Official 2009 Holiday Kitchen Buyer's Guide
Dec 3, 2009 in Food, Otherwise Uncategorized
I like to cook. You may have read. Any chef loves their gadgets, and, being a geek, I do so more than most. While I do tend to think that the solution to almost any problem is technology, I don't like to keep things around that don't really, really work. Since it's the holiday season, and that means getting stuff for both of the major world religions of which I am a member, here are a few such gadgets I suggest you put on your wish list this year. For your online shopping convenience, I've included links to buy all these goodies at Amazon, which incidentally gives a smidge of the price of your purchase to me, at no cost to you. I've also tried to pick reasonably-priced entry-level options, for particular holiday season. Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
And I Am Become Old
Apr 27, 2009 in Food, True Life Stories
Growing up, we were always big on the family meal. Breakfast was in a nook behind our kitchen, at a yellow and white Formica table that just fit in the corner next to the basement stairs. When I was young, I would read the cereal boxes while my parents read their newspapers; I learned every ingredient and every serving suggestion and solved every puzzle on the back. While we weren't a sugary-cereal household, my mom and I did have our own breakfast indulgence: back in the days before most people used skim milk, we'd pour whole milk on our cereal and then top it off with some half-and-half. Read on... (plus 4 Comments)
Salmon with Asian Pesto
With all the basil from the housewarming party, I could hardly resist making all manner of pesto. The Thai basil basically dared me to make an Asian-flavored pesto, and, once made, the perfect match was clearly a simple grilled salmon. Read on...
Peanutty Tofu & Cabbage Asian Salad
The summer just won't quit here in Southern California, which means summery dishes even as the night comes sooner. A good Asian salad is a great weekend lunch or light weeknight dinner, and this recipe is pretty low-fat and responsible. Read on... (plus 4 Comments)
Homemade Margaritas
Nov 9, 2008 in Drink of the Month, Food, Photos
One of the benefits of living in California is the year-round summer. That means every day is a great day for a Margarita, and, with a lemon tree in our backyard, that means homemade sour mix for those Margaritas! Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Grilled Pesto Flatbread
Pizza's great, and with all the great basil we got for our housewarming, a pizza with pesto replacing the marinara seemed obvious. The AIG also has this great, old, well-seasoned grill pan that we use for just about everything, so grilling the pizza sure sounded fun. Thus, super-adult, super-fun, grilled pesto flatbread! Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Delicious Meatless Low-Carb Lasagna
Healthy cooking can be fun. So can unhealthy eating! Everybody loves a good lasagna, but that Italian delectable is filled with fat and calories and not exactly great for the 'ol ticker. So we whipped up a meatless, cheeseless, low-carb, and otherwise trend-compliant version, semi only because we added a bit of Pecorino for some richness. It came out light and delicious! Read on... (plus 4 Comments)
Meal of the Month: Fricassee
Feb 25, 2008 in Food
This Meal of the Month is quickly becoming a method-of-cooking of the month; but what's more appealing than a general approach that works well? And, in the winter, what could be better than a delicious stew? The fricassee is a traditional French dish, the more haute cuisine version featuring chicken in a white sauce, but the farmhouse version can include vegetables and a roux-based dark or light sauce. I'm a fan of the dark sauce, with delicious flavor, although I'll admit I like to steal the fine dining use of vermouth to flavor the sauce. Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
Meal of the Month: Red Snapper en Papillote
Jan 27, 2008 in Food
Don't you like things of the month? I hope you do because, with the Meal of the Month, that'll make four monthly types of content that you and I can expect from me. This month's meal is the super-easy Red Snapper en Papillote, which is a delicious, light meal for people who want some good, healthy flavor. Read on... (plus 8 Comments)
Dear Wade, Thanks for Keeping All That Fast-Food Sauce
Jan 10, 2008 in Dear So-And-So, Food
Thanks so much for keeping those two containers stuffed full of sauces you took home from fast food places. I really needed a Hot sauce from Taco Bell to go with my new Fresco Menu Taco, and our forethought ensured I had just such a sauce. Read on... (plus 4 Comments)
Drink of the Month: Rob Roy
Jan 5, 2008 in Drink of the Month, Food
The regularly-updated content I promised here on Juniorbird.com? Well, here's part 1 of the complete calendar: a monthly fun drink that you can join me in boozing it up with! This month's drink is the Rob Roy -- a version of the Manhattan made with Scotch. (A Manhattan is basically a Martini, but with whiskey, traditionally Rye.) A Manhattan should be sweeter, richer, and more flavorful than the dry, understated Martini; the Rob Roy adds on to that Scotch's traditional peaty flavors.
Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Noontime Martini
Aug 14, 2007 in Food
Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with a gin and tonic on a hot day-- nothing a Campari and soda can't fix, anyway -- but sometimes you want something with a little more pizazz, and the champagne drinks are just too hoity-toity.1 Here's my proposal for a nice brunch or post-brunch sippin' martini.2 Read on...
I Guess I'm All Grown Up Now
Jul 2, 2007 in Food
I realized I was all grown up late last week. It's been quite hot here in Southern California, and my apartment has enough power to run either my air conditioner or the freezer chest for the chemical ice my company ships with. I bet you can guess who wins that. Anyway, it's hot. And usually hot weather makes me want good things, like Lik-M-Aid, Big Red soda, and fried dough. But, this summer, it made me want fruit.
