Springs camping ground in Lares around 5:00 PM. The thermal pools were most welcome!

We took some 400 pictures along the way. Coming up, bulls, rock throwing, smoking coca and much much more so stay tuned!!!

Windia from Cusco Peru

2010-04-28T18:51:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Peru

Some of you may or may not know, but I have gone to Peru for a few months to do research (part of the reason I needed to take a break from posting was to prepare for this trip). But now that I am in Peru doing research, I could not resist the urge to continue my blog from here. So please anticipate (with excitement hopefully) a series of food posts from Cusco, Peru.

Haul Post

I do have a few comments on eating customs and the cuisine but the moment that will have to wait, as I introduce to you the loot I got from the Cusco grocery store. I bought some boring things like yogurt, granola and lentils, but here are some Peruvian specialties that were totally new to me.

Inca Nut
Quinua Pop
Chullpi con Rocoto
Aji Panca sauce

The Inca nuts have a crunchy shell and they somehow magically sneak cheddar cheese between the shell and the nut, very addicting. The quinua pop is like a smaller softer rice crispy. The Chullpi con Rocoto is some sort of crunchy corn kernel with chile on the outside. The Peruvian version of spicy is very mild so the chile flavor is not that strong. Lastly, I haven't tried the Aji sauce, but I have tried various versions going out for lunch, generally pretty tasty stuff.

I won't lie, I bought snacky things so I could munch not between but before and after the one and only proper meal Peruvians eat daily. My host family has been very kind to bring me along to lunch, but breakfast and dinner are pretty non-existant here.

Reservations

Overall, the Peruvian grocery shopping experience was fun, however, I found the store relatively small and expensive. Considering you can eat a three course lunch for $2, and everything at the store were close to American prices, it seemed difficult to make the meal for the same amount. I have a sneaky suspicion that while the store I went to was not in a touristy part of town, this is not where most Cuscoans do their shopping. I will have to find where the real mercado is. And when I do, trust me, I will have another post.

Happy 2010!

2009-12-31T12:27:00.000-05:00

2010 for me looks very exciting! For one, I have received an NSF grant and will be going to Peru for several months! By the end of the year I will be defending my dissertation. In addition, I will be getting married in September. I have quite a lot on my plate this year. For these reasons, I have decided that I will temporarily leave The Blank Plate for this year. I will not quit cooking and I will continue to try to find ways to optimize eating real food, however, I just do not have sufficient time and mental resources to keep posting every week. Thank you everyone for all your support and hopefully at some point the future, when I'm a married doctor, I can pick the blog back up. I will miss it dearly. Happy New Years Everyone!

100 Wine Reviews

2009-12-08T09:34:00.000-05:00

This Thanksgiving marks the 100th wine that I review on corkd.com. Please cue the confetti falling! I'm excited and proud that I have been diligent enough to have reviewed enough wines so I can look back and remember all the great wines I've had and the fun I had drinking them.

Harsh Grader
One thing I've noticed about my reviews is that I am very stingy when it comes to points. In fact, only one wine received the coveted 90 point score, and that was because my Dad gave it that score.

Navaran Non Vintage Cava

Despite my reluctance to give high scores this wine was indeed memorable. We had it at a tapas restaurant in Sacramento when I had just landed from flying over from the east coast. I also only gave four wines an 89 score. In that group is a Reisling, Tempranillo and a Malbec. This is no surprise as these are my favorite varietals. The surprise is a Gros Manseng I had at Satoshi's wine party, which is the only Gros Manseng I've ever had.

2008 Domain de Cassagnoles Gros Manseng

Varietal Love
I expected my scores to reflect the conclusions that I've come to about varietals that I like and don't like. I expected all Malbecs to score high and all Sauvignon Blancs to score low. But looking over my reviews reveals that it is never good to stereotype wine. In fact, I've only scored two Malbecs and the other one scored a pitiful 84 points. And one of my Reislings scored a measly 82 points!

2007 La Flor Malbec
2008 Leasingham Magnus Reisling

And while I think I love reds and whites equally, 14 out of 19 wines that scored 88 points were white, but 14 out of 25 wines scored at 87 where red. Overall whites fared slightly better. I was also surprised to find I did not rate a single Shiraz above 86.

Tag your it!

I was hoping that a glance at the tags would reveal flavors that I gravitated towards. I certainly had some interesting ones. One wine was tagged with chicken, another cat pee. Other surprising tags included, ocean, sunflower seeds, oregano and marshmallows.

However in the top wines, pears popped up frequently. This isn't too surprising, I love pears (definitely over apples and other fruit). Grapefruit, zest and words related to bread, like grainy or yeasty also came up a lot. (Remember there is a white wine bias). And while one would think a tag like chocolate would guarantee a high rating wine, both wines with chocolate tags only received 86 points. Also low on the totem pole of tags are cherry and chapstick.

Review of Reviews
I don't think professional wine raters have reviews that look like mine, but that's part of the fun. I may not have had as much experience with wine as a pro, but I have my own palette and reviewing wines is part of discovering it. I think I've learned some important lessons. Don't ever be closed minded, just because you don't think you like that type of wine doesn't mean you won't like the wine you are about to try. Also try new varietals, you never know when they will blow you away. So even if you don't write down all your reviews, my reviews should demonstrate that these lessons are true tenets of wine tasting. Happy Holiday drinking everyone!

Beans and Greens

2009-11-20T11:56:00.001-05:00

State of Relaxation
It is true that I spend much of my time cooking. I love cooking. I often spend hours in the kitchen banging pots and pans around. But even though I love cooking, there is nothing quite as comforting to coming home to dinner already done. And even better, Gil, Jose and Salvador all get to share this feeling with me. We all collectively can relax over a couple bottles of beer because we know dinner is done. The weight of the stress from our days is lifted as we sink into the couch and laugh over Family Guy. There is calmness. It is a state of relaxation that sometimes we cannot achieve on weekends or vacation.

Achieving Nirvana

How does one achieve this miraculous state of relaxation? Well it is good part thanks to a little kitchen appliance called the slow cooker and colloquially known as the crock pot (not to plug any brands, this blog is neutral). See, the slow cooker allows you to assemble dinner in the morning before you leave for work. You simply put things in, cover with liquid, plug into the wall and turn it on. Usually this takes me 10 minutes tops.

The Magical Fruit

Now you can vary this with all kinds of soups, but in our household, the crock pot is used to make variations on one particular ingredient. Yes you guessed it, beans! Having all grown up on Mexican food, we can eat beans every day. And with plenty of protein and fiber, beans are a great sustenance to boot! They come in a wide variety and can be served plain or with almost any vegetable you can think of. Greens has become a favorite because their heartiness holds up to the beans well and they often cheaply come in bags pre-chopped and pre-washed.

Beans and Greens
Serves 4-6

1 bag of Greens (can be collard, turnip, mustard, kale or a mix) approx 12 oz
1 bag of beans (1 pound) of your choice (Above is Good Mother Stallard from Rancho Gordo)
3 cloves of garlic
Your favorite Chile sauce (we like Hunan Style Chile and Garlic)
Cheese (optional)
Tostadas preferably Casera style

Put beans, greens and garlic in crock pot
Pour water over until crockpot is almost full (I like a lot of broth).
Cover, turn on low, go to work
Come home, have some beer.
Turn off, add salt and pepper to taste
Serve with your favorite chile sauce, cheese and tostadas.

The Empty Glass

2009-11-15T09:47:00.000-05:00

This week, I am honored to be a featured user of cork'd. I find their site a really easy way to share and review wine. For instance, Friday, I went to a wine party hosted by my professor, and now all the reviews from the party are up. The party's theme was unusual whites, and tasted Torrontes, Albarinos, Viognier, Grenache Blac, Gros Manseng and Grillo. The latter three wines were completely new to me. The winner of the night and my personal favorite was Domaine des Cassagnoles 2008 Gros Mensang. As I say in my review, this wine had it all! If you have a chance, you should seek it out, it was definitely a memorable wine. If not, then you should try a new white wine varietal. White wine is very versatile and just because the weather is colder doesn't mean we should give it up. There are many varieties of white wine with more body and depth than your average cheap pinot grigio. In addition, your more likely to find value in a lesser known varietal than the better marketed classics. So glasses up for luscious white wines warming us up on cool fall evenings. Please let me know what white wines you are enjoying this week!

The Process

2009-11-10T08:46:00.005-05:00

One of things I find unique to food blogging, unlike a cooking show or a cookbook is the ability to expose the process in which we find ourselves making dinner. While cooking shows and cookbooks are very good at explaining technique and providing recipes, they don't really answer the question of how you end up with making that particular dish. The focus is on the final product. Thus they focus on the final steps of cooking. However, anyone who's tried to feed a family on a budget knows there's more to it.

Food blogging has allowed me space to talk about meal plan and execution, going grocery shopping and my complicated relationship with recipes. This underbelly of home cooking gets uncovered and the real process of cooking is discovered. And when the process is the focal of cooking, new discoveries are made.

In the picture above is pasta with mole poblano. Several weeks ago (you may remember from my grocery post) we made mole with potatoes and eggplant. However, we made way too much sauce. I had no ideas on what to do with it until Gil said "Make Pasta!". At first, I was skeptical. Logically, I thought, it couldn't be that bad, as pasta goes with anything, however, it was out of my range of usual pasta sauces. But I let Gil cook his vision and we had a delicious dinner that would never occurred had we been tied to our cookbooks.

Mole Poblano

1 little can of tomato paste
1 ounce of chocolate
3 cloves of garlic
1 onion
4 chile de arbols
1 chile ancho
TSP cinnamon and nutmeg

Boil dry chiles in 3 cups of water
Saute onions and garlic
Blend chiles with water with tomato paste
Put sauce in sauce pan on medium low heat with garlic and onions
Melt chocolate in microwave
Stir chocolate in sauce with cinnamon and nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste
Let simmer until consistency of a thick sauce

The Empty Mug

2009-11-04T08:31:00.004-05:00

More Frequent Drink Posts
I have decided that I want to posts about drinks more often. Drinks are an essential part of our diet and I think they are often overlooked. And I'm not just talking about alcoholic drinks. I realized that drink a variety of beverages and that they complement my meals and moods. I have featured various drinks in the past, such as a Pineapple Martini and Pinotage,and now I am making a decided effort to include drinks as part of my blog posts.

Tea Time
That said the drink of this week is tea. The weather is getting crisper these days and I crave a warm drink in the afternoons. For years, I drank coffee in the afternoon. Let me correct that, for years I drank coffee day and night. I was a coffee junkie; still am to some degree. But I am trying to cut back and only drink coffee in the morning. So the drink of choice on a chilly afternoon has been tea; all kinds of tea. Last night I had pomegranate white tea, and I ordered English Breakfast from Brew HaHa last week and I sipped Jasmin tea at a Vietnamese restaurant before that. Tea has really hit the spot for me this week because of the varieties it comes in and it warms up on these fall days.

Accentuating the Positive

2009-10-30T08:13:00.005-05:00

A recipe from an surprising source
When I was in California, my Dad took me to Oto's, a Japanese grocery store he frequents. Outside there was a big bin filled with Kabocha Squash. Having never cooked with Kabocha, much less a Japanese recipe, my Dad asked a little old Japanese lady who was carefully selecting her Kabocha how she intended to fix hers. The lady gave us a very simple recipe. Boil the squash in water, toss in soy sauce and sugar. So we put our Kabocha in our cart and proceeded.

How I diet
I never got to cook that squash, I went home before it was eaten, but the recipe stuck with me. It is squash season and I am looking for ways to incorporate different kinds of squash in my diet. But I am not only looking for ways to incorporate squash into my diet because it is the freshest and cheapest now, but because this is how I diet.

Much like my last post on groceries, where I said it really depends on how you do the math, the same applies to diets. A friend recently just went on a no-carb diet. I saw him buy a salad and leave all the corn kernels at the bottom because corn is considered a carbohydrate. He is also eliminating fruit in addition to the classics such as bread and rice. Intuitively, this seems like a bad idea. Fruit is good for you. This is the wrong kind of calculating your relative nutritional needs because the focus is on eliminating whatever your diet presumes as evil.

Accentuating the Positive
Instead, I try to focus on food that is good for me. And I try to find ways to eat more it. Currently, since it is in season, I am trying to eat more squash. Squash is rich in beta carotene, with iron, vitamin C, potassium, and smaller traces of calcium, folic acid, and minute amounts of B vitamins. Upon arriving back in MD, I bought an acorn squash, boiled it and tossed it with tamari, honey and some green onions. I also made udon noodles with green peppers and edamame.

Sure, I eat carbohydrates. But in moderation. I also eat chocolate and cheese and I drink an alcoholic beverage almost every night. There is nothing I try to eliminate from my diet. Instead, I focus on things I want to eat because they are good for me and delicious. The meal I made ended up being, low in fat, calories, cholesterol, and probably carbohydrates. Whatever evil you want to pick on. But I arrived naturally at eating a meal low in nutritional devoid food by concentrating on eating food that is nutrient rich.

Disclaimer
One more thing. Please realize I am not picking a single nutrient I want, and finding ways to incorporate it. Don't pick out fiber and then buy a bunch of cereal bars with added fiber and call it a day. I know many people who also do this and I think it encourages people to eat more processed food and misses the point that nutrients work together. Instead I advocate, picking particular plant matter, vegetables, nuts, spices, herbs etc and deciding that you should eat more and find ways to do it.

Easy way to diet
My dad's simple action in asking the lady how she prepared squash made me realize how easy it was to add something new to your diet. Its as easy as that to eat more fruits and vegetables and less evil food.

Acorn Squash Faux Japanese Style
This is a sweet and salty recipe that complements the natural sweetness of the squash

One Acorn Squash
1 cup Tamari
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup green onions chopped

Cube Acorn Sqush into 2 inch square pieces
Boil until tender (approx 30 minutes)
Whisk Tamari and honey together
Chop green onions
Toss everything together

Udon Noodles with Green Peppers and Edamame

One package Udon Noodles
One green pepper
1 cup edamame beans already shelled
1 cup Tamari (or Soy Sauce)
2-3 TBS Rice Vinagre
1 TPS Sesame Oil

Boil udon noodles much like pasta.
Slice green pepper
Add pepper and edamame to noodles
Add liquid ingredients to noodles and toss

The Cost of Groceries

2009-10-24T08:07:00.003-05:00

What you see here is my groceries for the week. Now, many people have different ways of calculating how expensive or cheap their groceries were. One way is to look at the percentage that your cashiers circle at the bottom of your receipt. I think this trip it was 2%. I never have many "savings", because well when was the last time sweet potatoes were on sale? Another way of doing it is thinking about the relative worth of an item. Sweet potatoes at .99 cents are fairly cheap for a vegetable. You get a lot of food for little money. More bang for your buck.

And while I think it is good to buy things on sale, and its good to buy cheaper items, I think there is one way to do grocery math that people often overlook. As you can see, not all of my items are cheap or on sale. I paid $5 for unbleached white flour and another $5 for organic vegetable broth (the only one I could find without additives). However, my bill total, even with expensive items and no sale items was $60. This will feed a family of four for a week. Here are the meals I planned for this week with ingredients bought.

Eggplant and Potato Mole Poblano

Eggplant
Potatoes
Tomato Paste
I already had spices and chocolate

Broccoli and Cheddar Soup with Spinach Salad

Broccoli
Cheddar
Vegetable Broth
Cream
Spinach
Pomegranate
Oranges

Meatloaf with Sweet Potato Fries

Ground Beef
Sweet Potatoes
Eggs
Already had garlic and onions

Acorn Squash and Udon Noodles

Acorn Squash
Already had noodles, bell pepper, carrots, soy sauce and honey

Furthermore, I bought items for other meals. I make bread for the boys to eat in the morning, hence, the flour. The oranges and pomegranate double as the week's fruit. I bought milk and an impulse buy on the pureed pumpkin in case I felt an urge to make pie. I think its also important to note that Tuesday's dinner included 3 guests. I bought extra broccoli to make an extra big pot of soup.

So now, with 2% savings, no coupon clipping and expensive organic items I still manage to serve four meals to four people plus a dinner party and have a few extra items for $60. Lets say that roughly $4 a meal ($60 divided by four and then four again). Now, compared to eating Chinese take-out, ordering pizza or going to MacDonalds, I would say the cost of groceries is cheap.

People complain that groceries are expensive, and particularly vegetables are expensive. I think they are just not doing the right math. I think if you rely too much on the other more popular measures, you will sucked into thinking that your better off eating out. Maybe I am going out on a limb here but all those "savings" and coupons are just a gigantic marketing ploy, and really your better off ignoring it. I'm not saying, buy all organic or all specialty items, just splurge on the ones you feel are worth the money. For me, I will splurge if I can avoid additives in my food. But its a personal choice for each of us. But I want to make the point that it can be done and it will still be cheaper than eating out. It just depends on how your calculating the price of your groceries.

