Slices

Sonya Renee's slam poetry performance of "Slices". Could also be called an ode of sorts to processed cheese. Enjoy! [Warning: language is perhaps PG13....maybe R-rated?]

Odds and Ends: Taz! and Houston's getting an Uchi

First off, Houston's getting its very own Uchi! It'll probably be awhile before it won't take weeks to get a table, but I'm looking forward to a much shorter drive. ^-^ In other news, Uchi now has a cookbook out. Given that it's sushi I'm not sure exactly how much of it I could make at home...you know, not living near water and all. But I'm sure it's full of food porn. Source for both.

And College Station now has a GOOD Indian restaurant!!!!! In case you haven't heard (it seems like almost everyone has), it's called Taz and is located in the Kroger shopping center along Texas Ave at Southwest Parkway in the old Honey B location. We've been twice so far and the food has been good both times. The first time was an order off the menu dinner. I got the malai kafta. The Lovely Spouse got the lamb vindaloo. His was just a tad too spicy for me, but was just right for him. The sauce had a nice blend of cinnamon and spicy. The malai kafta was completely different than any version I've had elsewhere, but I'm starting to believe that every single kitchen makes it a different way. The second trip was for the Valentine's Day buffet. The place was absolutely packed and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The buffet items were quite good and there was a nice selection of North and South Indian items. I've been told that they have a lunch buffet 7 days a week as well. So far the prices have been excellent, as has the service. Both times we ate there they were absolutely slammed but at no time did the staff seem harried or impatient. Service, of course, gets a bit slow when they're extremely busy, so plan accordingly. I absolutely recommend them and will be back. ^-^ Now I have to go back and try their samosas and dosai. Nom!

A-Choux!

Heavens to Betsy and Sakes Alive! Today I've expanded my culinary repertoire. Today. I made pate choux for the very first time. What's pate choux you ask? It's that heavenly substance that acts as the backbone to eclairs, cream puffs and profiteroles. In my naivete I thought it was culinary magic - stuff requiring the special chef's secret handshake - to make. Today, I've discovered that handshake and it's just a technique and a little exercise in chemistry. And it's not nearly as impossible as I thought it would be. Follow me on my journey, if you will....

The journey begins shortly after Christmas. A lovely friend visited from Seattle and brought with her incredibly generous gifts: Coffee of the Gods and the French Laundry-ad Hoc at Home cookbook collection. These came with one caveat: I was to make Gruyere Gougeres. *gasp!* Those require the making of choux. Something I've never ever considered doing before. However I was up for the challenge...especially given I've been waiting for an excuse since seeing Alton Brown do it.

However I did not head forth alone. No, I enlisted the help of some old friends: Joy of Cooking and Larousse Gastronomique. What food nerd house would be complete without both of them? Certainly not mine. I researched the recipes and saw that all choux recipes are nearly the same, with minor diviations. Not completely unexpected. And somewhat reassuring.

So armed with knowledge and books in front of me I began to build my ingredients.







Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter (I cut them into ~1 teaspoon slices to make melting easier)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 pinch sugar
• 1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups finely grated gruyere

Next I preheated the oven to 450F and placed parchment paper over my cookie sheets. I only own one silpat, and it looks like parchment paper is more convenient for this recipe.






Following the instructions I placed the water, butter, salt and sugar in an 8 quart saucepan then gently heated the mixture until the butter melted. According to Larousse, if everything is heated before the fat melts, bad things happen.





After the butter melt I turned up the heat to bring it to a boil. At the moment of boil I dumped in all the flour at once and mixed with a wooden spoon. It's important to not use a metal spoon or other mixing implement because metal conducts heat and you want this mixture to cool quickly.




Almost immediately the mixture formed a ball. Following instructions I mixed the ball around in the pan for 2 minutes at the lowest heat setting on my stove.






I then transfered the ball to my stand mixer (losing just a bit to the dog/floor in the process) and mixed on low for about a minute to cool the mixture. Larousse states that the mixture must be cool or the eggs will cook prematurely leading to bad things. After about a minute I added the eggs, one at a time until incorporated. Then kicked up the mixer to high and let it go about 2-5 minutes, until I got a thick paste that formed a peak that falls over at the top. Next I added 3/4 a cup of the gruyere to the paste and mixed with a silicon spatula.




Next I employed the services of a regular old 1 gallon freezer bag. That's right, it's even the store brand. Copying what I saw chefs on the food network doing I opened the bag and folded the edges over my hand. Then, using the silicon spatula, I scooped the paste into the bag, working the paste to one of the bottom corners and "burping" the air out the top.



When all the paste was in the bag I sealed the top (forcing most of the air out) and continued to work the paste to one of the bottom corners.






Then I snipped the corner with kitchen shears, leaving an opening about the size of the end of my pinkie.










Next I piped out a little dollop, about the size of a pingpong ball onto the parchment paper. Each had kind of a hat on them which I tamped down using a finger (clean!) dipped in cold water. I then put a generous pinch of the remaining gruyere cheese on the top of each. I placed the cookie sheet in the oven at 450F and let it bake for 8 minutes (until they rise and don't fall on their own).



