Digital Vittles

Oktoberfeast

2009-10-20T22:03:00.004-04:00

I made some German food and reported on it at my beer blog Bottles and Cans, but you can read it all here:

Cooking w/Beer: Stovetop Brats
Last night we had what I am calling the "Oktoberfeast." This was a meal featuring German potato salad and some Brussels sprouts mixed with sour cream and bacon. There was an excellent Oktoberfest beer from Avery, but I'll post more on that later.

Now, I've made beer brats before, but this was different. First of all, I cooked the sausage in some water. One good tip I picked up was to poke some holes in the brats so that they would not explode. After the water evaporated, I browned them in the dry pan before adding some onions to cook in the remaining fat. Once the onions were browned, I tossed in a cup of beer and let it simmer.

Usually, I go for a high quality beer, but this time I went a little askew. The beer of choice was a Burger Beer, leftover from my sister's visit over a month-and-a-half ago. It's cheap and stays good forever in a can, but most importantly, it's a German style lager. There really is nothing special about the beer, but I did taste the same yeast as was in my much more expensive and better tasting Avery German style beer.

Get It Together: The Kaiser and the Oktoberfeast
I planned a dinner the other night consisting of stove top brats, German potato salad, and Brussels sprouts with sour cream and bacon. These foods made my "Oktoberfeast" complete...well, almost.

With fall comes a new set of seasonal beers. There are the porters, stouts, and pumpkin beers for sure, but I love a good Oktoberfest. Not being the biggest fan of lagers, I struggle to find a good Oktoberfest brew. Great Lakes out of Cleveland, OH makes a good one as does Bell's. However, Great Lakes doesn't distribute here and the Bell's Oktoberfest was sold in rather limited quantities.

Luckily, Avery's The Kaiser Imperial Oktoberfest hit the shelves here in Columbia this fall. This beer actually reminded me a lot of the cheap, rice-based Burger beer I used on the brats, but it had something more. The yeasts of these two beers was where similarities began and ended. The Kaiser is a thick, syrupy malt bomb that matches the greasy intensity of even the most German meal. If I see this beer ever on a menu at a restaurant, I'm ordering the brats and kraut every time.

The last Gourmet arrived today.

2009-10-14T16:22:00.007-04:00

I don't know what to say.

I gasped audibly when I heard you were gone.
Goodbye, beautiful photos of beautiful foods and beautiful places.

Support Local Matters

2009-10-11T18:59:00.005-04:00

To the area localvores reading this blog: you may be interested in checking out the website for Local Matters, a Columbus-area NFP working to distribute and raise awareness about locally grown, sustainable food. On our Market-to-Market bicycle trek last weekend, the organization's volunteers were out in force, helping spread the good word and co-sponsoring the event. You can join their Facebook group, too, so help support the cause.

Beer Meatloaf and Pumpkin Beer Bread

2009-10-03T11:57:00.003-04:00

Over at my beer blog, I posted something on cooking with beer. I made a meatloaf that insures your loaf doesn't dry out (along with adding some flavor) and a pumpkin bread that is basically pumpkin beer with self-rising flour (plus a few other things.

grab a spoon: a post on soup

2009-09-27T12:50:00.007-04:00

I love a good project. With my absolute favorite season of autumn approaching, a few weeks ago I proposed to Jerms that we begin a culinary endeavor: a new soup every week. We are definitely big fans of soup. Really, what’s not to love? They are endlessly adaptable, as simple or complicated as you want them to be, healthy, beautiful, restorative, easily adaptable to vegetarian eating, and bountiful enough to offer leftovers, which are often even more delicious than the initial bowl.

So far our Autumn 2009 Tour of New Soups has covered Veganomicon's Creamy Tomato (the creamy texture comes from pureed potato), Ina Garten's Rosemary and White Bean, Split Pea from the same book, and Chickpea Noodle. The final soup in that list, all of which we prepared vegan, was especially fantastic. I think it's replaced my go-to soup for veg*ns who have colds, flus, and other soup-healing ailments. I modified it slightly: I skipped the mushrooms because we didn’t have any, doubled the carrots, used water since we had no mirin in the house, used soybean miso (the entire 1/3 cup), and used whole wheat noodles, the “Amish” kind that often come in a clear plastic bag (such noodles are the kind of thing my mom sends home with me after a visit at my parents' house, aw). I also added chopped fresh kale at the end, which wilted nicely and upped the nutritional value.