Read on... (plus 3 Comments)
In Which I Reveal My Real Feelings on the Martini
I fear I'm about to make a great many enemies; but it can't be avoided. Sometimes, one has strong opinions, and it's at those times that one must stand up and state one's beliefs, damn the consequences. This is one of those times. And this is my belief: A Martini is not a gin drink, or a vodka drink: it's a vermouth drink. Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
Introducing the Italian Blind
Jun 16, 2007 in Food
I swear they should have an Iron Bartender TV show, because you discover the most fun things that way! The AIG and I wanted a nice drink, and I don't exactly have a well-equipped bar in my apartment. But I fooled around with the mismatched alcohols I had, and I came up with something absolutely delicious. So, here it is: the Italian Blind: Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Hey Easterners: Carvel's Here!
Apr 19, 2007 in Food
Do you remember those Carvel ads growing up? Did you love your Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss?1 I never did, because I thought Tom Carvel sounded so phlegmy and I was afraid that eating his cakes would give me tons of phlegm. But, man, those were some special ads, nothing could ever match them! Well, except for Schmidt's Blue Ribbon Bread.2 Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
A La Vapeur
Apr 12, 2007 in Food
I've recently become obsessed with steaming my vegetables. I realize this is not a particularly exciting revelation -- but it's like I've discovered an entire new method of cooking. I mean, it was always there, and I'd steamed before, but all of a sudden it's actually delicious and wonderful. Read on... (plus 5 Comments)
Santa Barbara Winery 2000 Sauvignon Blanc
Mar 19, 2007 in Food, Otherwise Uncategorized
I've been drinking a lot more wine lately -- about a bottle a week. I've always enjoyed wine, and it was finally time to learn about it, which means trying a lot. I have little storage room, so there's not much space for me to keep around bottles that I don't plan to drink soon; but there are two bottles that have been taking up precious wine rack space for a while now.
Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
On Gluttony
Right now, lying on my back on my bed in my hotel room, my bloated stomach in the air, I fear I must be channeling Nero Wolfe. Well, insofar as I'm overindulging, not insofar as I'm solving crimes. And I must also say that I am killing the orchids I have, so maybe I'm not that much like Nero Wolfe. Except that I'm currently approaching hemispherical in profile, thanks to my most recent, outrageously large, dinner. Read on...
Just Call Me Tannin Jones
Oct 31, 2006 in Food
I have no idea exactly how to describe this, but I seem to be craving tannins lately. OK, I take that back, I know exactly how to describe it: I've been craving tannings lately; I'm more confused as to what the heck is going on. Who needs bitter flavors with an astringent feel on the tongue? But I can't stop drinking tea and cheap, young red wine. It's a cost-effective jones, as these things go -- tea's mostly hot water anyway -- but sometimes that $6 bottle of wine does go wrong. Read on...
One (Exceedingly Small) Miracle
Jun 16, 2006 in Food
I have food allergies. For the sake of simplicity, it's easiest to say that I'm allergic to pretty much everything. If accuracy is a priority, then I'm specifically allergic to corn -- whose byproducts are in most everything -- and to cow's milk, whose byproducts are in most everything else. For extra added bonus I'm also allergic to pineapple and dates. None of this fine food will kill me or anything crazy like that, it'll just make me boring to hang out with, unless your idea of a good time is rifling through my stuff while I'm in the bathroom. So, for years, I've avoided anything that most of the readers of this blog would consider "food". Or, at least, anything that most of the readers of this blog would consider "yay food!" But now, there may be hope -- there may be something that we can do about my little excessive histamine response problem. Read on... (plus 3 Comments)
Battle Pork
Mar 4, 2006 in Food
For weeks, my absent-minded friend Stu has been threatening to invite us all over to his house for an Iron Chef-style battle; finally, Friday night, he delivered. Or, maybe more accurately, we delivered, and he hosted. Read on...
Tha Nogg
Dec 24, 2005 in Food
Egg Nog was quite the tradition in my family; I loved, my grandmother loved it, and, well, with those two powerful votes in favor, my parents would drink it too. But, add in a milk allergy and, starting a few years ago, a few glasses poured from a carton from the supermarket became nothing more than a nice memory. Read on... (plus 3 Comments)
Cuisine Non Minceur
Dec 21, 2005 in Food
I know you all, my beloved readers, know me as Wade, but you can just call me fatty fat fat. That's right, I'm portly, I'm rotund, I'm disgusting, I can no longer see my belt buckle, I am unattractive to the other sex and I'm now unable to fit into some of the coture in my closet. Read on... (plus 3 Comments)
Mmmm, Ice Cream
Dec 16, 2005 in Food
Since I can't eat cow's milk, my life has been rather ice cream-free lately. Sure, there are soy- and rice-based substitutes, but, with a few exceptions, they're pretty mediocre. My friend, Chef JoAnna has been bugging me to get an ice cream maker and make my own out of goat's milk. Finally she got me to come over to her place and get trained in the mystic art of custard-making and -freezing. Check the whole story out!... Read on... (plus 4 Comments)
Merry Xmas to Me!
Dec 7, 2005 in Food
Three years ago, I got a Sur La Table gift certificate for Christmas. I'd always meant to use it for cooking classes but I only managed to use it once and, as much fun as that one experience was, it hardly drained the gift card. Throughout the year since I've looked at the calendar and tried to make time for the classes I wanted to take, but I never seemed to be able to schedule them in. As it got closer to Christmas and I started thinking of food-related gifts for some of my friends, I started to feel guilty about my unspent gift card. After a few days of bouncing back and forth, I finally decided to blow the cards on kitchen stuff. After all, who doesn't need kitchen stuff? Read on... (plus 4 Comments)
Butter-Related Guilt
Nov 10, 2005 in Food
I won again this week; my masala chicken was spicy and flavorful and had a spectacular sauce. Ahh, that was a fine sauce. But there was one problem: The sauce was made with cream. Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Back on Top
Oct 19, 2005 in B-School, Food, Spurts
I got back on track tonight with a win in the cooking competition. My Thai Beef Noodles turned out tasty -- I believe the flavor was described by one of my competitors as "very smooth." Read on...