Easy as Quiche

2009-09-26T17:38:00.004-05:00

Ok ok, its not pie, but very similar in concept. Quiche has a pie crust and a filling. But is either pie or quiche easy? And by easy I mean, Rachel-Ray-can-make-in 30-minutes easy. Well, it can be. The trick is, having the crust pre-made. I originally made pie dough for bean empanadas, and I froze the leftover. I originally thought I would just make well, pie, out of it but why limit myself to that? So I got the idea to make quiche. I rolled and and blind baked the crust in the morning before work (really only took 10 minutes). And then in the evening all I had to do was beat the eggs, chop the veggies and pour it in and drink wine for a half an hour.

Before this experience, I thought that quiche was really something only to make for special occasions, like brunch. But, I am slowly beginning to realize that by squeezing in little bits of prep work, complicated fussy dishes can be made in a snap for dinner time. Moreover, I have begun to realize that many things that look difficult to make are accessible to the home cook. Remember I had mentioned that blackberry wine? Well, we made it, and it turned out delicious! If you keep your mind open and don't dismiss things that look to complex, you can figure out how to break the process down and make it possible to make!

Pie Dough without a food processor

3 cups of flour
1 stick of butter frozen
1 tsp salt
1/2 cups water

In a bowl mix flour and salt.
Using a cheese grater, grate the butter into the flour.
Add water a teaspoon or two at a time and mix until the dough comes together into a bowl, error on the dry side, you cannot add more flour.

Quiche
I didn't have cream on hand, so I substituted with sour cream and milk.

Pie Crust
5 eggs
1/2 cup of Milk
1/2 cup of sour cream
3 cloves of garlic
Your choice of veggies, we chose mushrooms and green onion
Parmesan (optional)
Salt and Pepper

I blind baked the pie dough in the morning to ensure it wouldn't be soggy, this step might not be necessary.
Preheat oven to 350 F
Beat eggs and mix in milk and cream.
Add in veggies and garlic.
Add in salt and pepper.
Pour in pie crust and place in oven.
Drink wine for half an hour.

Repeating a Recipe

2009-09-09T13:44:00.003-05:00

Photo Credit: Marcella Cathcart

If Gil has one complaint about my cooking, it's that I am terrible about repeating recipes. There are two main reasons, first is that I always want to try to cook something new and second, it never comes out the same way. Even in my own kitchen, with the same stores nearby and the same equipment, somehow the conditions change. I have some ingredient I want to use up, or an ingredient I don't have enough of, or I bought something else because it was on sale. Further complicate that with the fact that I have a very deceitful memory. If I followed a recipe the first time, you'd think I would just dig it up and follow it again. But oh no, that would be too easy. I always think that I remember exactly how I made things, and I am usually wrong. And my memory is so bad that the next time I repeat a recipe I forget that I am wrong about my ability to remember it. In any case, the results usually mean that the dish I had such high expectations of did not come out as I or Gil had anticipated.

But I am not going to write any more about my short comings. I am going to tell you that last week I repeated a recipe, with success. In fact, I repeated Julia Childs' recipe that I posted last week, with success! You see, after reading the post, Mom and Dad wanted me to replicate the results for a dinner party they were having. The pressure was on! Dad had already bought the fish, actual sole, instead of my cheap tilapia. And we were expecting twice the amount of people the original recipe was intended for. But I was up to the challenge.

Whizzing around my parent's kitchen; chopping onions, browning butter and poaching fish all in pots, pans and ovens I was unaccustomed to. With a glass of wine and excitement for the upcoming party, I took to the kitchen with confidence. And soon, the guests arrived, we had some more wine, we talked and caught up. The fish was in the oven, the sauce already prepared and the dinner table was set. I managed to make it this far with out burning anything! Even though I still didn't know whether the guests would like the fish or not, I was at ease, enjoying myself with friends and family. Eventually, everyone arrived and we gathered around the table and ate. In my opinion, I made the dish better the second time, despite my history for mishaps, an alien kitchen and last minute changes to the recipe.

I think these types of challenges come with the territory of becoming a good cook. One of the marks of a good cook is the ability to recreate their good dishes. I am not quite there yet, but I am getting better. I am not only getting better at making delicious meals but I am getting a feel for how to control the various elements for a desired result.

Paying Tribute

2009-08-25T08:52:00.004-05:00

With the recent release of Julie & Julia, it seemed only natural that I, as a food blogger, see and love it. I am so thrilled and flattered that a food blogger has made it to the big screen I really cannot say whether the film is good on it's own merit or not. So I will refrain from giving a movie review. However, watching the movie made realize how important the chefs and cooks that came before us are.

Many of you know that I am not much of one for recipes. I tend to be fairly independent in the kitchen relying on my creativity and my senses to guide me through the cooking process. In fact, in my early years as a food blogger, I shunned the use of recipes, claiming that they only limited cooks and were impractical for daily use. I've come a long way since. As my recent posts, Following a Recipe and Adapting a Recipe have documented my discovery of what recipes can offer; that is the wisdom of other chefs and cooks.

Thus, on my own culinary path, the release of the movie was quite timely. After seeing the movie, I immediately ordered my very own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The first meal I wanted to make was the infamous sole meuniere. Ironically, its not in this book, but approximated it by adding a little white wine to the Brown Butter Sauce. Julia Childs also explicitly says to serve rice or potatoes with fish and that vegetables should be served in another course, however, I broke the rule and served it with Haricots Verts a la Provencale.

On this site, I often mention chefs and cooks that I like, however few change the cooking world as we know it the way Julia Childs did. She is truly legendary, and my meal is tribute to her determination, courage and sheer brilliance for recipe writing and her phenomenal feat of making this food accessible to the American Public.

The following recipes are adapted from Julia Childs' Mastering the Art of French Cooking. In no way do my interpretations have the same flair as the original, this just a record of how I made this meal.

Fish Fillet Poached in White Wine

One onion (Julia said shallots but I had forgotten to purchase them)
1 pound of fish fillet, such as tilapia (I scaled the recipe down a bit since I only had 4 people)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry white wine
Splash of dry vermouth (optional)
1 1/2 Tbs of butter cut into bits
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350
Sprinkle half the onion into a baking dish
Season fish fillets with salt and pepper
Sprinkle rest of onion
Sprinkle butter bits
Pour water, wine and vermouth over fish
Place into oven for 30 mins

Brown Butter Sauce with Wine

1 1/2 sticks of butter
2 Tbs flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
Salt and Pepper

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter until nutty brown (about 5 min).
Pour in wine, let boil for a minute or two
Whisk in flour, lower heat
Once it has thickened add salt and pepper and take off heat.

Haricots Verts a la Provencale

1 lbs Green Beans
4 ripe tomatoes (if your lucky to have some in the garden)
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 onion
Handful of parsley
Splash of dry white wine
Salt and Pepper

Cut the ends off of the green beans and put them in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain and cover with cold water.
Chop garlic and onion and let cook on medium heat 10 minutes with a little bit of olive oil. (you can do this while your green beans are boiling)
Cut up tomatoes and put in with onions and garlic when onions are translucent and soft.
Pour in the splash of white wine.
Let that cook off for a few minutes then mix in green beans.
Season with parsley, salt and pepper.

From Ratatouille to Blackberry Wine

2009-08-16T08:36:00.012-05:00

Blackberries
In a world where blackberries most commonly refer to "that thing the President Obama cannot live without", I try to find ways to turn back the clock in the kitchen. In a world where the grocery store provides aisles of instant dinners I seek less modern and more old fashioned ways to prepare food and drink. This effort has resulted in the making of ratatoille and blackberry wine.

Getting our Hands Dirty
Many of you know that we planted a garden this year, and as a result, have had an abundance of tomatoes, peppers and zucchini. Thus making ratatoille thus was a natural outcome. It is a repeat of last summer's cornucopia. However, the blackberry wine is a new innovation. Since last year we have taken advantage of Milburn Orchards' u-pick opportunities. This month they offered u-pick blackberries and raspberries. So we rolled up our sleeves and picked nearly 15 pounds of berries!

I must credit the idea of making blackberry wine to Nadya. I'm not sure where she got the idea. However, the recent success of making limoncello has opened my eyes to the possibilities of making my own alcoholic beverages. So Nadya came over for dinner and we made the ratatoille for dinner and after dinner, we proceeded to begin the blackberry wine. It is still fermenting, so I will update you in a few weeks!

Piece de Resistance
Formerly, ratatouille was the dish that epitomized our efforts to take our kitchen back the olden days. Last summer, it was our piece de resistance. This summer, we trump it by fermenting our own alcohol. While I have yet to give the verdict on the wine, I have say that these activities bring us closer to the things we eat and drink. In a world where everything is evolving so fast and I can't keep with with the latest twitter trends, its nice to have a kitchen where I know I can rely on old technologies and tried and true methods.

Simple Ratatouille

This dish is supposed to versatile. Its never exactly the same every time its made. I share this version because its super simple and not as fussy as some of the recipes I've seen out there. Serve with home-made garlic bread.

6 or 7 medium tomatoes
1 very large zucchini
2 bell peppers
1 onion
5 cloves of garlic
Handful of thyme
A small handful of basil
Tsp of fennel seeds
Tsp of lavender

Chop up the veggies. I used to chop the veggies while other veggies cooked but inevitably I burned things. Its easiest just the chop everything in the beginning. Long strips (think linguine) are best for ratatouille.
Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil. Put in onion and garlic first at medium high heat. Stir continuously. Let them cook until onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
Put in peppers, let them cook down (5 min)
Then put in zucchini and tomatoes. Allow them to release their juices and make the dish soupy. This is a desirous result. Let this simmer while you forage for the herbs that you want.
You really can put whatever herbs you want in, I think my basil plant took over the thyme which technically should be the star of herb de province. While its tempting to put in a lot of basil because its so fragrant, be careful, it can overpower the dish.
While most people don't keep lavender around, if you have it its good to put in because it just adds that mysterious je ne sais quois that makes the dish so quintessentially french.
Add salt and pepper to taste and when you cannot take the good smells anymore, serve.

In the words of Julia Childs "Bon Appetit"

Summer Dessert: Two ways

2009-08-09T09:51:00.013-05:00

Apology
First and foremost, to the few readers I have, I must apologize for my absence. Really, I apologizing to myself. Just because I have a busier schedule is no excuse not to find time to blog. One day, my time management skills will be such that I will have it all figured out. But in the meanwhile the blog takes the brunt. This isn't the first time its happened, but hopefully, it will be the last. The problem with these breaks is that I come back and I am over flowing with stuff to say.

Infinite Versatility
In any case, one of the cooking techniques that I try to promote is using the same ingredients in a new way. This gives the cook infinite versatility. It gives the home cook both a way to use up leftovers, and a way to keep things from getting boring.

Footnote About Pictures
I'd like to make one little footnote before I discuss the desserts in the pictures. I did not edit my pictures this time. Thus, there is stuff that needs to be cropped out, and the lighting could better etc. But one, I kind of like the realness of it. These aren't perfect dishes styled for some magazine, these are dishes, I've made in my own home and eaten by real people. I like the fact that you can see my kitchen and all its clutter in the background. And two, while I am working on my amazing photography skills, I am a cook before a blogger, and a blogger before a photographer. Meaning, while I produce, meals, posts and pictures, I care most that meals come out spectacular above all else.

The Best Dessert Ever
Okay, back to the food. In the picture on the right, you see what Gil proclaims as the "best dessert ever, of course aside from cheesecake." Gil is not one to exaggerate. And I appreciate his honesty towards my food, which sometimes means complements come sparingly. And in my almost three years of cooking for him, this is the first time he's ever used the words "the best".
What is it? you ask. I'm sure it has a name, but I don't know it. It's a mix of yogurt, honey and port with fresh berries and mint from the garden. Summer in a glass is what I call it.

You can't improve on what is already perfect
In the picture on the left, is a sorbet with the same flavor profile. Since its cold, I attempted to make the flavors a little more refreshing by adding lemon zest and some white wine. The verdict? Everyone seems to have the same reaction which I cannot quite understand. One spoonful tastes delicious, but then it mysteriously dissipates and no one can bring themselves to the second spoonful. Bizarre. In any case, annotated recipes after the jump.

Summer in a Dish
(serves 2)

Two cups of plain yogurt
1/3 of a cup of honey (or to taste)
1/4 cup port
Two handfuls of berries
Two teaspoons of freshly chopped mint

First, mix together yogurt, honey and port.
Next, spoon a couple of tablespoons the yogurt mixture into two glasses
Then add in a few berries to each glass
Spoon some more of the yogurt mixture into two glasses
Add more berries on top
Sprinkle mint in each glass
Finish with another splash of port

Frozen Summer in a Glass
(Serves 4)

If anyone can explain the bizarre reaction please email me, I'm not sure how to adjust the recipe to make it have that irresistible factor.

Equipment: Ice Cream Maker

One pint of cream
Two eggs
1/4 cup white wine
Splash of port
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey
2 tsp lemon zest
Two handfuls of berries

Beat eggs into cream
Add white wine, port, vanilla extract and honey
Zest the lemon and add to mixture
Mix in berries
Put into ice cream maker, and follow instructions per ice cream manufacturer.

Adapting a recipe

2009-07-17T07:18:00.007-05:00

I seem to have regained my recipe following confidence because I followed two more! And from a cookbook no less!! I bought Indian in 6 by Monisha Bharadwaj a while ago, not kidding myself that it was just going to be eye candy. However, I'm not sure what inspired me, but I decided to actually use it. I made Sweet and Sour Fish and Lentils with Spinach and Garlic.

The lentils were something I've made before, and really not too different from the way I usually make them with the exception of adding a little turmeric. The sweet and sour fish, however, was a completely new combination of familiar ingredients. The main components of the recipe are mustard, turmeric and tamarind. Mustard we keep for making things like sandwiches; turmeric for the occasional curry and tamarind for agua de tamarindo, Husni's pasta (Indonesian style noodles, and pad thai.

While, making this recipe as directed was delicious, I think in the future I will experiment with this unusual flavor combo. As directed, we used a white fish like cod. However, Gil and I are both fans of stronger flavored fish like salmon, which I think this amazing with. I also think this recipe would work well with chicken. I also think this sauce would be a great marinade for grilling. After trying it, I realized it tastes like an exotic twist on the American honey mustard combo. The tamarind provides a sour kick that adds another depth of flavor to a sweet mustard sauce. So anywhere you might use honey mustard, could be substituted with this recipe.

I have provided the recipe, as I made it, but as I just discussed, you could really take the flavor combo and modify it a million ways. This is just a starting point.

Sweet and Sour Fish (Adapted from Indian in 6)

Serves 4

1 TBS whole-grain mustard
1 TSP turmeric
2 TBS Tamarind Pulp
1 TBS brown sugar (I think honey would also work nicely)
4 Fish Fillets (the book recommends cod, but I think Salmon would be delicious)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic

1. If you have tamarind pulp with seeds, boil it in some water and strain the seeds out. If your pulp has no seeds you can skip this step.

2. Mix mustard, turmeric, tamarind and sugar in a small bowl. It should have a saucy consistency.

3. Chop onion and garlic sautee in medium size pan over medium heat.

3. After the onion and garlic are slightly brown (3 min), pour in 1/4 of sauce.

4. Fry fish in pan. The time will depend on size and texture of fish, but it should be thin so that the cooking time is short.

5. Place cooked fish on serving platter, pour in a little more sauce and repeat with the remainder of the fillets.

Following a Recipe

2009-07-12T08:10:00.003-05:00

As you can see, our garden has been producing copious amounts of zucchini. Which means one thing, I must find creative ways to use zucchini. Luckily, I always have lots of ideas (and this may be the subject of a future post), but I digress. I saw a recipe on Serious Eats for a Zucchini Galette that I wanted to try. In addition to being a novel way of using zucchini the recipe my attention for being simple (only 6 crucial ingredients) and, it had a little twist with the use of curry powder. The catch was, I am terrible at following directions.

So in my first effort to be a diligent cook, I enlisted Nadya of Haitian Vanilla not only because simple with a twist is her mantra, she also is better than me at following recipes (and she's fun to cook with!). Well the first step, was probably our first mistake. Instead of preheating the oven, we opened a bottle of wine.

We then preheated the oven and proceeded grating the zucchini. Then I discover that I must let the zucchini sit for 30 minutes. We are too hungry for that! But we decide that the zucchini can at least wait until we assemble the other ingredients. We also decide that since there will be three boys dining with us, we need to make some orzo. So I put that on to boil.

Next we beat the eggs and grate in the egg, bread crumbs and Parmesan. We realize that we have a lot of zucchini and decide to put in a few more eggs. We also put in some more bread crumbs and Parmesan to match that. So far so good.

At this point, the orzo is done is I transfer that to the colander. Then I start to dump the zucchini into the egg mixture, at which point Nadya reminds me I'm supposed to drain, rinse and dry. This recipe following thing is already going haywire, and I worry that the galette will be too liquidy. I realize that the orzo is in the colander and decide to simply drain using the "hold back" method. I then squeezed the zucchini in a towel to make sure it was dry. Managed to get enough liquid out of the zucchini I had not put into the egg mixture, although a few handfuls had made it in liquid and all!

