Las Panzas de Los Feliz

Trail Mix

2008-11-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

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!

Carnitas!

2008-11-09T20:36:00.001-08:00

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.

Potato Leek Soup

2008-09-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

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.

Finally

2008-08-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

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.

Aiyah!

2008-07-30T08:16:00.001-07:00

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer!!!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBGbKCm_pQQ

New house + broken computer

2008-07-29T12:38:00.001-07:00

= 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)

Bah

2008-07-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

I regret that this month is not looking good for the Daring Bakers challenge. I moved into my new house, which I love, but I am sadly sans internet at home, which is where I would load my pictures to this very blog. I'll do the challenge, I swear! Showing the results may not be so easy :(

In other news, there was a fascinating article in the New York Times by Natalie Angier called "Mirrors Don't Lie. Mislead? Oh, Yes.", which explores the psychological effects of mirrors. Here's a snippet from the article. Hit the link to read the whole thing.

"Researchers have determined that mirrors can subtly affect human behavior, often in surprisingly positive ways. Subjects tested in a room with a mirror have been found to work harder, to be more helpful and to be less inclined to cheat, compared with control groups performing the same exercises in nonmirrored settings. Reporting in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, C. Neil Macrae, Galen V. Bodenhausen and Alan B. Milne found that people in a room with a mirror were comparatively less likely to judge others based on social stereotypes about, for example, sex, race or religion.

" 'When people are made to be self-aware, they are likelier to stop and think about what they are doing,' Dr. Bodenhausen said. 'A byproduct of that awareness may be a shift away from acting on autopilot toward more desirable ways of behaving.' Physical self-reflection, in other words, encourages philosophical self-reflection, a crash course in the Socratic notion that you cannot know or appreciate others until you know yourself. ...

"In a report titled 'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Enhancement in Self-Recognition,' which appears online in The Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Nicholas Epley and Erin Whitchurch described experiments in which people were asked to identify pictures of themselves amid a lineup of distracter faces. Participants identified their personal portraits significantly quicker when their faces were computer enhanced to be 20 percent more attractive. They were also likelier, when presented with images of themselves made prettier, homelier or left untouched, to call the enhanced image their genuine, unairbrushed face. Such internalized photoshoppery is not simply the result of an all-purpose preference for prettiness: when asked to identify images of strangers in subsequent rounds of testing, participants were best at spotting the unenhanced faces.

"How can we be so self-delusional when the truth stares back at us? 'Although we do indeed see ourselves in the mirror every day, we don't look exactly the same every time,' explained Dr. Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. There is the scruffy-morning you, the assembled-for-work you, the dressed-for-an-elegant-dinner you. 'Which image is you?' he said. 'Our research shows that people, on average, resolve that ambiguity in their favor, forming a representation of their image that is more attractive than they actually are.' "

Natalie Angier, "Mirrors Don't Lie. Mislead? Oh, Yes." The New York Times, Science Times, July 22, 2008, F1.

Note to self: see WALL-E

2008-07-14T14:50:00.001-07:00

Hollywood Cranes

2008-07-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

View west from the roof of Bally's.

You say tomato...

2008-07-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

...I say, "Eureka!" My tomato plants finally produced!

Of course, in the months since I planted the seeds, I've lost the seed package and forgotten what kind of tomatoes they are, so if anyone can tell just by looking, I'd love to know! (possibly Big Boy? Better Boy? idk...) Also, is it normal for the leaves to start wilting on a plant that's producing fruit? It kind of makes sense to me, since the plant would be investing more of it's energy and resources in the fruit (and therefore not as much in the leaves), but...maybe I'm just not giving them enough water (it is quite warm out these days).

4 in a row! Holla!

This was the first one to pop up.

What's the with hole? Do I have hornworms? Boo!

Movin along...

Also, I filled up my tank today for (I'm proud to say) the first time in several weeks.
Here's how much it cost me:

And $4.49 is cheap in LA :(

From LAist: City Council Puts Forth 'Cyclists' Bill of Rights' Motion

2008-07-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

From http://laist.com/2008/07/11/city_council_puts_forth_cyclists_bi.php
July 11, 2008
City Council Puts Forth 'Cyclists' Bill of Rights' Motion

Wednesday's City Council Transportation Committee | Photo by Alex Thmpson

City Councilman Bill Rosendahl submitted a motion endorsing the Cyclists' Bill of Rights today. The motion, which was co-presented by Councilmembers Garcetti and Greuel, and seconded by Councilmembers Reyes and Parks, was referred to the council's Transportation Committee. The date of the committee hearing on the item will be determined by the chair, Councilmember Greuel.

The Cyclists' Bill of Rights (.pdf) was developed by the Bike Writers Collective, a group of bicycle activists (disclosure: LAist contributor Stephen Box is a member) and first endorsed by the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council. It also picked up endorsements from the Silver Lake and Atwater Village Neighborhood Councils this past week.

Box introduced the Cyclists' Bill of Rights to the Transportation Committee on Wednesday saying "Our streets are the new 'public space' and our ability to share that space is one of our greatest opportunities for revitalizing and redefining our communities."

MOTION
As submitted by Councilman Bill Rosendahl

Throughout the City of Los Angeles, a growing population of cyclists is using our roadways, bike lanes, and bike paths.

Cyclists are a diverse and eclectic group. Cyclists are commuters concerned with skyrocketing gas prices. Cyclists are physical fitness enthusiasts, living and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Cyclists are recreational users, intent on happily enjoying the remarkable Southern California climate. Cyclists are sensitive and aware citizens of the world, intent on living a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly lifestyle.

Surviving as a cyclist in a car-obsessed culture can be a challenge, and often a hazard. Cycling activists have organized to raise consciousness, to promote sharing of the roads, and to affirm their rights. Cycling activists have written and adopted a "Cyclists' Bill of Rights," which promotes the following tenets:

1) Cyclists have the right to travel safely and free of fear.
2) Cyclists have the right to equal access to our public streets and to sufficient and significant road space.

3) Cyclists have the right to the full support of educated law enforcement.

4) Cyclists have the right to the full support of our judicial system and the right to expect that those who endanger, injure or kill cyclists be dealt with to the full extent of the law.

5) Cyclists have the right to routine accommodations in all roadway projects and improvements.

6) Cyclists have the right to urban and roadway planning, development and design that enable and support safe cycling.

7) Cyclists have the right to traffic signals, signage and maintenance standards that enable and support safe cycling.

8) Cyclists have the right to be actively engaged as a constituent group in the organization and administration of our communities.

9) Cyclists have the right to full access for themselves and their bicycles on all mass transit with no limitations.

10) Cyclists have the right to end-of-trip amenities that include safe and secure opportunities to park their bicycles.

11) Cyclists have the right to be secure in their persons and property, and be free from unreasonable search and seizure, as guaranteed by the 4th Amendment.

12) Cyclists have the right to peaceably assemble in the public space, as guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.

It is in the best interests of the City of Los Angeles to respect and affirm the rights of all people - cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.
I THEREFORE MOVE that the City Council hereby affirms and supports efforts to promote improved conditions for cyclists, and encourages appreciation for the "Cyclists' Bill of Rights."

I FURTHER MOVE that the Department of Transportation, the Planning Department, the Department of Public Works, and the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee, in consultation with the City Attorney and the Police Department, be directed to report with recommendations on how to incorporate the principles enshrined in the "Cyclists' Bill of Rights" into the City of Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan and other relevant documents and practices."

biking to work, day 1

2008-07-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

11.2 miles.

50 minutes.
I beat the bus.

Mr. Trout

2008-07-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

So I talked to Dell, and after discovering that my warrenty is long-since expired, along with much trial-and-error, it seems that the cable connecting my laptop's processor and the monitor is fried. Like an egg. I turn the laptop on and the monitor works for about 20 seconds, but after that it's all black. *sigh* So until I can find a monitor that accepts my laptop's signal, I'm sans most of my files, including my Danish Braid pictures. It's terribly sad, I know. Eventually, once I find a monitor that maintains the connection, I will transfer all my laptop-bound files to my external hard drive, and only then can I load them onto this site. Then, and only then...Oh, what a feast your eyes will behold!

In the meantime, meet Trout #5, whom I procured from Lake Hemet this past weekend while camping at Hurkey Creek to celebrate the Fourth of July. He, along with four of his brethran (and one bluegill), succumbed mainly to nightcrawlers (laced with Tapatio, on ocassion), and was later fried simply and served alongside baked beans and Blue Moons.

Truly, there are few things more rewarding than catching and cooking your own food. Ole for sustainable living!

Daring Bakers June Challenge - Danish Braid

2008-06-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I'm blogging, I think how amazing this all is, this fusion of technology and tradition that we tout. Who ever thought that bakers - an occupation of such terrenal historical significance, founded upon the very grain of the earth, and rooted, agriculturally and psychologically, in the beginnings of civilization - would ever form self-governing communities, communicating and flourishing through a medium as abstract as the Internets? At this point, my computer then usually proceeds to crash, and I have to write my whole blog over. Such is the paradox of our age - like working with yeast, nothing is ever certain.

I wax poetic in this manner because this precise series of events occurred yesterday, but rather than my computer simply crashing, my laptop's monitor died. Ouch, I know. But it was bound to happen - the computer was pushing 5 years. Needless to say, yesterday's post didn't happen. My apologies for the tardiness, but I think my excuse is legit. I promise, I completed the challenge and my results were breath-taking. They will, however, have to wait until I somehow resurrect my laptop, upon which are stored all the photos, anyway.

Candy Bar ID Quiz

2008-06-28T00:13:00.000-07:00

"Oh, Henry"?? "5th Avenue"?? "Payday"??
Who eats lame candies like those?
...11/20...
Blast you, Vinnie!

Also, pic of the day and accompanying story:

So about a month ago Candice and I were doing some house-hunting and at one particular house at Wilton and Santa Monica, we discovered this old-school 1950s dining room table that was sitting in the back yard, accumulating nothing but rust. We expressed how much we dug the table, and the owners told us that we could take it if we could figure out how to get it out of their backyard. So after a month of messages, we finally dropped by to pick it up. The table is cool, no doubt about it. But the real photo opp came when the little girl, Emily, came out with her puppy.

I heart Mexicans.

My Kind of Town, Chicago Is

2008-06-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

Seems like everyone is going to Chicago these days. I had the pleasure of traveling to that great Midwestern metropolis and its suburbs a few weekends ago for a vacation of many celebrations. Aside from this city being my father's (and grandfather's) birthplace, and the residence of my grandparents (Highland Park), sister (Evanston) (a student of the Northwestern School of Education and Social Policy. Go Cats.), and Aunt and Uncle, we also had the opportunity to celebrate Father's Day, my grandma's birthday, my aunt's birthday, and bid an early farewell to my sister, who leaves for a quarter of haggis and hot toddies (also a righteous indie rock band: Hot Toddies. YouTube them. Now.) abroad in Edinburgh for the Fall. But more important than all these (hah jk) was a celebration of the incredible diversity of FOOD the Windy City has to offer.

A Radish Menagerie at the Farmer's Market.

We left LA early Thursday morning and touched earth again moments after I finally finished "The Audacity of Hope". I highly recommend it, especially since (all things going to plan), Senator Obama will soon(ish) be President Obama. Hearing him write so candidly and intelligently about the state of our nation and his thoughts on how to improve it, while respecting the perspectives of both sides of the aisle, is a welcome change from the usual stuttering and mumbling of the incumbent. This is the best way you can both enlighten and prepare yourself. Go now.

Mmmmm.....

Friday provided several revelations. The first came to me after my morning run around the Chicago Botanic Gardens with my dad and grandpa, at Dunkin Donuts. When the topic of conversation turns to morning java or pastries, East Coast Transplants across LA never fail to apotheosize their beloved D.D. Nowhere in California, they carp, can one find Dunkin's "legendary coffee, not one single Boston Creme. Here on the left coast, it is never 'time to make the donuts.'" Needless to say, my expectations were crushed when the cashier asked me, "Would you like cream and sugar?"

So much for soy milk and cane sugar.

Yes I would, thank you, and I'd like to put it in myself. The result was 1 of those little tiny creams and 2 packets of plain white sugar. I had to ask for the 2 other creams you see in the picture. Maybe we've been spoiled by Starbucks and Coffee Bean. Maybe the entire Midwest likes having high school dropouts make their coffee (which was lacking in flavor and heat) drinkable. But I am not a big fan. In fairness, I didn't feel kosher eating a donut after having run 6 miles.

The view from the roof of my sister's apartment complex, accessible only - of course - via the fire escape.

By the time we were done moving my sister from her sorority house to her summer apartment, we'd developed quite the appetite. And to sate our hunger, what better than the food that made Chicago famous? - Its pizza! The proximity of my sister's new pad to Giordano's, considered by some to be the best pizza in the city, is frightening. Literally around the corner from her, this establishment has been serving up Chicago-style stuffed crust pizza for almost 35 years. This was my second revelation of the day - how weak pizza is out here in California.

It tasted even better than it looks.

The pie was perfect -- the crust was crispy on the outside, soft and airy on the inside, and strong on the bottom, with just a hint of yeast that transported me back to the streets of Italy. The layers were unparalleled (yet paradoxically parallel): loads of stringy, flavorful cheese, a blanket of tomato sauce atop, and inside, perfectly seasoned chopped spinach, wilted only by the heat rising from the bottom crust. The saltiness of the cheese and tomatoes perfectly countered the relative blandness of the spinach, and the solid foundation kept it all together en route to my mouth. The second pizza was almost as impressive.

Clasico italiano with the red-and-white checkered tablecloth.

I can't deny that our Thin Crust Pizza, with Mushrooms and Sausage, was also excellent. The sausage was as Italian-American as it comes, with just the right amount of spice, augmented by that distinct fennel seed taste. My only complaint is that, after trying a pizza with such a stately base, this crust brought me back to earth: the slices without an outer crust (inner squares, if you will) drooped, and the eating process was messy and all too reminiscent of the Little Caesars experience. Still, the sauce was sensational, and the cheese, like that of the stuffed crust pizza, was all gooey goodness.

From left to right; "A place where people can freely exchange views on life, love, and almond clusters" -- "Chocolate, the adventure" -- "Welcome to chocolate paradise. Population: you" -- "Chocolate...is the new black" -- "We interrupt your daily grind to bring you this truffle"

Having only consumed several hundred calories for lunch, the next obvious stop was dessert. Because my sister works part-time at Ethel's Chocolate Lounge, we couldn't balk at the chance to see her place of employment, meet her coworkers, and of course, sample the good. Aside from the delicious products they sell, Ethel's is pretty interesting for in itself. The stores, owned by Mars Company, brand themselves as "a place for chocolate and chat...to explore, experience, and enjoy one of life's greatest pleasures every day." Sounds familiar? Replace chocolate with "coffee", and you just described Starbucks. The idea is identical: both companies seek to turn an everyday food item (M&Ms, your average cup of joe) into an exciting, affordable luxury, while simultaneously offering peace of mind and encouraging you to express yourself (see the framed quotes above). Does this sound like a perfect article for Stuff White People Like? You saw it here first.

"How would Chocolate Consultant look on my résumé?

The afternoon was spent lounging around, arranging the new apartment, and complaining about how much we'd eaten for lunch. Given all we'd eaten already that day, we agreed, dinner seemed like a superfluous affair. However, to surrender before the main event would be a forfeiting of our dignity and honor. And that wouldn't do. The destination: Merle's Rib Palace. Voted #10 by readers of Citysearch's 2002 Best Barbecue poll, and triumphed by my sister, I had high expectations.

"Palace" is exactly the word you want to read before entering your 'cue shack.

As I noted, with everything we had already eaten on Friday, dinner probably should have been a simple salad, maybe a sandwich. Instead, here's what we split between the 3 of us: One order of Merle's Smokin' Wings (hickory smoked and served with celery and dipping sauce over a bed of fries), one Barbecue Sampler (Baby back ribs, beef rib, bbq chicken, Texas brisket), one Slow Smoked Combo (Pulled pork, pulled chicken, and Texas brisket served with rolls for sandwiches), and the four sides that came with the meals: Mac-n-Cheese, Baked Beans, Coleslaw, and Corn Bread.