2-3, 2-3, and Now 3-1
Oct 13, 2005 in B-School, Food, Spurts
I love to compete, so it's no surprise that I'm in two Fantasy Football leagues and one weekly cooking competition; I like to win, too, which is why it's a little bit surprising that I'm 2-3 in both leagues and, now, have dropped from 3-0 to 3-1 in the cooking competition. Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
Not Even Remotely Smurfy (But Very Snowy)
Sep 10, 2005 in Food, True Life Stories
It was a wonderful summer. One of the many perks of being the child of two university professors was a month-long family vacation, every summer, and this one was in France. Now, France is a good thing for a seven-year-old, to the extent that a seven-year-old notices France, but what really stood out was the ice cream. Sure, it was all better than American ice cream, but my favorite was Smurf flavor (in French, "Schtroumpf"). Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Foremanized
Mar 18, 2005 in Food
Like most foodies, I've been dismissive of the George Foreman Grill. But, earlier this week, my Wonderful Girlfriend cured me of that. Boy does that grill make a good sandwich. Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
Thank Goodness For The Third World!
Mar 6, 2005 in Food
One of the many injustices and trials heaped upon little ol' me in this life is that I'm allergic to corn. I actually figured this out a few years ago after spending a couple of years being sick and miserable all the time! But removing corn from my diet has been difficult, it's in everything. I cook a lot of my own food, and eat a lot of organic stuff, but who wants to eat crunchy-granola additive-free foods all the time? That's why I thank goodness for corn-free foods imported from third-world countries. Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
Sur La Valentine
Feb 14, 2005 in Food
If you knew me, you'd know the way to my heart is through my stomach; and, if you knew me, you'd know I'd never date a woman about whom you couldn't say the same thing. And what's better than a shared love? So, no prix fixe menu at a packed 21-Food-score-on-Zagat restaurant for me and my Wonderful Girlfriend; instead, our big Valentine's Day event was a cooking class for couples at Sur La Table. Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Chemical Warfare Chili
Dec 8, 2004 in Food
Around this time of the year, when it turns cold and wet (for Los Angeles), there's nothing like chili to warm the bones. And those bones I do like to warm, with my patented chemical warfare chili. It's not that my chili is filled with preservatives -- I'm an all-natural guy -- so much as the cooking process for this chili will drive burglars out of your home. And maybe friends. Step 1: Chili Powder Combine 2 parts cumin, 1 part ancho chile powder, 1 part new mexico chile powder, 1 part cayenne, 1 part oregano, and salt and pepper to taste. My chili contains something for everyone: meat, beans, and tomato. And it's pretty tasty. The basic concept starts from one realization. Some people say that chili is a soup, but who wants a watery chili? Others say that chili is a stew, but stew is chunks of goodness, separated from each other, in a liquid medium. Chili is neither of these; it doesn't have clumps of texture or of flavor, and there's no medium -- everything is part of a single melange of flavor and texture. Chili, ladies and gentlemen, is most like a sauce. So, a sauce this is. What's the first thing you do when you make a sauce? Well, if you're making a pan sauce, you deglaze; if you're building a sauce from scratch, you make a mirepoix. Since this is the chili that has everything, we do all both! Step 2: Brown The Meat Caramelization = flavor! Mix two pounds of ground meat with 1/4-1/3 C of the chili powder. Brown in duch oven over medium-high heat; remove to plate covered with paper towels to soak up the oil. Deglaze with a small amount of chicken stock or beer. Watch out; this is one of the stages in which your housemates' eyes will begin to burn and water. Step 2.5: Make the mirepoix Chop equal amounts carrot, onion, celery; you should end up with 1/2 -- 2/3 the volume of the uncooked meat. Add a bay leaf and 3 chopped cloves of garlic, then mix in 1/8 -- 1/6 C chili powder. Cook over medium-low heat, in a little oil, until the vegetables are soft and the onion is clear. This is the other stage in which those around you may begin to look like tear-gassed protesters. Step 3: Combine Add the meat back into the mirepoix. Add in 28 oz. beans of your choice (with all the liquid), 28 oz. crushed or chopped canned tomatoes (with all the liquid), 14 oz. tomato paste, some more of that beer or chicken stock. Mix well, bring to a simmer. If you really like a 5-alarm chili, add another 1/8 -- 1/4 C of chili powder at this stage. Step 4: Patience As you cook the combination, the tomatoes and beans will release more liquid than you started out with. Rather than getting a watery chili, we're going to put a splatterguard over the dutch oven and simmer the sucker for several hours until it's all reduced down to a nice mixture with a relatively consistent texture and flavor -- the texture and flavor of chili! The effect of the chili on those around you as you cook should moderate in this phase. Step 5: Serve... Read on...