Next, I pour egg mixture into the pan at which point Nadya reminds me I was supposed have oiled. I laugh and tell her she is not very good at keeping me on the recipe! I then pour a little olive oil into the egg mixture and hope for the best. We put the mixture in the oven and I double check the recipe. This is when I realize that I forgot the curry powder! I then take the galette out of the oven, and sprinkle the curry powder on top and use a spatula to mix it in.

Finally, it is in the oven cooking. While slightly worried about the zucchini liquid, the late addition of oil and curry powder, the wine seems to have eased my mind. Nadya and sit back and relax for a few minutes. I mix in some garlic, shallots and curry powder into the orzo and defrost some of Jose's tomato and oregano broth he makes for bean tostadas.

The result? Despite the fact that Nadya and I are incapable of following a recipe (at least after a glass a wine), we managed to pull of a wonderful dinner. I recommend the galette recipe above and I also recommend pairing it with orzo and tomato and oregano broth. The oregano in particular provided a nice complement to the parmesean cheese and curry powder, without masking the star ingredient, the zucchini.

For those that ARE recipe inclined, I am providing a recipe for Jose's Tomato and Oregano Broth

One tomato
Handful of fresh oregano (best if you have some from your garden =))
1 clove of garlic
2 chiles de arbol

Boil the tomato, chiles and garlic in water for 10 minutes. Transfer to blender, including water. Blend until smooth and add fresh oregano.

Getting Out

2009-07-01T07:47:00.003-05:00

While it is nice to sit back and relax, at some point its good to get outside and be active. And early summer provides really nice weather to enjoy the outdoors. Gil and I enjoyed hiking through Elk Neck State Park, where Gil found his inner-Tarzan. I also had a great time going cherry picking.
I went to Milburn Orchards and cherry picked 7 pounds of cherries! And can you believe that in one week, we ate them all! I don't think I need to tell you that it was a lot of fun and all those cherries (and they were cheap too) were a nice bonus. We've also been getting out and gardening (pictures and stories of garden bounty to come). I urge everyone to find fun outdoor activities this time a year, and all the better if they are food related.

Lastly, I want to proudly announce that Nadya, who has been featured several times on this blog because of her extraordinary talent in the kitchen, has started a blog of her own. So go on over to Haitian Vanilla and check it out!

Taking it Easy

2009-06-21T08:42:00.003-05:00

Well summer has set in and the days have become longer and lazier. Despite the pressure of my impending dissertation grant deadline, I can't help but relax these days. Classes are over, and things have slowed down around here. We have accepted this change of pace quite graciously and vicariously are embracing island life-style.

So, the other day, we made some Pineapple agua fresca and I decided to add a little vanilla vodka (and vanilla sugar) and voila! a Pineapple-Vanilla Martini emerged. A perfect way to enjoy a balmy Maryland summer evening.

Cheers to everyone and I hope everyone is relaxing and enjoying the summer.

Eating Seasonally

2009-06-10T06:22:00.003-05:00

I have a confession to make. I do not always eat seasonally. In fact, most of the time I do not. Often I feel as a food blogger I am a phoney or a failure because I do not live up to the ideals. However, I am also a linguist, a tutor, a teacher, a fiance, a friend and a cat owner. I do what I can to shop the best for my household, but sometimes I don't make it to the farmer's market, or the supermarket quite frankly plays tricks on me as to what is in season here and what is in season in Chile.

There's one thing I know, though. That is I only ever see kumquats once a year. And when I do, its for a brief one week period, if that. So, when they come around, it is time to celebrate. The muffins you see above are actually repeats from last year's kumquat season. I really like the kumquat and strawberry combination. Just make your favorite muffin recipe and mix in strawberries and kumquats.

Below, I made cheesecake with kumquats as a topping. Kumquats naturally have a lot of pectin so they make sort of a jelly like consistency when cooked up. Cheesecake is not my ordinary fare but I was looking for a platform for those little bitter kumquats to shine and cheesecake hit the spot.

Muffins and cheesecake are not our usual fare. In fact, dessert of any sort is rare in this household. But we still view seasonal fruit as something special and it brings me to making out of the ordinary dishes. When pomegranate season comes, I make chiles en nogada. When persimmons are in season, I make persimmon pudding cake. These are once a year treats that remind us of the seasons.

How about you? Are you cooking with kumquats now? Are there certain seasonal dishes in your repertoire? Is there a fruit or vegetable you wait all year to come out?

Experimenting with New Cuisines

2009-05-31T07:48:00.003-05:00

I think it's good to try cooking different cuisines. I think it challenges your tastes, your cooking skills as well as your comfort levels. I think it's a good way to cook out of the box. You may not adopt the recipes into your repertoire, but maybe you learn a new technique, a new flavor or a new use of an old ingredient that you incorporate into your cooking style. For instance, after dabbling in Moroccan cuisine, I like to use cinnamon in savory dishes and I continually keep preserved lemons on hand.

The latest venture for me has been dabbling in Indian cuisine. Particularly, since our kitchen is a bit Mexican-centric, I relish the new uses of much loved ingredients such as tamarind, cilantro, cumin, and exotic fruits (like mango and pineapple). Moreover, many Indian sauces are a shout out to many of Mexico's infamous mole dishes. Thick sauces that play both sweet and spicy notes on the palette. And of course, who can ignore the fact that the above Roti Canai bares a strong resemblance to the beloved flour tortilla.

While I think I still have to practice my yogurt sauces, I still have a few keepers. It is likely Roti Canai will make a reappearance as well as the classic Mango Lassi, which literally was just yogurt and mango blended together (how simple can you get!).

Do you use Indian cuisine in your cooking? Do you dabble in other cuisines? Are there cuisines you'd like to experiment with? Don't be shy to leave a comment!

Back with Force!

2009-05-22T08:11:00.002-05:00

Between the purchase of my new camera, lent being over, and having passed my prospectus defense, my enthusiasm for this blog has shot up! Me and my camera will be going with the Carbajal family this weekend in North Carolina. Hopefully I will return with stories and pictures. In the meantime, I thought I'd tell you about a wine I had last night.

Last night, Gil took me to Home-Grown. I decided to have a glass a wine with dinner. I
normally do not like Sauvignon Blanc. They usually taste like cat pee to me. I'm not a fan of grassy wines. But I did want a light refreshing white, and the description of this Franciscan, Napa Valley 2007 SB seemed to fit the bill. I thought to myself, well, it isn't a New Zealand SB. Maybe, since it's from Napa, I will like it.

I must say it is the best SB I have ever had. If you find wine cheaply, I recommend it. It is the perfect refreshing, beginning of summer wine. Light but complex, fruity but dry, acidic and mineral with an unusual melon component this wine struck a chord with me.

Grocery Shopping

2009-05-17T08:05:00.002-05:00

Last time I did this, I got a lot of positive feedback, so I'm going to try to make it a regular feature. I finally am back to weekend shopping and have the meals planned for the week.
Drumroll please!!

Baked Spanish Tortilla
Bean Soup with Spinach, Broccoli and Andoille Sausage
Ceviche
Tuna Salad Sandwiches on Rye Bread

Each of these has their reasoning behind them. So I thought I'd go through that so that you can see the different sources of inspiration for a weeks meals.

The Spanish Tortilla recipe I got while doing my usual blog surfing. I wanted to try it because, I have attempted to make Spanish tortillas many times, and I am terrible at flipping them over. Also, it tends to get greasy. Let's face it, I don't have the Spanish touch. This looked like an easier way to get a similar result.

Last weekend when I saw my dad in NYC, he brought me Rancho Gordo Beans, which are just amazing. Yes they cost 5x the price of normal beans but I still think its reasonable for the quality and variety you get. (Plus when they are gifted they are REALLY cheap =)) Why soup with spinach and broccoli? Because I bought Costco size packages of each at BJ's last week and need to use them up. And I was looking for Chorizo at the market but found the Andoille instead.

Today, my friend Husni is visiting, and he is from Malaysia. I have this theory about Malaysian, Indonesian, Vietnamese Thai, and Mexican food. I think that they are cousins of sorts. With ample use of lime, cilantro, chile and tamarind, the cuisines share a lot of bold flavors. If you were to put a ceviche stand in Malaysia, I think it would be very popular. Conversly, if you put a Vietnamese Sandwhich stand in Mexico, it would also be very popular. Needless to say, Husni loves ceviche, and so do the boys (Gil Jose and Salvador), so it makes everyone happy.

Ok last but not least, the Tuna Salad Sandwiches which are inspired by the sandwich Dad bought at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. Its just great summer fare, and I'm trying to make the transition from hearty winter food to summer food. I need to get some of these types of recipes in my repertoire.

There is one more purchase I plan on making that isn't food, but is related to the blog. Since I passed my prospectus defense, I want to reward myself with a digital camera. So you should have fantastic images to look at soon!

Micheal Pollan on Colbert Report

2009-05-14T06:43:00.002-05:00

I know its a little late to say this, but those of you who know me know that I have been harping on this eat "food" for years now. I was particularly vocal about it when my parents went on that Atkins diet. I remember I told a friend of mine who was a chemist how I felt and he thought I was being ignorant for ignoring "science". At the time, I found no one who agreed with me. Now, finally, people do, and its a big thanks to this guy. You should check out his interview, he is totally in line with my views.

Micheal Pollan

He actually mentions a few other things that I agree with too. In addition to telling us to eat real food he says you pretty good with anything you cook yourself, that nutritional sciences just don't have it figured all out and lastly, you don't have to be perfect, its ok to buy your kid fruity pebbles.

I'd like to expand on those two points a little. I have long thought that the nutritional data they give us is way too simplistic. This idea that there are things our bodies need and all we need to do is supply that to our body. Our body needs vitamin A, so eat food with vitamin A. This is repeated for a zillion things, antioxidants, vitamins, calcium, whatever. But we've got serious chemical reactions in our bodies and we have to be able to process each of these things. It's not as straight-forward as that. For instance, a friend of mine suffers from a calcium deficiency. But she can't just drink some milk to solve her problem. The reason she has this condition is that her body can't absorb enough calcium. So she takes a medicine to help her body do that, then she can drink milk. The same thing with one of our nations biggest health problems, diabetes. Its not the case that sugar is bad, its that their bodies can't process sugar. That is not to say that too much sugar isn't good, its not but my point is that labeling food as good and bad is WAY too simplistic of a nutritional model. So, while I'm not saying throw out all that data out the window, I'm just saying we should be a little weary of the studies being done and the conclusions scientists reach. I think that instead, we should stick to less processed food. That is food our bodies know what to do with. It's a simpler diet plan and it makes sense.

The second point was about being perfect. I know I jump on the soapbox a lot. But I realized that people didn't want to join the ranks, because well frankly in our society it is impossible to eat non-processed food 100% of the time. It takes a lot of time and energy. Not to mention, as Pollan points out, we grew up in the culture and we have a lot of good associations with it. You want to be able to order pizza with your friends, or have an ice cream at Coldstones. These are tasty and pleasurable experiences. Really, I just try to eat better when I can, and when I can't, I don't worry about it. I just give myself credit for the times I do eat well. This is not a "I'm holier than thou" type of movement. There's no guilt involved. Just cook when you can.

Inspirational

2009-05-04T17:47:00.003-05:00

Since I've been photographically challenged these days, Mom and Dad sent me this gorgeous pic of a lunch prepared by Aunt Nina. (She's not really my Aunt but she almost married my uncle who is not really my uncle, but I digress) Anyways, I found this picture inspiring. It makes me realize that we can elevate a dish with just our imagination, possibly in the form of goat cheese and some edible flowers! But really, next time your in the kitchen, think of this picture, and know that with a little imagination you can make your meal simple, delicious and most importantly, something to enjoy with the people you love.

Lent

2009-04-16T18:14:00.003-05:00

It seems like I inadvertently gave up blogging for lent. I didn't mean to, it just happened that way. I did however, give up drinking. It turned out to be completely different than I thought it would be.
For one, I thought that it would be really hard. It was hard, don't get me wrong. But was I uncontrollably addicted? No. It was a simple matter of mind over matter; an exercise in will-power. On the other hand, I always thought that well, drinking is a vice and that somehow, lots of problems would go away once I stopped drinking. No, I did not lose weight from consuming 100 less calories a day. (I ate pretty much the same and I worked out just as I did before). I did not save a ton of money. Yes, I saved a little but my wine habit was not breaking the bank as I thought might be the case. My sleep was unaffected (since alcohol is supposed to reduce REM sleep).

What I realized is that my drinking was actually a productive way for me to deal with stress. When I drank a glass 4-5 evenings a week, it was a nice way to take the edge off the day. Let me be clear, I never used alcohol to deal with my problems. But it served as a nice way to relax at the end of a sometimes stressful day. A way to let my worries go and spend some quality time with my fiance. Let's face it, I'm no zen master, and well meditation isnt' as social as drinking can be. Think of it as social meditation =).

In the end, I just missed it. I realized that drinking on many levels played positive roles in my life. As mentioned above, a way to relax with Gil. But also, a way to relax with colleagues, such as at my easter party or Satoshi's wine party. Also, alcohol is way to relate to other people . I can bond with my future brother in laws by having a beer and share wine reviews with my family.

I don't regret having participated in lent by giving up alcohol. I might not ever do it again, but it made me realize actually, how positive my drinking can be =). It made me have a new appreciation for the role it plays in my life.

Last but not least, the wine featured above is the first glass of wine I've had since I gave up wine. Check out my corkd account to see what I thought =).

The Rules

2009-03-24T07:06:00.002-05:00

These past weeks, the Carbajal-Cathcart household has welcomed a new member. I now cook for 3 hungry boys! A cooks' dream! Having a new person in the household has made me realize a few things. Salvador has had to learn the myriad of little unsaid rules that make our household run. I am grateful for these rules, we've spent years tinkering to finally get a system that works for us. It's all little things. So having made this realization, I thought I'd share a few.

When I make bread, Gil must take it out of the pan and slice it for me.
Whoever didn't make dinner, does the dishes.
When drying dishes, use towel unless drying glasses, in which case use paper towels.
Dirty towels go under the sink.
Clean towels go in the pantry.
Trash bags go outside on the patio, unless it is going ot rain.
We must always have milk, bananas and bread for the morning.
Coffee, sugar and flour must be poured from the bag to their respective containers.
Soap and sponge belong in their ikea basket.
Empty jars and containers must be washed and saved for my next experimental project.

You get the idea. Every functioning kitchen has its rules. And Salvador is a quick study. His arrival has made me realize all the little things we do in the kitchen that help make easier to cook daily meals.

Do you have kitchen rules? Is there a learning curve for newbies to your kitchen? Are there any peculiar rules?

Plate of Links

2009-03-10T07:16:00.002-05:00

I can't seem to find the card reader, so I'll have to do a post without a photo this week. So here are some fun links for the meantime.

First, I finally found a nutritionist who doesn't buy into all those fad diets. Check out Nutrition Diva's podcasts for a five minute detanglement of today's nutritional myths.

Also, since the economy has taken a turn, many blogs are popping up on how to eat cheaply. I've always maintained that if you eat real food (as opposed to pre processed packaged food) you will eat cheaply. These blogs stand as a testament to that.

And finally, I am just continually inspired by Mark Bittman. I know I always feature him, I can't help it, he just strikes a cord with me every time. This time he's rethinking breakfast. But I really think he has a great over all message, in that we shouldn't limit our cooking out of convention. His savory ideas for breakfast are good meal ideas that we should be eating at any time.

Ok thats all for today, hopefully, Ill come back with a picture sometime soon.

Cooking outside the kitchen

2009-03-01T22:22:00.003-05:00

People think that cooking starts in the kitchen, but I disagree. It would be very difficult if every night I just walked into the kitchen and had to wing it. Over the past couple of years, I have learned that doing a little prep work makes cooking much easier. This prep work, is cooking that is done outside the kitchen. Of course this type of cooking, just like kitchen cooking, is going to vary person per person, but I thought I'd share with you the process that I go through. Since its rare that people share this process.

The first step is to decide what I want to make. Generally during the week, I am following food blogs and I have a few dishes of what I want to try out. I usually keep notes on my computer for these ideas. Then during the weekend, I look over my list and tell Gil what I am thinking of making for the upcoming week. Occasionally, he has a veto, and usually he suggests a meal from the repertoire. On Sunday or Monday, I then go to the store and buy the groceries with the new list of dishes. The list is usually four meals. We will end up eating out at least once a week (or eating leftovers) Then during the week these dishes get executed.

