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So I've kinda decided that I love trail mix. Not that it's always terribly good for you (check out the sugar/fat stats), but I think trail mix is a really good way of combining interesting flavors and consistencies without actually cooking. You see, cooking is defined as: ingredient + heat. You have to have fire (in some form) to actually be cooking. Therefore, trail mix fits into the same category as salads, sandwiches, and ice cream sundaes. It's not true cooking, but at the same time it (can) require similar creativity, knowledge of your ingredients, and culinary skills.I'm currently munching on some Jensen's Orchard Matterhorn Trail Mix, which is pretty damn good. It's composed of (in order by volume) unsalted peanuts, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips, and dried pineapple. Awesome combo. The peanut-to-everything-else ratio is a little high, but other than that, the mix is really good.Now I want to make my own. Friday night I'm doing a bitchin Midnight Ridazz ride, so I still have some time to make up a kick ass trail mix to keep me moving (and relatively sober) throughout the ride. I'm thinking I like the peanut base, and it's definitely gotta have something sweet in it, but I'm also looking for healthy. I don't want to go crazy with the ingredients, but here are some other trail mixes out there, if you're looking for ingredients:- Raisins, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, blanched peanuts, soy beans, almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts and cashews
- Craisins, Peanuts, Almonds, Papaya, Pineapple, Pecans, Cherries, and Raisins
- Raisins, R&S Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds, Cashews, Pumpkin Seeds and Almonds
- Soynuts, pumpkin seeds, almonds, and apples
- Peanuts roasted, Sunflower Seeds, Raisins, Dates, Cashews, and Apples
- Soy nuts, mangos, pineapples, bananas, macadamia nuts, cranberries and coconut.
Let me know!
Well, it seems that October has up and passed me by without a post. It's only slightly embarrasing suffering from such blogger-idleness. Embarrassing because in a way, I'm failing to do what I set out to do with the frequency that I had hoped for. On the other hand, it's only slightly embarrassing because this is what happens from time to time - bloggers fall off the map, and then appear again. Writing posts is always on our minds, but there's a point when life gets in the way. And honestly, life > blogging. Unless life = blogging. In which case, you are kind of my hero.
At any rate, Sunday used to be my cooking day, but since I started volunteering on Sundays, food has fallen by the wayside. Today, however, I got the morning off and was able to plan out something amazing: carnitas! Here's the rub (no pun intended (did I already use that joke? (I suck))):
Chipotle Carnitas
Adopted from Ronaldo's Beef Carnitas
serves: as many as you want!
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 6 hours!
The recipe is ridiculously simple and denies the need for steps. Plan on buying 0.4lb of pork tri tip (aka, butt / shoulder) for each person you're feeding (1.5lbs for 4 ppl should be OK). Preheat your oven to 300* F, and put the pork in a mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, measure out approximately (PER PERSON):
-a teaspoon of kosher salt
-a tsp of chili powder
-a large pinch of ground cumin
-a large pinch of mexican oregano (mediterranean would work fine, i'm sure)
Hit the pork with the rub. You know how to do it. Lastly, chop up 1-2 chipotle chiles per person. Steal some adobo sauce from the can and smather it on the pork, then do the same with the diced chiles.
Line a pyrex (8x8? 9x13?) with heavy duty foil, and place the pork inside. Then fold the foil over and seal it tightly. By the end, the pork will be sitting and cooking in its own juices, so make sure that there are no leaks. Throw it in the oven and wait 6 hours.
At the end of its journey to Flavor City, pull the pyrex out of the oven, and put the meat on a plate. WRAP IN FOIL to keep those amazing juices in and let them redistribute, and, using 2 forks, pull the pork apart. Serve on corn tortillas with diced onions and cilantro, and guacamole. Makes ~3 tacos per person.
In terms of gastronomic dining hall appeal, of course. According to the Princeton Review's most recent Best 368 Colleges book, UCLA beat out such culinary monsters as Claremont McKenna, Bryn Mawr College, and the Southern giant, University of Georgia, but fell again to Maine's powerhouse, Bowdoin College.Damn you, Bowdoin Polar Bears!