Mmmm Muffins
Jul 25, 2004 in Food
I'm not much for baking; there's too much of magic in it for me. You mix ingredients just so, put the amalgam in the oven, cook it for a precise amount of time, and, presto, there's a tasty treat. Or not. And, if not, there's nothing you can do. No, I like to cook main courses, I can fool with them as I please until they're just perfect. But muffins are my challenge of the moment. Since I can't eat a lot of commercially-available food, I can't just buy breakfast in the morning. And, since my business school classes will start at 8am in just a few weeks, I won't have time to fix breakfast at home either. Muffins, convenient packages of tasty food, will fit the bill perfectly: I can easily bake a week's worth on a Saturday or Sunday, take one with me every morning, and have tasty food during my morning class. The only problem: I don't bake. Time to change that, apparently. My first experiment was banana-blueberry muffins. I like banana, I like blueberry, what's not to try? Of course, I asked around first for some suggestions as to how to fix the muffins correctly. My chef friend made one suggestion, repeatedly: don't stir the batter too much! Apparently a well-stirred batter makes rubbery, bread-like muffins. For my first batter, I stirred with restraint, used my new Adjust-a-cup to measure precisely (yes, I've been inspired by Alton), and, with some trepidation, put my muffins in an over-hot oven (when my oven gets to a certain temperature, you can't lower the temperature without turning it off). The muffins turne out pretty well! They are definitely fluffy and tasty, which I do attribute to the limited stirring. Unfortunately, they were also pretty oily; I may try modifying the recipe to use less oil next time; my only worry is, what purpose does the oil serve? I don't want to end up with a dry, cakey muffin. Maybe less cooking spray on my nonstick muffin pan will help (although, conveniently enough, the muffins did not stick at all). The muffins are also, sadly enough, pretty small; they didn't rise to fill the spaces in my muffin pan, and they don't fill me up. About one-and-a-half muffins is right, so, next time, add 50% to the recipe.... Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
Mmmm Mayo
May 8, 2004 in Food
I'm never buying mayonnaise again. Not that I buy it much, what with the artery-clogging side effects and all, but never again am I spending my money on the jarred variety again. Because, on a lark, I made my own, and it was easy, tasty and cheap.
Read on...Garbanzo-Tomato Curry
Apr 30, 2004 in Food
If two recipes from the Best of Sunset magazine worked, well, I'm just a sucker for a third. The Garbanzo-Tomato Curry struck my eye, so I decided to make it and add some chicken so the recipe would stick to my ribs a little better.
Read on...A Confession About Rice
Apr 27, 2004 in Food
I love to cook. I know all sorts of tricks. But I just can't cook rice, at least not the usual way.
Read on...Mmm vacuum-packed
Apr 24, 2004 in Food
I love to cook, but I don't cook every day. Believe it or not, even a food snob like me needs to eat packaged food. I picked up this vacuum-packed vegetarian Indian food at the local halal carneceria, a box of "curried chick peas in a richly spiced hot sauce" for just $1.69. Incredibly tasty! Ask for it at your local interethnic store. Made by Ashoka.... Read on...
Malaysian Tamarind Tofu
Apr 19, 2004 in Food
That Malaysian Tamarind Shrimp recipe works well with tofu too. Mmmm! Just brown the tofu a little bit before throwing it in the sauce so that the tofu is firm and substantial. Oh, and increase the chili sauce by 50% or even double it; I did.... Read on...
Chicken Piri-Piri
Apr 18, 2004 in Food
Since the Malaysian Tamarind Shrimp went so well, I decided to try another recipe from my Best of Sunset magazine (I've always found that a cookbook that gives one good recipe is filled with other tasty ones). Spicy Mediterranean chicken with a twist? Sign me up! Did it work? Well, suffice it to say that I will be using this magazine more in the future.
Read on...The Most Wonderful Tacos In The World
Mar 8, 2004 in Food
I write a lot about cooking, both because I love to cook and because I love to eat. Since I love eating, I especially love restaurants. I particularly enjoy eating food that is unique and expands my horizons. So I was thrilled a few months ago when I was introduced to a little taco stand in Tijuana, Tacos Polo. It's not, perhaps, the gourmet food I often look for in Los Angeles, but that's surely good food!
Read on... (plus 1 Comments)Malaysian Tamarind Shrimp
Mar 1, 2004 in Food
I'll be honest, I've not had the greatest success in cooking Asian food in the past. I love to cook, and I love Asian food, but I haven't shown off my three-star Michelin chef skills in that genre in the past. Spicy food turns out mild, flavorful food turns out bland, everything but my deep-fried fish is ordinary at best. But I've been craving Asian lately, so I decided to give it a try.
Read on...Frittatas: Flat Italian Omelettes Of The Northern Veldt
Jan 1, 2004 in Food
Omelettes are tasty and fun but aren't good to keep in the fridge and reheat. Quiches reheat well and can be filled with different yummy ingredients, but they're a fair bit of work to make. The Italians got it just right -- the frittata is easy-to-make and reheats well.
Read on...Simple Leftover Brunches
Dec 14, 2003 in Food
Sundays are good days to have something out-of-the-ordinary for breakfast. It's impossible to be too motivated to work on the last day of rest, football is on the TV, and, having slept in, brunch makes almost as much sense as cereal. I like to make Iron Chef brunches -- see what's in the fridge and concoct something that's just slightly breakfast-y out of it.
Read on...Dal, Dal, Cursed Dal
Dec 9, 2003 in Food
It's getting cold as winter hits even Southern California, so I wanted something nice and thick and warm for dinner this week. Lentils are a great winter treat, and I recently received a gift of some masala spices from Mauritius, so making Dal, an Indian sort of lentil stew, seemed like a great idea. I found a fun-looking recipe online and all would have been good from there had I not, you know, messed everything up.
Read on...Leftover Turkey Gumbo
Dec 6, 2003 in Food
I have the tremendously useful ability to eat the same leftovers day after day for nearly an entire week. This is convenient and money-saving, because I can buy food in discount-size quantities, cook a single meal from the food and make that my dinner for four days while freezing leftovers for other days. But there's only so much turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce I can eat in the days after Thanksgiving, so I'm always looking for ways to use those leftovers in new and tasty ways. This Thanksgiving it was gumbo -- I had to make some kind of soup once I managed to secure the turkey carcass.