Then I decreased the oven temperature to 350F and baked for 22 minutes, until "golden brown and delicious."







When they come out of the oven the puffs are cool enough to handle [warning: the pan will NOT be cool enough to handle]. When you pop one open you should have a large hole in the middle and the exterior should be light and crispy. This recipe is slightly on the salty side, but I think it's also because I was expecting something a bit sweeter. It is, however, delicious and addictive. I ate 8 of the first dozen without even thinking about it. *blush*


The recipe states these make 4 dozen. I've already passed 4 doz and am expecting nearly a 5th. It's obvious, but I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you to reheat the oven to 450F before beginning to bake the next sheet worth of puffs.

FWIW, we can't keep more than about a half dozen of these at a time because we keep eating them out of the oven. Joy of Cooking recommends pairing them with champagne, but they go quite well with inexpensive table wine or even a glass of milk. Enjoy!

Those Black Eye Peas They Tasted All Right To Me.... ;-)

There are just certain songs that stick in my head at the weirdest moments. Like Goodbye Earl while I'm making Blackeye Peas for New Years Day.

This was, of course, my first attempt at making blackeye peas. All previous times I've eaten them involved restaurants that serve steaks the size of large plates and deep fried pickles. Usually blackeye peas are somewhat bland, resembling something akin to cardboard. However it was New Years Day and I was already feeling like making something for dinner at home, so I did an internet search. This is the highest rated recipe that came up on the first page of google. Hrm...interesting...so of course I modified it.

The modified recipe follows, but bear in mind at it's base it's still the allrecipes recipe. I believe the modifications make this a far more awesome recipe. Far from flavorless, just the right amount of spicy, and more than nomtastic. :-) I've been enjoying the leftovers.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry black eye peas
• Approx. 1 pound pre-cooked ham steaks (I used 2 at about 0.5 lbs each), cut into quarter inch cubes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 medium sweet onion, finely diced
• 1 (14.5 oz) can of crushed red tomatoes
• 4 Hatch peppers, roasted, skinned, seeded and diced*

Instructions
Place the peas in an 8 quart sauce pot and add enough water to fill the pot about half to three quarters full. Add everything else to the pot and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat, covered, 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the peas are soft.


* If you don't have a stash of frozen roasted and skinned Hatch peppers like we do, you can substitute Anaheim pepper or jalapenos, if you want extra heat. Roast the peppers over the flame of a gas stove or under the broiler of an electric oven, turning as the skin blackens, until all sides of the pepper are roasted. Then put the peppers in a paper bag to steam 5-10 min, until cool enough to handle with bare hands. Scrape the blackened skin off the peppers and discard. Then slice each pepper lengthwise and chop off the stem. Scrape the seeds and veins out with a knife blade. Then dice the peppers and add them the recipe above.

Image source (found via google image search).

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yes, I'm a bad blogger. I hardly ever update. But since this is Thanksgiving I figured it was the best excuse ever to update the ol' food blog. :-)

What's on the menu at our house? Well my folks are in town so it's the perfect opportunity for The Lovely Spouse and I to show off.

* Irish Soda Bread with rosemary - recipe from an obscure vegetarian cookbook
* Candied Sweet Potatoes with a bourbon reduction (for those that remember the skunk bourbon that was dumped at my place, we found a use for it. Reduce the entire bottle and add brown sugar. Yum!)
* Mashed Potatoes with Hatch Chili Peppers
* Turkey Cordon Bleu (The Lovely Spouse's invention)
* Roast Turkey (this thing's a monster)
* A friend of ours will be bringing a special recipe stuff/dressing he just dreamed up yesterday. I'm told apples are involved. :-)
* Pecan Pie = recipe from a postcard from Graceland
* Apple Pie = Alton Brown's recipe
* Cranberry conserve = Joy of Cooking recipe
* all of this will be accompanied by a selection of wines, including a G-miner and a pinot. :-)

This morning we had Paula Deen's Ultimate Coffee Cake for breakfast. No kidding, this is probably the easiest recipe I have. The only thing easier would be to buy the thing already made. But even then, it would be more difficult to open the package of cake/pie than to make this monkey bread variation. The local grocery ran out of the frozen unbaked dinner rolls the recipe calls for so I bought pre-baked frozen dinner rolls instead. The recipe still worked just fine...the only modification I made was to bake for 15 min instead of 30.

[Image source = google image search]

Oh Cafe Eccell.... WHY?

This post was meant to be a review of the fabulous Crush in Seattle. But that will have to wait. First off I don't have the time, at the moment, to give Crush the full write-up it deserves and second, well...this just can't wait.

The Lovely Spouse and I went to dinner at Cafe Eccell in College Station on Tuesday because Madden's is closed on Tuesdays and we were in the mood for some tastey, tastey seafood that night instead of waiting for Thursday. I have fond memories of Cafe Eccell's seared scallops. So The Lovely Spouse made reservations for Tuesday and off we went.