How did it work this week? This was my initial list:

Pancakes or Crepes (Mardi Gras)
Indian curry lentils
Thai curry chicken
Risotto
Something with Romesco Sauce

After consulting Gil, I made a few amendments:

Crepes and Omelets
Indian Curry Lentils
Risotto
Chinese Stir Fry (from our repertoire)

Then once at the market, I got a look at what vegetables were fresh and available. So the menu got refined even more:

Crepes and Spinach Omelets
Indian Curry lentils with Potatoes and Spinach
Bell Peppers stuffed with Asparagus Risotto
Chinese Stir Fry with bell peppers and mushrooms

Then the execution:

Monday: Bell Peppers stuffed with Asparagus Risotto (delicious)
Tuesday: Crepes and Spinach Omelets (Omelet tasty but messy must work on those flipping skills)
Wednesday: Indian Curry (I absentmindedly burnt the lentils and it ruined the dish)
Thursday: Chinese Stir Fry (Great! Gil and Jose did the cooking)
Friday: Quesadillas (Jose's specialty, decided to take a break after lentil disaster)

How do you plan for you meals? Does it look like our process? Do you often follow through? Or do you change the plan? How many meals do you plan for? How many trips to the grocery store do you make? Do you try new recipes every week?

Mardi Gras Mini Post

2009-02-25T12:35:00.002-05:00

We had this prosecco last night. It was a rose. I know how much Gil loves rose, and I wanted a sparkler for our breakfast for dinner meal, so this seemed to fit the bill. Gil said it tasted like his beloved Charles Shaw White Zinfandel, but I think it was much better. It had all the light strawberry flavors without being astringent at all. It was festive without being too serious. Perfect for our mini Mardi Gras celebration. Food wise was simple, spinach omelettes and crepes. The wine paired very well with the meal.

In addition to featuring this fun wine, I wanted to mention that Gil and I are giving up alcohol for lent. We will see how long I last!! Alcohol has become such an integral part of our lives (in a good way) that it seemed good to take a break for a little bit. And excersize a little will power.

Are any of you celebrating lent? Are you giving something up? What have you given up in the past? How did it go?

Food Blog 2.0

2009-02-21T15:39:00.002-05:00

Now that I'm a 20 going on 30 something I hear a lot about the "new generation". The baby boomers reign is over. The president Obama needs his blackberry. People are using twitter at work and I facebook my students to find out who they are.

I'm not going to say I'm a trend setter, but I try to follow as best as I can. I still can't text like my niece, nor does my facebook have "albums" of every escapade I have. However, I have used technology as much as I can when it comes to my cooking hobby. So I thought for today, I would discuss all the ways the internet and technology has helped me work on my hobby.

First foremost, is the ability to have a blog. Its really cool that I can write about my efforts and share it with my friends and family. But there are many other sites I use as well.

When it comes to recipes, I like photos and reviews. I know it's silly but I won't use a recipe if it doesn't have picture. And the reviews often add much needed commentary (I usually adjust the recipe as suggested by reviewers). My main resource for recipes are

Once I have had my meal, I do my best to record what I've had. I feel these two sites should go hand in hand, and I encourage you all to make your own accounts on these sites.

I also try to keep track of what I eat. I have lately been doing this through;

Twitter

Of course I have many food blogs I read for inspiration (which you can see on the side bar). But I have a few favorite celebrity cooks who I think are closest to my culinary point of view.

What sites do you use for cooking? How has technology helped your cooking? Do you think technology has changed cooking? Do you think its useful? Not your style?

Creating a Formula

2009-02-14T13:14:00.002-05:00

I have a very clear memory of my introduction to Tuna Salad. Some Buddhist Monks were visiting our town, and Mom explained to me that while they could not eat meat, they also could not refuse gifts, so that if you gave them meat, they had to eat it. Mom was making Tuna Salad Sandwhiches for them. I remember at the time that I would have nothing to do with any of the ingredients, but I was fascinated with her making the sandwhiches. We took them over to the monks, and they were making a huge piece of artwork made entirely of colored sand. The monks would pick the sand up in little wooden tubes that looked like drumsticks and then slowly let the sand fall out by rubbing the other wooden tube on the top of it. They were making a very elaborate and detailed picture with this sand. But what struck me was that when the monks were done, they lifted the platform so that all the sand just went crashing into one big pile and their artwork that they'd spent weeks and months on was gone. The philosphy behind it was that the monks were doing this for the process more than the actual product.

Thats kind of how I feel about cooking and recipe making. I think that after I make something, its not about keeping that recipe. It's really about how that recipe came to be. Its about the process of putting it all together to consume and then, really, never to repeat quite the same again. Sometimes you do want to repeat certain recipes, but many you don't. And I think this is one of them.

The other day, we had baked trout with chimichurri sauce for dinner. (Sorry folks, that chimichurri recipe is top secret, it was a gift from my brother). Anyhow, the next day we had leftover trout. And I thought, well, how hard could it be to make something akin to tuna salad with it? So I looked in the fridge to see what I had that might go into a tuna salad. First of all, I needed someting creamy like mayo to mash it up in. We haven't bought mayo in well maybe years, I don't know the last time we used mayo in our house, but needless to say, no mayo. So, I thought what could be a good substitute? I had some greek yogurt and sme mustard aioli, so I got those out. Then I needed something crunchy. I grabbed some celery stalks in the back of the fridge only to realize, that well, they weren't gonna be very crunchy. So I opted for the bell pepper. I also grabbed the pickle relish. In a few minutes I had the makings of Trout Salad.

But the actual recipe isn't what is so important. Its how I got to that recipe. I knew what made Tuna Salad good, and made sure that I carried over those principles to my new recipe. I think this is something that they don't really teach in cookbooks or cooking shows, that I think a functioning kitchen can't really live without. I think we have to embrace the actual process of assembling food, and heating it to really capture the art of cooking.

Trout Salad

2009-02-14T13:13:00.001-05:00

I will probably never make this again, but an example of what you can do for a nice simple lunch with a few leftovers.

Preparation time: 10m
Cooking time: n/a
Difficulty: 1
Serves: 0

Ingredients

4 oz Trout (cooked)
2 TBS TJ's mustard aoili
1 TBS 2% greek yogurt
1 TBS pickle relish
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
salt
pepper

Preparation

Mash up trout, chop bell pepper. Mix everything in. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Weighing in on Organic and Local food movements

2009-02-02T16:51:00.002-05:00

This isn't a food photo because this isn't necessarily the kind of blog that always has a recipe that I just made and want to share. Part of this blog is putting our food and our meals in the context of real life. Importantly, with the novelty of blogging is that non-experts can weight in. I think a big problem with the advice that that professional food personality give, is that well, they have more time and resources so sometimes it's not all that practical for us. average Joes and Janes.

Ok now I've segwayed into the topic of practicality. I am all for local and organic stuff. They are good movements. But I live in Elkton MD. And right now it looks like the picture above (actually its upstate NY). Sometimes in the summer, I can get things that are both local AND organic. But in the winter, only organic is available and everything has my carbon footprint.

But there's one thing I don't like about these movements. I think in many ways they discourage us from buying produce. Who wants to feel guilty about about that avocado you got to make guacamole for the superbowl, when you can buy some canned salsa that didn't have to come in a refrigerated truck. Furthermore, it seems to juxtapose the local cabbage against florida strawberries when the real villain is all that frozen food. I bet you those old bruised strawberries are still better for you than that frozen pizza.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, I think Americans in general, just need to buy more produce. I don't care if it's organic, or local. Its nice when they are, but even when they are not, they are still better than processed food. I think we need to change our focus. I think the only way we can battle the recession and obesity, the impending dooms of our country is to focus on REAL food.

That being said, I would like to add a positive comment on the local and organic movements. I think we can learn something from them. In the olden days, people had to eat local. So what did they do during the winter months? They preserved things naturally. So, naturally preserved foods are high on my grocery list in winter months. These include, things that have been brined in vinagre, oil, or salt. Such items are roasted red peppers, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, baby corn. There is no shame in buying canned items so long as you check the ingrediants. And of course, one should be encouraged to do their own preserving. Remember those preserved plums that appeared in a fruit salad in January?

Do you buy organic? Do you buy local? exclusively? Do you buy preserved products? Do you preserve your own food? If, so what? and why? Do you agree with my opinions? Why or why not? Am I blasphemous to the foodie community?

French Bread

2009-01-27T18:02:00.001-05:00

This has become my go-to recipe for bread. Full disclosure this recipe came from my little recipe book that came with my bread machine

Preparation time: n/a
Cooking time: n/a
Difficulty
Serves: 0

Ingredients

1 ⅓ cup water
1 ½ TBS olive oil
4 cups Bread Flour
1 TBS Sugar
1 ½ TPS Salt
2 TPS Yeast

Preparation

I put the wet ingredients into my bread machine. Then the dry ingredients with the exception of the yeast on top. The flour does float. I make a little well in the flour and put the yeast in the well. Then I put the bread machine on the french setting.

Rollin' in Dough

2009-01-27T11:20:00.002-05:00

Currently, I have the third loaf of bread churning in the bread maker. The photo above is the second. By the time my camera was charged, half of it had been eaten! Needless to say, the investment in a bread machine was a hit. For our household, the bread machine was a great investment. Gil and Jose buy and eat a lot of bread. But for myself, purchased bread was a large source of preservatives. It kind of freaks me out that you can buy a loaf of bread and it will last weeks on the counter!

Purchased bread is not in my list of things that I consider "real food". However, most "real food" cannot be eaten right away. And there's only so many stir fries and salads I can eat before I get really bored. So I try to think of ways of preparing real food that will create short cuts for later. The goal isn't to make the best bread ever. The goal is to make make-ahead items easier. Purists will cry out that I should make bread the old fashioned way, but I can now make bread in 5 minutes and not think about it until its done!

Another advantage to the bread machine is that I can use the bread for other things; breadcrumbs, croutons, bread pudding and casseroles. This past week I made double the rice for a dinner. The next day I made rice balls which I coated in the breadcrumbs and stuck in the oven. Coating in breadcrumbs and baking is a good way to redress leftovers. And I can do so now without worry about nutrition. I plan to do this more often with beans, lentils and vegetables.

An additional advantage is that homemade bread is a good way to add variety to your diet. I have made bread with chickpea flour, buckwheat flour, pumpkin seeds, nuts, persimmons, bananas. I have found that as long I keep the ratio of 1 1/4 cup liquid to 4 cups dry with at least 2 cups bread flour for gluten, I can pretty much do anything.

So far, I have made good on my new years resolution to make bread at least once a week. I find that by doing this I have improved the general productivity of our kitchen. We have food for things other than just dinner, we have more variety and a great way to use up leftovers. At the cost of the time it takes for my coffee to percolate in the morning.

Do you have a bread machine? Do you make bread? Are there other do-aheads that you frequently do in your kitchen that end up being great time savers such as salad dressings, toasted nuts, infused alcohol, preserving fruits and veggies, etc?

Plate of Links

2009-01-19T10:12:00.002-05:00

One of the many things I want to try for 2009 is to periodically have a post with some of the cool things I see on the internet. I've had a shared items feature for a while, but it doesn't allow me to comment on why I want share. So I present my new feature: Plate of Links!

Last week I posted on trying new things, and I tried two new things last week.
I tried a new recipe called Pizzocheri and it turned out delicious!

I also tried a new wine varietal, Orvieto and it also was delicious. Has any one else had this varietal before?

I have also started a twitter account. It is still in its experimental stage. My main purpose is to discover patterns in my cooking/eating. But sometimes I share little blog ideas that don't make it to the big page.

You can also see my twitter updates on the side of the main blog page. I know many of you view the blog via email, but I encourage you to visit the site, as I change things every so often. Currently, I am experimenting with surveys. So come visit the site and answer my question of the week!

And lastly, here are some of the menu strategies that our household already does. I think with the economy people are catching on. For 2009, I think the latest food fashion is going to go back to basics. People will want real home-made food. Diet food will be equated with processed food. People will feel the wallets pinched when charged $5 for Skinny Water with Acai or whatever. People are going start actually drinking real water.

Ok that's it for this week's links. If I give you a great link, let me know, so I can provide more links on stuff you love.

Try New Things

2009-01-15T08:29:00.004-05:00

It is still January, so I can get away with exploiting the theme of new. One of the things that I think makes our eating habits a success is our willingness to try new things. Above is a picture of Gil trying pho for the first time. After trying pho, Gil discovered that it is an absolutely delicious dish and we have been back several times since.

But whether it is trying a new item at a restaurant, or trying a new ingredient at home, it is a habit that develops and expands your relationship with food.

It is a shame that many of the diets have people eating the same things everyday, like that fad with a grapefruit every morning. I believe that many of these diets discourage people to trying new foods and as a result limit people's relationship with food, such that they begin to dislike it because they feel forced to eat the same thing all time. Eating healthy should not mean that one has to only eat a certain set of boring foods. Who wants to do that?

In my opinion, this way of thinking very askew and it reorders priorities in such a way that we resent having to eat healthy food. The real way to improve your relationship with food, and enjoy healthy food, is to always try new things. In this way, you discover new and different ways to eat healthily and your diet does not become a limitation but instead a source of adventure and fun.

Are you adventurous when it comes to trying new foods? Do you tend to eat the same things everyday? What was the last new thing you tried? Was it good? Do you agree that diets discourage variety and trying new things? Would you rather play it safe and know the nutritional content of what your eating, know that it fits within your diet requirements?

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-08T14:50:00.003-05:00

Nadya and I made some baked brie as we discussed our New Year's Resolutions. While the brie was good, I want to talk more about my resolutions today. (All we did was smother raspberry jam and almonds on it and then wrap it in puff pastry and stuck in the oven.) Of course, I made many resolutions of all types, fitness, academic etc. I did make some specific to my cooking and to this blog. And it seemed sort of silly to keep them to myself. The idea of the blog is to involve my readers in the process I go through in trying to better myself as a home cook. So without further ado:

2009 Resolutions

Bake bread at least once a week.
Not to buy bread (or bread products like crumbs or croutons)
Not to eat things with preservatives or additives (except eating out)
To make more home-made stock
To use more leftovers
To expand my repertoire
Try new things at least once a week.(recipe, combination, ingredient)
To perfect dishes (if a dish doesn't work out I tend to never try it again.)
Find ways to make cooking easier later (i.e. roasting a head of garlic on the weekend and keeping it in the fridge)
Explore different methods of cooking (Broccoli always tasted so good in a stir fry I never bothered to roast it)
To eat more veggies
Drink more wine
Make faster meals without getting bored of pasta and stir frys
To try to bring more focus to the blog
To take better pictures
To standardize formula making
Make blog more interactive

I've also got a few things I want to do with the blog, but they may not all stick. Some things I would like to implement

Twitter the food I eat, the idea behind this is to discover habits that make accomplishing the food goals easier
Figure out a way to streamline the photos I don't use for posts (without paying for a service)
Start polls (blogger has a feature)

What are your food goals this year? What would you like to see on this blog for 2009?

Happy New Years!

2009-01-01T12:49:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year's everyone!! I hope that everyone started out 2009 as well as we did. This is our breakfast table. You can see I have a drink (champagne and cranberry puree) with some pancakes. On the left side is fruit salad. Here's a close-up.

I almost always do a fruit salad variation when we are having a full breakfast together. Fruit-wise this has:

one orange
two kiwis
pomegranate seeds
pickled plums

And the dressing contains:

champagne vinegar
rose water
Croatian kumquat liquor

I really don't expect you to procure Croatian kumquat liquor, but I think that having a formula for fruit salads is indispensable. Fresh fruit marinated in various liquids so that they form a cohesive unit makes for a nice breakfast side. Rose water, simple syrups, extracts, fruity liquors and vinegars all make for excellent marinades. Use whatever fruit you have on hand.

I also encourage you to experiment pickling fruit. It's really easy. Cut the fruit up and pour vinegar over it in a jar and leave on counter a few days, shaking it every once in a while. I did this last summer with the plums and they made a really nice addition the salad at a time when fresh fruit is not in abundance.

I think that with this breakfast we started out 2009 with a nice healthy, delicious and celebratory start. I hope that all of you are able to embrace the new year with equal success. What breakfast did you bring in the new year with?

Round Up

2008-12-29T09:29:00.003-05:00

2008 has been a big year for this blog. This blog has undergone many makeovers and improvements (I think). This is the third year I've had this blog and nearly half of the 100 posts on this blog have been posted in this year.

I started out this year, promising to make many changes in this blog. I had a new mission, a creed to follow and renewed dedication to this blog. The manifesto, which is sum is the following:

To find ways to cook (and eat) real food while dealing with the constraints of life (time money etc.)

And I told myself that I would blog at least once a week, and for the most part I've kept that up, with some months having up to seven posts.

Furthermore, I have tried to adhere to my fan base (yes, I have fans) by adding a wine section to the blog, The Empty Glass. In addition to various posts on wine related topics, I have opened up a corkd account and added a gadget on the blog so that my readers can see what I am drinking.

This year has been a good year for cooking as well. Here are some of the highlights.