Read on...A Thanksgiving Cornucopia
Nov 29, 2003 in Food
Ahh, Thanksgiving, when others cook so that I may overeat massively. There's no other holiday like it! Of course, everybody does their bit, and, this year, my bit was making green beans and gravy.
Read on...Broiling, Or Something
Nov 17, 2003 in Food
Usually I cook a tasty and reasonably gourmet meal weekly, so I'd anticipated more entries in this section. Sadly, I've been foiled. I moved to a new apartment, and the stove here has been broken for the last month. I've been surviving on microwave meals, which are not that exciting to blog about. But today I got tired of nuking my dinner. Today I decided to take a chance. Yes, today I decided to use my toaster oven to broil.
Read on...Quick & Easy Fajitas
Oct 19, 2003 in Food
I'm not all about cooking quick and easy things -- a little effort in cooking usually pays off with incredible flavor, and, frankly, I love the zen of getting into a good cooking run -- but I felt like fajitas one night, and, well, they're easy to make.
Read on...Compulsiveness Is Tasty!
Aug 12, 2003 in Food
Every weekend I work up a full menu for the coming week; I like to have a dinner and a lunch to cook, as well as the normal sandwich, cereal, etc. Having the two cooked meals ensures that I eat two filling, nutritious and healthy meals every day, as well as breakfast, snacks and other meals. This way I have plenty of energy to go to the gym and work hard on various client Web sites. By preparing this food myself, I know what goes into what I'm eating and know if it's more (or less!) healthy than McDonalds. By preparing all of the food ahead of time, I ensure that, every time I get hungry, there's something healthy to eat in the fridge. This alone has cut down on my fast food runs. This week, I decided to cook Indian. For dinner, I made a dry cubed pork dish: For lunch, I made a chicken and peas dish that can be served with rice: Both very tasty! From Madhur Jaffrey's Quick And Easy Indian Cooking , a highly recommended Indian cookbook filled with recipes that are easy to make and use ingredients you can really find. But then I went too far. See, I'm planning to eat these dishes slowly over the course of the week, right? So, why not split everything up into nice individual portions? Yep, that's one day's food -- a container of chicken, a container of pork and a container of boiled potatoes. All perfect and ready to be reheated. Maybe a little too perfect. Yes, I think I'm too prepared this time. And you know what? It's going to continue, too. Every week, perfectly-sized portions for each day. Just you watch.... Read on...
Broth Of Vigor
Aug 10, 2003 in Food
Struck down by the cold that's going around, I desperately needed something to make me feel better. I had a sore throat, a stuffed nose, a fever and general lassitude. No-good stuff! Now, most people just load themselves up with antihistamines and ibuprofen. I'm against that, for two reasons: It's just not good to load yourself with all sorts of things that just relieve symptoms, rather than curing the underlying sickness I'm allergic to many of the ingredients in most cold and sinus formulations, especially the sweeteners So, I needed to go for a more holistic approach. There are all sorts of herbal preparations for various sicknesses, but I'm not sure I trust them. The side effects of too many herbs are not known, and there are very few standards to ensure the safety and purity of homeopathic remedies. A better approach, it seemed to me, was good old-fashioned chicken soup. Occasionally called "Jewish Mother's Penicillin," chicken soup -- and other foods -- are proven (mild) curatives, and good simply in themselves as comforting nutrition, even if they don't actively fix what ails ya. I love to make chicken soup, so this was a fun-sounding challenge. I dragged myself to the store and bought a whole chicken, some carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, lemongrass and limes. The first step was to roast the chicken. Lay it on three big carrots and three big spears of celery with a quartered onion around it, plus a head of garlic stuffed inside. Roast at 400° until juices run clear. Skin the chicken -- easy, because the skin's crispy and most of the subcutaneous fat is gone. Remove meat from the body, thighs and legs. Place bones and whole wings in pot with roasted vegetables, bay leaves, parsley, cilantro, juice of six limes and the fruit from two of those limes, peppercorns, crushed red pepper flakes and crushed dried oregano. Simmer for about four hours. Usually, actually, six hours is better, but I was impatient. You should skim constantly while simmering, but I was tired out from all the shopping and had laid down to take a nap, so no skimming. After the broth is made and strong, strain a few times through reasonably fine mesh. Throw out all of the bones, etc., left over; even the vegetables are mushy and have leached much of their flavor into the broth. Return the broth to the pot and add dried mushrooms and their soaking liquid, chopped carrots and some of the chicken you just roasted, all chopped up. Return to a simmer for about 20 minutes, to get flavor into everything. Then add already-cooked rice (don't add raw rice, it'll soak up all of your broth). Throw in a sachet of green tea, just for good measure. Let simmer and brew for about 10 minutes, then remove the tea bag. You're done! This makes a great soup -- yummy and incredibly healthy-tasting. The flavor is a bit odd but not un-pleasing at all; with a bit of fresh lime squeezed in before serving, it has a great, fresh flavor. Mmm! Tasty. But look closer: What could be down there? Could be scary for guests who don't know you well, eh? Usually, I produce a clearer broth, and that's a desirable outcome. Skim skim skim and your... Read on...
Whole Paycheck. Mmm.... paycheck.