Nah we weren't actually that hungry.

Sadly, the experience did not live up to my hopes. The wings were excellent. Flavorful, saucy, falling off the bone. A+. As for the Sampler, I really enjoyed the chicken and the ribs. The beef rib, which was the size of my forearm, had a fair amount of gristle, and really didn't shine like the babybacks did, grilled to perfection. The brisket (a food I grew up with) failed to impress, having taken a knife to get through. Real brisket - superb brisket - should fall apart at the touch of a fork. Still, the flavor was there. As for the pulled meats, the brisket, surprisingly, was the best of the three! The chicken was moist and flavorful, and the beef was mediocre. As for the sides, the coleslaw was too heavy on the mayonnaise, the corn bread was unremarkable, the baked beans were just weird, and while the mac-n-cheese was good, I can't say I'd order any of those sides next time.

If only ivy weren't a breeding ground for nasty bugs and rodents, it would be all the walls of my fences, too.

Any good meal, and in particular any OK meal, cannot end without dessert. Dinner, having proven insufficient, indeed merited this distinction. To close the night, we stopped by one of Evanston's many bakeries, The Italian Coffee Bar.

Italian pastries are my muse.

Realizing that all we'd done that day was eat, we opted to split one of their Cannoli, in this case a Vanilla Cannoli with Pistachios. Exquisite. Delicious. Rich. Creamy. Crunchy. Fried but not greasy. Thick. Textured. Cohesive. Layered. All of these things and more. I do not consider myself nay even a modest Italian dessert connoisseur, but I do know what I like. And I liked that Cannoli.

Hold the salmonella, please.

Culinarily, the rest of the trip paled in comparison to Friday's smörgåsbord, although we continued to consume like pros. Saturday was marked by our venture to the Evanston Farmer's Market, which was as pretty as any. Nothing blew me out of the water, although I did notice that there was a significantly higher proportion of flower vendors than I've ever seen at any Los Angeles CFM. I chalk this up to the fact that for most of Chicago's year, flowers are tough to come by. Therefore, during the spring and summer, Illinoisians flock to them. Besides several flower stands, many (as in California) were selling potted herbs and tomatoes. This, I decided was the perfect present for my sister in her new apartment - the gift that keeps on giving. We picked her up a Sweet Basil plant and two tomato plants (one red cherry and one yellow cherry), which we later transfered to window-sill-friendly pots. Rumor has it she's already made pesto from scratch using her home-grown herbage! Certainly, look forward to hearing from her on this blog in the near future. (::hint hint Sar::)

Yes, they are beautiful.
No, I don't want to spend $8 on them.

The highlight of the day was our trip to Wrigley Field for some photo opps, and a stop by Murphy's Bleachers, one of Wrigleyville's premier sports bars. The trip had one purpose and one purpose only: to experience the Chicago-style hot dog. The result was everything I hoped for, and more.

::drool::

The dog: plump, meaty, the kind that snaps when you bit into it, and then melts in your mouth. The bun: airy, soft, buttery, steamed to delicious squishiness. My own opinion, however? -- not the best delivery device for this monster of a perro. Personally, I am of the idea that it needed a bit more infrastructure, but I understand the dilemma: preserve the package with something bulky and bready and sacrifice the main ingredient's integrity? Or opt for less substantial software and let the Kosher wurst shine? Obviously, in Chi-town, the meat of the matter takes the cake -- er, bun. (Sorry).

The Italian Beef Sandwich was good, too.

But anyone can steam a hot dog. What makes a Chicago dog unique is the garnish. Yum. Different. But yum nonetheless. I confess that the pickle may or may not have fallen off, and never actually reached my mouth, but that has nothing to do with my tremendous dislike for pickles. (This phobia dates back to my youth, when my sister would eat a pickle, drink the juice, and scream "PICKLE BREATH!!!!" in my face at point-blank range. Revolting,) I've never been a huge mustard fan, but it's growing on me, and I must admit this only helped its cause. The onions - crisp, sweet, smelly goodness. The tomato - just the acidic kick it needed. The relish - meh. Sport peppers - always a pleasure. And the celery salt - that's the kicker. It was the perfect seasoning to tie the whole package together. Will future hot dogs mirror my Chi-dog experience? Probably not. But at least I know, should the Cubs ever make it to the World Series, and I host a watching party. And pigs fly.

Touché, Grandpa. Touché.

Having enjoyed the fine beef of Chicago, my dad decided to take us on a detour to the Vienna Beef Factory Store, so we could buy some wholesale wurst and hopefully take home a slice of Chicago. The stop was a relatively quick one, but the resulting frozen package (~6 massive Polish Sausages) and pictures justify it 100%:

Hot.

Hott.

Hotter.

Saturday night, in custom with weekend guest tradition for the last night in town, meant going out to one of the family fav's. This time, the choice was Di Pescara, which everyone in our party with any foreign language experience felt compelled to educate everyone else, meant, "of the fish", or something to that effect. LITTLE DID THEY KNOW, that Pescara is actually a small port city on the eastern coast of Italy. So there. Look who's the smart one now. =P

Gin and Tonic: My Best Friend. (Sorry, Andrew.)

The food was delicious. I ordered one of the "chef's favorite's", the cedar-planked whitefish with roasted potato and espresso barbecue sauce. Fantastic. Flaky. Grilled to perfection. Not fishy at all. One of the neat things about this seafood place is that, being situated neigh a stone's throw from the Great Lakes, their product is not only of utmost quality, but is as fresh as it should be. My whitefish, for instance, hailed from Lake Superior (it told me so moments before I devoured it). The potatoes were roasted to a simple perfection, with little more than salt, pepper, olive oil, and thyme(?). The arugula, with its classic peppery and slightly bitter flavor, complemented the espresso barbecue sauce like a dream. A+, di Pescara.

Note to self: coffee + bbq sauce = amazing.

Our final meal in beautiful Chicago brought us back to Evanston, where my aunt and uncle, and sister live. The genre: soul food. The restaurant: Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop. And Jeezus Christ was it good. Honestly, the genre of Southern cooking is pretty foreign to me. Paula Deen does an exciting job bringing the spirit to the table, but rarely do I have the chance to indulge in such an intense food category. But that's what vacations are for, right?

N'er have I had grits as good as these.

The hash, made with both Idaho and Sweet Potatoes, brought tears to my eyes. The cheese grits - inspiring. The horseradish cream was a nice twist - though I tend to associate this "bitter herb" with stuffy Passover meals, the flavor really kicked ass alongside the roasted chicken. All in all, a fine dining experience, and a wonderful way to say goodbye to a city that has made so many appearances in my life, but never received the respect it deserves.

Indeed.

My memories of Chicago have always been wonderful. As a child each trip to the Windy One meant time with distant family, grandma's cooking, the chance to catch snowflakes on your tongue (during Winter Break) or fireflies in jars (during Summer Break), and the smell of my grandpa. Now, it symbolizes where my sister lives, where my family is rooted, and another great American metropolis, bursting with energy, diversity, culture, music, food, and weather that I'd enjoy only about a third of the time. What future does Chicago have in store for me? Only time will tell.

Chicago Dusk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, June 13

Dunkin Donuts
1990 Skokie Valley Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035
Coffee.
https://www.dunkindonuts.com/

My sister's apartment building. Beautiful, I know.

Giordano's
500 Davis St, Evanston, IL 60201
Thin Crust Pizza: Mushroom and Sausage; Stuffed Crust Pizza: Spinach
http://www.giordanos.com/

Ethel's Chocolates
527 Davis St, Evanston, IL 60201
Tiramisu blended drink.
http://www.ethelschocolate.com/

Merle's
1727 Benson Ave, Evanston, IL 60201
Merle's Smokin' Wings: Hickory smoked and served with celery and dipping sauce over a bed of fries; Barbecue sampler: Baby back ribs, beef rib, bbq chicken, Texas brisket; Slow Smoked Combo: Pulled pork, pulled chicken, and Texas brisket served with rolls for sandwiches; Mac-n-Cheese side; Baked Beans side; Coleslaw side; Corn Bread side
http://www.merlesbbq.com/

Merle's. Bud. America.

The Italian Coffee Bar
1549 Sherman Ave, Evanston, IL 60201
Vanilla Cannoli with Pistachios
http://www.theitaliancoffeebar.com/

Saturday, June 14

Evanston Farmer's Market
Intersection of University Pl and Oak Ave
May 17 - Nov 1, 7:30AM-1:00PM
http://www.cityofevanston.org/enjoy/market.shtml

Murphy's Bleachers
3653 N Sheffield Ave, Chicago (Wrigleyville), IL 60613
Chicago-style hot dog: yellow mustard, diced tomato, pickle spear, diced onion, relish, and sport peppers; Italian beef sandwich: Bun, Beef, Sauce; Beer of the week: Dark Horse Raspberry Ale, Marshall, MI.
http://www.murphysbleachers.com/

Rooftop Sentinels.

Vienna Beef Factory
2501 North Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60647
~6 frozen Polish Sausages
http://www.viennabeef.com/cafemenu/

Di Pescara
2124 Northbrook Court, Northbrook, IL 60062
Cedar-planked whitefish with roasted potato, arugula, and espresso barbecue sauce, 3 slices of gala apple.
http://www.leye.com/restaurants/rest_home.jsp?id=38

Sunday, June 15

Dixie Kitchen and Bait Shop
825 Church St, Evanston, IL 60201
Dixie Hash N' Chicken: Country Hash with Roasted Chicken, Ham, Idaho and Sweet Potatoes, Caramelized Onions, Roasted Rep Peppers, and Horseradish Cream. With Two Eggs, Cheese Grits, and Toast.
http://www.harpercourt.com/dixiekitchen.html

Happy Birthday Nani!

"Inertia"

2008-06-23T22:21:00.000-07:00

Hoy 2

2008-06-23T00:26:00.001-07:00

The finally-completed gigantic glass flora of "Desert Rose", the new restaurant at the corner of Hillhurst and Prospect, 2 blocks away from me. I hope it's not expensive, although it looks like it will be.

Hoy 1

2008-06-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

So, I've decided that my posting frequency has been a little slow this month, and while complete blog entries (you know, my standard fare: background, pictures, recipe, commentary) are nice, I feel like any posting is enough to bring a little more energy to this blog. In this spirit, I'm starting a new initiative which I hope to execute with fair enough frequency. I'm still working on a clever title, but for now, let's call it "Hoy" (Spanish for today).

The idea is that, since I got my new camera (an extremely generous gift from my grandpa), I've been taking it pretty much everywhere I go - it would be a shame to waste this opportunity to do my duty to mankind and take a few pictures here and there. On select days when I don't post about food, the best or most recent photo will find a place in Hoy as a visual archive of the wonderful City of Angels, from my narrow perspective.

Here's to the instant gratification of the digital age, the spontaneity of beauty, and the truths we all seek to discover hoy.

The Fiercest Tattoo on the Metro Bus 2

Rice Pudding revisited

2008-06-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

Back in this blog's early days, I did a post on Arroz con Leche a la Cubana (Rice Pudding, Cuban Style). If I recall correctly, I made WAY too much of it, and the stuff sat in old 32-oz yogurt containers in my fridge for at least a month. Though I probably raved about it at the time, all I recall now is that the shaved coconut and the rice were both entirely too crunchy in the final product and there wasn't enough cinnamon. Also, the taste was funny because of all the different milks I used. This probably stemmed from the fact that I used uncooked rice, and because I was dumb. However, last night's affair provided me with an opportunity to pull this skeleton out of the closet.

My roommate made some frozen potstickers (he had been boiling them before I suggested steaming. Yay steaming!), and come rice to go along with it. To my luck and his chagrin, I awoke this morning (and got home from work 8 hours after that) to find the rice cooker still in waiting! With his permission, it is now Rice Pudding.

Sadly, rice pudding was not one of the desserts of my childhood, so all knowledge I have of it, I've garnered from restaurants, online recipes, and intuition (which does not have the searching power of Google). From these sources, I've learned that I like my rice pudding creamy, slightly salty, and good n sweet. There are a million and a half rice pudding recipes out there in cyberspace, and they all say basically the same thing: rice pudding = rice + milk + sugar + random other flavoring elements. Here's my version:

Rice Pudding
Prep time: 15-10 mins
Cook time: 20-30 mins
Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 c. cooked rice (1 c uncooked rice, cooked)
2.5 c. Kirkland Vanilla Soy Milk
.5 c. sugar
pinch kosher salt
Juice from 1 small Valencia Orange
1 cinnamon stick
Ground cinnamon for garnish

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients except ground cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally until rice pudding is of desired consistency.

A bad omen?

2008-06-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

I had a dream last night that I was making some kind of dough (possibly pizza or pâte à choux) using the hook attachment of my BRAND NEW KITCHENAID STAND MIXER that I got off Craigslist for an orgasmic $75.......and the attachment broke. Shattered, is more like it. Into 3 pieces.

This is this night before my first day of work in 4 months.

Be afraid?

Strawberry Pear Crisp

2008-05-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it. Out of all the posts I've written, not once in the 8 months have I posted about my all-time favorite dessert: the Apple Crisp! Seriously! I can't believe I haven't. The only recipe I have with an "apples" label is that gross muffin recipe! Gosh this is a tragedy.

Anyway, it is my favorite thing to bake, hands-down. It's my Aunt Nancy's recipe (ah, Midwest baking...), and the basic recipe goes like this: Preheat oven to 375* F. Chop up 5 green apples (with or without skin, per preference), splash with 1 T lemon juice, 1/2 c. sugar, and 1 tsp cinnamon. In another bowl, work together with your hands 1 c flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1/2 c brown sugar, and 1 stick butter (cut into tiny cubes), until all butter pieces are gone. In a 1-quart casserole dish, use 1/3 of the topping to form a carpet, pile on the fruit, and use the rest of the topping on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until GBAD.

Why do I love the Apple Crisp so much? First off, it uses apples - which stand as one of the most popular, symbolic, and (even with their popularity) underrated fruits on the planet. Cheers to creating desserts that are not just butter, carbs, and chocolate. This is butter, carbs, and fruit :) so much better, I know. Reason 2: it's especially good in the fall/winter, when, depending on your geographic positioning, you might even be able to pick them yourself, but can be made year-round! No problem! Plus, you can prep the whole thing beforehand and bake it while you eat dinner. Convenient AND easy. And all the ingredients are things that no legit baker is without (except MAYBE the apples). Three: Though the obvious possibilities for variation are slim (apples, pears, um....stone fruits? too wet?), this recipe truly is versatile - a fact which I hope to prove tonight!

To do so, I am attempting an altogether different kind of crisp: Strawberry Pear. In a way, it's funny. I was looking online for examples of people having tried this creation (hoping to find raving reviews), and though I did find a Strawberry Pear Cobbler, that is definitely not the same thing as a crisp. I did find one instance of someone considering a Strawberry Pear Crisp, but Superspark writes:

"[Hypothetically lacking our pears,] our choice was to either make a hugely disproportionately crumble-heavy crisp or substitute some of the fruit I had around the house. With only strawberries and figs on hand, we decided that strawberry-pear was an even weirder combination and went for a sort of autumnal palette, mixing fresh brown turkey fig quarters in with the pear slices... "

Well, Sparky, here it is, and it is DELICIOUS. For as weird a combination as it is, the tartness of the pears is a fun contrast to the sweetness of the strawberries and they actually play quite well together. The filling turned out rather mushy, but I believe that can be explained by the water content of said fruits. According to this website, the water content of apples, pears, and strawberries is 85%, 82%, and 90% respectively. So normally, my filling's water content is around 85%. Using a 1:1 ratio (by weight) of 82:90 would result in an overall water concentration of 86%, which is -- OMG -- 1% higher than that of the apples alone!!!! Though I don't imagine the resulting difference would survive the rigors of statistical significance testing, it has still convinced me that next time I might be tempted to use less strawberry and more pear (maybe instead of a 1:1 weight ratio, use 3 pears and fill in the rest of the space with strawberry). The actual recipe and procedure is almost identical to its pomaceous cousin, except I nixed the lemon juice and cinnamon, and cut the amount of sugar significantly. Y aquí está, for the sake of posterity:

Strawberry Pear Crisp
Prep time: ~15 minutes
Cook time: 40-45 minutes + 10 to cool
Yields: 4 servings, with vanilla ice cream

Ingredients:
2 pears (approx 1 lb), cubed
~20? strawberries (approx 1 lb), chopped in half 1/8 c sugar
1 c flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 stick butter, cubed

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375* F. Chop up pears (with or without skin, per preference) and strawberries, mix w sugar. In another bowl, work together with your hands flour, sugar, brown sugar, and butter, until all butter pieces are gone. In a 1-quart casserole dish, use 1/3 of the topping to form a carpet, pile on the fruit, and use the rest of the topping on top. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until GBAD.

