Food for Thought

Food is the worst kind of compulsion to have. You can't escape it. You can live without good wine (but why?), you can live without caffeine and other drugs.
It's weird to think of a time, thousands of years ago, when food was just fuel. There wasn't a choice. You ate what was there and that was it. This is true throughout all of history, but for those ancestral monkeys or whatever the latest Christian Ultra conservative is denying about evolution, there was pretty much assorted berries, roots and whatever speared animal they could find. Huh. Can you imagine? No steamed broccoli, or pulled pork? Jeeze.

Food is something that completely commandeers the majority of my thoughts. It's a fixation. I'm always thinking about the next meal. If I'm just sitting down to dinner, I'm mentally going over anything sweet for dessert, even if it's just butterscotch chips. I don't diet, and we have plenty of food in the house at all times. It goes beyond that. It's an obsession of love.
 I'm barely three bites into dinner or finishing cooking dinner when I'll ask Matt "What should we have for dinner tomorrow!?" eager for his input on utilizing the freezer. I justify it to myself that I like to plan ahead, and know what's coming next.
I always know what's in the freezer. I have a constant inventory in my head of the assorted inexpensive cuts of meat. At the ready to be called into duty of being slow cooked into chicken with cranberries over rice, or beef stir fry.
I text Matt my dinner suggestion for the day. He rarely responds. It's fine with me, it's more involving him in the process of planning that I love. Like a real family.  He's easy to please. I enjoy the thought of planning, cooking a meal and watching him genuinely happy to hear and smell it cooking, and then sit and eat it with gusto.
 Tonight I once again was reminded of something my mother used to say  when we were growing up or preparing meals "I don't care if it's peanut butter and jelly, as long a I don't have to cook.". Walking up the stairs I hear the click of the oven preheating and find that dinner is in the oven. It's not what we planned on eating, and on top of that it's the same thing I had for lunch. But I was hot, sticky and tired. I was just so damn happy to be eating something I didn't care what it was.

It's kinda strange. I was a picky eater growing up. Food was always a constant, showing love or good intentions or joy. Any emotion, really. Nothing made a day better than hearing the chicken cutlets shallow frying. Some kids love the sound of a carnival. I loved the popping of the oil.
I guess I'm still a little picky. I love to eat, but I'm rather unadventurous. I like the things I like, and it takes a lot to go outside my comfort zone. It took me years and a few weeks at the C.I.A to discover the Wonderful World of Broccoli. And damn, broccoli, where've you been all my life!? It took longer for me to meet Matt and have him open up his tastes to me. Duck? Rabbit? Sure......uh, once a year?

With our tight food budget, it's all I can do. Dream about food. The pork tenderloin on a grill, The produce. Oh, the produce! With summer, the displays are crammed with assorted berries, letting off an intoxicating, almost indecent with its sweet aromatics. I dream of strawberries with just a little bit of sugar. Peaches churned into ice cream. It leaches into my dreams, making the flavor of everything stronger and more torturing. Don't get me wrong, I've pulled some seriously delicious meals. Thrift does me well, and I almost always succeed in the flavor department. If we had a bit more money to spend, I doubt I'd use it on food, since we do pretty well on our own. I love a good deal and if you know where to look at the grocery store, you can find some pretty great things.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is, this obsession makes me crazy sometimes. Like when your gym is next door to a Mcdonalds. And the smell of McNuggets and french fries cooking makes you so insane you resist the urge to RUN to your car and drive FAR AWAY until the craving gets out of control. Even though I may be a poser with my chary eating habits, I still obsess and long to cook the next meal, throw together the next rice pudding, or make the next jam. I feel lucky to have married someone who enjoys eating (most of) the things I make.

Mac And Cheese: Not Just Kids' Stuff

Going into work at 5am calls for a quickish meal the night before. Usually leftovers but always quick. But always delicious.
After some shuffling around the freezer last night, I finally decided on Mac and cheese with broccoli and maple bacon tossed in. I know, I know. I have a problem with maple bacon. You could say I have issues when it comes to maple bacon fat.
This dinner is no different. For dinner tonight I combined many food loves: Maple bacon and broccoli..And bacon fat.