*I love you Vinnie.
last night i had dinner with BP and ZN in westwood for what i hope will a weekly event. they're both old friends from college (and high school), and it's always fun to see them. we made alton brown's potato leek soup, and it was quite yummy. there's a recipe, sure, but i think this is a soup that you have to make once, and then modify based on your feelings - because everyone likes different consistencies, onion-ness or potato-ness, creaminess and saltiness.
potato leek soup
inspired by alton brown, good eats
1-1.5 lb leeks
3 tbsp butter
salt
1 qt broth
5 medium russet taters
pepper
1 c cream
notice that this recipe only has 4 real ingredients (butter and spices don't count). that is pretty cool. here's the rub:
cut and clean the leeks. look anywhere online for advice on how to do this, it's pretty easy. slice thinly. melt the butter in a soup pot and add the leeks. add some salt and sweat for half an hour or so. while thats happening, cut the potatoes into uniform pieces. online i saw some people cut into cubes and others slice, it's just a matter of preference i suppose. we left the skins on for the nutrients, but they slightly unsightly in the soup, so unless you care about aesthetics, i say leave em on. throw the taters in the pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for 45 mins or until the potatoes are squishable against the side of the pot. add as much pepper as you want, and hit it with a stick blender. sadly, i did not have one, so i just tried to squish as many against the side of the pot as i could. it ended up smooth-ish, but we were going for a chunkier soup. then, again based on your preference, incorporate the cream. top with a dab of soup cream, chives, bacon, whatever.
yum.
Well I figured it would sort of cheating if I didn't update at least once in August. It's been a transitional month, to be sure.
My computer situation is still ballz. It started back in July, when my external hard drive started malfunctioning. The hard drive would whir but the laptop wouldn't recognize it. So there goes updating my iTunes or accessing any of my archived documents. Then my laptop's screen mysteriously dies. It's a 5-y/o Dell Inspiron, which has been giving me problems for 3 years running, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. My spare external monitor couldn't handle the signal coming from the laptop (bizarre, right?) but luckily my then-roommate had one that did work. So for a limited time I could access my laptop and the internet (I stupidly forgot to update my Foxmarks Sync, so since then I've lost a bunch of good bookmarks....poop). Then, he needed his monitor so it went away. My mom gave me her old computer, which was old and slow but functional. Now, in the new house, I try to turn that same computer, and nothing happens. I open it up, turn it on, see the fans start to turn, and then a second later die. I don't know what could be causing this problem, but the result is no computer at home.
It's really not a huge deal, since I get most of my random emailing/facebooking/etc done at work, but at the same time, not having a computer is an ideally liberating but practically inconvenient situation. Not being able to look up Google Maps directions from home, not being able to scan FoodNetwork for recipes, not being able to look up movie times...etc. I get paid monthly (grrr), so once September comes around, I will be visiting the UCLA Store and using my staff discount to purchase a new MacBook ($1149 for the bare-bones white one). I'm seriously debating getting the black version (+ $200), because I'll be saving the $180 that I would otherwise be spending on the extra 80 gigs of memory (it comes standard with 160)....even though right now everything I own/use fits on my 40 gig external hard drive. Brilliant. Speaking of which, that piece of equipment is still not working. However, I think that my roommate will let me borrow her External HD, and I can unplug everything and use solely the hardware to transfer my docs and music to the new computer...and then I'll never need an EHD again, because I'll have more memory than I know what to do with.
Since developing a new groove for the new house and job, I've been steadily cooking more. Pomegranate trees grow rampantly in E-Ho, and using one of my neighbor's (er, the public's, right?) fruits and the recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, made some homemade pomegranate-vanilla pudding. I procured about 2 tsp of the pom's juice and added it, but the flavor was not very pronounced...I tasted the vanilla and only a slightly tart aftertaste, so I think next time I need to make homemade grenadine, and leave out the vanilla alltogether.
Vanilla Pudding
Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, (2007?)(mostly from memory)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1-1/2 cups milk
2 slightly beaten egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons fresh pomegranate juice
In saucepan, blend sugar, cornstarch, and salt; add milk. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir small amount of hot mixture into yolks (or beaten egg); return to hot mixture; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla. Pour into serving dishes; chill.
I've also become a decently adept lasagna-maker. My friend Bethany came over for dinner a while ago, and "Italian" was her answer to the concern of what we would be eating. Pasta is boring, unless you make it yourself, and I didn't feel like pizza, even though I do tend to have fun with it. We ended up making two 9"x13" Spinach-Chicken-Alfredo Lasagnas, which I tupperwared and froze, and have been lunching on for the past 2 weeks :) I won't include a recipe here, because I don't have the time, but search any old lasanga recipe on Google, there are hundreds of them.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBGbKCm_pQQ
= no time to bake or cook :(
In the meantime, check out
http://kinut.muxtape.com/
4th song
Loo & Placid - Black Beatles (Beatles vs. Black-Eyed Peas vs. Ludacris vs. Kelis)