Imagine our surprise to find we didn't need reservations on the second day of the Fall Semester. Also imagine our surprise to find a New Menu. Um...OK...Cafe Eccell has changed their menus over the years.... But wait! Now it's one page for food and two separate sheets for wine and drinks. Um...'kaaaaaay. This is different. Wait! No scallops! No Gulf of Mexico red drum! What?! The sesame seared tuna is still on the menu. But most of the menu is dedicated to....pizza. And sandwiches. And salads. CRAP! It's the lunch menu, now being served all the time. [And, for what it's worth, they're still serving the unsustainable Chilean Sea Bass - something I highly recommend avoiding in order to discourage restaurants from serving a fish that will likely be extinct in less than a decade if fished at the same levels.]

To make matter even worse there were technical problems with the food. Rice should never give your dental work a run for its money. However the rice served with the tuna was desiccated and should have been started over from scratch. The salad served over the rice was spiced with what must have been purified capsaicin - rather unexpected on a predominantly savory dish. The guacamole was...odd and flavorless given the rest of the dish. At least the tuna was good. Even if the restaurant was LOUD.

Cafe Eccell has changed its name as well. It's now Cafe Eccell Pizza and Wine Bistro. I suppose the owners, the Dallis family, hired some overpriced consultant to come up with this. And it wouldn't surprise me in the least to find they've changed it again in a few months to something like a gastropub, as the trend seems to be across the country. I suppose they also believe that changing the menu to a far more casual one and focusing on the alcoholic beverages they'll attract more people from Northgate. Maybe. One thing is certain - they've lost a lot of their high dollar dinner patrons. The faces that were there on Tuesday were far younger and in much larger, louder groups. A number of them were even sharing meals.

What will become of Cafe Eccell? Not sure. It's something to ponder while enjoying a meal at Madden's.

More on Lentils and some other experiments in food...

Sorry for the long break in blogging. It's been a busy summer. Preparing for a conference and then going on the trip was more time-intensive than I thought. Not to mention family emergencies and...life...getting in the way of blogging. I'm back...for now at least. :-)

As some people know I've been mildly obsessed with lentils as of late. Mostly because of their nutritional content, inexpensive price ($0.80 a lb at Kroger) and versatility (this link has the text to the Good Eats episode where a nutritional anthropologist discusses the Mesopotamian roots of the World's oldest domestic crop: lentils). My last lentil experiment, Giada's Italian Lentil Salad was a huge success in our house. In fact I made it a second time to use up some of the remaining ingredients.

This next recipe comes from Epicurious after doing a google search on coconut (I was in the mood for coconut milk) and lentils: Coconut-Red Lentil Curry. I had to make a few modifications. First off, the only lentils available at the local Kroger are green lentils labeled "Lentils." So I used those. Next I cut out the garlic and half the onion due to my own dietary restrictions. I also left out the cilantro leaves because I hate the flavor of them. And I doubled the jalapeno...for funsies. :-) The results were delicious served over long grain white rice, albeit a little too mild. Next time I'm going to double the spices and leave everything else the same. The next day, upon reheating in the microwave, the dish was doubly spicy, and still somewhat unbalanced...so I'll still double the spices next time.

My next experiment was a result of a spontaneous side trip during a conference I recently attended in the Columbia Gorge. A group from my lab at at the Big River Grill for lunch just before heading up Mount Saint Helens (driving...not hiking). One of the specials was an African Peanut Soup. We were intrigued so most of us tried it. Fantastic. Savory and spicy with a surprise of occasionally crunching into a peanut. Therefore when I got home I just had to look it up. The first interesting results came from here. And (whoop!) we just bought grains of paradise from this same store on our trip to Seattle. Unfortunately on a closer read we definitely didn't have ajwain or tabil spice blend or know of any substitutes (none found on google). So I googled for more recipes and found Emeril's. The more recipes of his that I use, the more I really like his cooking - his is the sauce portion of my golubki, fyi. Of course I made some modifications to the recipe. I used vegetable oil instead of peanut oil, for convenience. I cut out the garlic and cut the onions in half. I substituted yams for sweet potatoes, due to local availability. The peanut butter I used was the all-natural variety you have to store in the fridge. And I used 1 lb of skinless, boneless dark meat chicken instead of ground turkey because the turkey just sounded weird in this recipe (*shrug*). The results: absolutely spectacularly delicious. And spicier the next day after reheating in a microwave. Although next time I'll probably kick the spiciness up a notch with some harissa.

To finish off this meal I added the one thing I was really in the mood for on Friday: cardamom rice pudding. A google search for "cardamom rice pudding" yielded Alton Brown's recipe as the first result. I followed the recipe, doubling it and cooking it in a nonstick wok with extended cooking times added to compensate for the added volume. The only modifications were leaving out the raisins because The Lovely Spouse doesn't like them and adding about a tablespoon of fresh ground cardamom instead of the measely 1/4 teaspoon in the recipe. The result was fantastic and the extra cardamom was necessary for someone who craves it like I do. It's a cool, refreshing, silky smooth dessert for a hot mid-August day.

My next blog post will be a review of Crush in Seattle that I've been promising a certain person. :-)