Instead of using butter for the powdered cheese sauce (along with an extra quarter cup shredded cheese) I used the bacon fat. It was probably about two tablespoons, which Matthew has just informed me is "A lot of bacon fat."
I gave him a blank look: "Problem?"
"I bet your heart loves you for that." He said
"That's love flowing through my veins!"

Okay, so honestly, not the most "healthy" meal I've made this month; the 1.5 cups of steamed diced broccoli barely constitutes a serving of vegetables each, and the extra cheese, powdered sauce and, ahem, bacon fat probably isn't going to do too much for my hips, but Matt and I have gotten it in our heads that we work on our feet constantly and I for one don't eat much at work. So the occasional bacon fat laced cheesy meal probably wont do as much damage as an office drone eating a burger and a Milky Way a day.
But I digress. Back to dinner.
The "Extra" bacon fat has yielded this incredible mouth feel. Smooth, tender, creamy meltingness. It's what makes fat so irresistible and perfect. A primal addiction for humans.
The steamed broccoli is leftover from last night's dinner, was diced tiny and speckeled and nestled in the pasta. The maple bacon adding another level of flavor while staying uninrusive in the background.

This is a fairly easy and adaptable meal to make. Any protein of veggie leftovers can easily be tossed in with boxed mac and cheese, as long as you add a little shredded cheese and a little extra milk. You'd also want to reheat it all just enough to take the chill off the food (as long as any meat is fully cooked already [obviously]) A good way to get kids to eat their veggies as well, I think. Especially those adverse to leftovers.

Pie Dough Meandering

I don't get the deal with pie crust. So many chefs and people who think they are pastry chefs religiously bleat on and on about the importance of cold fat, ice cold water and the proper distribution of the two. My last boss so deliriously and furiously defended her pie dough that the only time we were allowed to touch the damn mixer was cleaning it when she was done making her dough. Although it wasn't hard to figure out her recipe. About ten pounds Crisco, 50 pounds of flour, about a gallon of ice water and 2/3rds cup salt. Opps! There goes the "secret" recipe. But it sounds like your rough 3-2-1 ratio to me. The 3-2-1 ratio being 3 parts flour, 2 parts fat and 1 part water. Cut the fat into the flour and mix the water into that and you got pie dough.

Last year I was making a chicken pot pie, and forgot to both chill the fat and ice the water. I was annoyed over the tough crust I could expect. But that never happened. My crust was just as flaky, just as perfect as ever. This had to be a flaky fluke. So I tried it again the next time I made pie with the same excellent results.

Tonight, I made pulled pork pot pie. The crust, though needing a bit more salt, was tender, flaky and browned very nicely. So what's the deal with pie dough? I barely even followed the 3-2-1 method. Everyone seems to make a big deal out of it. Secret recipes, methods guarded with pretentious greed. Is there some Pillsbury dough boy conspiracy going on?

During the hay day of Food Network, Alton Brown was a very popular man. He had all the answers and could present it with flair, humor and understanding. His pie crust episode was no different. He stressed the importance of adding ice water in slow stages, even going as far as using a spray bottle. I remember thinking that while the idea was brilliant for proper water distribution, it seemed like a lot of work for pie crust. A mere vessel for transporting filling into your mouth.

Turns out, all this fuss is not needed. As long as you coat the fat with enough flour and make it into a cornmeal consistency, allow time for the dough to rest and use minimal rolling, you're golden. The culprit is over rolling and over working the dough. This is true for any dough you make. A cool hand and a firm but gentle touch is what can make puffy pastry dough or a tender pizza crust.

But of course, that's just my opinion. I've learned how to make the painstaking, multi-step, multi-hour pastry dough at school and one that took about an hour at home with identical results. Is either method right or wrong? No. Is one more traditional and therefore more trusted than the other? Sure. I love tradition. I love experiencing the way things were done classically. I have a deep respect for the classics. But if I can save myself several hours taking principles of those traditional methods and yield the same results, I'm going to take it.