In March, I talked about eating seasonal produce and featured a stir fry with some asparagus.
In April, I made an Easter meal using all leftovers.
In May, I made dinner for my girlfriends using recipes from my repertoire.
In June, I planted a garden.
In July, I mused about the meaning of health food.
In August, I tried grass-fed beef on my trip to Hawaii.
In October, I shared a snack from Croatia.
And I ended the year by encouraging you all to donate to Menu for Hope, which has been extended till the end of the year, so if haven't signed up for prizes yet, it is not too late.

Overall, I think 2008 has been a tremendous year for The Blank Plate and I've got lots of ideas for 2009 to be even better. What was your favorite Blank Plate post of 2008?

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T21:50:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to publish a brief post to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

My 100th Post and Menu for Hope

2008-12-21T11:34:00.003-05:00

For my 100th post, I would like to encourage you all to contribute to the Menu for Hope. It's a fund raising campaign held by the food blogging community. Many food bloggers with high readership (not me) have prizes, you donate $10 and sign up for the raffle for the prize of your choice. The money is then donated to the World Food Program.

Last year, $90K were donated and used to feed 19,000 children in Lesotho for an entire month.

For more information and prizes click here. Chez Pim's Menu for Hope Master List of Prizes

Intelligent Cuisine

2008-12-17T14:47:00.002-05:00

As a linguist, I often muse of over mistranslations. In fact, the linguists over at Language Log, they do it a lot. And although this seems like a prime example, I am going to instead take it at face value. No silly! I don't mean food that can do calculus. What I mean, is that there is a reasonable English interpretation to this phrase. Intelligent cuisine is cuisine that we eat intelligently. Silly kids, I don't mean food that eat while doing calculus, although that would be cool! So what does it mean to eat intelligently? That my friends, is a good question.

I was told by the neighboring deli that the cafe owners meant something like "healthy." After hearing this, suddenly it made much more sense. I think the choice to steer away from the word healthy was probably a good decision. Too many people have their own interpretation on it. Well let me rephrase that: Too many marketers have pulled interpretations out of their a$$ of the word "healthy". I like the idea of using a word that means making conscious decisions about one's diet while not being duped by the dieting scams pushed at us night and day. Sure, its my spin on the use of intelligent in this context. But if that's not what Westside Cafe meant, then I am coining it! But if that's what they meant, then by all means, they should receive kudos.

Ok, enough waxing rhetoric, I've done that enough on this blog. How about I get down and dirty about coining this word (phrase)? Lets' define Intelligent Cuisine. Below are instructions on how to eat intelligently

Don't waste time counting calories, enjoy your food and when you're not hungry anymore, stop.
Don't buy crappy tasting products because they say "low fat". Buy some broccoli, and roast it with some olive oil and Parmesan cheese
Don't avoid carbs just because its the latest craze, instead bake some bread with some persimmons, they are a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A and Manganese. When was the last time you had a persimmon?
Don't think that to be healthy you have to be a granola head, there are plenty of intelligent things to eat that are mainstream, like a big pot of homemade chili.
Don't guilt trip yourself at meals, if your craving cheese put in some butternut squash in your mac and cheese.

I hope this gives you some concrete ideas about how to eat intelligently and make intelligent cuisine a household (and kitchen) phrase.

The Empty Glass: Pairings

2008-12-12T12:21:00.003-05:00

Not too long ago, I had Tres Pinos 2006 at a dinner with some friends with spaghetti and meatballs. It was decent and as usual I wrote it up on my Cork'd account. Then my parents saw my review and decided to drink their bottle. But their experiences were much different. They first tried it with Potatos au Gratin and said that the wine completely flattened out, but then they decided to retry it with TJ's instant indian curries in a bag, garbanzo bean choley and had much better success. The sweetness and robustness of the wine complemented the strong and spicy curry flavors.
I know spicy food is usually paired with whites, but in a lot of Indian and Mexican cuisine, you get a lot of spicy dishes with foods like tomatoes and meat, which would pair better with a heavier red. A solution to this I think is a funkier fruit forward red like the Tres Pinos, but I would imagine that Carmeniere (parents recommend el toque), Pinotage, or Syrahs would pair well.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? What do you pair with spicy tomato based sauces common to Mexican and Indian cuisine?

Also, my 100 post is coming up, do you have any suggestions on what I should do for that special post?

The Empty Glass: Pinotage Revisited

2008-12-05T08:55:00.002-05:00

A while ago I asked everyone about Pinotage and discovered that there were some fans out there. Also at Thanksgiving I introduced many of you to Gary Vaynerchuk who after trying his Thanksgiving picks has earned my trust when recommending wine. Now Gary has recommended some Pinotages that I thought some of you might take interest in. So check out this video, if you love Gary and Pinotages.
Happy Drinking.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-04T08:52:00.003-05:00

I realize that I've gotten gushy over the past posts but don't worry, I've got a few ideas for practical posts coming up. And really if there's any holiday to be gushy, its Thanksgiving. Aside from it being an wonderful opportunity to see family and eat great food it is an opportunity to be thankful, which of course is really easy when you are surrounded by loving family, beautiful scenery and delicious food. So I guess, I'm thankful for Thanksgiving. I'm also thankful for my family and friends. And in these times when people fear the repeat of the 30's, I'm thankful for the roof over my head and the often extravagant food I eat. (I know we often don't see it as extravagant but when you consider the quantity and variety of what we eat, it's way ahead of some unfortunate people eat just to survive.) I'm thankful for all the creature comforts my life affords, clothes, a comfy bed, and transportation (although holiday travel is nearly impossible). I'm thankful for my little stipend I get at the university. And I am really thankful for this opportunity in my life to follow my passions. It's truly a blessing. And last but not least, I am thankful for this planet and mother nature. The sun that rises in the morning and sets at night. The picture above is the sun setting at Stillwater cove on the Sonoma Coast in CA where my family goes every Thanksgiving. This a place that reminds you of how incredible our lives really are. What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Special Days

2008-11-22T11:05:00.003-05:00

I am really excited that the holidays are coming. I love Thanksgiving with my family. However, sometimes I think that there is a mentality that you only do special things on special days. For instance, I couple of years ago I started making Chiles en Nogada (which I've blogged about before here) for Mexican Independence Day. This is a meal which required special ingredients (pomegranate) and required a little more manual labor (roasting, sweating, peeling, seeding, stuffing the chiles). It is an incredible dish, but I felt I needed the holiday to make me make it. Well I was wrong. This year, pomegranates did not reach our store till November, so we could not make it in September. When the pomegranates did come in, we decided to make the meal anyways, even though the holiday and come and gone. What I realized was that any day can be a holiday if you like. You do not even have to have a lot of time. All you really need is food that feels special to you and people who are special to share it with.

In our household, almost every night is special in its own way. Whether we're making chili, tostadas, Thai curry, or spaghetti. As long as you make the food the way you like it and share it with the people you like. I have two great dinner companions. Above, is Gil, who is not often featured (compared to Nadya) and he prepares and shares many (the majority) of the meals featured on this blog. This year, he will be spending Thanksgiving with the family. I am excited to spend a real holiday with him and my family. I know, that he knows how to make every meal special!

So even after Thanksgiving is over, remember this, don't stop celebrating. Celebrate your life, your love, your companions, your achievements, your goals. You don't need a calendar day to do it. Any day will do. Just remember that with a little thought any evening meal can be a special one.

A Recipe from a Friend

2008-11-16T09:04:00.002-05:00

I do apologize that this time I have no photos and no stories. Its just the way it is sometimes. But I do have a recipe that my good friend Jakhara sent me, and I thought I'd pass it on. I will eventually make it (but probably not for another couple of weeks).

NOTE: Sweet potatoes are yellow on the inside, smallish, and just vaguely sweet. Yams are orange on the inside and quite sweet and get really big.

For pie crust I use a mod of the standard bisquick pie crust recipe. Ready made pie crust or graham cracker crust are just as good. Actually the graham cracker crust is just a little better!

Bisquick Pie Crust

2 cup Bisquick
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
4-5 tbsp. boiling water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp. confection sugar

Mix together with fingers. Separate into two equal balls. Press them flat and wrap them individually in plastic wrap and refrigarate them for at least an hour. Roll them out flat, put in pie pan, and do the fancy pinching. Bake at 350 degrees (sea level) for 5-8 minutes. Do not let it get brown. This ensures no soggy bottomed pies. No need to prebake the graham cracker crust.

Filing:

2 Freakishly huge yams
2 Largish sweet potatoes
1/2 cup of butter (not sweetened butter not margarine)
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of white sugar
2 tbsp of maple syrup (optional)
1/2 tsp of almond extract
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
small can of evaporated milk (sorry i dont know the ounces)
1-2 eggs (depends on how big the yams are if they are damn near football sized use 2)
1/2 tsp of baking powder
dash of salt

Common misconception sweet potato pies rarely have "sweet potatoes" (here to abbreviated to SP) in them. It is usually yam. I like to use both because SP's are more starchy.

Take 2 'OMG these are the biggest yams I have ever seen' yams and 2 largish SPs and clean them VERY well, with a brush or possible steel wool. In your largest pot, stock pot preferable, stack the yams at the bottom then the SPs. Fill with warm water till about 1 or two inches above the last SP. Bring to boil and keep it there for about 45 min. SP will be done around the 30 min mark. To test stick a butter knife through the middle. If you feel any resistance other than skin leave them in. The yams should be done in 45 to an hour. Test the same way. Pull them out with a big spoon, NOT TONGS. They are so tender that you may splash yourself when they fall into the water. Run them under cold water til cool enough to touch but still warm. Cut the skin down the middle and peel off the little jackets and put innards into mixing bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add everything but the white sugar and eggs and blend with mixer until no lumps are left but before it gets to puree. TASTE THE MIXTURE. Depending on the sweetness of yams you might not want the additional sugar. If still needs it add half the sugar, stir with spoon and taste again. Add more until it meets your sweetness requirement always stirring with spoon. Then mix eggs in with mixer.

Pour filling in pie crust with 1 cm or so of space to grow. Set pies on cookie sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes until knife comes back clean.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes (It is going to be hard because they smell so good) preferably an hour.

Then enjoy. Please let me know how they turn out if you decide to make them. It looks more complicated than it is but totally worth it.

Fall Potpourri

2008-10-31T14:03:00.007-05:00

My main thesis today is that food and drink is often a vehicle for sharing our experiences with friends and family. And although it seems obvious, how many do us really execute this in our day to day lives? So, last week you guys got a short photoless post, this week you'll get a longer post with multiple photos because I've been lucky enough to have a few things to share on this blessed topic.

As you'll see above, this is a picture of Nadya, who has been featured a few times on this blog. Yes, she is that gorgeous! She has in her hand a mug filled with probably the only Croatian-Mexican Hot Chocolate ever! Nadya is very happy because this Mexican (Ibarra) has been spiked with this little bottle of deliciousness.
I got this little bottle of amerreto at the Dubrovnik Farmer's market. Luckily, they had the picture on the front so I could tell it was made from almonds! Anyways, it was really nice to share chocolate and girlie gossip on a crisp fall day the special drink was just a bonus.

Continuing this theme, my uncle Russ, sent me a movie called Waitress. Good movie if you haven't seen it! It's about a unhappily married waitress who can't seem to escape her life, and cooking is an outlet for her emotions and creativity. In any case, Russ said it would inspire me to make pie. And he was right. Can you guess what kind of pie? (Please keep in mind this is being posted on Halloween).

Yes, it's pumpkin!! We picked up a sweet pumpkin at the pumpkin patch, as well as one to make a jack-o-lantern with. It was Gil's first time making a Jack-o-lantern!! After making the Jack-o-Lantern, Gil cut up the little baking pumpkin and I boiled in some water, blended it with some cream and eggs, poured into a pie crust and baked for an hour. That simple really, ok I might of added a few spices (and the cinnamon container exploded on me) but no one should be intimidated to cook with fresh pumpkin! (Just get a nice strong guy to do the chopping) But you know what the best part using fresh pumpkin is? Making roasted pumpkin seeds with ancho chile powder.

In conclusion, the benefits of making home-made meals far exceed that of just better eating. It's about integrating your meals into your life. It's a way to enjoy the seasons, it's a way to enjoy friends and company, it's a way to connect with family that's far away. It makes your whole life home-made. Sure, it's not perfect, it's not like commercial food, where consistency is garunteed. It's not always the same, and you have to be able to put in a little more work and sometimes souffle of life deflates once you take it out of the oven, but I garuntee that living your life this way is A) healthier and B) more adjustable to your liking C) your in for some serendipidous surprises like Croatian-Mexican Hot Chocolate.

The Empty Glass: Different Tastes

2008-10-23T16:30:00.002-05:00

Nadya went with me on our last trip to Trader Joe's and we bought a couple of the same bottles of wine. Nadya is one of the few >ahem< who I've succeeded in convincing to make a cork'd account precisely for this reason.
http://corkd.com/wine/view/44477-zarafa_pinotage_2007
If you click on the link you will see a Zarafa Pinotage that both of us reviewed, I really enjoyed it, while Nadya really disliked the wine. Rumor in the wine world has it that Pinotage is like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. So, how about you guys? Love it or hate it? And also, for those of you who want to talk about wine, get a cork'd account! Then we can keep a track of what we drink and I would know whether you like Pinotage or not!

Comfort Food

2008-10-17T12:15:00.002-05:00

Fall is in full swing and when it comes to food there are two themes. The first is busy-ness, summer is the time when things are laid back, but once fall hits, its back to work. So, although you quick summer salads are no longer in season, no one has the time to babysit a long cooking stew. The second is comfort. Now that the nights are cooler and the days are shorter, we want to fall back on foods that make us feel good.

The topic of comfort food came up at a recent girls night. Now comfort food is different for different people. And for some of the girls who hadn't had American upbringing they had to decide what was comfort food for them. Solveig, my German friend, recalled her mother's carrot salad. And for me, bean and cheese or chorizo burritos stand out as number one in comfort.

So recently with time constraints, I had a new meal that are provided new comfort. Gil, one day, was craving a dish from his childhood; sardines. Sardines are a confort food for him. Now, I had a couple of other raesons I wanted to feature this recipe. First, to keep an open mind. I thought I didn't like sardines until I tried this, and now I do. Secondly, this dish is sadly unphotogenic, and I don't think we shoud discriminate on that. Not all our food is going to look beautiful. And just because it's not photogenic doens't mean it doesn't belong on a food blog. (That's why you get the picture of the trees outside my new office window).

Ok so back to sardines. This was a quick, easy and satisfying meal for a busy fall night.
Buy a can of sardines in tomato sauce. (You can buy this at a Mexican store, Gil says they are better if they are from Baja). Cut up some fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion and cilantro. Mash the sardines, like you would tuna in tuna salad. Mix in your veggies and serve on tostadas and drizzle hot sauce on top if you like.

Featured Recipe from Croatia

2008-10-11T12:25:00.002-05:00

Nope not done with Croatia yet. I'm gonna milk the topic for all its worth. Did you really think I could go and come back without taking a little Croatia to my kitchen? Yes, I do like to preach, but preaching has to be back by well food (and action to prepare said food). At the Croatian farmer's market, among the things for sale were dried figs with bay leaves and candied orange peels. These were sold in little plastic bags like the ones at the grocery store to put your produce, and no labels whatsoever. Obviously home-made. Many of the booths sold both and they had free samples to compete with their neighbors.

Once I got home I emptied the bags into a bowl and this was on our table for a few days until we ate them all. (Didn't take long). I could wax rhetoric about why this was so good but really would you doubt me if I didn't? No, so, like me, you need to take action and get a little inspiration. If you don't do the following exactly by the letter, do your closest approximation and see where it takes you.

Take some dried figs and dust them with powdered sugar. Then put them in a bag with some bay leaves. Keep them in there until the figs take on the flavor of the bay leaves. Then make some candied orange peel. Combine figs and orange peel. Then in a glass, pour some wine, your choice. Sit on the couch, drink wine, munch on Croatian snack and imagine white pebble beaches on the Adriadic Sea next to Roman Ruins. Enjoy!

The Empty Glass: Croatian Wine

2008-10-07T18:33:00.003-05:00

As a follower of this blog you must I repeat you must follow this link
Croatian Wine
Now you can have the story. After coming back from Croatia, I email Gary, and told him I would like him to do a show on Croatian wine. And two days later.... this is up!!! I am now a converted Vayniac. I promised I'd buy the book and the schwag. But seriously, its cool that I asked him and he did it and moreover that he found a wine that really rocked his socks.

btw. I think Gary is right, we should try to find some Croatian wine for Thanksgiving. What do you guys think? Are you willing to trust me and Gary on this? (Besides you can always bring a few backups if we're wrong).