What kind of fruits will I use in the future, you ask? Well, ideally fillings that result in ~85% total water content, such as....

Apricots (85)?
Oranges (86)? (ugh that would be a lot of manual labor)
Peaches (90) + cherries (80)? = 85
Peaches (90) + pears (82)? = 86
Pineapple (85)? oOoOoOoOooo
Plums (87)?
Raspberries (81) + Strawberries (90)? = 85.5

Also, I'm thrilled to report that my awful roommates are moving out TODAY -- a whole FOUR DAYS EARLY!!! I'm so happy.

Hot Link and Lentil Soup

2008-05-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

I cannot wait for these roommates to move out. Five more days, gracias a Dios, and because I'm going down to OC for the day on Thurs, it's more like 4 days. I was home all day today, listening to music and doing some spring cleaning in my room and in my ginormous car CD wallet, which I have not updated in 4 years, and what creeps into my room from outside? Cigarette smoke. On this beautiful day when I should be able to relax with my window open and enjoy all that southern California has to offer, what is my retarded roomie doing but catching some rays and smoking some cancer sticks. Great combination! Keep it up, dumbass! But really, I can't hate too much for that because theoretically my neighbors have all the right in the world to smoke a cig now and then, and there's certainly a chance that the smoke could blow into my window. So whatever. But here's the icing on the cake - when I go out to get the mail later, what do I find strewn about on the lawn? Cigarette butts, snuffed out in my grass. Seriously!? Littering on your own lawn!?!?!? I am so done with these fuckups. They are the cigarette butts on the landscape of my life.

On a happier note, I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend, I certainly did. Memorable moments included a heartwarming Arroz con Pollo dinner and mindblowing Pear Crisp dessert, some house hunting and potential success in Echo Park, and Indiana Jones last night! So much fun. The special effects were mind-blowing, and the dialog, though not quite at the level of Last Crusade, definitely harkened back to the dry, offhand humor of the rest of the series. I was a little disappointed by the unrealisticness of a few of the scenes (sword-fight scene, the final "secret" of the Crystal Skull), but maybe that's the point. I think Entertainment Weekly hit it right on the nose: Harrison Ford is “terrific — and re-energized” but adds that the film “threatens at times to crumble under the weight of all the impersonal zigging and zagging loaded on for the sake of special effects.” In the end, though, it was exactly what a summer flick is supposed to be: fun, smart, peppered with humor, and, most importantly, exciting.

Tonight's meal is the result of a pantry raid - a chance to use some of those ingredients that haven't seen daylight for a while. I had a few hot links in the freezer that have seen fresher days, and those deep orange lentils in my pantry have been beckoning for a few weeks now. The heart of the recipe comes from - who else? - Alton Brown, but takes inspiration from some other lentil soup recipes out there. Honestly, maybe this is an autumn/winter recipe, but without much inspiration these days, it seemed like a good idea.

In the end, this soup turned out just as amazing than the ingredient list led me to believe. The lentils, which I love in the first place for their nutritional wonderment, really do shine in this soup. It's hearty and warm, with just a shadow of spiciness (from the pepper, allspice, and hot link juices), which, really, I'll probably up a bit next time with some red pepper flakes.

Hot Link and Lentil Soup
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
2 T Olive oil
2 c Mirpoixe (1 c chopped onion, 1/2 c each chopped carrot and celery)
1 big pinch kosher salt
1 lb red lentils (picked and rinsed) (any other color would probably work just as well)
1 c chopped tomatoes
2 hot links (or polish sausage? kielbasa? whatever! sausage = sensational), cubed
2 quarters (aka, 8 c, 64 oz) chicken/veggie broth (OR, water + 2 T Knorr)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp allspice (probably more next time)

Instructions:
Place OO in a large pot and set over medium heat. Add mirepoix + salt and sweat until good and sweated (6-7 min). Add lentils, tomatoes, broth, cumin, and allspice and stir to combine. Bump the fire to high and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce to low, and simmer until lentils are tender (~30 min, maybe less). Optional: using a stick blender, puree it a bit. Or not. I didn't.

Top with some plain yogurt to simmer down the mild heat coming off the cumin and allspice and sprinkle with chives for some color :)

Oh yeah, btw, I didn't do the Daring Baker's challenge this month =( Sorry. I was just too busy, and there were no good days to undertake it. Maybe if I'm feeling adventurous tomorrow I'll attempt it and post late, but don't expect it. Poop =(

Arroz con Pollo

2008-05-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

Life is good.

It's been a while since I've confidently been able to say that, but I'm bien content to report that things have been and are improving by leaps and bounds. On the domestic front (non-cooking), June 1 is approaching fast, which means that the two roommates who make living less than wonderful will be gone in less than 2 weeks! The current/staying roomie and I put up a Craigslist ad, have interviewed a few people, and have decided on a good-natured bloke named Jeremy to fill the resulting vacancy. He works deep in the editing/special effects segment of the entertainment industry, seems very laid back, and will be bringing lots of nice amenities, including an XBox and a Wii. Score! Ten days and counting!

On the other side of the domestic front, Candice and I finally started actually looking at potential duplexes to buy! Despite our decent credit, we didn't get pre-approved for as large a loan as we hoped, but we did get something, and we're actively looking at places around Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silverlake, and Echo Park. So far nothing has impressed us terribly, but we're there are still a number of places left to scout out, and a few of the places look like they have legitimate "potential" (I am sick of real estate agents using that word). Because my best friend/future tenant Andrew's lease ends on August 15, we are hoping to find somewhere acceptable (because perfection doesn't exist, right?) by mid-July, otherwise he may be occupying my couch for a while. Should we achieve success in time and in the area we're hoping for (and I really hope we do), we'll totally be moved in before Sunset Junction, which is looking quite righteous this year (Cold War Kids + Issac Hayes + Broken Social Scene + The Black Keys already, with lots of open spots to fill), and living just a few blocks away.

In other news, after 1-1/4 years of being single, I am finally not. And that is definitely news worth sharing. :) Also, I have an interview next Friday! In the past week, since learning that I was for sure not chosen for the Kaiser Permanente job (BAH FUCKING HUMBUG), I have applied online for a ton of jobs: UCLA Healthcare, Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles, Cedars-Sinai, Big Brothers Big Sisters of LA, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles....I've been busy. And the other day I got an email requesting that I interview for a Clinical Research Assistant position at the Childrens Complete Care Program at UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital! AND today I was caught off guard by a random preliminary phone interview for a similar position (though slightly more administrative) with a Clinical Trails company in Sherman Oaks. YES! FINALLY things are starting to look up. Though I will dearly miss filling out the unemployment check questionnaires every 2 weeks, it will definitely be nice to be working again (even if the commute is ugly).

One last thing before I get to the recipe: tonight, Craigslist triumphed again. I've been playing lots of guitar lately, and decided I needed a stand for my baby. So I logged on, searched "guitar stand" in the For Sale prompt, and what do I see, but "FREE GUITAR STAND (Pasadena)". So in under an hour, at the cost of a mere 6-pack of Tecate, I acquired a very nice guitar stand for my Sigma.

That got me wondering: I wonder how often people offering free products on Craigslist (who don't explicitly request anything in return) receive some kind of material/financial compensation for their product? It would be an interesting study to do, as an examination of, what? Guilt? Social exchange theory? Altruism? Reciprocity? Of course, one could only do a correlational study, which sucks, but it would still be fun. It would be especially fun to look at the statistics as a function of different variables: religion (do Catholics reciprocate because of the classic Catholic guilt?), race (of giver AND taker), geographic region (Does the theory of Midwest values stand the test?), nature of the product (facility of purchase otherwise?), original cost of the product/current market value (More is more? Less is less?), distance the taker had to travel (More is less? Less is more? Intra-neighborhood good will?)....wow. I really want to be a researcher.

Anyway, given all this long-due goodness in my life, I decided it was time not to celebrate with some Lucullan feast, but rather with some good, down-to-earth, comfort food. Luck had it that during our house-hunting on Saturday, Candice and I happened by a few little garage sales, and I was fortunate enough to acquire a GREAT cookbook in the process - for just 1 dollar: The Tex-Mex Cookbook, by Rob Walsh. The book is almost exactly what I feel a cookbook should be: a variety of recipes (and suggestions for variation), organized consistently and clearly, most of which not requiring an extraordinary number of ingredients, and lots of background research, stories, photographs, and anecdotes to support the content. Sadly, there are no pictures of finished meals. However, the directions are generally pretty good, and so far I have only had success with it. Here is his recipe for Arroz con Pollo, with my changes *asterisked*.

Arroz con Pollo
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40-50 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:
-2 leg-thigh (or breast-wing) combinations of chicken, with the bone and the skin (skin optional)
*Dry rub of your choice. Walsh claims the traditional Tex-Mex dry rub = 3 parts kosher salt + 4 pts chili powder + 1 pt garlic powder + 1 pt onion powder. Having foolishly left my chili powder at my friend Bethany's house a few weeks ago (D'oh), I went with a slightly but not altogether different approach: 1 TBSP kosher salt + 2 tsp onion powder + 2 tsp garlic powder + 1 TBSP paprika + 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper + 1 tsp black pepper + 1 tsp Mexican oregano + 1 tsp cumin. By my count, that totals to ~5 TBSP, which was perfect.
-2 TBSP vegetable oil
-3/4 cup rice (Long-grain please! I messed up and used short-grain. Why long grain? Take it from Alton Brown: "Long-grain rices have a whole lot of amylose but not a lot of amylopectin...this ratio means that this grain will cook up very light, fluffy, separate from all the other grains..."kernel integrity". This is as opposed to medium-grain rice, which "cooks up rather soft - not mushy, but soft. And it can give up some of its starch to the surrounding water....I would make, for instance, rice pudding out of this."....not what we want...or at least how I like my Mexican rice. And definitely not short-grain rice, which "gives up huge amounts of starch to the surrounding environment. And that means it can either be very, very, very creamy, or very, very, very sticky." Phew! Glad we got that taken care of.
-1/2 onion, chopped
-1 cloves garlic, minced (hell with that! I used 3 :)
*1 14-oz can stewed tomatoes. I used Italian, but Mexican would, of course, be more appropriate (Walsh's recipe calls for 1/2 c tomato puree...I like my tomatoes a little more substantial in my Mexican rice)
-1 c water

Instructions:
Rinse the chicken and allow to dry. *Using your hands, lift the skin off the chicken and pat the dry rub all over the place...under the skin, on top, around, on the back. Let it sit on the bottom shelf of the fridge, in a high-lipped bowl (keeping it in a plastic bag would mean collecting moisture) for long enough to let the flavors meld. In the meantime, chop your onion and your garlic, and combine in a bowl with your rice (mise en place style). Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until smoking, and brown the chicken until until the skin acquires a deep subfusc character (~5 mins/side). Don't let it burn, and definitely crank up your exhaust fan - the relatively low smoke point of the fat in chicken means there will most likely be smoke. While it's cooking, clean thoroughly the bowl in which the chicken was chilling, and once the chicken is done, remove it to that bowl. Using the oil left in the pan (and adding a little extra, if you deem it necessary), add your rice-onion-garlic mixture, stirring constantly until the onion is soft and the rice has changed color. This takes longer than you'd think! Be patient. Once you smell the aromatic garlic coming up from the pan, it should be done. Stir in your can of tomatoes and let some of the flavors mingle with the contents. Then add the water, along with extra salt and pepper, per your preference. Return the chicken to the pan, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the rice is soft and fluffy but still slightly wet.

Seriously, this recipe is a PIECE OF CAKE and I highly encourage you to try it! Plus, it's an easy weeknight meal because of its ease and quickness. You might have a space issue, if you're trying to make for lots of people, but in that case I brown the chicken first, then complete the rice+chicken step in a larger pot. In the future, I want to try steaming the chicken pieces first, to rid them of some of their fat (thereby lessening the smoke during browning, and the potential sogginess from cooking/braising-ish), and possibly make the meal a little more multi-dimensional by experimenting with veggies. (corn? peas (a la paella)? red bell pepper? spinach?)

Happy cooking!!!

Discourse on Pizza

2008-05-14T22:45:00.001-07:00

I've been making a lot of pizzas lately.

This recent obsession may be due to the fact that I found a pizza place in East Hollywood that sells its large doughs, uncooked, for only $2.16 -- 13% percent of the cost of the cheapest large pizza (w /tax). (To disclose or not to disclose this mystery store!!! Comment and I'll let you in on my secret :). They also have a few very cute servers with whom to flirt. It also might come from the fact that pizza - the ultimate culinary tabula rasa, save pasta(?) - provides a delicious canvas on which to paint such a wide gamut of healthy vegetables, fresh or canned (which, of course, practically negates that "healthy" part). It's also due in part to the Pampered Chef Pizza Stone that I acquired from my mom about a month ago, and even more so to the procurement of my new favorite kitchen tool - a 10" cast-iron skillet - that I picked up from the Goodwill at Hollywood/Rodney for (a mere) $3.21. Hallelujah Goodwill!

The Base

In much of life, the overall quality of any product - from relationships to skyscrapers and legal arguments - depends on the quality of its foundation. In this case, it's the crust; and in my opinion, nothing is worse than a soggy bottom. Furthermore, the perimeter crust should be crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside. To accomplish this feat, in my experience, nothing works better than the cast-iron skillet. Even with cornstarch to prevent sticking on my pizza stone, the pan creates a stiffer (or at least less soggy) crust, and it's the best way to get the perimeter crust golden brown and delicious. Painting the crust with olive oil before helps, but with the pizza stone, the bottom gets all the love (ie, heat), and the sides of the crust are left to rely on solely the oven's heat and the browning power of the OO. And if you're like me, your oven's heat maintenance skills are about as reliable as Myanmar's visa-providing system.

I realize that I might sound a tad hypocritical here - if the base is the most important part, why would I spend two bucks on it instead of making it from scratch, risking elemental integrity and compromising the overall experience? Quite frankly, buying premade dough is simply easier and more foolproof. Worry not about additives, preservatives, and overall funkiness! - I have been assured that this dough is 100% natural. Ingredients: yeast, flour, water, salt, and olive oil. Furthermore, my experiences with yeast have been overwhelmingly negative, and as long as I'm out buying toppings, it is absolutely no crime to drop by the pizza place, support a local business, and improve my chances at scoring some digits.

The Sauce

Being pizza a more or less layered food, logically the sauce should follow. Though I have no qualms selling my soul for the dough, I do have a problem buying premade "pizza sauce". This stems mostly from my concern about what exactly goes into those commercial concoctions. A quick scan of the ingredient list of Ragu Pizza Quick Traditional Snack Sauce reveals all: Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Soybean Oil, Salt, Modified Food Starch, Dried Onions, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Spices, Natural Garlic Flavor (Contains Soy Lecithin). So, a quick analysis:

Tomato Paste	paste? why not actual tomatoes?
Soybean Oil	ok, olive oil would be better, but whatever. fat is fat
Salt	at 380 mg per 63 gram serving (10% Daily Value), waaaay too much. plus, who only uses 1 serving?
Modified Food Starch	ok. whatever.
Dried onions	who doesn't love onions?
High Fructose Corn Syrup	just what we need, more sugar.
"Spices"	thanks for the specifics.
Natural Garlic Flavor	if it's natural, why do we only get the flavor?