Which brings me back to pie crust. There are incredibly fussy ways to make it, with people swearing this is the only way to make it properly. I have people like my former boss, who was defensive over a "secret" recipe. There is no secret recipe for pie crust. It's a ratio. A ratio, people! This isn't Grandpa Jack's secret recipe for moonshine.

Anyway, long story short, you probably don't need to worry too much about perfectly chilled fat and icy cold water. Nice to have, might increase the quality vaguely. But really, don't worry so much about deep coldness. In my opinion, as long as things are reasonably cold and you don't overwork the dough, you're probably good to go. Just don't flake out.

It's pork pot pie! And it's happy to see you!

Onions and Mushrooms

You know, I've never been a fan of mushrooms. For one, it's fungus. The word alone is unappealing. For another, the texture and mouth feel is weird and rubbery. It's almost as bad as biting into the gristle part of a steak. I know I'm eating a mushroom, and the word creeps into my head as I chew "Fungus...Fungus...Fungus!!!!"

But I've found when I chop them into a tiny dice and cook them with onions and red wine, they make an incredible (inexpensive) flavoring agent. Tonight I'm cooking burgers for dinner. You could just form the beef into patties and throw them into the pan, but why? Ground beef doesn't have to be boring. Ground beef isn't just the inexpensive dinner substance formed into the dry meatloaves of the 50's.

Burgers are usually my lazy go to dinner option. Or when I'm craving beef. But since I have leftover raw mushrooms and half an onion, I'm feeling like putting a little more effort into the burgers. Cooking the mushrooms and onions down in a little wine and Worcestershire adds moisture and a deeper beefy flavor to any kind of beef you pair them.

Onions and I are sort of like Gollum and The Ring. I hate what it does to me, but I love them. Slicing into just one onion is enough to make my eyes sting shut hours after we've cooked. They make me cry and I still keep crawling back to their caramelized love. One onion ring to rule them all. Please excuse the Lord of The Rings reference.

Mushrooms are starting to grow on me. Maybe someday I can cook them sliced thin and eat them without noticing their horrible unique texture. But for today I'm happy with my sauteed mushroom stuffed burgers. I really hope they come out well. They are a bit moister than I'd like, so I hope they don't fall apart when I cook them, but the egg yolk should provide enough of a binder.
Cheesy mushroom burgers and tator tots. I promise I usually make better dinners, but for a gal getting up (too) early for a weekend bake at work, it'll do deliciously for now.

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I can't believe I haven't written anything since June. But summer is kind of a boring time of year when it comes to food for me. Don't get me wrong, I like the food well enough. I like the warm summer nights eating at the beach. I like grilled veggies. I like the one lobster roll I eat a summer. If Matt and I could afford the Farmer's Market produce prices we'd frequent them, but honestly summer food doesn't interest me too much. I'm not really a multi-colored heirloom tomato kinda gal. I'm a Fall girl. I love Fall probably more than any other season.

It's New England's time to shine in Fall. You have the best apples ready to be picked. You have an arsenal of pumpkin products. The food gets heavier and richer. Crusty bread becomes a side dish to the wonderfully meaty beef stew.
Food seems to taste better in the cooler months. During the summer, I make our favorite foods less often because it's too hot to eat slow cooked beef. Roasted root vegetables just don't fit into the summer. It's difficult to plan the week's dinner menu when all you think about is the food you're going to make in a few months. I relished the cool rainy days when I could get away with something heavier.
To be honest, summer kind of bores me. I'm not a beach girl, it's too hot and humid to go for a long walk, and I work. I'd rather be home putting time into a good meal than laying on the sand.

But I feel like I'm going to miss out on the heavy food this year. I'm getting married in 247 days. With dress fittings and engagement photos a bride to be has little need for rich foods. But I haven't really felt like too much of a bride apart from when I found my dress anyway. But that's another post.

For now, I'm looking forward to cool days, cozy nights, explosions of colors and slow cooked, slow roasted fall food.