The Blank Plate: Croatia

2008-10-04T07:08:00.003-05:00

I know I had a surprise in store for you guys. However, I hope your pleased that in fact the surprise was in store for me! So as some of you knew, I was in Dubrovnik Croatia this week. And I'd read a little (wikipedia) about Croatian cuisine, and I imagined that I would have a lot of Italian Seafood, which I looked forward to. However, little did I know that the conference organizers planned on just stunning the rest of us with Croatia's treasures. Almost all meals were paid for. (My airline won't even do that). And each meal was accompanied by two different bottles of wine. After two days of octopus ink risotto, prosciutto, grilled squid, broiled fish truffles, fresh figs, peaches, plums and grapes, we put on a bus to a bay of male ston where we were greeted with champagne and fresh oysters. Now, I don't like raw oysters but these were out of this world. Sweet and succulent, not slimy or salty.

Of course I could write pages of how I was spoiled with good food, but again this is a blog and I imagine that would bore and make my readers jealous. What I have to say about Croatian cuisine is something you probably have already assumed, but one; it doesn't do any harm repeating and two; there's a huge gap between knowing it and living it. That is that Croation cuisine's focus is on real food. None of the food we had was touted as low fat or low cholestoral or full of antioxidants or fatty acids or omega 57. The food we had was presented as nature's bounty. And that's why it was delicious, satisfying and no one doubted or even asked about its nutritional value. Yeah so what? octopus ink risotto is high carb, but sure beats the heck out of low carb frozen pizza Americans find themselves eating.

And I really hate to say this but I think this is an American phenomena. And the rest of the world looks at us as if we're crazy. How is it, that we are a culture so obsessed with diet and yet we have an alarming obesity rate? The Croatians want to know. (I'm serious I was getting asked). And Americans are really puzzled too. However, my bet is that if an American were to travel to Croatia and have their cuisine, they'd figure it out pretty quickly! This predicament we have is a false one, the solution is easy, take a note from the Croatians, don't buy into the diet scams and eat some real food.

Photos of Croatia

2008-10-01T12:30:00.001-05:00

THe Empty Glass: Wine Tasting

2008-09-24T08:55:00.002-05:00

This is just a note to say I updated my cork'd account to include the wine I tasted at my professor's latest wine party. Unfortunately, the paper I had with my notes got turned into the vote on what wine was the best. So, I don't have notes, but I remember which wines I liked and which I didn't, thus the numbers without notes. However, I did have an important finding. We tasted Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon; wines that I generally don't drink in my quest to learn about newer varietals. I think for my palette that I don't like Sauvignon Blanc. In general they taste like cat pee to me. Do we have any sauv blanc fans out there? If so, what region do you like and what do they taste like to you? Also, I think I like cabs. They are rich and fruity and a little dark, a little smokey and chocolately. All this time I've been told to avoid them because they are over hyped but I dunno, I think I might be converted, I was really impressed with the cabs. What about you guys? Are you cab fans? If so what region and what does it taste like to you? Any cab haters out there? If so why?

Ok last but not least, I wanted to just say that some of you may know, but others that don't be prepared for a nice surprise post next week! I've got something good in store =) (And some of you can guess what that might be).

The Empty Glass: Restocked

2008-09-16T16:50:00.002-05:00

This is another mini post. I have just reviewed a wine over in my corkd wine journal, as a sign that I went to Trader Joe's and bought a bunch of wine to drink (18 bottles to be exact!) Unfortunately, I didn't put everything in my cellar, and I doubt I will have a chance to do that looking at my schedule. So, stay tuned for new wine reviews.

Word Cloud

2008-09-11T15:53:00.005-05:00

www.wordle.net

Well, I just lectured about how you can't use things like word frequencies to make conclusions, but word clouds are still cool. Despite the fact that I would normally try to dissuade people from assuming that that language determines your thoughts, this little tool is a cool representation of the blog. The two biggest words are good and food. Yes, that's the bulk of it, but time and balance make their way in there too. And let's not forget the importance of words like many and however, which without my ideas would not be linked together.

What words do you associate with food? Don't be shy, they could be bad things, like diet or calories or they could be good things like nourishment and time with loved ones.

Imagination

2008-09-06T10:59:00.004-05:00

Lucky for me, I have more ideas on blog posts than I have time to write. One post that I've been wanting to write for a long time now, is one on how to make a new meal (and thus a new recipe/formula). By now you should be familiar with my belief that instead of teaching people recipes we should teach people how to develop their recipes for their tastes. Its the whole "teach a man to fish" philosophy. And I've so far waxed a lot of philosophy but haven't gotten down to exactly how I develop my own recipes/formulas. Of course this comes with the disclaimer there is no one way to do it, find a way that works for you, and by no means am I an expert, but I've found a few tricks that work for me.

For me, many recipes begin at the grocery store. Sure, I usually go to the store with some meals in mind but some meals are inspired by what's at the store. This week there happened to be some fresh Maryland crab. This led me to want to make crab cakes. Now, I originally bought cabbage because we often eat it on top of tostadas, a household stand by for us. And I bought the red pears because they looked fresh and ripe and I make a point to buy fruit whenever I go grocery shopping. So far, nothing too exciting, but this is the little spark that lead to a nice meal.

The next step, I'm at home, getting ready to assemble the crab cakes. Although, I've never made crab cakes before per se, I have a pretty good idea what to put in them so that they will be a big hit. Lots of crab meat, little mayo some green onion and a good sprinkling of old bay seasoning. Nothing crazy, very traditional. But there's no way we are going to fill ourselves up on crab cakes. I needed a side. Something light and refreshing to pair with the creaminess of the cakes.

Cole Slaw! It's summery fare. However, neither Gil or I are fans of mayo based cole slaws and as a result hardly ever eat any when we are out. At home I usually make them with vinaigrettes. So, what kind of vinagres did I have? Well earlier this summer I doused some plums in some rice and apple cidar vinagres. (For you linguists, the conjunction modifies the head noun). Ok, I thought, a fruity cole slaw, that'd pair nicely with the sweetness of the crabs. Then, I remembered the red pears. So I cut up the pear in matchsticks, shredded the red cabbage and dressed it with plum vinagre and a little olive oil and salt and pepper and the perfect side was made.

The moral of the story, is use your imagination and a logical thought process to lead you to new recipes. Not only is this a good way to shake things up a bit and get more variety, but its also a good way to be resourceful and use up all the stuff you buy. I don't think we are told often enough that we have the ability to create our own simple delicious recipes. We are told we make delicious meals if we buy their cookbook, but with a little imagination we can revolutionize what goes onto our kitchen table.

So, is imagination a common ingrediant in your recipes/ formulas? Are you constantly looking into the fridge and coming up with new inventions or do you stick by the book? What have been the successes and failures of this method? I urge all of you to do a little experimentation and to push the envelope in the kitchen. If you have any good results, be sure to report back in the comments!

Balance

2008-08-27T08:56:00.002-05:00

I know, I usually tell you about the things I do. But I am not the only one who strives to eat the best food possible trying to keep it as easy and convenient as possible. In fact, I would say that while I strive, others have repeated success. Thus in this blog entry I would like to feature the efforts of my parents and our friend Nina. In this picture, Nina has prepared lunch for my parents. It is very simple; heirloom tomatoes, chicken salad, canteloup and a glass of wine (Sauvignon Blanc).

Plate by plate, glass by glass, we all come closer to finding that balance. The balance where food becomes the vehicle for many of the things that make our lives full, like friendship and good health. The balance where having a good meal doesn't detract from your precious time and energy. The balance where meals are times to satisfy your hunger for both food and pleasure. I can think of no better people or occasion to epitomize this balance. I am just happy that I can share it on my blog.

How about you? Have you reached a balance or know people who have?

Busy Busy

2008-08-19T16:06:00.002-05:00

I apologize for the haiatus, and the lack of photo. Been busy, and unfortunately the blog kind of gets squeezed out. However, what hasn't gotten slumped is the good meals. Just because I'm busy doesn't mean I'm ordering pizza. Despite having little time to prepare the meals I have managed to make

Rice and seafood mix (Trader Joe's frozen bag)
Couscous with capers, olive tampenade and golden raisins
Ratatoille
Egg Salad
Quesadillas (ok I cheated, and had store bought tortillas)
Ceviche
Spinach Curry (another Trader Joe's trick)
Summer Squash Scrambled Eggs

It is true, I cannot always cook with all fresh ingrediants. It is time consuming. However, what I do, is allow myself to buy products so long as they don't have artificial additives. Ok, so frozen seafood is not as good as fresh, but better for me than that frozen lean cuisine meal the lady next to me is picking out. And sometimes you get surprises, this curry I bought from Trader Joe's after looking at the label, contained all ingrediants I recognized! Moreover, now I have a formula for making the curry later!

One other thing has allowed me to enjoy fast meals, this is quite simple but surprisingly not obvious. I have expanded my options by not limiting myself to having to make a big dinner meal. Instead, I see "dinner" as "lunch" or "breakfast". This has opened the door to having things like egg salad or couscous for dinner. Before, I also considered these dishes as side dishes rather than dinner itself, but by letting that stereotype go, I have been able to enjoy a small but quick meal at the end of my days.

Well, unfortunately, I must be back to work, but I wanted to share these discoveries before I forgot. What are your tricks? Where do you draw the line when it comes to buying packaged goods? What dinners do you have that are not traditionally dinners? What do you do when your short on time? Share, it's the best way to learn.

From the Butcher Shop: Grass Fed Beef

2008-08-07T17:52:00.004-05:00

The island of Hawaii is home of the largest privately owned cattle ranch, named Parker Ranch. All the cows on the ranch are grass fed (and many cows get a nice view of the ocean, talk about happy cows!) Naturally, I wanted to try it out, luckily, my brother and his family also had the same urge. Surprisingly, when we went into the "Parker Ranch Center" and got into the steakhouse there, there was only one item on the menu that included grass fed beef! Well, naturally, we ordered that; the rib eye. Luckily its our favorite cut. Needless to say, it was delicious.

My brother and I both lamented over the fact that grass fed beef is hard to come by. You would think that something both better for us and for our planet would be popular but it seems that consumerism works in reverse. But it's a cycle. Grass fed beef isn't readily available because there isn't a demand for it. There isn't a demand for it because people don't know how much better it is.

And it's not just grass fed beef. With so many choices at the supermarket between low-fat, low-sodium, high-fiber, organic, local etc., how is someone supposed to know what to take home when all they want is a steak? As much as I steer away from processed foods because of the confusing labeling, produce is steering that way itself, what next our beloved meat?

Many food conscientious people try to stay local, or organic, or vegetarian, or vegan or even raw. It can get very confusing. But over the course of this blog, I have developed my own food philosphy that I want to live before I preach. Here it is. I want to eat real food.

I don't want to preach the virtues of grass fed beef, plenty of sites do that. I want to document my failures and successes in trying to live on a diet of real food. So that the believers who follow this site can relate and try their own ways of eating real food.

So here we are, a food conscientious family on vacation, and even though we are at Parker Ranch, there's only one steak we can have in good conscious. And we enjoyed it! Also, if you want to see more pictures of our Hawaii trip click here.

The Produce Aisle: I don't read lables

2008-07-17T12:07:00.003-05:00

Let's face it, it's hard to talk about food without talking about diet. And I think that in our society, any one who shows interest in food must be over eating and eating food that is bad for them. I've got good news for everyone, this is a myth. In fact the myth that you have to eat flavorless food for a healthy lifestyle is also a myth. Now, this is my speculation because no scientific study seems to back me up on this one, but I think if you on one of those low fat low calorie low carb low sodium low sugar diet...... then it's probably bad for your health. Maybe I am crazy, but to me, it's just common sense.

I don't read labels. There is a very good reason I don't read labels. Can you guess? My rule of thumb is I try not to eat things that come with labels! Why are you buying low fat salad dressing or low calorie oreo cookies? What are they putting in there to compensate for the taste? I think, that if you eat a diet of mostly labelless food, like the dish above a simple tomato and balsamic vinaigrette (homemade) and a little savory on top, then you'll probably be much healthier.

I propose that instead of torturing ourselves with label watching and eating tasteless food, we should eat guilt free all of nature's bounty. It will be nutritious AND delicious. And stop resenting those people who enjoy their food! We eat three times a day, it shouldn't be a chore anymore.

What does everyone else thinks? Where do your eating habits fall? Are you a label reader? If so, what labels are you reading? Do you eat labelled food and turn a blind eye to the labels? Do you attempt, like me, to avoid labelled food?

The Empty Glass: Value Wines

2008-07-10T09:33:00.002-05:00

A while back I asked about what wines you find with good QPR and I got a lot of good feedback. Uncle Clete just sent out a video of wine library's Gary Vanerchuck telling us what wines he thinks have good QPR. Not only does he give us values, but he directs us towards value wines for the summer. He mentions portuguese and Spanish cavas as some of his top picks. So check it out, try some wine and tell me what you think!

The Pantry Shelf: Pasta Salad

2008-07-08T07:58:00.004-05:00

Summer has introduced me to pasta salad. Like many, I had disdain for cold mayonnaise soaked noodles. I have learned though, that this does not have to be the case! Pasta salads come in many varieties (remember I like formulas not recipes) and it has many delicious cousins, including, rice salad, bean salad and lentil salad whose formulas can be very similar.

In many ways pasta salad embodies my food philosophy and serves to reinforce many of themes I introduce in this blog. I have mentioned variations, but it is also a non-meat-centric main. AND you can put meat in it if you like and it would be delicious. (Yes, you can start a sentence with AND). In addition, it shows how you can use a well stocked pantry to back up your fresh goodies.

One of the variables in the pasta salad formula I think that goes undervaried (apparently that's not a word, but I'm coining it) is the vegetable variable. Many people are hip on the crunch stuff like bell pepper, celery, carrots and even broccolli. But I think people forget that you can make pasta salad, more salad like. Throw some lettuce in there! The salad above has a good bit of arugula, but spinach, baby green and romain all work well, as well as cabbage.

I could go on all day, about the possibilities, but I'll provide you with a few links that have helped me develop my pasta salad formula and in the comments you can tell me about your favorite things to do with pasta salad (or it's cousins rice beans and lentil salads).

The Pasta Salad Manifesto
Saved by the Pantry

Lastly, I'd like to make a "shout out" to the Pincus family. They had Gil and I for Independence Day and I've got to say, they throw one hell of a party. This is a family that can really cook. They cook everything from scratch. They made both the root beer and the vanilla ice cream in the root beer floats. They made potato salad with home made mayonnaise and herbs from the garden. They smoked their own turkey and salmon. The list goes on. But their cooking (and hospitality) is a real inspiration. Unfortunately for all you readers, I forgot my camera, so I had to post on another topic. Hopefully, I will get to write about it another year.

Also, I want to mention some site stuff. I have added a shared stuff section, these are items I read on my blog roll that I think you will enjoy, so keep an eye on that, lots of good stuff shows up! Also I have added a subscription link, so you can subscribe (yay! they made it free now, I don't have to clutter my blog with ads).

Don't forget, leave your favorite pasta salad formulas in the comments! What are you parameters? What are you principals?

Special Edition: The Life Straw

2008-06-27T09:32:00.004-05:00

My brother, Paul, wrote me an email that says:

The Rotary club in Florida is set up receive donations for the Life Straw Family for $15 each. Maybe we can get together and make a bulk donation. I will buy and donate 10. Maybe we can get together and find ten more to by ten each and buy a 100. Any takers?

Paul

I think its a great idea, so if you want to join in please email Paul at paul AT matrixpharmainc DOT com

Special Edition: The Empty Glass: Cocktails

2008-06-26T07:44:00.003-05:00

This is the third time I have featured this Mark Bittman on my blog. I think he really captures my philosophy of cooking; principals and parameters as opposed to recipes. He puts thought into how we decide we are going to make meals instead of focusing on one meal at a time. Give a recipe, and people will have one meal, provide people with a way to make recipes, and they can cook food they like any time they want.

Yesterday, Mark provided a formula for making cocktails, that I think I will employ this summer. Now, I have learned how I can make a cocktail I enjoy, any night of the week. Drink up!

The Blank Plate: Variations

2008-06-23T11:11:00.004-05:00

Variation is what makes life interesting and fun. Can you imagine if we ate the same thing all the time? A couple weeks ago I emphasized the importance of a repatoire, however that's only half the battle. If you stuck to your repetoire, you end up repeated the same dishes again and again. But how do you expand your repetoire? Well think of cooking like a science. If you have a formula that you know works, but you want to try something new keep everything the same, except for the one new ingrediant.

Grilled pizza is a recipe (formula) that came into our repetoire last summer. And we have done many since then. Nadya even had a successful pizza potluck, by making dough in advance and asking guests to bring toppings. Yesterday, Gil suggested we make grilled pizza for dinner. I followed this recipe for pizza crust and decided that it made way too little dough, since we usually make enough for the next day's lunch. So I decided to make another batch, but having one batch which I knew was safe, I decided to experiment a little. I subsituted one cup of AP flour for one cup of buckwheat flour (on the left) in one batch and in yet another batch, I substitued one cup of Chickpea flour (bottom). The results? Good pizza!