I don't think I have to go on. This is just pathetic. Practically plastic. To avoid diabetes and cancer, I opt for the homemade stuff. Now, there are plenty of recipes out there, but in general, they share 6-7 key ingredients. Here's a frequency breakdown by ingredient of the first four recipes that show up when searching "pizza sauce" on FoodTV.com:

Ingredient	Frequency
Tomato, Puree:Whole Peeled	2:2
Olive Oil	4
Garlic	4
Onion (minced)	1
Marjoram, dried	1
Basil, dried:fresh	2:1
Oregano, fresh	2
Rosemary, fresh	1
Sugar	1 (optional)
Water	1
Salt n Peppa	4

Knowing this, even without quantities, it's pretty damn easy to figure out how to make a passable pizza sauce, sans high fructose corn syrup and modified corn starch. My basic strategy is to take a small saucepan and sweat some minced garlic & minced onion in OO (using onion only if I have some leftover in the fridge) (or, to save on overall mincing, shallot = garlic + onion). While they're perspiring, I quarter and squish a few big tomatoes into the saucepan (three usually do the trick), add some herbs (again, fresh if I got 'em, but dried otherwise (note to self: buy marjoram)), and let it all reduce to a sauce-like consistency. The recipe that promotes sugar notes to "add a touch of sugar if desired of if tomatoes are tart". I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Needless to say, trial and error will lead you inevitably to a respectable and personalized sauce.

I also made one pizza with homemade pesto (w/ grilled chicken and sun-dried tomatoes, yum!), which turned out as good as it sounds. Using the pesto was nice because, as it is such a potent sauce, not a ton was necessary. To make: In a food processor, pulse until ground 2 c packed basil + 2 cloves garlic + 1/4 c pine nuts. Slowly, drizzle in exactly 2/3 cup OO and process until smooth. Add S+P, but not too much! Overly salty pesto is vile, vile stuff. Add 1/2 cup grated Parm, Pecorino, or any other hard Italian cheese. Pulse until brilliant.

The Toppings

Of course, having a solid base is important, but the potential brilliance of pizza - and what Mr. Puck saw as early as 1982 when he opened Spago on the Sunset Strip and revolutionized the food - lies in the toppings. (Quite a sentence that was). It's the funnest part and, in my opinion, it's what makes the pizza industry one of the fastest-growing in the country, beating out Asian food, Italian food, and donuts and steak combined!

One of my biggest concerns with toppings when I got on this pizza kick was, to precook or not to precook? With meats, precooking takes the cake: it rids the meat of unwanted grease that can turn your (relatively) healthy pizza into something that belongs in a delivery box. It also allows you to create your own specialty meats, like homemade Italian sausage (see below), as well as use chicken without the risk of cross-contamination. For veggies, the debate is thicker: precooking allows you to infuse flavor (as in onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms) and prevents burning (as in brocollini), but is not always appropriate (ie tomatoes).

Another great debate in pizza-making concerns the cheese and the toppings, or rather, the relationship between the two: over or under? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. The over-under dilemma can be answered only based on knowing what toppings you'll use - here we're concerned both with taste and appearance. In general, I'm a big fan of the 1/2-1/2 method: laying down half your cheese, then the toppings, then the rest of the cheese. This serves to protect the toppings from drying out while still maintaining the aesthetic appeal that the toppings bring to the party (color, texture, etc). What follows is a brief discussion of my precook protocol and the over-under debate, by topping:

Broccoli & Broccolini: Awesome. Remembering that, universally, broccoli is a bigger fan of steaming than roasting (yes, roasted broccoli is great, but how often do you steam vs. roast?), so putting fresh broccoli florets on top of the cheese will do nothing good for the broccoli or the pizza. Steaming or blanching them first is up to you, but either way, broccoli florets go under the cheese, or 1/2-1/2.

Onions/Leeks/Bell Peppers: Taking our hint from the traditional Chicago classic, Italian Sausage and Pepper Deep Dish Pizza, the only way to treat these toppings is to precook. Saute these puppies, cut into strips or diced, in olive oil before placing on top of the cheese or 1/2-1/2.

Tomato slices: Because of the high water content of tomatoes, placing standard sliced tomatoes directly on the crust would result in sogginess - therefore theoretically these deserve the top shelf. But again, the 1/2-1/2 strategy kicks ass. This way, as the cheese melts, the tomatoes become visible and still receive plenty of heat without soggying up the dough.

Mushrooms: When using shrooms, it depends on what kind of mushrooms you're using, and more importantly, how thick your slices are. With thinly-sliced fresh mushrooms, top-placement exposure to high heat will dry them out in a heartbeat, producing mushroom-shaped flavorless pieces of cardboard. Therefore, thinly-sliced mushrooms should be buried under the cheese. Thicker slices, as well as canned mushrooms, will make it through the heat OK most of the time, but one should still be aware of the dangers inherent in this method. For those with an aversion to the rubbery taste of raw mushrooms (like your's truly), nothing makes mushrooms better than a saute in butter. Not only does this make them more resistant to drying out, but they taste infinitely better. **Insert Paula Deen quote**

Spinach: While spinach tastes great on pizza (especially with chicken, pesto, tomatoes, etc.), it is more fragile than my grandpa. Precooking spinach equals wilting it, so I avoid that route. Instead, bury spinach partially under the cheese, or (my preferred method), slice it chiffonade, and combine with shredded cheese.

Italian Sausage: This topping inspired by the classic Chicago deep-dish and my inherent frugality. In a mixing bowl, combine thoroughly: 1 lb ground pork + 1.5 TBSP kosher salt + 1 tsp roasted fennel seeds (for the traditional Italian(-American?) flavor) + 1/4 tsp smoked paprika + 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper + 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes + 1 tsp black pepper + 1 TBSP finely chopped fresh parsley. Cover and let chill in the fridge for an hour or two. Or overnight. Brown in a big ol' skillet, drain the excess fat, and save in an airtight container for up to a week? Probably less. Though people claim that raw meat can go straight on top of the cheese and cook in the oven, I can think of two good reasons not to: less grease and less risk of cross-contamination. True, putting precooked meat back in the hot environment of the oven could dry it out. However, precooking the sausage and placing it under the cheese partially eliminates the risk of dry toppings and potentially saves your stomach. This same process works Mexican chorizo.

Pepperoni, Bacon, Canadian Bacon, Ham, Proscuitto: : To accomplish the same result as above, place your meat slices between two sheets of paper towels and microwave at 10-second intervals until a good amount of the grease is absorbed. Then, prepare as desired.

Chicken: Precook. Duh. To keep your chicken moist, employ the 1/2-1/2 method.

Fresh Herbs: Again, depends. If you're making a simple Pizza Margherita, the basil has no choice but to go on top. However, for a BBQ Chicken Pizza, I like incorporating the cilantro into the shredded cheese, like spinach above.

Jesus it's late. Sleepy time for me.

7-Grain Apple Cinnamon Muffins

2008-05-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

So, after 3 months of waiting, and bugging, and hoping, and interviewing, and collecting unemployment checks........I didn't get the Kaiser job. ='( Apparently gigantic hospitals actually do their homework when they hire, and found someone who has 15+ years of experience in the field. The only thing that could possibly save me in the end is this guy learning the pay range for the job (which will probably happen Monday), and realizing that it's way too low for someone of his age/position in life. Monday morning I'll call the hiring manager to let him know how disappointed I am, and how I'm willing to work for peanuts, and to assure him of what a good person I am and how much I want this job....and hope that he'll be willing to help me.

In the meantime, I am quite depressed. Not working sucks. This morning I went to Costco to buy soy milk (12 cartons for 11.49! Weee!), baby back ribs, and some essentials, and then stopped by Jon's market hoping to find something new or exciting to cheer me up...got ahold of a bag of Bob's Red Mill 7-Grain Cereal for $0.99, which is pretty sweet. The bag was pretty mangled, but it was the healthiest thing in the bargain bin, so what the hell. And I'm having dinner with Sandi tonight (mmmmm Thai food...probably pick-up from Tub Tim Siam and back here to watch a movie or something)...definitely looking forward to some real human contact. And after that, it's out with Midnight Ridazz! Jedi Mind Trick! Yes! I could probably be having sex, true, but the chance to ride around Downtown LA in my Jedi Robe (ummmmm I mean wearing normal clothes) is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I would be loathe to miss it.

So in an effort to cheer myself up this afternoon, I loaded up the old iPod and set to baking. Indie rock + muffins = good vibrations. Despite the fact that really shouldn't be making food that will only make me fatter (muffins + bad vibrations = worse vibrations), it did make me feel better, in the short-term. Maybe I'll give the muffins away. Anyway, I used my new 7-grain cereal to whip up a dozen and a half of the muffins recommended on the bag. Here's the recipe:

7-Grain Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Yields: 36 muffins (can be scaled down...I made a half-recipe)

Ingredients
[A] 2 c rolled oats
2 c AP flour
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c wheat bran (woops, didn't have this - used whole wheat flour instead)
1/3 c 7-grain cereal
2 TBSP baking powder
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
[B] 2 eggs
1-1/2 c soy milk
1/2 c veggie oil
1/3 c honey
2 c chopped apples (i left the skins on bc i <3>
*preheat oven to 400*F
1. mix together all A ingredients
2. in a separate bowl, mix together all B ingredients
3. add B to A. mix together just until all moist! extra mixing = extra gluten formation = extra chewy = bad muffins.
4. lime muffin pan(s) with paper baking cups. fill 2/3 full. bake for 15 minutes or until GBAD.

Nutritional info according to original recipe website: each muffin contains: Calories 110, Calories from Fat 35, Total Fat 4g, Saturated Fat 0g, Cholesterol 5mg, Sodium 85mg, Total Carbohydrates 18g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 7g, Protein 3g.

I am saddened to say that these guys were not very delicious. Evidently I under-baked them, because they were still a little wet in the middle, and even with only 12 stirs, I over-mixed them. Alton Brown does a good job explaining what probably went wrong:

"This nasty phenomenon is called 'tunneling' and it happens whenever too much stirring creates gluten, the protein matrix responsible for French bread's chew. Get enough gluten in a muffin, and instead of a texture based on a lot of little bubbles, the gas created by the leavening is forced into a handful of highly elastic chambers, resulting in [fewer, bigger bubbles]. And that's just not good eats. The moral of the story, don't over-mix your muffins!"

Oh well. Practice makes perfect, right? Still, in spite of the sub-par texture and the yumminess that the apple brings to the mix (pun really not intended), these just taste way too healthy. Not that healthy is bad. Healthy is the best! But healthy-tasting means bland and boring...2 words with whom I do not associate. Whatever, I'll give 'em to my roommates. They'll eat anything.

On a closing note, my time for the Santa Monica Classic 5K got posted! 3.1 miles, 21:56 minutes! While that is decent, my stopwatch told me I placed closer to 21:30. Still, I took 37th place overall, which I'm happy about, and I got to backtrack a bit (a lot) after I was done to run with and motivate my friend Pam, who came in in 43 minutes even. Yay teamwork.

Happy cooking, everyone. If you live in LA and know of any cool job openings, shoot them my way =(

How to Learn How Many People Subscribe to Your Blog

2008-05-08T23:38:00.000-07:00

In 5 Easy Steps.

Step 1: Fire up Google Reader
Step 2: Click "Add Subscription". You will be prompted by a green box saying: "Enter a search term to find feeds or paste a feed url."
Step 3: Type in the name of your blog or the uniform resource locator (URL) of your website
Step 4: Be...
(a) incredibly thrilled and honored
OR
(b) terribly depressed

I choose option A!!! 5 subscribers!!! You guys rock!!!

Taco Truck Night

2008-05-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

So, a week later (woops), I'm happy to report that LA Taco Night was a huge success! To celebrate democracy and America, my good friend Candice and I headed over to Sunset/Echo Park Blvd to find one of the truck I saw on some online map. Imagine our surprise when we arrived and discovered not tacos, but their superior fried cousin, the churro. Ah, that fried phallus of dough, drenched in a powdery concoction of cinnamon and sugar. Unable to pass by such an opportunity, we split an order.

Salinas Churros, on Echo Park Blvd just south of Sunset.

To my delight, the classic churro-making method was employed: the churrera hand-cranked the dough out of a faucet-like spout into a vat of piping hot oil, separating each new churro from the churro-to-be the old fashioned way - with her fingers. No more than 5 minutes later, our order - 8 churros for $3 - awaited us in a paper lunch bag. This was a treat for the gods, and deserved some special treatment. We sat in the car with some Elliott Smith blasting and munched away until all that remained was the subtle scent of cinnamon and grease, filling the car with pure harmony. With our warm-up complete, we were ready for the main event.

Taco Zone, on Alvarado at Montana, near the Vons parking lot.

Content with our appetizer but disappointed that the Internet was wrong (bad Internet!), we proceeded to the nearest truck that I knew: Taco Zone. Just a few minutes up the road, this mobile establishment epitomizes Los Angeles. Family-owned, bargain prices, and LA's history all rolled up in two small corn tortillas. The long line promised heavenly rewards.

Hipsters

The crowd that showed up for LA Taco Night was, when you consider the source of the event, exactly what you'd expect: hipsters, iPhones in hand, food bloggers, and the occasional true Taco Zone devotee. I'm not ashamed to admit that I was among those who rarely visit taco trucks, but I was proud to be supporting the cause of liberty.

Starting at 1:00 moving clockwise: Al pastor, carne asada, lengua, pollo

After a relatively short wait, we ordered and were promptly served. The al pastor (my favorite) was excellent, the asada was crispy and meaty, and the pollo, on the dry side. But what blew my socks off was the lengua - tongue. This was the first time I experienced lengua and I must say, it was awesome. Flavorful and moist, with traces of picante and lots of grease, this may be my new favorite. Topped with fresh lime juice and the classic onion-cilantro-lime/lemon juice mixture, it was heaven on earth. The lengua was Candice's favorite, too (see below).

Lengua Love

Now, I must confess - as much as I enjoyed myself that night, this won't be an everyday trip for me. Not even every week. I'm definitely not used to so much meat and grease all at once, and I came home feeling like a seagull after the Exxon Valdez wreck. Still, the experience - the sights, smells, tastes, camaraderie, and good feeling of supporting local vendors - opened my eyes. It was a good time. I'll be back.

Asian Pear Crisp

2008-05-01T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well I'm sad to say that my excursion to Redondo Beach the other night was pretty much a dud. Turns out Metromix LA was totally wrong by saying that the chili competition was Sunday...it was Saturday! The Redondo Beach Performing Arts parking lot was all decked out in carnival rides, games, a music stage, and various and sundry booths selling things, but, sadly, no chili was to be found. So, my third date with Sandi turned into a romantic walk along Manhattan Beach and dinner at Octopus, where we dined on some very fine sushi. So, the night wasn't a total loss.

Today was meh. I learned that the job I've been waiting on is in limbo. Apparently they're doing their homework and have interviewed a few other people besides me, and there's one guy vying for the job who has WAY more experience than I do. My contact (and potential future superior) claims she 110% wants me to get the job, but at the end of the day it's the PI (principal investigator) (doctor) who has the final call on who gets hired (contrary to what she was told in the beginning). GAH! This is worse than that time I tried to make Pain Francais. So now it's just a waiting game - waiting on them to make a decision. Poop.

Luckily, there is no doubt that, despite my preoccupations about the future, today will end on a good note: it's TACO TRUCK NIGHT!!! If you don't live in LA or don't keep on top of LA legislature (for shame!), know that there is major drama going down surrounding the taco trucks that make our city so special. Not more than a few weeks ago, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a harsh set of regulations for unincorporated county areas: Parking a taco truck in one spot for longer than an hour is now punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, six months in jail, or both. There is a current law that prohibits these trucks from remaining in the same spot for more than 30 minutes, but is rarely enforced. The whole concept of this law is outrageous. Not only does the common taco truck represent an authentic, economical alternative to the franchised, stuffy, fake food that too many people call "Mexican" (see: Acapulco, Don Jose's, Taco Bell, etc); the taco truck is a symbol of the dream of capitalism and America. Take a read at Jonathan Gold's eloquent telling of the tale. So tonight, anyone who cares will take to the streets and support these vendors while we can. One may see this action as superfluous - after all, what will be lost by having the trucks move around on the hour? The answer lies in the continuity that many of these vendors and their patrons have enjoyed during the course of their existence. The taco truck is the LA version of Chicago's hot dog stands, or Philly's cheesesteak carts; each has it's "regulars": those patrons who come week after week for the quality, environment, company, and prices. To force these trucks to abandon their posts would jeopardize the livelihood of the overwhelmingly minority populations who own and run them. In conclusion, tonight we celebrate democracy and the American Dream. To support this worthwhile cause, visit Carne Asada Is Not A Crime at http://SaveOurTacoTrucks.org and sign the petition. You'll see my name there.