Edo's

I haven't done a restaurant review in awhile, but tonight's dinner totally merits one.

I first went to Edo's almost three years ago. It was right next store to my job at that time, and my co-worker and I went to try it out. I was totally hooked by the good food and the reasonable lunch prices and took Matt the first chance I got.
We both completely fell in love with the place and have been going ever since. It's become our special date place. We never come here enough, but it's such a great place with such special food it might become overkill if we visited too often.

I'm really protective of Edo's and hesitant to suggest it to people. The owners are nice and keep the place spotless and the quality of everything is always above expectations. I'm protective because this isn't a quick bite. The servers are attentive, but un-intrusive. If you want to sit for two hours through their inclusive small bites of pickled items, dinner and dessert, they wont bother you or rush you. It's a little slow, but only because you want to have a real experience with your meal.

Anyway, back to tonight. I hadn't seen the owner since before I quit my job, so when we saw him, we cheerfully said hello to each other before we were seated.  After we ordered dinner (Matt got something with sweet potato noodles, beef and vegetables...with a name I cannot remember at the moment and I got the Gob Dol with beef) we nibbled at the complimentary small bites they brought out, and drinking the miso soup.
Mr. Hung was came to our table and set down a plate of mysterious handrolls.
"Mr. Hung! What's this?" I exclaimed, surprised at the sudden arrival of food. He wouldn't tell us, but smiled and told us try it "Doesn't need soy sauce!" He promised, and left.

Clumsily, I picked up a roll with my chop sticks and looked at it. It smelled wonderful. Matt thought the middle had salmon, and figuring I tolerated salmon, it was worth a leap of faith. Besides, Mr. Hung has never steered us wrong, nor has sent over anything we didn't like. I popped the whole thing in my mouth and what I experienced could only be described as a food explosion. The top of the hand roll was laced with avocado and lightly sauced with a gingery/sesame glaze. The sushi rice was glutany and sticky (my favorite qualities in rice). The avocado was creamy. The middle was...crunchy...Surprisingly . It was crunchy and not at all salmony. It was shrimpy!  It was shrimp tempura!

"Holy Goodness." I said, through a mouthful of endorphin inducing food deliciousness. "This is incredible." I had to laugh, it was so good.  I set my chopsticks down and sat back. I needed a minute to let what I ate sink in.  And I don't even like avocado.
I picked my chopsticks up again and began to use them to point at the hand rolls "We need to have these at the wedding. You want to have sushi, we got to have this, too!" I said, still quite in a daze of experiencing such a combination of sweet, creamy, sticky and crunch.
"We can't not finish this, it'd be rude not to." I said, ungracefully attempting to pick up another piece. I knew I wouldn't be able to finish my dinner of a sizzling hot stone bowl filled with meat, veggies, rice and egg. But this was such an explosion of flavors and mouth feels I couldn't stop.

Plus, it'd be rude to not finish. Had I known such a delicious world of things existed outside my favorite menu items, I'd gotten them years ago, A whole new world of options...I'm not a picky eater, but when you go somewhere infrequently and know that you can rely on something being perfect every time, you tend not to stray too often.

When dinner came, I was bubbling with excitement to tell the server to tell Mr. Hung how amazing the hand rolls were. She probably thought I was insane (or possibly tipsy; though I hadn't drunk anything); the Whitest Girl in Connecticut tripping over herself with excitement over their food.
My Gob Dol was sizzling hot, the raw egg cracked in the center cooking in about 25 seconds as the sever mixes it all together. You need to wait almost ten minutes to begin eating lest you burn your mouth. But the beef, cut so thin, is moist, tender and flavorful. The rice on the bottom of the bowl turning into crunchy bits of tasty brown. The veggies fresh and lightly cooked. The egg mixed thoroughly through your bowl. The steam emanates from the bowl and the sizzling lasts almost ten minutes. It's by far my favorite meal at Edo's. You can get Katzu anywhere, but Gob Dol is a special experience. 

This place is terribly under rated. I've always had a relaxing and delicious experience and Matt and I linger long past any other restaurant would usually allow.