The recipe approach to cooking doesn't really show you the flexibility one can really have in the kitchen. Sure every once in a while you will come across a recipe that says raisin and then in parenthesis (optional). That's wild! Omit raisins for a whole new cookie!!! My point is, be brave! Just because you don't have a recipe doesnt mean you can't make it. And variations and substitutions is a great way to expand your repetoire so you don't get bored of the same ol' same ol'.

So folks, what's your favorite variation? What 'formulas' are you your repetoire? What are your cooking variables? What variation has surprised you or disappointed you? Don't be shy to present your disappointments either, we can learn from each other's mistakes. What variation did you find that you wish you had done from the beginning? Do you have 'formulas' with multiple variables? Pizza is a good example of that, almost everything can be tweaked, dough, sauce, cheese, toppings etc. Do you ever go back to the original?

In addition to discussion, I have homework. Take a recipe in your repetoire that currently doens't have any variables, and switch it up. Your morning coffee? Put in a little cinnamon or nutmeg? That ham sandwhich? Put in a little olive tapenade. Popcorn? Add some hot sauce or furikake. What ever you do, be sure to switch it up and find out the possiblities.

From the Produce Aisle: Meat

2008-06-16T07:35:00.002-05:00

I've recently added a side item that shares my favorite blog entries, but this one in particular I think deserves discussion. Lifehacker writes about how we incorporate meat in our food. Click on the link to see original post, which also links you back to a NY Times article.

The main thesis argued for is meat should not be the center of every meal. But as newbie foodies, this is actually hard to avoid. Ever pick up a cookbook divided by types of meat? Ever go to a restaurant where the menu is divided up into poultry, seafood and beef? How about watching cooking shows where they show you how to plan a meat centric meal and make veggies on the side?

As mentioned in the NY times article, there are ways to avoid this. But I think you really have to work at it. You have to dismiss the cookbooks, TV shows and menus. And then search for the ones that focus on more well balanced meals. There are some good tips, eating ethnic foods, using meat as a "seasoning", and choosing dishes where veggies are the star ingredient, not the meat.

Just last night (sorry forgot to take pictures) we decided to grill. Usually grilling becomes a meat-fest. But it doesn't have to be. We made kebabs and grilled corn on the cob. Lots of vegetables are suitable for grilling. Any kind of peppers, onions, mushrooms, corn, eggplant etc. And keeping on with summer cooking, ratatoille is a great vegetarian main. And if you want to add a little ground meat to that, the bold veggies will hold up to it splendidly. But you can't make a hearty dish like ratatoille a mere side. It stands tall on its own. And so do many other dishes like lasagne, enchiladas, pad thai, and quiche.

Don't get me wrong, I like meat, and every once in a while it's good to hunker down with a steak or a pork chop but those are special occasions. However, I do find that this philosophy often feels counter-culture and I struggle as a cook and consumer to execute it American society.

What do you guys think? Do you agree? What do you do to avoid meat centric meals? And for me personally, the hardest challenge, is meal planning. For my guys, they are used to the big one pot meal, but sometimes I want a meal with several dishes, but what do you put on the side of veggies? More veggies? Meat? I usually serve a salad with pasta, but lately, I've been making pasta salads, which are hard to pair. How do you guys plan a meal around a veggie starring dish? Discuss

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-06-12T09:33:00.001-05:00

From the Garden

2008-06-09T14:14:00.003-05:00

So (for the linguists, I am proud of this discourse marker! no shame to put it in writing!) it is 100 degrees outside and humidity is at 45%. So while I am glad that I am inside with my computer, the plants are quite to be outside soaking up that sun. A couple weeks ago Gil and I planted a bunch of veggies and herbs and now they are started to grow. Already I have started to use the herbs. Oregano went into yesterday's pozole. Parsley went into last week's garlic and lemon pasta. And basil went into a lunch salad. We don't have any veggies yet, but we expect tomatoes and all kinds of peppers. Have any of you (guys) planted a garden this year? If so, what have you planted? What are you looking forward to making with the fresh ingredients? (Or have you been making splendid stuff all year because your from a place which has less harsher weather than Delware?)

The Empty Glass: The Cellar

2008-06-02T15:40:00.002-05:00

Now many of my readers (most of them related to me) are fortunate enough to live near a Trader Joe's that sells wine. Over here on the east coast, certain states only allow liquor stores to sell wine. This makes wine much more expensive and less accessible for my graduate student stipend. So on a free weekend, Gil and I made the trip to Washington DC to clean out Trader Joe's on Washington Circle and sight see on our way out =) Now that I have wine similar to everyone else you check out my loot in
my cellar
I have not rated these wines yet, I haven't had them yet.... but this is what you can expect in the upcoming months.

The Blank Plate: Reinventions

2008-05-30T13:28:00.004-05:00

Many people use the weekends to take the time to make more elaborate meals. But, we often find a fridge full of leftovers that we want eat before we go to the store for our weekly shopping trip. The problem is that after staring at the little tupawares all week they don't seem so appetizing anymore. This week I successful in reinventing two of the dishes that often make themselves at home in the back our fridge. The first was a rice Gil had made with Poblano Peppers. I pan fried some green beans and warmed the rice in microwave. Stirred in the green beans and the rice was as good as new. Then the chilaquiles went into the oven with some bell peppers and cheddar cheese. I also had a mango we'd forgotten to eat that went into a smoothie with some banana and lime juice. I made a simple salad and lunch for three was made in no time and our fridge was empty and ready for all of our dreams of food for the next week.

So the moral of the story is with some fresh veggies you can perk up an old meal. Have you guys ever done this before? What have been your successes and failures? Do you keep any veggies on hand for this particular reason (for me bell peppers)? Also, I am still awaiting comments on wine bargains Did anyone have success with the wine bargains?

The Empty Glass: Doing Homework

2008-05-27T08:04:00.002-05:00

I was actually intending to post something else, but I forgot my camera, so I'll have to post something later. In any case, if anyone has noticed, I have been doing my homework. Has anyone else? I drank 2 Chenin Blancs, a Reisling from Oregon and an Australian Shiraz. You can read my reviews at corkd. But I wanted to report general findings. So far the whites are holding up. The Chenin Blancs had great QPR, one bottle was only $4 and I took it to a party and everyone enjoyed it. For a little more, ($8) the Reisling was offered a wine that was a little better structured. The Shiraz was the only disappointment but that doesn't stop me from trying. I'll have to try a few more to pass judgement.
So how about everyone else? Did anyone else do their homework? What were your findings?

From the Repertoire: GIrl's Night

2008-05-18T13:43:00.004-05:00

So this past weekend my girlfriends decided to have a get-together, and I was assigned the menu (since they know how much I like to cook). This is always difficult for me because I don't really have a fully developed repertoire. I'm still in the experimental phase. But as the weekend came nearer I realized I did have a dish in my repertoire that was perfect for the occasion.

Now, I primarily cook for Gil and Jose, who for the most part are good eaters and will taste anything I make no matter how weird it sounds. However, they have a few dislikes. Ones that are perfect indulgences for girl's night.

When I was in England, my friend Pilar and I formulated the most indulgent of pastas; angel hair with bacon, mushrooms, onions, blue cheese and a cream sauce. I continued to make this recipe when Nadya and I frequently went dancing. This has always been a favorite with the girls. However, it is not a favorite with the boys. And so I knew, that this was the dish for girls night.

But what to pair it with? Something to cut the richness of the pasta, but something simple. So I decided on a spinach salad with roasted red peppers and oranges with pine nuts on top. The dressing I made from fresh orange juice, some of Nadya's dad's smoked habaneros, olive oil and cider vinegar (the oranges were unordinarily sweet).

And to complete the meal, bread with some goat cheese on top. And for desert Nadya's mom had delicious array of homemade ice cream left in her freezer. After dinner we played board games till 2am. A good time was had by all.

Oh and a final note, the wine we drank was an Albarino which we thought was Albanian and of course it went perfectly, and you can see my review on corkd (the link is on the right hand side).

And, now, I must leave with a discussion question. Do you consider yourself to have a repertoire, and if so, how expansive is it and do you call on it often? Possibly too often if it's not too expansive... or not often enough (like me, and I get complaints that I make good food never to enjoy again).

Special Edition: My Two Cents

2008-05-13T07:09:00.003-05:00

The media is going into a frenzy over food prices. After gas (which many Americans indignantly feel they should not pay so much for) food is the next commodity (does it count as a commodity?) to raise in price. And after gas, it is the commodity that threatens Americans financial security. Heaven forbid we spend more than 10% of our income on food. I'm not sure what it is about food, but it seems that the general public hates the idea of having to spend more on food than on our entertainment bill. We will pay $10 for a movie ticket, but we won't buy a pound of shitake mushrooms for the same price. Many Americans would rather spend that $10 on 3 McDonald meals.

Sure, I've noticed the raise in some food prices. I regularly buy cinnamon sticks (which I crumble of coffee grounds for my morning's coffee). Cinnamon sticks went from $2.50 to $3.50. On the other hand, Florida is shipping in strawberries like crazy and all the stores are offering 2 boxes for $4. All in all, it still isn't THAT expensive to grocery shop. We spend around $60-$80 a week on groceries, and that feeds 3 of us 3 dinners plus bagels and bread for breakfast and fruit to snack on. We're closing in $5 a meal to eat in and we're eating like royalty. Seafood, bell peppers, shitake mushrooms, organic greens, etc. Almost all produce and the rare exception are for things like cheese or beans. Our food bill isn't high (in my humble opinion) because we're not buying chips or cookies or any of that over processed stuff. That's the real problem with the American food bill (if you ask me).

Well, that was my two cents. This week I am giving homework. (Since I will be busy with homework of my own, wish me luck on that balkan abstract). Try out wines from Australia, (and any ex soviet satellite) Shiraz, and Chenin Blancs from Napa and Gewertz and Reislings that are not from the old world. Let me know if this strategy works!

Also, I think that last week's discussion was successful and I think I'm going to make this blog more interactive. So, extra credit (as I tell my students) what's your two cents on the spike in food prices? Do you agree with my theory? Has the spike affected you? If so, how?

The Empty Glass: QPR

2008-05-03T08:11:00.002-05:00

At the moment, I do not have a good picture to do a food post although, I do have some plans, so hopefully I can make another post this week. So, here is a quickie blurb on a topic that has much demand lately.

QPR stands for Quality Price Ratio and it is the abbreviation the wine world uses to talk about bang for your buck. A common way is for Joe Shmoe to taste one cheap wine, like it, and tell all his drinking buddies about it. But, I am on a bigger quest. Remember, I don't believe in recipes, that doesn't help the beginner cook figure out how to deal with the limitations of the real world. Just the same, I need a back up plan when I can't get to Trader Joe's and am faced with a liquor store that doesn't carry that very specific bottle everyone has been raving about.

My quest? What are some indications that a bottle will bring bang for the buck? What varietal, what region, what vintage? After about a year's worth of buying and trying wines (I really only drink one or two a week), I feel very safe with Malbecs, Bonardas, Carmeneres and Pinot Grigios. Of course, this is also dependent on my palate. Malbec has a particular flavor that adore. So now, your turn, all who read better leave a comment! What wine varietal, region or vintage do you feel has the best QPR or bang for your buck? And what wines are the worst or the most riskiest when it comes to QPR?

The Empty Glass: Internet Fame

2008-04-25T17:02:00.002-05:00

source: Wine Library

Greco Di Tufo Wine Tasting - Episode #449 April 22, 2008 Gary’s wine book is on pre sale and he talks about his street team and talks about a w… more

So, I have been following this guy for a few weeks now, and at first, admittedly, I thought he was a bit over the top. But, after a few episodes I began to appreciate his style and his stitch. Actually, my favorite thing is his odd ball reviews. When I started writing wine reviews on cork'd, I would always have to follow whether the comment meant I liked or disliked the wine, because sometimes, pencil shavings, isn't totally undesirable. Anyways, this guy, is hysterical, wine tastes like hotdogs, balloons, beef jerky hair spray etc. And I find these reviews more helpful than say oh this wine tastes like creme de cassis, whatever that is. Plus Gary adds in other wine knowledge I find helpful. Anyways, I'm getting there. I do encourage you guys to check him out and see what you think, for a newbie like me, he definitely helps teach me how I can review wines for myself and find my own palate.

Ok, now for the real reason I posted the video. Gary usually ends with a question of the day, and he has a whole speel about how he thinks people should comment and how we shouldn't be lurkers. So, I commented. Well, my comment made the show! So, if you want to hear this guy mention yours truely, watch it. I have now entered the blogosphere!!

On another note, for all of you who buy wine at TJ's, where in DE they don't sell alcohol, I can buy cheap wine online, and winelibrary has a list of the above 90 and under 10 that I'm pondering trying. (yes that is a complete sentence and not a runon, take that Ms. Matske) So, if you would like to compare wine notes, you can order some from there, and I will order them on your recommendations. Or you can tell me to order them and you can follow my recommendations. But the whole idea is to share, and I'm not gonna order if no one is going to share notes with me! Just this is an easier way for me to do it, than the wines recommended from TJs. Which, by the way, all the wines I have been reviewing are from TJ's and no one has told me what they have thought of the wines I have recommended. Come on kids! Either get a corkd account or send more emails! Or comment! Oh and watch the video.

The Flavor Files: Let it shine!

2008-04-25T16:12:00.004-05:00

Well my mojo is back! I've done quite a bit of cooking, and had lots of thoughts I wanted to share, but I'll just have to keep them on file for other slower weeks =). So, this week, I present the first in a feature that I'd been planning on doing since the site's renovation. A lot of my cooking strategies rely on Flavor Files, sets of ingredients (usually herbs and spices) that a lump together and apply to the main ingredient of the day.

Since spring, we've been bringing home asparagus, and although I've been creative in my way of preparing them, asparagus pasta salad, asparagus risotto, asparagus stir fry etc, what I really wanted to do with this last bunch was well, just have plain ol' asparagus. But therein lies my problem. Neither me, or my usual guinea pigs (Gil and Jose) eat meat-centric meals. Thus, having a side of veggies is rare. Usually, the veggies are the star and used to carry off a pasta, soup, rice, lentil, bean, or stir fry dish. We do not like the plates where there is a big slab of meat in the middle and veggies falling off the way-side . But then, how could I have my side of asparagus? (Yes I am getting to the flavor file part soon, but I did want to bring in some rhetoric about my dislike of the way meals center around meat). Well, there is one exception to this rule, and that is the case of fish. If we are having a fillet of fish for dinner, that gets to be the star. And what is a wonderful side for a fillet of fish? Asparagus of course!

So now, on to the fish. See, this is where I felt dinner came together organically. Not organic in the sence that you can buy organic products, but rather, dinner came together in a very natural way. I had happened to buy frozen tilapia on sale a few weeks ago and had been waiting for the chance to use them. (Sorry Dad, I suspect they were farmed.) Also, a few weeks ago I made a new batch of preserved lemons, which were now ready to be used. I had leftover white wine from the previous night and I had some fresh oregano I'd bought for a Mexican dish we'd made. And, well, I always have garlic and onions. (Cannot survive without them).

Thus, if you want a simple way to cook dinner, and let your primary ingredients shine, I definitely recommend this. The basic principals are,

lemon, I prefer preserved, but you can use fresh
garlic, go heavy, use more than you usually would
white wine, just remember to let the alcohol cook off
some herbs, whatever you have on hand
onions (shallots would be good) but don't go heavy
salt and pepper

ok folks, there ya have it, LET IT SHINE!!

From the Pantry: Beans

2008-04-20T08:49:00.003-05:00

Beans beans beans, the magical fruit..... Well, when things pick up pace and you want substance to get you through the week, beans are a wonderful solution. Lately, we've been making beans about once a week. We make a big pot and it lasts us the entire week. We try to vary the kind and the way we prepare it. (Hence the various forms of Chili eaten during the winter). This week's pot of pintos got me through all three presentations.

One of the things that has made beans so easy for us, is that they are easily made in the crockpot. There's no chopping, nothing that requires mental ability in the morning. All you do is dump the bag into the pot and turn it on. Come home and at the end of the day, you have dinner.

The other thing that made these particular pot of beans easy was eating them on tostadas. This made them easy to eat while sitting at the computer and reading (which I spent the majority of the week doing). Monday night, we mashed the beans, made a caldo de tomate (tomato and oregano broth),shredded some cabbage, added some sour cream, and topped it off with hot sauce. As they say in Mexico, delicioso =)

The Blank Plate: Losing my Mojo

2008-04-14T07:26:00.002-05:00

Last weekend Gil and I did our usual grocery shopping for the week. However, instead of my usual, let's go to X store because they have Y, I had no conditions on choosing the grocery store. In fact, I arrived at the store without my usual list of meals I intended on making. Moreover, after perusing the aisles I STILL had no idea what I wanted to make that week. My inspiration was gone. It was a bizarre feeling. I was literally listless (and without a list). Luckily for me, Gil took charge and planned a couple of Mexican meals, ceviche, chorizo and beans, and chicken soup. All which are good, but I still wasn't jumping for joy at the sound of any of them. It was a weird week. Not a single day did I want to cook. I just needed a cooking break. Like a computer that needs to restart. Clear the caches. Delete all the cookies.