It's a taco stand, get it?

Still, it's not dinnertime yet. So to make myself feel better this afternoon, I finally got to use a couple of Asian Pears that picked up last Friday at the Echo Park Farmer's Market. They were starting to get a little sad, so it was now or never. I made a variation of my aunt Nancy's Apple Crisp that I make whenever I need to impress someone (hi Bethany!), and don't want to traverse the old chocolate route.

Asian Pear Crisp

Based on Nancy Rhein's Apple Crisp recipe, from A Taste of Tradition, A Taste of Today II: A Collection of Favorite Recipes from the Families & Friends of Temple Beth El of South Orange County (page 140).
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 mins
Yields: 4 servings, if you include ice cream. Otherwise, 3.

Ingredients:
Filling:
2-3 large Asian Pears (can be substituted for Granny Smith or any other tart apple)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 TBSP lemon or lime juice
1 tsp cinnamon
Topping:
1 c. flour (I use whole wheat)
1/2 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 stick butter, cut into manageable pieces

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375*F.
2. Start by coring the pears. The original recipe says to peel, but I appreciate the nutrients in the skin, plus it gives the whole thing some nice color. Slice the pears into thin strips (not julienne). Add the sugar, juice, and cinnamon.
3. Combine all the topping ingredients in a separate bowl. With your hands (the best tools EVER) work all the butter into the flour. By the end, you shouldn't have any big chunks of butter floating around in there.
4. In an 8.5"x6"x1" Pyrex casserole dish, use 1/3 of the topping to create a carpeting. Put it down with your hand a little to get everything cohesive. Place the pear mixture on top of this. It might bulge a little. That's OK. Use the rest of the topping to completely cover the pears.
5. Bake for 45 minutes, or until topping is GBAD (golden brown and delicious, of course...hahahahaha).

Happy baking!

Daring Bakers April challenge - Cheesecake Pops!

2008-04-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

Oh man I totally almost forgot to post today! What a disaster that would have been. In my defense, the reason this post is shorter than most (hah, or not) is because in the extremely proximate future I and a few friends will be heading down to the 28th Annual North Redondo Beach Spring Fest and International Chili Cookoff. Hell yeah! Today is the last day of the three-day event, which includes a Chili Cookoff along with Chile Verde and Salsa (the concoction, not the dance) contests. The whole shindig is being held by the International Chili Society. No joke. The beach is a short 2-mile walk from the site (Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center), which will make a convenient setting for the post-chili-binge nap. Anyway! Onto the cheesecake.

Cheesecake Pop Forest.

I give this recipe a 6/10 in difficulty/complication, a 7/10 in taste, and a 7/10 in overall fun. Unfortunately, scores would be higher, but I was something of a rush. The plan was to bring a nice sample of these delicious desserts to my future coworkers in the Pediatric Oncology unit at Kaiser Permanente (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)....the next morning at 11am. Time of commencement: 6pm the day before. Here's the rubdown:

6:00PM - The first step, with all that cream cheese, would have been downright simple....except I was using a hand mixer. Note to self: cream cheese alone is WAY too durable for a hand mixer. Sadly, the mixer suffered the consequences of my ignorance. See below :(

Death of a Mixer :(

7:00PM - However, as Teddy Roosevelt said, one must do what you can, with what you have, where you are. So made do with one mixer. Then came the baking part. I'd never actually executed a water bath, but I'd seen it done many a time on TV, and it wouldn't have given me much trouble if I had remembered that EGSS = FLUFFY. I.e., this mofo is gonna grow in the oven. So I loaded the creamy smoothness into my 9" cake pan until it was milliliters away from tumbling over the edge, and set it to bake.

WORD.

Needless to say, ~80 MINUTES LATER it was done, but I had lost a substantial quantity of the yumminess to the murky depths of the moat surrounding it.

My Pan Overfloweth.

8:30PM - No matter! Time to get down to room temp, and stick this guy in the chill chest. Realizing that I would have to cut down the chill time to have the balls made by a decent hour, they only got to chill for 6 hours...

2:30AM - I dragged my tired ass out of bed for this, and this scooping experience was probably the most awkward (not in the fun way) thing I've ever done with my hands (and these hands have experience.....if you know what I mean). Eventually I figured out that the trick to forming quality balls (ha. ha.) is having clean hands...i.e. washing off all the cheesecake on your hands from the previous ball. The result: a menagerie of amorphous lumps that I prayed would solidify enough in 6 hours to withstand a quick roll in molten hot chocolate. Awesome!

Ballz.

8:30AM - "Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate"? Check. White Chocolate? Check. Graham crackers? FUCK! no. Next best thing? Cinnamon Toast Crunch. HELLLLLLZ YEAH. Fearing averse taste results, I only made a few of these, but they were damn good. The dipping process? Not so bad. I lost a bunch of balls to lack-of-frozenness, and eventually stopped dipping and started painting (gracias a los Silicone brushes!), and by the end, had a nice little batch of puppies, ready for a final chill in the freezer.

Pretty!

The rest, as they say, is history. The Cheesecake Pops arrived right on time, got raving reviews, and the entire process took only 17 hours. Had I planned ahead better, it could have spanned a whole day, but it was worth it. Will I make them again? Maybe. It takes more work than regular cheesecake, but there's more room for improvisation and error.

Oh yeah, here's the recipe:

Cheesecake Pops
Makes 30 – 40 Pops
5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks (I used shish kabob skewers)
1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening (I used vegetable oil: no problem!)
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream. Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight. When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours. When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety. Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth. Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed. Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

The Insect I Hate Most

2008-04-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

It's a well-known fact, learned mostly from "Did You Know?" articles in children's magazines, that many cultures eat a variety of bugs. I think I could probably do it.

But there is one bug that I would never eat. Not in a million, trillion, quadrillion years: the mosquito-eater (Crane flies; Oder: Diptera; Family: Tipulidae).
EVER.

Daring Bakers March challenge - CAKE

2008-03-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

*Insert Marie Antoinette reference here*
*Insert cliche Marie Antoinette punchline here*
YAAAAAY CAKE!
I must applaud the hosts of this month's challenge. It was the perfect recipe after the french bread of doom - simple, ample room for improvisation, and delicious.I've gotta say that I didn't enjoy the buttermilk frosting so much, so when I make this recipe in the future, I'll be sticking with normal old heavy whipping cream.
I used simple strawberry preserves for the fruity layers...And dark blackberries for ornamentation.
This cake will definitely make an appearance at the next birthday party I attend!

Pastel de Tres Leches

2008-03-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

Like many a food enthusiast, I have developed a fascination (if not an obsession) with Alton Brown's Food TV show, "Good Eats". Few other shows on the Idiot Box cater to so many of my passions: learning, bad humor, tangential descriptions, and of course, food. Though some of his recipes do require a level of patience, ingredient diversity, and technique that are beyond my means (for example, his Pad Thai recipe has like 30 ingredients, his Deep Fried Turkey extravaganza requires you buy a ladder and pulleys, and I'm often left scratching my head when he measures certain ingredients (such as cake flour) by weight, not volume), a great majority of his advice is sound and totally accessible by the average weekend chef. Additionally, I've noticed that through the years, the show's structure and format have gotten more user-friendly, less obtuse, and a little more cooking-show-esque, rather than a class field trip, which I appreciate.
A recent episode that aired, "Milk Made", has spurred me to attempt baking once again....the recipe: Pastel de Tres Leches. I basically used Alton's exact recipe, but for your entertainment here's the episode transcript! If I were you I would follow the recipe via the transcript, for full comedic effect.
Pastel Tres Leches
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2007

Cake:
Vegetable oil
6 3/4 ounces cake flour, plus extra for pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces sugar
5 whole eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Glaze:
1 12-oz can evaporated milk
1 14-oz can sweetended condensed milk
1 cup half-and-half

Topping:
2 cups heavy cream
8 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil and flour a 13 by 9-inch metal pan and set aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Place the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat on medium speed until fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Decrease the speed to low and with the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar over 1 minute. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl, if necessary. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and mix to thoroughly combine. Add the vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches and mix just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. This will appear to be a very small amount of batter. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cake is lightly golden and reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees F. Remove the cake pan to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Poke the top of the cake all over with a skewer or fork. Allow the cake to cool completely and then prepare the glaze.

Whisk together the 3 milks (ahem....TRES LECHES). Pour over the cake. Refrigerate overnight (or for 3 hours, like I did). Place the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together on low until stiff peaks are formed. Change to medium speed and whisk until thick. Spread the topping over the cake and allow to chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Samosas, Part II

2008-03-10T15:00:00.000-07:00

YUM. 'Nuff said.

Baked Turkey Samosas
Pre time: 1 hr
Cook time: 30 mins @ 400* F
Yield: 8 samosas

Dough:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt (unfortunately, the only thing I had was Low-Fat Vanilla...hahahaha)
~ 1 cup extra flour

Filling:
1/2 large red onion, diced
2-3 cups mashed potatoes
2 cups leftover Thanksgiving turkey
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp crushed red pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions:
1. Combine all the dough ingredients. Let rest for a bit.
2. Grab a pot. 1 tbsp olive oil + onions, do 'em good. You know the drill. Add those mashed potatoes right on in there (if using instant, like I did, just follow the directions. Piece. Of. Cake.) Add the turkey, and all the spices. Couldn't be easier.
3. Now the tricky part: diving your dough into 8 equal pieces. Incorporate LOTS more flour into them, so you use your handy rolling pin and make nice little circles. If you're sticking to your floured working surface, add more flour. Plop about 1/8th of the filling onto one side of your samosa-to-be, and fold over, like a calzone. Use a fork to 'crimp' the edges together. Wash, rinse, repeat.
4. Arrange your 8 samosas on a pizza stone (or similar oven-safe equipment), and brush with your remaining tablespoon OO. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

Dinner for 4, if you include a side dish.

Daring Bakers Feb 08 Challenge

2008-02-29T15:39:00.001-08:00

OMG I HATE YEAST SO MUCH.
I swear I did everything just like the instructions said. The rises, the beatings...
Why did we choose such a long-ass recipe??
12 hours is not acceptable.
It comes out looking good.
And yet, I suck.
In the future, I request non-yeast breads only.

Samosas!

2008-02-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

Not long ago my friend Candice introduced me to her favorite magazine: Real Simple. After some casual reading, I have decided that it is pretty much the best magazine out on the market these days (or at least tied with Sunset, and of course ESPN Magazine). It has advice on recipes, techniques, entertaining, "new uses for old things"...lots of fun stuff. The articles are written for moms, I admit, and can be pretty shameless (like, Travel Tips: Airplane Etiquette, Wedding-Planning Stress Relievers,The Best Hair-Removal Methods), but the magazine as a whole is nice because it speaks to our 21st century obsessions: simplicity, recycling ideas and objects, and good health.

The recipe that I adapted for dinner tonight is Quick and Easy Samosas, which originally called for only mashed potatoes and peas. For my evolved palate, that just didn't sound like enough, so I did some rewiring and added some chicken, too (see last night's Beer Can Chicken). The result: mmmmmmm delicious. The subtle ginger in the chicken locked in with the curry powder, really bringing out both flavors, and the pastry part couldn't have been easier. And the best part was that I had all the ingredients sitting around my fridge, freezer, and pantry. Rather than using refrigerated mashed potatoes, I used the Albertson's brand flakes (just add water and (soy) milk!), and I just happened to have 1 frozen pie crust sitting in the icebox. Hopefully you do too! Here's the deets:

Quick and Easy Samosas (a la Brian)
Prep time: 10 mins (+ defrosting time for pie crust)
Cook time: 30 mins
Serves: my dinner

Ingredients:
object2=">1 tbsp olive oil
object2=">1/2 onion, chopped
object2=">1 phatty pinch of Kosher salt
several good grinds of pepper
object2=">1 tsp curry powder
2 object2=">cups mashed potatoes (prepare according to directions on the box)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken (or turkey! this could totally be a way to use leftover gobble)
object2="> object2=">1 refrigerated piecrust

Ingredients:
1. Heat oven to 375° F.
2. Heat the oil in large saucepan over med heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and golden brown (8? mins). Add the salt, pepper, and curry powder. Cook 1 more minute.
3. Prepare the potatoes in the same pot, right on top of the onions. Why not? Then add the chicken and heat until warmed through completely.
4. Unroll the piecrust and into 3 triangles. Place 1/3 of a heaping of the potato mixture in the center of each piece. Gather the corners of the dough and pinch to form a point. Pinch the seams to seal. Transfer to a baking sheet.
5. Bake the samosas until golden brown (25 mins).

Beer Can Chicken

2008-02-19T21:34:00.000-08:00

They say that, upon arrival at those gates of pearl, we are judged not by our thoughts or our intentions, but solely our actions. Whether or not the bouncer takes into account effort may determine many of our fates, but the moral is the same: you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Cooking gods, I have sinned. For in my many moons indulging the quasi-culinary arts, I have yet to bake a chicken.

That's right. I have never baked a whole chicken. There! I said it! Judge me how you may! But isn't it an intimidating task? There's the problem of the skin and the spices, the issue of keeping the bird moist, the risk of food-borne crazy organisms, plus the Herculean task of carving, not to mention the worries surrounding temperature...sigh.
Well tonight I set about rectifying that smudge on my record. I employed a recipe by the manliest of Food TV men (ew, not Bobby Flay), Guy Fieri (although to be honest, I admire Alton Brown MUCH more. I <3 GOOD EATS). The recipe is something I've heard of before, but never had nor cooked: beer can chicken (BCC). In all frankness, there are only two difficult elements of the cooking process for BCC: the flavoring and the carving. Adding the spices to the chicken involves lifting the skin off the bird, and stuffing the seasonings under the skin. This task, I learned later by reading other recipes online, is facilitated by a bit of oil on the fingers. As you can see, my skin was not as friendly as I had hoped. I had a wee bit of tearage, but still, the spices got on, in, and under, and the end result was mouth-watering and delicious.
As for the carving, well, I ended up just ripping off a leg and a wing for tonight's dinner. Later, at Tupperware o'clock, I managed to eventually get the breasts off and at least the majority of the thigh meat in one piece. But it was a painful process that served to remind me of my ignorance. Does anyone know a GOOD website that clearly illustrates how to carve a bird?? I'm talking videos, pictures, etc.
In the end, the bird was wonderful: moist, intensely flavorful, and more or less economical (about $2 a person). But more than the taste or the cost, the best part of about eating tonight's chicken was knowing that I made it myself. My next goal: making my own rub. Methinks something with smoked paprika.......
Beer Can Chicken
Based off of Guy Fieri's Big Bud's Beer Can Chicken
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 1:10
Yields: 3-4 servings

Ingredients:
1 4-lb whole chicken
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 24-oz can beer

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Wash chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. [Lube up your fingers a bit and lift the skin from the meat]. Rub most of the mixture into meat of chicken. Pour the rest into the cavity of the chicken.
3. Open beer can pour 3/4 into another cup. Enjoy.
4. Drop the garlic cloves into the beer can. Place chicken, open end down, over the beer can to insert the beer into the cavity. Place chicken, standing up, in large saute pan.
5. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 325* F and cook for another 1 hour (or until internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165* F.....or trust the oven).