Anyway, you need to visit Edo's. Come for the Gob Dol, stay for the deep fried Red Bean ice cream.

Potato Skins

Ever had potato skins at a chain restaurant? Growing up, my family would occasionally go to Bennigans; usually on New Year's Eve. I remember laughing over the name "Fuzzy Navel", eating burgers, Turkey O'Tooles and  fudge brownie sundaes.

But mostly I remember potato skins. They were probably deep fried skins. Which was hidden by melty cheddar cheese, greasy bacon, chopped chives and cold sour cream. The whole thing was a greasy, cheesy oily mess. And they were addictive as eating whipped cream straight from the can.

My 9-year old self never knew potatoes had a better topping than ketchup. Who knew?!

I haven't enjoyed potato skins in so many years. Matt and I have about four slices of extra thick cut bacon in the fridge, along with a half  pound block of cheddar cheese and sour cream. I don't need to tell you where this is going....

I know they wont be as good as what you could get in a chain restaurant circa 1994; there was a lot more leeway on assorted fats back then. I baked the potatoes and scooped them, and will just broil them later instead of deep frying the tasty skins. But the bacon will be greasy, the sour cream full fat and creamy and the cheese will be plentiful.

I'm saving the inside potatoes and the bacon fat for pierogies tomorrow.

Rendering the bacon fat is worth the slow effort. The bacon we picked was very lean, but it yielded a surprising amount of fat. It smells all bacony with a touch of smokey in here. I'm using extra sharp New York Cheddar, sliced slightly thick. It's going to melt beautifully draped over the chopped bacon. 

Holy Goodness. I have missed potato skins. The middle of each potato skin was full of melted cheddar, slightly crisp and salty bacon and sour cream. Like a surprise party for your mouth.

Okay, okay, okay. Sure. You can totally make these "healthy" Some kind of vegetable combination instead of bacon, less or no cheese, light sour cream...But...uhh..why? I understand healthy eating is great and can be completely delicious. I know. But what's life without enjoying your meal?...But that's another post.

Every time I bit into a bacon loaded, cheese laden mouthful of potato, it was like an explosion of awesome. Some bits of the bacon were slightly fatty and soft, providing incredible flavor. Sour cream, cheese and bacon. Could there be a more flavorful trifecta on a potato?

These potato skins were such a great splurge. Incredibly easy and a filling meal for a Friday night.

If only I had a good beer to go with it.....

Mmmmm...rendered bacon fat......

Brinner!!

Our menu of dinners has been varied the past few days. Delicious, but in need of special prep. I'm starting to want something simple and completely different.

Which brings me to the magic of Brinner.

Brinner, if you haven't heard of it, is one of those combinations of meals. There's Brunch (Breakfast for lunch or even lunch for breakfast) Linner (lunch for dinner; in my mind it's mainly soup and sandwiches) and Brinner. Breakfast for dinner. I'm sure there's a dinner for breakfast (Dreakfast?) combination but 75% of my breakfast meals over my lifetime has been leftovers from dinner or non-breakfast food items (ranging from Pastina to burgers). 

Brinner is admittedly a lazy meal. You really don't need to go to the store. Crack a few eggs, pull out the bisquik and fry up some bacon. You can throw together a frittata with whatever you cooked the night before. And who (besides me) doesn't like a short stack for dinner sometimes?

It is the quick and easy dinner. Clean-up is a snap and everyone's happy.

I'm making Brinner tonight because I'm in the mood for a change. I'm also dying for bacon. We usually try to keep it in the fridge, but while I was job hunting I'd rather spend 5 bucks on a 5 pound chicken than 16 slices of cured pork. At work I'll have a cream cheese bagel with bacon, but I'm yearning for my Maple Bacon.  Maple bacon is one of the tastiest things I will ever eat at breakfast time....but that's another post.

We got this extra thick cut applewood smoked bacon. A little drizzle of maple syrup and brown sugar and you have created something so palette pleasing and sweet and the sweet bacon fat is just so........I'm losing track here. Bacon is mighty distracting.