This week, I have a lot of academic stuff on my plate, so I think the cooking will still be light. I did however make a killer spaghetti last night. But it is unusual for me to want to cook something simple and easy. (Of course, I found ways to make it more complex.) This week on our list is an Asian stir fry and a Indonesian stir fry. (One with Pepper sauce for TJ"s and the other will be an attempt at Husni's sambal). But like a computer that restarts, it will take a little for me to warm back into things. We did buy a can of ready made pasta sauce for an emergency, I have a feeling it will be used soon.

I still don't feel I'm at 100% my usual. I think this is normal. This must happen to everyone. Of course, food bloggers, and cooks never talk about this. They want to present this unrealistic image that they are perfect and ALWAYS want and can put an amazing meal on the table. But let's face it, every one has off days and everyone has times when they don't want to or when their inspiration dries up. It happens with other things, why not with cooking? What we need to do is embrace it and find ways to work around it. This week, I was lucky enough to have someone that was willing to pick up the slack, but we don't all have that. What do you do? Eat out? Eat saltines and canned tuna? (Don't lie, I've heard of people doing that).

PS I realize this is posted several days late, which is unusual, but it took me all weekend to even figure out what I wanted to post. I struggled to take a spin off of whatever I had had over the week, but I realized, that this was important and needed to be addressed.

From the Leftovers: Easter Edition

2008-04-04T08:55:00.004-05:00

Holidays are always celebrated slightly later. It usually turns out that on whatever day a holiday falls, (the minor ones) life has us busy. Birthdays are postponed till weekend, pancake day celebrated when we feel like having pancakes, and Easter didn't come until a week later, when we had a little time to relax. So what did we do? Well deviled eggs of course! I did a slight Mexican take by loading them up with Valentina hot sauce and sprinkling cilantro on top.

Since we were in a festive mood (spring break for me just started) we poured all of our leftover wine together put in all the leftover fruits from our recent fruit splurges, the last of the triple sec, some slivovitz (I was looking for anything fruity, and was low on soda and juice) and some maraschino cherries and voila! sangria.

Lastly, which if you intend to do a meal like this do first, is a col slaw. I got a tip off from The Minimalist Mark Bittman, on preparing cabbage. We usually buy cabbage because it goes with whatever Mexican dish we are making. But it means we end up with lots of leftovers. This is what you do, chop up your cabbage and put it in a bowl. Sprinkle salt on it. Mix it in to make sure that all the cabbage is salted. Then, leave it for two hours. When you come back, you'll notice that the cabbage is wet. The salt has brought out the moisture. So drain it. Then dress however you like. I had some homemade honey mustard dressing on hand, but I say like any salad dressing, you are good with any good quality olive oil and vinegar and some black pepper (no salt, you already put it in).

Although, I would like to mention another good tip here. I happened to have some nice dressing on hand because I went out and bought nice little bottles for dressing then one afternoon made like 6 dressings, including lemon poppyseed, asian sesame, honey mustard, and balsamic. Now, its super easy to make a salad.

So, with only leftovers, although we did have to buy the eggs, (which is unusual) we managed to throw an Easter party!! Too many people think cooking, especially for special events, is about opening a cookbook finding one recipe with a beautiful picture, going to the store, buying the exact ingredients and cooking it exactly. Which we need to do every once in a while, but we can't cook like that all the time, and moreover, we don't take anything from that experience. We want to celebrate holidays, but sometimes, life gets in the way, and it's hard enough to find time to relax, much less time to prepare to relax. And preparing to relax shouldn't be hard or stressful. It should be that on Sunday afternoon you say "hey, let's relax." You wander into the kitchen, take stock figure out what you can do, and a few hours later, (not all spent in the kitchen mind you) you should be able to have some special treats, like honey mustard col slaw (no mayo please!), deviled eggs and some sangria.

From the Cookbook: Fondue

2008-03-29T11:23:00.003-05:00

I ordinarily don't rely to closely to cookbooks. Mainly, this is because I don't think that cookbooks are enough. I'd rather, instead of 100 different recipes, guidelines on how to make a type of dish. That way, if I don't find the recipe that exactly suites my tastes, I know how to modify. I have had many a failure because I've wanted to change an item or instruction but not known what to take into consideration when making a substitution. But alas, this type of work is left for the food bloggers and not the cookbooks.
But today's blog isn't meant to be a rant on cookbooks. In fact, sometimes we need them. I was very lucky to be given this cookbook as a gift, and have been waiting for the occasion to use it. The truth of the matter is that I do not make fondue enough to understand what to take into consideration while making. Scanning the cookbook, it seems that the cheese's texture will decide how much wine or flour to add. Then according to the flavor, what herbs or spices to put in. Thus, not being Fondue experts, you can see our gracious host, Nadya, in the picture, takes following the cookbook very seriously.
Needless to say the results were a fantastic fondue feast. We had a chedder/apple one and then a gruyere/mushroom one. To get the recipes, you'll have to buy the book =)

PS If you haven't noticed, I gave the blog a little spring cleaning. I've changed the links to add a few wine blogs. I also included my cork'd account journal, so you can check my wine reviews. I also added a food blog search, which I recommend if you are looking for a recipe. (I have and its nice). And I felt while I was at it, I might as well give the blog a little makeover. So I hope you enjoy!

From the Produce Aisle: It's SPRING!!!!

2008-03-21T11:24:00.003-05:00

hooray! hazaah! the delaware grocery store (our humble Acme) is stocked with beautiful and moderately priced asparagus, eggplant, broccorabe (I think thats what its called) strawberries and kumquots!!! We over zealously filled our shopping carts with goodies and planned for the cooking week ahead. Before I talk about the delicious success of the picture above, I must recount first a delicious disappointment.
We decided to make Eggplant Parmesan. It is one of Gil's favorite dishes and I've only made it once. And we were thinking of making it Tuesday night since Wednesday is the day I get out at 7. Monday we realized we didn't have Parmesan, at Walmart. Of course, Walmart's most expensive Parm was $2.19 a chunk (well we could have bought the Kraft shaker). But Tuesday, Gil got out late and we did not get in till around 8. Tired and hungry we started breading and frying the eggplant. Half an hour later we were putting it into the oven. It was nearly 10 when we sat down to eat and although the eggplant was good, it was destroyed by a long cooking time after a long day and cheap cheese. Not even a good glass a wine could save us. The cost of making the eggplant parm was too much and Gil exclaimed he would only order it from now on. (I'll make it a weekend night). So my dear readers, I do have a point. I see a lot of people out on the internet and on TV and in restaurants making good food. And good food can be made. But at what cost? The point isn't to make the food the best you can, the point is to make good food that you can enjoy because it didn't sacrifice other resources that are scarce.

Now, we turn to the picture above. This was a simple stir fry that I had on the table in 20 minutes.

Spring veggies + instant noodles + black pepper sauce = happy diners

And it wasn't necessarily because the taste of the food was inferior, it was because the meal was much more convenient for us. And a bottle of Kelly's revenge (see my cork'd account for my review) could not ruin it.

A few side notes: The wine party last weekend was a big success.. unfortunately, I lost the little slip of paper that had all the wines on it. But I did not like any enough to try again, except for one that was a preview before we started actually reviewing the wines. And I have no idea what it was.

Tonight, there will be a fondue party. I have my camera ready. There will be fondue recipes from the Fondue Cookbook by Lenny Rice and Brigid Callinan that Aunt Karlee gave to me =) So I will report on that next Friday on the same bat channel!

The Empty Glass: Cork'd

2008-03-14T16:01:00.003-05:00

The Empty Glass happily announces that it now has a cork'd account.
I will do my best to keep this updated. Of course wines that deserve extra mention or musing on wine topics will be featured here on this blog, but comments on all the wine I drink, can be found here. So now, if you've had a wine, you can ask, "has MaryEllen had it?"
Now, you guys are under no obligation, but if you opened up an account, we can become "Drinking Buddies" (As if we already weren't right?) And that way, I can see what you guys have been drinking! But you are more than welcome to watch and laugh as I drink and try to keep up with tracking it!
Also worth mentioning, my professor is having a wine party in an hour, so hopefully I will have some notes to report from that as well. Last year, he threw a successful wine party, focusing on South American wine, we drank lots of Malbecs (which I love), although not all had that Malbec flavor I love. We all had little printouts and were asked to rate the wine relative to another and in the end (there was about 7 or 8 total I think). Tonight will focus on the Pacific Northwest, so wine from Oregon Washington and British Columbia will be featured.
Happy Drinking!

The Produce Aisle: Hanging on to Winter

2008-03-14T15:38:00.005-05:00

Although I am anxious for spring to come, the warm weather, the green trees and bird songs, I am trying to sneak in a few winter classics before the winter is over. Because I know it will be another year before I have another excuse to enjoy them. So this week's menus have featured the American classic Chili (with an i), and Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese.

Both were actually repeats, which for me is good, I tend to view cooking as an opportunity to experiment. I'm a scientist, I test hypothesis for a living, so it's only natural to do the same in the kitchen. The chili, last time I made it was although tasty, was considered a failure because I did not achieve the "chili" taste. Reviewers said it was too "mexican" Can any food be too mexicanized I ask? Especially if it has chiles in it? Anyhow, this time I aimed for "gringo-style" with successful results. The secret? 1. I hunkered down and bought "chili powder", which had things that I try to avoid like dehydrated onion and garlic. 2. I also added a bit of allspice. (I think thats what made it different).

The Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese is becoming a signature dish of mine. Whatever it is, it seems to have really hit a mark with my tastebuds and this is the third time I've made this dish! And I'm kicking myself for forgetting the leftovers at home today. Some of you may recall this dish from the Iron Chef Pasta at Sun River. The original inspiration for this dish came here Butternutty Mac and Cheese.

So, while the weather is still a little cold, sneak in those thick soups and stews and cheesy comfort foods, because it will be another year before you can enjoy them the same way again.

The Empty Glass

2008-03-07T13:44:00.004-05:00

Ok I am back again by popular demand. Also I wanted to take some time to think about how I wanted to reorganize the blog so that it has a consistent feel to it. What I propose is to have features like a magazine. Since this blog's bent is on the fact that it takes things from different sources in order to fill the plate, the features will reflect that. So I present to you
The Empty Glass
From The Produce Aisle
From The Spice Rack
From The Pantry Shelf
something about the impending time and energy constraints that I don't have a title for yet... any suggestions?

So, when Mom and Dad came to visit, they bought a ton of wine from TJ's in DC, so there will be many reviews! This first one, we had last night we last minute quesadillas with leftover beans. The most I can say was this one was just ok. I usually like drier white wine, but I think when i say dry, I mean in addition to not sweet, I actually mean, kind of dry, this was more wet, and sour. Like sour fruit juice. So not bad, but recommended only with reservations. Hopefully, I'll report something more thrilling next time, but I did want to pop up and post about the new format and mention that I will be reviewing wine on this site.

oh oh, I do have something for you though, this is a recipe sent via Paul (thanks!)

Sauteed Pork Tenderloin with Gingered Apples.

Take four Granny Smith or other tart apples, peel, core and slice thinly.
Saute with two tablespoons butter for five minutes then add two tablespoons
brown sugar and tablespoon of ginger and sauté until tender. (the book says
you can add water if needed but I didn’t need to). Set aside

Slice the tender loin (2.99 lb at Albertsons is so much less the beef filet
mingion) into two inch slices. Pound them thin or roll them thin will a
rolling pin. They are tender so this is very easy. Salt and pepper. Add one
table spoon olive oil and one butter to a good skilit (prefuably a heavy
cast iron one like my $12 beauty from the local restaurant supply store.
Cook the pork slices until browned on one side. Turn the slices and then
after a minute add the apples on top. When the apples are warmed and the
slices are brown on the second side. Serve and sprinkle fresh mint leaves on
top. (don’t skip the mint)

It is easy and delishouse. It does not break the bank and is almost Healthy
if we figure out how to minimize the butter. I didn't try as the apples
sautéed in butter is just to rich. However if someone tries to clean this
recipe up a bit I would sure like to know the results.

The Blank Plate

2008-02-12T16:48:00.000-05:00

I love new years (and Chinese new years, and new semesters) because they are opportunities to rethink things. The format for most food blogs is to make something and then write about its success (and less frequently failures since they aren't as photogenic). Some food blogs even include things like restaurant and food book reviews. However, I would like the format for this blog to be different. And with your help, I can find something that works. See, this is my dilemma. A recipe or even a cookbook or a cooking show is just not enough. I will not claim to be the greatest cook ever, but given ingredients and time I can produce a lovely meal. Although making good food is a admirable goal, this is not the goal of this blog. Because, unlike many of the other fortunate (and talented) chefs, foodbloggers, cook book writers out there, I have constraints that many of the people in the audience share. Time, money, accessibility, are just a few.
Ideally ever meal I make, is the best it can be. And ideally, every meal I have, is worth eating. There are some cookbooks and chefs out there that try to accommodate our busy lifestyles, but they do so at the expense of taste or compromising our standards (whether it be eating local, organic, healthy etc) Moreover, they only do it one recipe at a time. Cooking starts at the grocery store. How often can one go? How many stores do you have to go to? How much do you buy, how much do you spend? What do you put on your grocery list? What do you allow for impulse buys? (you know that when you get to the store, you want to know what looks fresh and whats on sale) How many meals ahead can you plan? Do you even plan meals? And which meals do you plan? Dinners lunches breakfasts? snacks? These are all questions that I am hungry for answers, and I suspect others are too. How do we fit good food into our lives so that it doesn't impede our daily lives, and moreover, how can we use food to enhance our life and our connection not only to our bodies but to other people, since eating is such a social event.
This is what I want this blog to be about. And if I'm not answering these questions and I fall back to the here's a recipe or X or if there's a question your dying for me to discuss (and attempt to answer, let me know.
Without further ado, I do want to discuss what was in the picture. These are the tamales I made for Christmas (and my lunch today). Lets face it, we cannot cook three times a day. Many people are natural planners and organizers, these people have their acts together, they find time and they cook a ton of food in advance so that on busy days like today, they can pull it out of the freezer. For people like me, this is easier said than done. I like instant gratification. If I cook, I want to eat it then and there, and I want all my family and friends to eat it. So, often I don't have much to put in the freezer. It takes a special occasion like Christmas to force me to make enough food at once to store it in the freezer. It takes nearly a whole day to make a batch of tamales, and don't get me wrong they are worth every minute, but it is rare that I have a day to spare like that. And I enjoy these as Christmas specialties (and these are the last ones because inevitably I gave most of them away). Because until I can figure out how to save up more whole days. it will be another year before I make tamales. (email me if you want to know more details about the tamale making)

I am so spoiled!!!

2007-10-04T19:32:00.001-05:00

I had a presentation this morning, so Gil cooked dinner last night while I prepared. There was rice too. I am terrible at following instructions. But Gil was able to follow my rice instructions and it came out delicious! (I've finally figured out how to make mexican rice). He was on his own for the grilling of the chicken asparagus and eggplant, and he did an excellent job! I might not cook again..... (oh I can't stay away for too long!) but boy was it nice (and delicious) to have a break!

Principles and Parameters

2007-10-01T08:31:00.000-05:00

Did you think I forgot the original intent of the blog? Would I follow the trend of celebrity chefs and cookbooks and just give you long impractical recipes that you'll probably never make? Well, sometimes I can, like I say, everyonce in a while its a holiday and you have to pull out all stops, but normally this is what happens. Or at least this is what I try to make happen. And this my friends, is more miraculous than one great meal. Consistency is key.
Every Sunday, I try to think about what I can make for the next week. I try to come up with a few dinners (about three, don't be too ambitous) and I buy supplies just for those. This is something it's taken me nearly four years to learn.
DO NOT BUY SOMETHING AT THE GROCERY STORE IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHEN AND HOW YOU ARE GOING TO EAT IT.
Not only have I been throwing away lots of food that went rotten because I either didn't know hwat to do with it, or never got around to some crazy recipe I was going to make. But this is a way of ensuring that I cook what I intended too. Other secret is that although dinner is a biggie you have to take care of the other parts of the day too. Part of this is knowing yourself. I don't really eat breakfast and I sure don't cook breakfast (cooking before coffee is more hazardous than a couple of glasses of wine while cooking dinner). So I bake something Sunday and have 1 piece with my coffee. I also cut up fruit to snack on during the day. And as you saw in a previous post, I will also toast nuts. And lunch is usually leftovers.

So what do you see up there? My coffee thermous (essential in grad school). Fruit. Oh and water. We buy fruit specifically to blend it with water, so that we have something healthy to drink during the week. Then in the left corner is eggplants and lentils and in the right corner is raspberry almond muffin bread.

On the menu this week is bell pepper soup with spinach salad for monday and plum bbq chicken with grilled asparagus for wednesday.