Arroz con Leche (a la Cubana)

2008-02-14T19:33:00.001-08:00

God this winter has sucked. My dog ran away, my love life is going nowhere, and on Monday I lost my job. Can it be Spring yet??? Please!?! Still, I guess it hasn't been all bad. As one door closes, another opens (so they say), and this may be the opportunity to really find something I love. Also, not working this past week has given me lots of time to cook :)

Today's recipe comes from the Three Guys From Miami's "Celebrate Cuban", a cookbook I got as a <$5 Christmas present from my late boss who hated me. It's a pretty decent cookbook, chock full of "100 great recipes for Cuban entertaining". And the best part - desserts is the first section! Isn't that funny? It's like they actually did what everyone is always joking about -- ya know, "eat dessert first"!

No pictures today, I was lazy. But I can guarantee you that the recipe is delicious. It's a LOT of arroz con leche though, so if you're making this for fewer than 4 people, I'd halve the whole thing. Enjoy!

Arroz con Leche
(Coconut Rice Pudding)
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 1:30

Ingredientes:
2 c uncooked white rice
4 cups water
1 lemon peel (not zest)
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
3 cups whole milk (I used soy milk...it's really not the same)
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup cane sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Cinnamon for garnish

Instrucciones:
1. Place the rice, water, lemon peel, cinnamon sticks, and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce heat to VERY lowest, and cook UNCOVERED until rice is soft (~25 mins) (in the future, I might try making the rice the real way, leaving the pot covered....but what do I know?). Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon sticks.
2. Add the coco milk, whole milk, shredded coco, and sugar. Cook over low heat, uncovered, stirring frequently until thick (~ 1hr). At this point the rice should be very sticky w/ most of the milk absorbed.
3. Gently stir in the heavy whipping cream and continue to cook over low heat until warmed through completely.
4. Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve immediately.

Arroz con leche is delicious cold, too, so don't be afraid to save the leftovers! Oh yeah, and happy Valentine's Day, all you lovers.

Curry-Coconut Stir Fry

2008-02-10T20:56:00.000-08:00

I did it! I finally made my own curry!

I love curry, but for me there's always been this enigmatic stigma associated with the dish - what the heck is it? Wikipedia will tell you that for as many neighborhoods as there are in India, Thailand, etc, there are an equal number of "curries" out there. Thus my confusion. Living near Thai Town has made the adventure of discovering the East's many curries an exceptionally convenient and delicious adventure, and my first attempt, I must declare, has been a star success.

This was also the first time I made my own sauce for a dish (excluding an amazing tequila-lime chicken marinade (thanks Well Fed!)), and I'm delighted with the results. Tangy, stimulating, and just a bit nose-running, this dish will definitely become part of my weekly repertoire. (I just hope it reheats well at work in a Tupperware!)

Curry-Coconut Stir Fry
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 10 + 10 mins
Yields: dinner for dos

Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Zest of .5 lemon
1.5 tablespoons minced garlic
1.5 tablespoons curry powder
1.25 cups light coconut milk
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
5 teaspoon salt, or to taste
.5 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

Heat a wok or skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and heat until hot for 30 seconds. Add the pepper flakes, lemon zest, garlic, and curry powder and stir-fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the coconut milk, soy sauce, sugar, and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the basil. Pour into a bowl.

Stir Fry:
.5 onion, sliced thick
2 carrots, sliced thin
~3? cups broccoli
1 red bell pepper, sliced medium

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and heat for 30 seconds. vegetables and cook, flipping once a minute, for 5 minutes. Add the Curry-Coconut Sauce. Stir-fry until warmed through, about 1 minute. Serve immediately over the brown rice.

You Could Make This Post Food-Related

2008-02-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

I need to start meeting new people.

Seven months ago I graduated from UCLA and, to avoid the hour-long commute to work, so familiar to so many Angelenos, moved away from the palmy, balmy Westside (where 90% of my friends still live). Leave no doubt - I love Los Feliz. The streets here are wide and grass-lined, yoga studios and vegan restaurants serve every other block, and the young population (myself included) is a reflection of this pervading go-green, walk-don't-run attitude. You don't know heaven until you know organic tofu pad thai. When I move out of this house (living with three other people has lost its appeal), I will definitely be relocating in the same Hollywood-Los Feliz-Silverlake barrio.

The unfortunate effect of this move eastward and my transition to financial independence has been a steady atrophying of friendships which were once strong, and a virtual braking of any impetus to get out there and meet new people. I still see my closest friends half a dozen times a month, and I am thankful for them. But my drive to actively explore the LA dating scene has been lacking in vigor and (hence) success.

I could say I've been so busy as to have wrangled only one date in the last 3 months, but who isn't busy with work and responsibilities? No - what it really is is the lazy malaise of hoping that my old relationships will somehow magically revive themselves to their former levels. It has also been me resigning myself to a stagnant social life. I think I've just realized the stupidity of this lifestyle.

Well, no more!

Please don't read what follows as a desperate solicitation for a girlfriend, or a quick lay. It is neither of the sort. Rather, consider it an exercise in adventure and a chance to meet someone new. Who knows, it could be the genesis of a wonderful friendship. Or more.

About Me: I like cooking. I like girls. (Not in that order). I'm 23. I live in Los Angeles. My interests are (not limited to): music, psychology, marching band, liberty, equality, fraternity, Spanish, Catalan, literature in those two languages, languages in general, quality ballpoint pens, UCLA football, UCLA basketball, tangerines, good weather, dressing up, stripping down, quality H20, tea (iced), tea (hot), mojitos, my iPod shuffle, the colors green and brown, USB ports, running, swimming, lifting, March Madness, sex, trail mix, tolerance, good grammar, good vocabularies, Barcelona (where I lived/studied for a year), the rest of Spain, too, siestas, garlic, wearing new shirts for the first time, yogurt, Nalgenes, razzleberry marmalade (tropical), Basque choirs (Cor Euskal Hiria), striving to avoid procrastination, failing to avoid procrastination, working with kids, camping, sleep, Blue Moons, weekends, beer pong, beating U$C, fresh barras from Bonpreu, traveling, philosophy, making lists, my job, the first shower after a haircut, concerts, dual monitor systems, garage sales, Chanukkah, Christmas music, good quotes, and quality staplers. And I will cook for you until you are too blissfully stuffed to remember your name. Or mine.

That is how this post could become forever linked to food. Shoot me an email if you'd like to get together sometime. bdrucla[at]gmail[dot]com.

Crock Pot Italian Chicken Potato Pasta

2008-02-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

Today my CEO and her entourage of bosses left for their annual Beginning(ish) of the Year Manager Retreat, which left the office void of all oversight. It was just me, our volunteer coordinator, and the marketing coordinator, alone in the office. Clearly a mealtime celebration was in order - so I organized a 3-person potluck.

It makes me wonder how many people you need for a "true" potluck (as if "potluck" has such a concrete definition). At least 5 or 6, right? Or maybe a gathering's Potluckhood is not dependent so much on how many people participate, but what those individuals bring. Is bringing a big bowl of pasta carbonara the same as bringing the pasta alone, if someone else plans to bring the sauce? I suppose you could have a 2-person potluck, as long as each person brings something to share. Or is that just...well...sharing? Either way, let's give a big round of applause to COMMUNISM. To each according to his needs! From each according to his ability! Fuck the Hollywood Blacklist of the 1950's - it's those subversive potlucking Pleasantville moms we should to be worried about! Say NO to Tupperware - it could breed espionage, sabotage, and the implosion of the internal security of the United States!!!

Anyway, needless to say, lunch was delicious. My trusty crock pot and I took care of the pasta sauce, GD brought the spaghetti and garlic bread, and SF handled the salad. Here's the recipe:

Crock Pot Italian Chicken Potato Pasta
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6 hrs

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
5 red potatoes, cut into .5" cubes
1 lb chicken breast, diced
1/2 onion, diced
6 mushrooms, diced
6 big basil leaves, minced
2 11-oz cans diced tomatoes (one was Italian Stewed, the other was Onion and Roasted Garlic)
1 red bell pepper, medium diced
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
8 oz shredded mozzarella
1 lb fettuccine

Instructions:
1. Load everything except the cheese and the pasta into your slow cooker. Set it on high, set your alarm clock for 5 1/2 hours, and go take a nap. Or work. Or have sex. (Caution: having sex for 5 1/2 straight (or gay) hours may be hazardous to your health)
2. After you wake up, add the cheese to the crock pot and homogenize. Cover. Cook the pasta.
3. Add the pasta to the crock crock and homogenize again.
4. DEVOUR.

This would also be good meatball sandwich-style, on a French or Kaiser roll (or Telera bread....o un bolillo.....mmmmmmm)

Lemon Meringue Pie (Daring Bakers January challenge)

2008-01-27T20:28:00.001-08:00

If you are an avid reader of any of the hundreds of food blogs that pepper the landscape of the word wide web, you have probably already encountered posts about the Daring Bakers, that online community of intrepid bakers, whose own sense of culinary enthusiasm and urge for discovery drives them to expand their repertoire of skills and gastronomic demons vanquished. You've also probably already seen the beautiful lemon meringue pies whose oven-browned mountains of meringue and decoratively fluted crusts are gracing sites across the web. As a new member of this esteemed group, I am proud to submit my first challenge post! (Also, a huge thank you to Lis and Evonne for their openness to welcoming bumbling amateur bakers like me!)

To begin, I was woefully unprepared for this month's challenge. Without a pastry cutter or a large food processor, the crust was a PAIN in the butt to make. Forks are just not the same as pastry cutters. But with wrists throbbing, I looked proudly at my "coarse meal"esque crust-to-be.

Once the ingredients got combined, the crust came out looking great. My "decorative fluting" is a telltale sign of my blue-collar baking skills, but I like it. (Those hands below are my mom's, not mine!)

So, crust formed and fluted, BAM!, in with the deliciously thick lemon filling! Yes! We are so close!

Wait. What? We were supposed to cook the crust first?

gah!

So, yeah. With my trusty spatula and some fancy paper towel work, we got the crust mostly clean. Poop. Whatever. We can get past this. Just a small mistake. Fill it with beans to keep the puppy from poofing and shove it in the oven. Piece of cake. [fast-forward 20-25 mins, then 10-15 mins]. Cool, smells great. A little lemon-y, even, but no harm, no foul, right? OK, these beans should plop out, no problem, right?

not so much.
aaaaaaaaauuuuurrrrrrgggghghhhhhhh!!!!!!!

So that sucked a lot. I hope I never again have to witness my hard work and effort literally fall apart in front of my eyes. So, after another round combining, mixing, rolling, fluting, and baking, I successfully completed the main part of the task.

The meringue was a blast to make (although quite loud), and turned out thick and sugary-perfect.

Pop that sucker in the oven, and the results were as delicious a lemon meringue pie as ever. Even my diabetic friend - a lemon meringue / key lime pie connoisseur - loved it.

And without further babbling, the recipe.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes. Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

French Lamb Stew

2008-01-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

Oh, the joys of working non-profit. I have work today, this day of Saturn. That's why I'm up at 8am. But this Saturday is special, because dinner will be slowly cooking away for me all day long, while I am out working, and when I come home the house will smell like glorious, glorious French Lamb Stew.

I got my Crock Pot for Chanukah and haven't really put it to great use yet, so this is my first attempt at Load-Disappear-for-9-hours-Eat. I found this recipe for French Beef Stew at Allrecipes.com, but since my MOM is coming to volunteer for my work event, I decided to fancy it up a bit (per the recommendations of anterior commentators) by subbing in lamb, and adding some wine, and bay leaf. Here's the recipe. An update will come once the meal is eaten!

French Lamb Stew
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 9-10 hours

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1.5 lbs lamb stew meat
3 medium carrots, sliced
1 large onion, sliced
2 large celery ribs, sliced
1.5 cups tomato juice (I used V8)
3/8 cup water
3/8 cup red wine
1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves

Load the potatoes along the bottom of an oiled slow cooker. Top with lamb (or beef), carrots, onions and celery. In one of those cute small mis en place bowls, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over the vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 9-10 hours or until vegetables and beef are tender.

A Glimpse Into My Soul

2008-01-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

I had a vivid dream last night that my ruler at work (see Fig 1) snapped in two, and in my dream I experienced severe anguish over the loss of this important tool.

Fig 1. My ruler at work (mine is green).

If that doesn't tell worlds about me, I don't know what does.

Pesto.......or not

2008-01-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

I've already said that I am a rice sort of guy. Give it to me Basmati, brown, long-grain, quinoa (I know, technically not a rice)........any way you pick it, I love it. Plop a half-dozen Costco Potstickers on top, and it's a meal. But I do enjoy pasta when the weather is right. And last night - when LA was being inundated by the second storm of the winter - seemed to me a great past night.

I've made marinara sauce before (probably from the How to Boil Water cookbook), and it always turns out OK. And whenever I have the energy to make vodka sauce, it is a hit. Having to blend the marinara sauce is a pain, but it's worth it to be able to get wasted while you eat. But ne'er have I made my own pesto - until last night.

I tried using the Pesto recipe on page 90 of the mediocre "Home Library All Seasons Cookbook (Cole's Home Library Cookbooks)". In my ignorance and lack of concentration, I basically eyeballed everything...including the olive oil. Wait, olive oil is the most important part of the pesto? Well, I fucked that up, didn't I? By the time I decided I was done, I used far not enough OO, and therefore the sauce never got as processed as it should have. In addition, I didn't even think to include the water, so....yeah. The result was a huge slap in the face of salt and garlic. My breath smelled THIS MORNING it was so pungent.

This is not the end of my pesto-making adventure, however. I WILL make this again, until I get it RIGHT, damnit! By the way, you can make a 2x or 3x recipe and refrigerate any leftover for quite a while...and pesto goes surprisingly excellent in a ham-and-cheese George Foreman grill panini-esque sandwich (or just grilled cheese, for that matter). Here's the REAL recipe, sans my half-ass, undocumented modifications:

Pesto

Ingredients:
1 cup firmly packed fresh basil
2 gloves garlic, crushed
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup roasted unsalted cashews (I substituted in walnuts)
3/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup water

Instructions:
-Blend or process basil, garlic, cheese, and nuts until combined.
-Add oil in thin stream while motor is running; blend until combined.
-Add water gradually, blend until smooth and creamy.

Pumpkin Bread

2007-12-12T16:17:00.000-08:00

First off, do you like my new heading?? I was getting tired of seeing the same hairy, ugly paunch day after day, and decided to illustrate what a panza is in a slightly more aesthetically pleasing manner. Aren't the seahorses cute? And look! They're holding tails! (All together now: Awwwwwwww). Specifically (and not so coincidently), these buggers are Big-Belly Seahorses (Hippocampus abdominalis), whose telltale feature is actually the "brood pouch" found on males, which serves as the deposit site where the female lays her eggs (thereby making the seahorse the only species in which the male becomes "pregnant"). Once the huevos are settled in the male's abdominal sack, he fertilizes the eggs and incubates them until birth, at which point the little guys are left to fend for themselves.......or are eaten by their father. Yay filicide! (or would this be prolocide?) Anyway, enough marine biology. Onto the food.

By my count, Halloween was months ago. Long have Christmas (and before that, Thanksgiving) decorations graced the windows of CVS and Party City. So why, I ask, do we still have pumpkins sitting around in my office? Each day they peer down on us from their lofty seats on the fridge like odd security cameras, aging slowly and gracefully until our CEO decides that we're too far from November to have these relics of holidays past adorning out break area. Well, to expedite the process, I stole another. Faithful readers may remember my last pumpkin adventure, which culminated in the strangely satisfying Baked Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin. As fondly as I recall that episode, though, baking makes the house smell infinitely better.
Emboldened by the success of last week's Acorn Squash Bread and encouraged by my workers, I decided to turn the watchguard sugar pumpkin into bread. This also provided an opportunity to revisit my thoughts on my squash bread and tweak with the recipe, which is exactly what I did. This version of the gourd bread has more cinnamon and vanilla, less clove, pinches of ground nutmeg and ginger (to (very) subtly hint at that wonderful pumpkin pie taste), and food-processed ground walnut rather than chopped walnuts.
The verdict: better in every category. The 2 tsps of cinnamon and 2 tsps of vanilla are not overwhelming in the least bit, and the walnut taste is there but hides just behind the pumpkin. And the best part: no dental floss needed! Grinding up the walnuts complete solved the issue of nut gunk sticking in your teeth, while maintaining the nut's gustatory integrity.

Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook (1982) Zucchini Bread recipe.
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 1/4 hours
Yield: 1 loaf

3 tablespoons butter
3 eggs (at room temperature)
1 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups pumpkin (or, pumpkin puree from 1 sugar pumpkin)
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 pinch of ground nutmeg
1 pinch of ground ginger
1/2 cup ground walnuts (via mortar and pestle or food processor)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9"x5" loaf pan. Combine eggs, oil, sugar, vanilla, and ground walnut in a large bowl. Fold in the pumpkin.
2. In a smaller bowl, sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger).
4. Stir dry bowl into pumpkin mixture until blended.
5. Pour batter into buttered loaf pan. Bake on middle rack for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Cool slightly, remove from pan, and cool completely on a rack. For best flavor, wrap the bread when cool and let stand overnight before serving.

The Holiday Spirit

2007-12-10T22:13:00.000-08:00

i <3 my roomie's girlfriend

Acorn Squash Bread

2007-12-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

There must be a quote somewhere out there that describes the joy that comes from other people enjoying your food. Something like, "There is no greater pleasure than the feeling one gets when his food is thoroughly, completely, lick-your-plate, nab-all-the-crumbs, enjoyed." Regrettably, I know of no such quote. I do know, however, the sensation. I felt it again this Tuesday morning when I brought this recipe in to work. Soft, moist, full of cinnamony, squashy goodness and walnuty surprises peppered through the masa - I'm proud to recall that the loaf was gone by the end of the weekly staff meeting :)

Unfortunately, any Kodak moments that may have occurred (**think coworkers with giant smiles and full mouths raining compliments about how fabulously wonderful your creation turned out**) were lost to the humdrum of the Programs Report. Nevertheless, I consider this bread a success.

Next time, I will use more cinnamon, less cloves, and I will chop the walnuts MUCH finer. The (relatively) medium-sized chunks that swam through the bread were more than I expected, and I always tend to get walnut shavings stuck in my teeth! Does anyone else suffer this walnut externality? Perhaps in the future I will mortal and pestle them to powder, thereby just infusing the nutty flavor, not the crackily texture...

Acorn Squash Bread
Adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook (1982) Zucchini Bread recipe.
Prep time: 1 1/2 hours
Cook time: 1 1/4 hours
Yield: 1 loaf

3 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 acorn squash
2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. [this step can be done ahead of time] Preheat oven to 375. Cut squash down prime meridian, get rid of the brains inside, and place, skin-up, in an 8"x8" casserole dish, lined with non-stick foil, with 1/2" of water. Cook for 1 hour, or until skin is easily punctured by a fork. Remove and let cool. Then, with a spoon, remove the meat of the squash. Set aside. Drop heat to 350. Butter a 9"x5" loaf pan.
2. Combine eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Fold in the squash.
3. In a smaller bowl, sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves).
4. Stir dry bowl into squash mixture until blended. Fold in the walnuts.
5. Pour batter into buttered loaf pan. Bake on middle rack for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Cool slightly, remove from pan, and cool completely on a rack. For best flavor, wrap the bread when cool and let stand overnight before serving. With its sugar, spices, and nuts, this is a tea bread, almost cakelike.

[The original recipe calls for 2 cups shredded zucchini, which you can substitute for the squash in this recipe.]

Happy baking!

Four Bean Chipotle Turkey Chili

2007-11-27T22:09:00.000-08:00

Really?? Six days without cooking?? Well, not really. Like "over however many kabillion Americans", I traveled more than 50 miles this Thanksgiving to spend time with loved ones down in beautiful Carlsbad, California. I am also proud to say that I set a new PR at the Dana Point Turkey Trot that morning, finishing 6.2 miles in a record 41 minutes 34 seconds! That 6:42 mile/minute pace placed me in 128th place overall (out of 3,644 people), and 14th place in my age bracket (M/20-24) (out of 117). I can only echo the words of my 5-year-old cousin in his pre-dinner grace: "I am thankful for my legs."

Dinner, of course, was amazing. Garlic mashed red potatoes, sweet potatoes with pecans (as if they needed any sweetening!), my father's traditional stuffing (prepared this year by my recently-divorced mom! Yay mom!), and Rosemary Thyme Turkey. Ah, and DESSERT! Pecan Pumpkin Butter Bars, made with rich Muirhead Foods' Pecan Pumpkin Butter (the recipe of which I will include once my aunt sends it to me!), and my mom's classic Apple Crisp. It's very personally/culinarily satisfying that I can look back on a meal like that and simply, blissfully, think, "Ah, the memories" :)

Kidney, Garbanzo, Black, and Great Northern Beans being rinsed

Now, for the leftovers. Between my work's Thanksgiving dinner and my family dinner, I had about 6 cups of cooked leftover turkey sitting in my freezer, just waiting to be sacrificed in one of my gastronomic experiments. As this blog has a Spanish name, and hence a theoretical Latino skewing, I decided it was only fair to use the leftover gobble in an appropriately-themed dish. After days of hunting (and nixing Martha Stewart's "Turkey and Green Chile Burritos", a random online "Tex-Mex Turkey Chili", and FreshDirect.com's "Quick Turkey-Chipotle Chili"), I finally gathered enough ammunition to create my own turkey chipotle chili. The result, which utilizes more than just kidney beans, is a deeply flavorful dish, with just enough kick to wake up your taste buds but not quite enough to bowl you over. Each of the legumes dances differently with the (previously dry but now) moist, rich turkey, and the combination, with the smoky undertones of the chipotle, will tiptoe around your palate, each earthly hue sinuously working its way into the nooks and crannies of your olfactory and gustatory senses. Chili is not an overwhelmingly pretty dish, and often fails to photograph well (though a dollop of sour cream and freshly snipped chives probably would have ameliorated that). But believe you me, in this case, a picture is are worth far fewer than a thousand words.

Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Four Bean Chipotle Turkey Chili
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hr
Yields: 8-10 servings
Total cost: <$20 (~$2 per serving)

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
5 shallots (or 1 medium onion), medium-diced
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
5 chipotle peppers in adobo, coarsely chopped (~$2 in any Latino supermarket) (can looks like this) (if you're not a fan of the heat, use at least one...you still want the flavor to infuse itself in your chili, and chipotles aren't exactly the spiciest chile to begin with...)
1 12-oz bottle of dark beer (a Mexican beer, like Dos Equis or Modelo Negro would be great. To my chagrin, I did not have any Mexican beer in my fridge, and was forced to use a bottle of Pyramid Hefeweizen Ale)
6 cups chopped leftover cooked turkey (or chicken, or steak, or pork.....)
1 15-oz can each of: Black Beans, Garbanzo Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Great Northern Beans, Tomato Sauce
2 15-oz cans (or 1 28-oz can) fire-smoked tomatoes
15-oz water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat a large pot, add and heat the olive oil, and throw in the shallots and garlic. Cook over a medium flame until fragrant.
2. Stir in the cumin, oregano, and chiles. Cook for a minute or two.
3. Add remaining ingredients and simmer over med-low heat until minimal liquid is left (about 1 hr).
4. Serve over 1/3 cup cooked rice, and pair with an earthy red wine (I recommend a well-earned 2004 Mezzacorona Merlot) :)

Four Bean Chipotle Turkey Chili

Creamy Spinach Risotto with Raisins and Pine Nuts

2007-11-21T18:43:00.000-08:00

Just the title of this baby makes my mouth water! This was definitely one of the best meals I've prepared in a while, and I'm proud to say that, aside from the inspiration, the recipe was entirely self-arranged and composed. Furthermore, it was only my second time making risotto! Needless to say this will not be my last attempt to play with Arborio rice.

Creamy Spinach Risotto with Raisins and Pine Nuts
Time: 45 minutes or less.
For 2

Ingredients:
2 cups stock (or 2 cups water + 1 bouillon cube)
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, finely diced
3 small lunch-box size boxes of raisins (ummmm 40 raisins total?)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup white wine
1 bunch fresh spinach, de-stemmed (if using frozen spinach, use a 10-oz package. cook according to directions, drain, and set aside for later)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
1. Bring stock to simmer over medium-low heat. It needs to be hot when it gets added to the rice!
2. In a large saucepan (w olive oil) cook onion until it is soft and amazing (med-high heat). When it is halfway there, add the raisins and the cinnamon. Let all those flavor soak each other up for about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the rice until well-oiled and just a tad brown. Cooking the rice like this gives it a hint of smoky flavor that gels nicely with the cinnamon. Now add the wine, cover, and let the rice soak up the wine. You'd be amazed at how much liquid those little puppies can absorb.
4. In a separate saucepan, toast the pine nuts. These little torpedoes are notorious for burning without you even noticing, so keep the heat low and let them rock out while you......
5. Uncover and start adding the broth, 3/4 cup at a time. The pain about risotto is that you have to stir it constantly, but it's worth it, trust me! Add liquid until it can absorb no more (15 minute or so). Check on those pine nuts!
6. Stir in the spinach, salt and pepper to taste, and then add your nuts. Finish the project by stirring in your Parmesan and homogenizing everything. Serve hot and pair with your favorite Sauvignon Blanc. Let the earthy tones in the Blanc mingle with the sweetness in the dish and resonate about your palate!

So Much Cooking, So Little Time To Update!

2007-11-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

Though I have been cooking up a veritable tempest in the last few days (forthcoming recipes: Creamy Spinach Risotto with Raisins and Pine Nuts; Orzo with Spinach and Pine Nuts; Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Pie), work has temporarily hindered my posting abilities. However, I would be remiss to not include the following gem that A.Word.A.Day, a daily email I subscribe to, brought to my attention a few weeks ago.

The word of the day on October 29 was jentacular (jen-TAK-yuh-luhr) (adjective), from the
Latin jentare (to breakfast). The word means "of or relating to breakfast". In Spanish, there is a related word, though its uses are strictly archaic/literary: yantar, "to eat (lunch)". In Cervantes' second book of Don Quijote (1615), for example, Sancho notes to his master, el abad de donde canta yanta, literally, "the bishop dines where he sings" (meaning, it's by his singing he gets his dinner, or, he lives on his work). Sadly, though the word was a big hit in the 17th century, it doesn't get the press it deserves nowadays.

Included in the weekly follow-up email, which contains the week's notable reader commentary, was a link to the following poem that I enjoyed, and hope you do, too. It has a certain Seussian bounce to it, and definitely makes me want to chomp into a big bowl of Corn Flakes. Here's the link to the original, copied below for your convenience.

JENTACULAR (jen-TACK-you-lur). adj. Pertaining to breakfast.

Think back to the time before puffing and popping,
When grains weren’t re-processed with no signs of stopping,
With “froot” as a flavor and “frost” for a topping . . .

Yes, long before Graham and Kellogg and Post,
When omelets were omelets and toast was just toast,
And foods had no four-color animal host . . .

When wheat wasn’t shaped into “sixers” or hexes,
When nobody knew what a “Trix” or a “Chex” is---
A time, when, in fact, people used fewer Xes . . .

When boxes were plain—bearing no toy surprise,
Or mazes in colors that wearied the eyes,
Or facts on each flap on the good x supplies . . .

It must have been nice
To simply eat rice
That never exploded or gave you advice.

Big Cereal now, with the cunning of Dracular,
‘S become a dark blotch that’s increasingly macular.
I long for a meal that is merely jentacular!

In fact, I would fall
To my knees and then crawl
For a breakfast that sits and does nothing at all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Farfalle with Pesto Sausage and Plum Tomatoes

2007-11-15T21:36:00.000-08:00

Normally, I'm a rice guy. In my opinion, you can do more with rice (granted, you sometimes have to be willing to sacrifice texture) and it is much less gastronomically complex (i.e., more facilely paired). Furthermore, one would be hard-pressed to find something easier in the kitchen than measuring portion size for rice. Noodles are often cumbersome to consume and breads are only as ambrosial as the meat they sandwich. Maybe it's a pragmatism-based preference (it wouldn't be my first), but rice - from Basmati to brown to Arborio and everything in between - is my carbohydrate of choice. Every now and then, however, I crave pasta.

Maybe it's my untrained hand that tends to push me from pasta; it takes an educated eye to properly pair noodle and sauce. But the other night I stepped out of my comfort zone, did some amateur research, and built upon my humble knowledge base: long noodles (spaghetti, fettuccine, angel hair) go with oil-based sauces (the thinner the noodle, the more oily the sauce), shaped pastas (farfalle, fusilli, conchiglie) capture the texture of moderately chunky sauces, and tubular pastas (penne, macaroni, rigatoni) are perfect vessels for the really chunky sauces. Who knew?

So I took a chance, scoured my pantry for ammunition, and declared war on my stovetop. The result: Farfalle with Pesto Sausage and Plum Tomatoes. Simple ingredients (really, it's a 4-ingredient recipe, plus the basics you should have in your kitchen) + fun shapes + just the right amount of heat (go red pepper flakes!) = jealous stares of doom from my Bagel Bite-consuming roommates.
Next time I will take the pasta out before it overcooks (stupid stupid stupid), and maybe switch to fresh spicy Italian sausage next time. The prepared stuff is convenient, but perhaps smaller pieces of meat will get along nicely with the textured pasta. Happy cooking!

Farfalle with Pesto Sausage and Plum Tomatoes
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total: 30 minutes
Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients:
decent amount of olive oil
3 Pesto Sausages (from Gelson's -- delicious!)
5 generous shakes of dried crushed red pepper
2 cups diced onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can stewed plum tomatoes
2 cups farfalle (bow-tie pasta)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Start heating water with some salt in a big pot. Start Step 2, but add pasta to pot once water reaches rolling boil. Cook al dente, about 8-10 minutes, depending on the power of your fire.
2. Heat oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Resist the urge to use too much oil, because the sausage will release some of its own fat. Use enough to keep the onions happy after the sausage is cooked. Add sausage and crushed red pepper. Saute until sausage is half-cooked, about 5 minutes. Add onion and garlic; saute until onion is tender and sausage is browned, about 3 minutes longer. Add can of tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and simmer until sausage mixture thickens, about 6 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Drain pasta and add to sauce, making sure pasta is nice and coated.
4. Sprinkle with Parmesan and serve hot!

Flourless Butterless Dark Chocolate Cookies

2007-11-12T20:55:00.001-08:00

As a health-conscious food enthusiast with an omnipresent sweet tooth, I'm always on the lookout for decadent recipes that avoid the mountains of butter, cholesterol-laden egg yolks, and carbilicious flour. The ultimate solution: Flourless, Butterless, Dark Chocolate Cookies, from one of the msot reputed sources out there, Gourmet. Aside from the 1/8 cup of powdered sugar that each cookie carries, the desert is simple and wonderful. Crispy and flaky on the outside, soft and bordering on sensual on the inside, they carry only (by my calculations, very approximately) 100 calories, .5 g fat, 20 carbs, 7 g protein, and 20 g sugar each (welcome, diabetes). Not bad, right?

I also got a opportunity to experiment with this recipe with my Little Brother, Jose, in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. We're been hanging out every other weekend since August, and he's a real sweet kid who just needs a positive role model. And what better way to teach discipline, math, patience, and hand-eye coordination than cooking?? So far we've made pupusas and cookies, and I'm always on the lookout for kid-friendly recipes (::cough cough COMMENT cough cough::)
The only thing that turned out strange in this recipe (it's always something...) was the San Andreas faults that seemed to traverse all of my cookies. I guess that as they cooled, the flaky shell simply wasn't strong enough? A few sites online mentioned that more sugar = less cracking, but I don't know if these cookies (or my pancreas!) can stand any more sugar, or if that's even true. Also, I forgot to reduce the heat to 325*, which might have something to do with it. Either way, each cookie came out of the oven resembling like a smooth, chocolatey Pangaea, and ended up looking like it had experienced 100 billion years of plate tectonics. Aside from that minor geological flaw, however, the end result were delicious. I can't wait to make them again.