Anyway, I don't really like categorizing meals into their own little boxes. I love a burger for breakfast as much as I do for dinner. I can put away an egg/sausage/cheese bagel for dinner or lunch. At work, I don't blink an eye if someone asks for Diet Coke at 8:30 in the morning. Hell, when I went into work during my externship at 4 am I'd start my shift off with some Diet Coke!

Don't go all cannibal on me, but meals are a lot like people. We shouldn't put them into these boxes and expect them to conform to what we think they should be. Why can't you have pancakes at 8pm? Why can't you have a chilli dog in the morning? Brinner, Brunch, Linner, Dreakfast, Dunch (?), why label? If you want to eat it my friend, don't let us judge you! If you order a turkey club at the diner at 7 am, I'll feel less embarrassed when I order my pattie melt, deal?

Shortcakes

This is probably my main motivation when making risotto. Yes, it is creamy and parmy and full of starchy goodness, but risotto cakes are where it's at.

Soft. Crispy. Moist. Compressed cakes of indulgence.

But that's not the cakes I'm writing about. I came across incredible looking strawberries today for a price that felt a little like stealing. Strawberries! They actually look deep red, ripe, plump and delcious!
I bought two packages for shortcakes for dessert.We had left over heavy cream from last night. It was such a beautiful sunny day, so it just felt like a shortcake night.

I used the raw sugar for the shortcakes, and sprinkled some on top to create a sweet sugary crunch.

The whipped cream was more or less an afterthought. I wasn't really planning on it, but Matt insisted.....I am so glad he did! I haven't had good whipped cream in months. Months and months. Before I quit my job. Their whipped cream was always over whipped and under flavored.

I took a spoonful to check the sweetness factor and was hijacked into airy heaven. It was perfect. Medium peaked, smooth, airy and creamy. A whole different kind of creamy than risotto. I couldn't have made it go better with the strawberries and shortcake; the medium peaks eased seamlessly into the fruit. It didn't just sit there like a dead bird. Ever had too whipped cream? It really ruins a great dessert.

I've missed fresh whipped cream! And strawberries. The strawberries were ripe and sugared just enough to bring out the flavor of the fruit without overwhelming it with sugary sweetness. It went really well with the shortcakes; the sweet crunch was every few bites, so it was an extra burst of sweet sugary flavor.

What a fabulous kick off into warmer days. If I wasn't so full from such a great meal and dessert I'd go back for more.

Risotto.

Cheesy creamy short grain rice. If I were to have an "issue" with food, it would be Risotto. I love it more than tuna and Doritos, more than beef stew. More than fresh marshmallows.

Risotto is a bowl of creamy Parmesany haven. It is a labor of love, needing care and patience, just the right amount of liquid and stirring. Stir too much, and you have a starchy mess, stir too little and you have a bowl of rice. Just the right amount of stirring and you are left with an evenly cooked, tender and creamy bowl of Risotto.

Basic risotto just has the main ingredients of cream, parm and white wine. Classic but stylish.
Risotto lends itself to any savory addition. vegetables, salmon, sausage, chicken, bacon. But I think bacon would be such an incredible indulgence with the risotto my tongue would surely die a thousand blissful deaths. It's a one dish meal. But it's not so much "healthy" or "quick" but you will soon find the end result is worth all that stirring and time.

But there's so much more to this dish. Leftover Risotto turns into cakes of pan fried, crispy on the outside soft on the inside risotto cakes. And those, my friend, are worth making risotto just to have the crispy cakes.Which are worth a post all by themselves. Risotto. Pan fried. There is no need for further explanation.

Risotto is a special meal for Matthew and I, partly due to the work involved and partly due to the amounts of rich ingredients. We made it for New Year's Eve 2010...Or what I refer to as my "Emancipation and leaping into a brighter future." So the dish is now a little more special. My freedom meal. That creamy mouth feel? That's my bright future, baby!

Anyway...If you've never had risotto, I cannot imagine why you haven't! It's like a high ten from the classic great chefs.