Aug 8, 2003 in Food
Since I've been on this crazy diet I've had to buy almost all of my food at Whole Foods; the stuff at Ralph's is all filled with additives and other crap. So, to some extent, I'm actually happy for the change -- it's good to know I'm not eating as much dextrose and guar gum and maltosymbulase, as well as the stuff that makes me sick. Now, the reputation of Whole Foods is that it's incredibly expensive -- thus the nickname "Whole Paycheck." But I've found a whole bunch of great and not-so-expensive items there that I'm totally addicted to. The first, of course, is the vegetables. For both the organic and conventionally-grown items, they're about the same price as at Ralph's and much more attractive and tastier. The good price is nice, but paying just a little extra for the taste is well worth-it. And fresher produce lasts longer in the fridge. Just make sure to wash even the organic produce, there's no insecticide on it but there's usually plenty of the ladybugs that the farmers use to control pests. The store brand, 365, is also quite affordable. The pasta sauce is just $1.99, is tasty, relatively low-fat and has no extra crap in it. The syrup and jam is all-natural and is as cheap as everything except for the very nastiest all-artificial Ralph's brand stuff. The bread is great, nothing fancy in it but tasty and good and as little as $1.99 for a loaf. The meat is great -- the Ralph's has a meat section that's, frankly, scary -- the butchers knowledegeable, and the prices great, often as low as $1.99/lb for a whole chicken. Oh, and then there's my Wonderful Girlfriend's favorite thing -- the pizza crust. See, I found this 9\" pizza crust that's only 1/2 gram of fat for 1/3 the crust. It's made from rice flour, is thin and tasty (just don't undercook it, it gets gummy). I love to put a little olive oil on the crust (from Nature's Harmony), top it with some of that 365 pasta sauce, some fresh vegetables, some Yves brand no-fat vegan pepperoni, and one of a variety of goat's milk cheese that they sell. Mmmm, she was addicted the first time she had a bite of this pizza, and you'll be too!... Read on... (plus 1 Comments)
AOC
Jul 24, 2003 in Food
Okay, so first things first. Old people: AOC is just too loud for you. Especially early on before I got used to the noise level, I had to ask my Wonderful Girlfriend to repeat herself. Now, said Wonderful Girlfriend and I were looking for a place to eat, and one of her cow-orkers recommended French bistro standby Lucques and its new bistro/tapas ofshoot AOC, in the trendy new 3rd Street corridor in West Hollywood. I'm a sucker for good bistro food, and had never been to Lucques, so I was all for it. The Wonderful Girlfriend, in contrast, has quite a thing for tapas, and wanted to try the hip newcomer. We went with her preference and, boy, did we end up doing good! The space was, as I said, a bit loud, but really the bustle and noise contributed to the environment, which was something between European sidewalk cafe and Röckenwagner. Brightly lit, with adequate space between tables, square shapes everywhere, a color palette of cream and brown and an overall feeling of openness, AOC looks and feels different than most restaurants in this city. I took a few clandestine mobile phone camera shots at, at the entrance and just past: With a wall of wine just as you enter and the wine bar (with bottles attached to taps!) immediately in front of you, AOC tells you what it's about straight off. The wine list is four times as big as the menu, and presented twice as nicely. There's dozens of wines by the glass -- red, white, even sparkling -- and even a couple of flights for you to sample with your meal. The menu, although smaller, is no slouch. It's four executive-sized pages, laser printed and bound with a classy but inexpensive metal clip -- a great menu design both to project quality and to enable easy updates. The first page is cheeses, the second tapas and salads, the third main meats and fish and the last a selection of veggies. It's apparently traditional to order a bit as you go, enjoying many courses -- and the waitstaff is plenty attentive, and the kitchen plenty fast, to let you make things up as you go along. We started with smaller tapas, followed up with salads, then had meats. The Wonderful Girlfriend chose lomo and chorizo sausages to open, while I had rilletes of pork, with roasted onions and cornichons. Sausages and pates are staples of French bistro food and appetizers, and it's enhartening to see that AOC did quite so well with theirs. Her chorizo were spectacular, and, eaten together, the rilletes and onions were a charming medley of flavors. And, unlike most restaurants in LA, the portions may even have been excessive -- for $8, enough to get the flavor and enjoy the texture would have done well, but these tapas were large enough to serve as a main course for many. Suffice it to say that we enjoyed our starters so much that I forgot to take pictures of them. I did remember to shoot the wines, which were the perfect complement to the meal. With a variety of inexpensive wines by the glass, it's easy to pair dishes and drinks. Some of our wines were truly excellent, including a standout St. Paul Chardonnay from... Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Sharp And Pointy!