Flourless Butterless Dark Chocolate Cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 17 minutes
Yield: Makes 18 medium cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup fine-quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 & 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla
4 large egg whites
1/2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*F.
2. In one bowl, whisk together cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, and salt.
3. In another bowl, combine vanilla and egg whites.
4. Add cocoa mixture to egg mixture slowly, beating until glossy. Stir in chips and walnuts.
5. Drop a generous spoonful batter about 2 inches apart onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment (batter will spread).
6. Place on middle rack, reduce temperature to 325*, and bake until small thin cracks appear in tops of cookies, 15 to 17 minutes. Cool cookies completely on baking sheet on a rack and peel from paper.

Vegetable Rice Soup

2007-11-10T20:19:00.000-08:00

Now that November's chill has conquered every minute of my free time each morning and evening (it's warm-ish during the day....when I'm cooped up inside an office), it's time for something homey, warm, simple, and cheap. Food Network's How To Boil Water: Life Beyond Takeout presents a nice rundown of the "Mechanics of Soup" (p72). Paraphrased, it says, "Aromatics + Main Ingredients + Liquid + Thickeners/Finishers = Soup". Easy enough, right?

This was my first shot at homemade soup (sans the homemade broth, which I will make someday), and I am quite pleased with the results. It's a simple soup, but left the whole house smelling delicious. Next time I will consider using brown rice instead of basmati, whose fragrance stuck out just a bit too much, considering the faintly spicy flavor I was going for, with the red pepper flakes and jalapenos (in fact, the Hindi word "basmati" means "The Fragrant One"...go figure!). However, a unique quality of basmati grains that favored its role in this soup is that, according to the omnipotent wikipedia, "they stay firm and separate, not sticky, after cooking." This helped the soup, ensuring that I didn't end up with sticky rice munges floating around in my bowl. Rather, they remained individual pods of carb goodness, accessible in any quantity by my spoon. Perhaps I will search for a rice with similar qualities, but less fragrance. In addition, this soup ends up being only moderately healthy (although I can take solace in it not being a sodium-overloaded canned soup), so next time I will be adding broccoli, cauliflower, and/or zucchini. Yay veggies! I would like to include carrots in my list of included aromatics, as well, and next time I will let the celery break down a tiny bit more during the initial stages. Upon eating the soup, the celery was still somewhat crunchy...I was hoping for a softer texture.

Vegetable Rice Soup
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Yields: Soup for three

Ingredients:
[A] Olive oil to coat bottom of soup pot
1 onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed
2 sticks celery, clived
2 jalapenos, seeded and diced
generous Salt and Pepper
[B] 1 can stewed tomatoes
Any and all seasonings you desire. I used parsley (dried, bleh), oregano, red pepper flakes, black pepper, a bit of ginger, and some tapatio hot sauce.
[C] 6 cups vegetable broth (or water + 3 vegetable bouillon cubes)
[D] 2/3 cup basmati rice

Directions:

1. (Aromatics) Heat the pot for a minute over medium flame, add the olive oil, wait 2 minutes for it to heat up, then add [A] ingredients. Lower the heat, cover, and let all those wonderful aromatics release their goodness and meld.
2. (Main ingredients) Add [B]. Had I had broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini, I would have added those as well. Being without them, the tomatoes sufficed. Let everything heat up over medium heat, and crush the tomatoes a bit with your wooden spoon. Feel free to add some more olive oil at this point, if you desire.
3. (Liquid) Add [C]. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. Let it roll for 15 minutes that way.
4. (Thickeners) Just dump the rice in, and you're done. Bump the heat to medium-high, and let the rice soak up some of that liquid and give the soup some bulk.
5. Serve hot!

Stanford ≠ UCLA!!!

2007-11-05T20:43:00.002-08:00

Ok, totally non-food-related post. It won't happen often...just humor me.

Does anybody out there watch "Chuck" on NBC (Monday nights, 8pm)? Tonight's episode involved Chuck and his guardian CIA entourage heading up to Stanford to do some reconnaissance whatever work, and as he supposedly walks into Stanford's library, it is TOTALLY Powell Library. You can even see Royce in the background!

Then, as he's running to escape the Icelandic bounty hunter, where does he end up? PAB 1425!
Tailgating in front of Haines Hall? Bullshit!
A CIA girl-in-training sitting next to Royce Fountain?
Flashback of the lawn just east of Moore, near the end of Bruin Walk?

Assholes! Stanford ≠ UCLA!!!

Orzo with Chives and Orange Zest

2007-11-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

Part of the reason I started this blog (now that I think of it) was to add more information on Los Feliz to the information superhighway. I moved out here on August 18, exactly 2 1/2 months ago, and only last night did I (finally) make it out to the Dresden Room, swanky nightlife hotspot of Mikey and Trent in Swingers (1996). My buddy Lenny and I arrived around 1am, after being turned off by all the 40-somethings at Tiki-Ti (4427 Sunset), and spending a good amount of time at Good Luck Bar (1514 Hillhurst). The Dresden Room (1760 Vermont) definitely did not disappoint. We got there late, just half an hour before final call, but were fortunate enough to enjoy a few $5 beers (a steal compared to The Avalon's steep $7 charge) and got to hear Marty and Elayne, the groovy musicians who have been performing their own renditions of past and contemporary hits for 18 years, sing "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees, 1977). It was a life-changing experience, reliving the scene from Swingers. I will be back. And now to the food.

I bought some orzo last week without any specific plans to use it, and tonight presented a fine opportunity. Rachel Ray, as annoying as she is, has a really simple recipe for orzo on foodtv.com. It calls for only three ingredients: orzo, lemon, and parsley. I had only one of these (good start, huh?). BUT, I had a small orange, and I have fresh chives growing in my back yard.

Oranges.....chives.....not the most common combination of tastes, but certainly worth trying. In the end, the flavors did accent one another. The acidity of the orange contrasted well with the mild chives. But the sharpness of the zest complemented the zing of the chives, especially compared to the mellowness of the olive oil and the softness of the orzo.

Orzo with Chives and Orange Zest
Adapted from Rachel Ray's Orzo with Parsley and Lemon Zest
Prep time: 3 minutes
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 1 serving (can be multiplied)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup Orzo
1 tsp chives (use scissors to snip)
orange zest to taste (1/2 tsp?)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Water + salt -> pot. Heat to rolling boil. Add pasta and set timer for 9 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, snip the chives and zest the orange.
3. Drain pasta, add all other ingredients. Serve hot!

Simple, smart, delicious, fast. Try it.

Also, I snagged a few serrano peppers from a neighbor's plant, scooped out the seeds, and have them presoaking in a saline solution as we speak. Tomorrow after work, I sow them next to my as-yet-unfruitful tomato plants :)

The Magic of Quinoa, part deux

2007-11-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

So I publish a post about the glory of quinoa, and what do I see the next morning on my gmail web clip lane?

NPR Topics: Food - Quinoa: A Sacred, Super-Crop

i heart NPR

Quinoa with Black Beans

2007-11-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

Welcome to November!

If you've never dived into a bowl of quinoa - that mild, slightly nutty, Incan, bead-like grain - you are sorely missing out. I was first introduced to quinoa by my old roommate Ben, sometime last year, and since then I've been hooked. It prepares just like rice, but boasts the title of most-protein-y grain out there (12-18%!). Furthermore, unlike rice, it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans and is gluten-free! It is thus ideal for vegans, vegetarians, and the gluten-intolerant. Its earthy flavor makes quinoa especially delicious with dense beans, fire-roasted veggies, and chilies of all spices. Even bigwig government nutritionists have recognized quinoa's glorious qualities: it is being considered as a possible crop in NASA's "Controlled Ecological Life Support System" for long-duration manned spaceflights

Both Yeah, that "Vegan" Shit and Life Among The Trees have reviewed this recipe, from Allrecipes.com, and I could not agree more with their accolades: Quinoa with Black Beans is the perfect one-pot for a windy November night. The ingredients (aside from, perhaps, the quinoa) are all household items, and the meal was ready within 30 minutes. I didn't have ground cumin or cayenne pepper, but using chili powder and smoked paprika gave my bowl a western, chili-ish flavor. And, as if the quinoa and black beans didn't supply enough protein, I added some hot link sausages, which gave the bowl a star player, rather than just being a relatively homogeneous hodgepodge of homey goodness.

Though I decided on this meal just before 6pm, I was fortunate enough to have enough quinoa to balance whole cans of beans and tomatoes, and cilantro growing in the backyard. What a joy it is to be able to grab some scissors and a flashlight, open the back door, and return with fresh herbs. I need plant my parsley. Next time I prepare this meal, at which point I'll need to restock on quinoa, I will remember to buy frozen corn, a jalapeno, and fire-smoked diced tomatoes. Also, I will remember to drain the black beans before adding them to the pot. Though I enjoyed the faint liquidity of tonight's cibarious adventure, next time I'll actually follow the recipe. Speaking of the recipe...

Quinoa with Black Beans
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: less than 30 minutes
Yields: 3 servings

Ingredients:
[A] 3/4 c. quinoa
1 can diced tomatoes
salt to taste
pepper to taste (I added about 20 grinds)
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili powder
(1 jalapeno, diced, optional)
[B] olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
(meat, optional)
[C] 1 can black beans
just a pinch of cilantro, chopped (too much and it will just dominate the dish's flavor)

Directions:
1. Bring 1.5 cups salted water to a boil. Add (A) ingredients. Bring back up to a boil, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, do the standard stuff to the garlic and onions. Don't forget to heat up the pan a bit before adding the OO, and to heat up the OO before adding the aromatics. Get everything (along with the meat, if you choose) nice and fragrant.
3. Once the quinoa has started to sprout its curly-cues, DRAIN your black beans add, along with your cilantro. Get everything homogenized and warm, and dig in! If you're looking to impress, add a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chives for effect.

Las Semillas Tostadas (The Toasted Seeds)

2007-10-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

Little does faithful reader Kevin know that I am far too cheap to waste perfectly good pumpkin seeds.

During and after my pasta n' pumpkin adventure last night, I carefully harvested the seeds from it and another pumpkin my roommate had carved (bitchin' pirate ship...will add picture later). They sat in a pot of salt water all last night until graying and just barely starting to sprout, and tonight I went crazy.

Using the ingenious Fold-The-Reynolds-Wrap-Release-Foil-To-Create-6-Different-Sections maneuver, I gave myself lots of space to play with the seeds that were ready for the seasoning. The following is a schematic of the space I created:

Salt and Pepper	Honey	Lemon Pepper Seasoning
Vanilla Extract, Sugar, Finely Crushed Walnuts	Soy Sauce	Cinnamon, Sugar, Nutmeg
Vanilla Extract, Sugar, Finely Crushed Walnuts	“Slap Ya Mama” Seasoning	Garlic Salt and Pepper

The result, after 55 minutes at 300*F, was the following:

I am, needless to say, quite pleased. I tossed all of the dry salt-based mixes (S&P, Garlic S&P, "Slap Ya Mama" (a wonderful cajun seasoning from Ville Platte, Louisiana (*thanks Kristen!)), a mix of salt, red pepper, black pepper, and garlic), and the Lemon Pepper Seasoning) with less than a 1/4 tsp of olive oil, and put a tiny bit of butter atop the cinnamon/sugar combo. The result is mouthwatering. How do you season your pumpkin seeds?

Baked Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin

2007-10-29T20:41:00.000-07:00

As you'll read in basically every food blog out there, 'tis the season to indulge in the fall's finest fare. Ovens churn to life to begin the annual baking rituals, apples and teeth meet with satisfying snaps, and knives wedge into the sturdiest of squashes. And that is where today begins, with the most famous gourd of them all: the pumpkin.

Had my work not bought pumpkins for decoration at an event last Saturday and ended up not carving them last week, I probably wouldn't have attempted tonight's meal. However, with Halloween two days away and the classic orange decor quite worthless once November strikes, taking a baby pumpkin home seemed like the logical option. After all, what's a vegetable good for sitting on a table? (**Note: pumpkins, the ripened ovary of a flowering plant, are actually classified as a fruit...but who really cares?)

Tonight's Baked Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin, adapted from Susanina, didn't disappoint. Sweet and nutty, the sugar pumpkin (the smaller version of the standard field pumpkin) added comfort-food bulk to the dish, while aromatic onion and garlic served as a fragrant base for the cream sauce. The next time I make this meal, I'll use a more fork-friendly pasta (such as Farfalle, Rigatoni, or even Risotto), and real grated Asiago or Parmesan, not the powdered Albertons brand stuff. Also, the fruit juice flavor didn't shine through like I thought it would. Next time...juice straight from the can? Peaches? Pears? Only time (and what's in my cupboard) will tell.

Baked Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1:15
Feeds: 4

Ingredients:
300 grams pasta
1 sugar pumpkin, quartered
3/4 medium-sized onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fuit juice (syrup from canned fruit? pears? peaches? mixed? adds sugar and taste)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2-3/4 cup grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt & pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325*. Split pumpkin down the Prime Meridian, remove seeds and stringy business, and cut off skin. Slice into equal-sized chunks and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and season generously with salt and pepper. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly.
2. After 30 min, set pasta to boil, and rock some onions and garlic in a sauté pan until fragrant, then add the fruit juice. Cook over medium flame until juice is 1/2 evaporated, and add cream slowly.
3. By now the pasta should be al dente and the pumpkin should be about done. Leave the oven on, you'll need it soon. Grab a 9"x13" casserole dish, and mix up the pasta, pumpkin, and sauce. Don't over-mix or the pasta will get soggy. Sprinkle all with cheese, and bake for 15 mins, or until it looks amazingly delicious and crispy.

A brief note on linguistics

2007-10-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

Panza, the Spanish word for "paunch", "gut", "breadbasket", "tummy", "tank", and the like, comes from the Latin pantex "belly", a cousin of pancites "bowels", and perhaps an aunt of panus "swelling". Related to the Old French pancier, panciere "coat of mail", literally "belly piece", Middle High German panzier "breast armor", and German panzer "armored", the root gives us the word Panzer, referring to the German armored tank divisions of World War II, and the English Paunch.

Panza is also the appellation of Don Quijote's trusty squire, Sancho Panza. The word thus has many meanings and connotations. In the book (one of my favorites), Sancho is the simple-minded, humble sidekick to the often-delirious Don Quijote. Thus, panza has a rural, bucolic ring in the Spanish-speaking ear, and is reminiscent of this time-immortal potbellied simpleton, who tends to be more interested in tomorrow's winnings than today's chivalry. Picasso's portrayal of Sancho (right) is telling: the enigmatic blob that represents the squire is constructed minimally - one giant panza, appendageless, sitting atop his slouched donkey. Where's the respect?

Further along on this linguistic sally, panza is the featured word in one of my favorite Mexican (specifically, Sonoran) proverbs: Panza llena, corazón contento ~ Full stomach, happy heart. If nothing else, I hope that at the end of a meal, my guests' stomachs are stuffed, and their souls renewed.

I should add that this is not the only bit of doublespeak involved in my blog's name. Though one may translate it as The Paunches of the Content, the entendre continues - it is also fair game to decipher it, The Paunches of Los Feliz; Los Feliz, of course, being my neighborhood in Los Angeles, adjacent to Hollywood and Silverlake.

At the end of the day, however, it matters not where one lives or whether his belt circumnavigates his panza - what's important is what one eats and how one chooses to live out his days. After all, we humans have roughly 78 years on this earth, and each day's activities, since Prometheus graced us with the flame, have revolved around how we are going to reach the next one. This blog is dedicated to that virtuous goal - reaching tomorrow, contently.

Though I'm not yet familiar enough with the unique characteristics of many foods (I love that scene in Ratatouille when Remy teaches Emile, amid surrealist psychedelic swirls, to appreciate multiple tastes and textures) my basic kitchen skills are improving daily and my tastes are slowly but surely expanding. That being said, there probably won't be a lot of original recipes on this site. I retrieve most advice from foodtv.com or other food-enthusiast sites that I frequent. But, every once in a Blue Moon (mmm that is a wonderful beer), some rays of brilliance might shine through the clouds of obscurity.

I sincerely thank you for reading, and I hope you will return soon. Who knows when I'll have to eat again?