Jul 23, 2003 in Food
One of the first things I discovered when I started to take cooking seriously as a hobby was just how important having a good knife is. For most home cooks, three or four good knives are enough -- and spending just a little bit of money on them pays off big-time! These are my knives: Yes, I know, somehow I get along with no paring knife -- I must be a philistine, especially in my presentation. In all honesty, I do wish the 8\" knife were a 10\". I'd get more use from it then -- it's a little too close in length to the 6\" chef's knife in the middle. All three are great knives; the top and bottom are Globals, a trendy Japanese knife that gets oh so sharp, while the middle one is a nice reliable Wüsthof. All well-weighted full-tang beauties with that will last until I decide to splurge on that plasma vibro-knife after my big promotion in 2035. The Globals were originally procured at the somewhat intimidating Standard Cutlery & Supply Company in Beverly Hills. I say intimidating for two reasons: The staff is all quite knowledgeable about knives and will call you on any mistakes you make in discussing your desired cutlery with them. The guy who does the sharpening will call you out for any signs of abuse to your blade. They stock a crapload of knives. This is what you are surrounded by when you enter the store: And this is what you see behind the counter: Ah! Here are more Globals! Drool... I picked up a few knives to give as gifts to a few friends who love to cook; the nice people at Standard sold me some nice stuff for just $30-$50, good starter knives that my friends can do awful things to without feeling guilty. In a month or so, I'll need to get my knives sharpened, they're starting to really show their use. The only challenge then will be to suppress my lust for a good cleaver and a passable parer. Remarkably enough, I'm actually thinking of going serrated for that latter item. I'd love to get a flexible boning knife but it won't be until I save up enough $$$ to take some real cooking school classes that I'll know how to use such a thing.... Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Restaurants That Aren't Worth It: Spago
Jul 9, 2003 in Food
In a review in today's LA Times, local food maven-in-making Irene Virbila waxes ecstatic over the food at Spago. Well, I've been there twice, both visits about a year apart, and I disagree. In fact, Spago's on my list of restaurants that Just Aren't Worth It. I won't disagree that the food at Spago is quite good. I will disagree that the restaurant is in any kind of rare air at all. I had two meals there that were well put-together, a little too rich, a little too busy flavor-wise, and reminiscent of what you get pretty much every other place that you might qualify as Great Food In LA. I no longer recall the exact menus (they weren't worth recalling, frankly), but no dish struck me as something I wouldn't get elsewhere, at half the price. Perhaps that's not owner Wolfgang Puck's fault; it's true that he was one of the inventors of what we consider contemporary Californian cuisine, with diverse influences from Asia, south of the border and traditional European cooking. Much of what's come since is, at the very least, following in his footsteps, if not outright imitation. So, that I found food at the original to be similar to that I might get elsewhere should not come as a surprise. Nor, necessarily, should I be bothered by eating the classic fare; instead I should respect the invention and the roots. Much like reading Dashiell Hammett, whose detective stories are full of cliched plots and lines, but who established those cliches, who invented them before they were common, I should appreciate Puck's food for establishing the California cuisine cliche. But I don't. See, sixty years later, Hammett is still the master of what he wrote. Read The Maltese Falcon and it's light-years beyond what a Sue Grafton or Carl Hiassen can do. But go to Spago, or Chinois, and eat the same quality of food — or even less — than you can get at my favorite places, like Joe's or 2117 or something like that. In many ways the execution is even below the level of those cheaper places, because the fixation on a heavier feel and the use of too many flavors (which even Virbila admits to) actually detracts from the dish. Perhaps this is a personal stylistic dig I have against Puck in general, because it's fair to say I've never been impressed by any of his restaurants. I thought Chinois was okay — again, not original. The two times I've been to his Cafe on Sunset, I had meals that were absolutely unacceptable — too much emphasis on gaining the desired flavor, none on any other facets of the execution, including doneness and texture. The low point of my experiences was a "roast" chicken at the Cafe, the kind of roast chicken that you can get in every restaurant in LA. But this wasn't roasted, it was boiled, coated with spices, and shoved under a hot broiler for about 5 minutes. Oh, it was moist, all right, but it was rubbery. I bet if I'd dropped it, it would've bounced. The skin, featuring the spices, was good, but anything that wasn't directly touching the spices was bland enough to feed to a rest home. But the aroma and look were perfect! I digress,... Read on... (plus 3 Comments)
The Arsenal
Jul 2, 2003 in Food
In West LA, at the corner of Pico and Bundy, is this scary-looking place called the Arsenal. It's been around for, well, forever, from what I hear. At the beginning of the year, somebody new bought it and tried to refresh it, keeping it a bit of a dive but making it maybe a little less frightening. From the outside it looks the same like someplace you might get your ass kicked in. Inside, though, it's welcoming red leather booths, dim lighting, hip music and cute waitresses. The drinks are old skool, stuff like Pink Squirrels and Stingers. Their great lemon drop was made with real lemon (and plenty of simple syrup). The food is all red meat, all the time (okay, they had a fish special, but who would order that?). I had a great burger and my girlfriend had a yummy Cobb salad and meatballs (not in the salad, in another course). All in all, it was a tasty meal at a place you'd love to call yourself a regular at. Definitely be heading back there soon!... Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Splendaiferous
Jun 27, 2003 in Food
My latest purchase: low-fat cranberry juice sweetened with this stuff called Splenda. It's apparently made directly from sugar, but doesn't contain a lot of the stuff in sugar. This being the first time that I realized that sugar contained anything besides, well, sugar. I'm sketchy about the whole low-fat thing. Eating healthy is all about making the right choices, and making low-fat products only allows us to avoid making those choices. And then, when low-fat is not convenient, we don't know how to exercise restraint and eat right. My friend, for example. He's been trying to lose weight since high school! Half his diet is low-fat Healthy Choice or Weight Watchers pasta. And, each time I see him eat pasta, he puts about a quarter cup or Kraft Parmesan Cheese on it. See? Bad choices from bad fundamentals. So I usually avoid reduced-fat, trying to eat instead things that are fundamentally low in fat. But, I've got this wack-ass diet in which I can't have (among other things) corn syrup. And let me tell you, everything's sweetened with corn syrup. Mustard, even. So I get a lot of diet stuff, because it's all sweetened with NutraSweet or some such. Now, I hate NutraSweet. I can taste it in food, and it tastes, to me, kinda like dirt. So diet soda is sweet and sandy. Sandy's fun for nobody. Unless it's that girl Sandy from college — yowza! I jumped on that Splenda-sweetened juice, and it's not bad. A little cloying and lacking in depth of favor. Moderately acceptable. There'll be more Splenda in my life, at least for the next month or so.... Read on...
Emergency Backup Chicken Strips
Jun 26, 2003 in Food
A defining feature of my recent life is dietary restrictions. I'm allergic to something (not yet determined, so I avoid a lot), and my girlfriend's on the Atkins diet. There's not a lot of things we can eat, and even fewer things we can both eat together. So, the other night, when we ran errands and hung out and suddenly realized that, gosh, it was late and we should have dinner already — well, that was trouble. The little woman didn't have much in the fridge, and we'd planned to shop but had never gotten around to it. What could we eat? The shopping-free dinner is a fun challenge in and of itself. And, here, we had additional limitations of what ingredients I could eat and how little carbs she could have. I rummaged through the fridge and the pantry, and came up with a simple recipe for fried chicken strips: Emergency Backup Chicken Strips 2 Chicken Breasts 2 Eggs 2 1/2 T Peanut Butter 2 1/2 t Mustard (a fancier kind, not the plain yellow good-on-hot-dogs type — you want the additional flavor) Salt Pepper Cayenne Pepper Peanut, Soybean or Safflower Oil to fry in 1. Cut the chicken in thin strips 2. Mix the ingredients except the chicken and oil until well-combined 3. Dip the chicken in the breading 4. Heat the oil 'til smoking 5. Fry on each side 'til brown 6. Remove to paper towels and drain Mmm! Look, the girlfriend couldn't wait for me to take the picture before she ate them!... Read on... (plus 2 Comments)
Cooking With Wade
Jun 11, 2003 in Food
Hello, and welcome to Cooking With Wade! For those of you who like to prepare a whole week's worth of food in advance, and have every meal ready before it's time to eat it, well, boy are we in agreement. It's the easiest way to eat healthy! Today, for just that purpose, we made: Chicken in Garlic and Shallots. This is a great-looking dish from Alton Brown's cookbook that, sadly, didn't smell as good as he promised. But it does taste pretty great! The garlic and shallots have caramelized into something that tastes like butter even though itt may be a little carburized on the outside, and the chicken is flavorful, if a bit dry (well, everyone's oven isn't the same). As Alton points out, it's a fun dish because it's easy and it uses a different and exciting way of cooking, the slow-fry. Yes, this thing is fried in olive oil in the oven over a period of an hour and a half. Odd but effortless! Although I wonder if a higher-smoke point oil, like grapeseed oil, would cook it up as good while keeping the blackening to a minimum. This is a lemony spinach and lentil dish from this great cookbook, Easy Meals One Pot, that I rescued off of the discount rack at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago. I saw two recipes that looked fun in it so, for $4, I thought I'd take the plunge. And it's delivered! Everything is easy and tasty, it's a great addition. Now, this book sold so poorly that, even though it's published by Barnes and Noble, there's not even a link to it at bn.com. And I think I know why - every recipe has at least one wack ass ingredient in it, the kind you go, like, where the fuck am I supposed to get that? I don't live in little Azerbaijan or Patagoniatown, I live in the middle of Los Angeles. But hey tasty is as tasty does, and I love this cookbook! This weekend I had dinner with my parents. My mother planned this side dish with zucchini and mushrooms and shallots but I ended up making it - and it turned out good! So, chop up about 5 zucchinis and a pack of shiitake mushrooms. Slice two shallots in half and then slice half-rounds from them. Heat olive oil in a skillet (I used non-stick but anything would work for this) When the oil's hot, put in the zucchini and brown them on one side. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Flip the zucchini and add the mushrooms. Sprinkle on more salt and pepper. When the zucchini are browned on the other side, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the shallots. Sweat the shallots 'til they turn transparent. In retrospect, I might add some chopped parsley at the end. But then the herb garden has a massive parsley surplus and I'm throwing it in everything these days. Anyway, all that and you end up with this: Mmmm. Eat up!... Read on...
Um... The Oven
Jun 8, 2003 in Food
I cleaned the oven today, and, um, I don't really have any amusing anecdotes about that. Spray on, grime off. Oh, so here's an idea. Now, a lot of the dirt in the oven came from my pizzas. See, I'm on this wack ass diet that keeps me from eating milk, so I was cheese-free for a couple weeks. No, it's not some silly celebrity regime. I might be allergic to cow's milk, corn, and a couple other yummy things besides. So I'm off all those things for a month to see if I feel better not eating them. As one might imagine, I got tha cheese joneses real quick. Then, suddenly (well, not that suddenly, it took two weeks), I remembered goats made cheese too. Sheeps sometimes even. And after picking through put-near every cheese at Whole Paycheck, I found a couple good-sized hunks of a goat's milk Gouda. It actually melts down real good, about the right amount of oil and it's pretty sticky. Maybe a little more watery than ideal but better than I ever would've expected. Okay, but turns out most pizza dough includes corn. So, I get these pizza shells made out of rice, which are a little gummy but plenty tasty. They are, however, real flat, and the tasty cheese (plus peppers, mushrooms, etc.) fall off and tumble to the bottom of the oven where they form little piles of goodness that, after not too long at 500° turn to chunks of carbon that smoke everything I roast or bake with a nasty acrid smoke. The oven has a clean setting, but I can never get the "now cleaning" light to turn on. So I clean the darn thing by hand with a can of incredibly noxious oven cleaner. And two sponges, completely ruined with deeply copper-colored gunk. But the oven's clean, now, for an experiment in braised tofu. Updates to follow.... Read on...
Mmmm... beer
Mar 18, 2002 in Food
I'm having a bad booze night. First I tried to have some beer with dinner. Elizabeth, a wonderful woman with whom we work a great deal, had met with us on Wednesday and left some fancy beers to make up for having drunk a few of ours in past meetings. I decided to try the bottle of Dunkelweizen, which I figured would be some kind of relative to Hefeweizen, a nice wheat-based beer. Well lemme tell ya, I don't know where the weizen part comes in, but Dunkel must mean "blackberry" because this tasted like fizzy blackberry pancake syrup. Trying to make up for this, I essayed the rest of the bottle of Syrah I had opened while cooking on Tuesday. Sadly (but predictably), it had turned. There's some plans to go out drinking later tonight. I think I'm scared.... Read on... (plus 1 Comments)