One other new soup we've tried so far is a cheater, I suppose, but nevertheless Trader Joe’s 17 Bean and Barley is adaptable and healthy, with the ease of only requiring the addition of your chosen ingredients (or following their handy suggestions). Plus, you can try and identify the 17 beans while eating dinner. Fun!

Other favorite soups in our repertoire include Chili (served in the Cincinnati style, on top of spaghetti); Hearty Tomato with Lemon and Rosemary; Pinto Bean for when we want to eat like Buddhist monks; Lentil; Corn Chowder; a simple vegetable that starts with V8 juice and any veg we have on hand, plus additions like barley and edamame; and Garlic and Potato, my former stand-by soup for sipping out of a mug when feeling under the weather. Also, I highly recommend Better Than Bouillon for vegetable broth. It's economical, has very little packaging, and the taste adds a rich base to any soup.

I will write an update as our new-soup-making project continues. Any suggestions for ones we should try?

(Photo of beet soup taken last March in San Francisco, at Brenda's, where I shared a delightful meal with Rebecca, Lu, and Jason.)

Alton Brown Interview in Gizmodo

2009-08-26T11:41:00.002-04:00

Alton Brown, host of Good Eats, Iron Chef America, the excellent Feasting on Asphalt/Waves miniseries, and patron Saint of this humble blog, was recently interviewed by the gadget blog Gizmodo on his penchant for "hacking" kitchen (and non-kitchen) gadgets to do things for which they weren't necessarily intended. Give it a read.

Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad

2009-08-09T20:05:00.004-04:00

I've seen so many blogs mention this salad lately, in some form or another, that I just had to try it, especially when I spotted some fresh baby brussels sprouts from Northridge Organic at the farmers market yesterday. I'm happy to say it did not disappoint...

The recipe, courtesy of the lovely Ms. O:

Raw Brussels Sprout Salad with Almonds and Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 cup slivered almonds
2 pounds Brussels sprouts
1/4 cup olive oil or 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon truffle oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely sliced chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°. Place almonds on baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile, slice Brussels sprouts as thinly as possible. In large bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, chives, salt and pepper. Add Brussels sprouts, almonds and Parmesan cheese. Toss until combined.

I found that it needed 15 minutes in the fridge after mixing, to let the lemon juice work on the sprouts a bit. Also, if you have a mandoline, it makes quick work of the slicing operation.

This got a solid "It's alright" from Ben, sworn enemy of all things Brussels or Sprout.

summer libation project, a la zac

2009-07-10T15:37:00.007-04:00

Inspired by Zac's summer beer project, I thought I would report on my own summer consumption of adult bevvies. Seriously, this summer has been the best. And I haven't even gone on vacation yet! Anyway, I'm totally in love with this summer and I think I've sampled some tasty drinks, especially for a grad student on a budget.

Magic Hat Wacko. A librarian friend of mine recommended this to me in light of my love of beets. This beer is delicious and beautiful. I don't really have the vocabulary to describe beer like Zac does...and I don't have one in front of me at the moment to sip and be inspired by so this is just to say: I really enjoyed it. All Magic Hat beers are vegan.
Dogfish Head Aprihop. I thought this was the beer Zac recommended but then I got home and realized it was the Peche. Damn. I'll have to buy the Peche next time. The Aprihop is good but not amazingly delicious, in my opinion. It does taste like summer, though, so I definitely recommend it. Dogfish Head can't really go wrong by me. Note to self: try all their beers instead of always getting Raison D'Etre and 90 Minute IPA.
In the comments to Zac's post we discussed cream ales and recently I was reminded of one of my favorites: Buffalo Bill's Orange Blossom Cream Ale. I think this is a great summer beer and I just picked some up for our upcoming Minnesota lake vacation.
Boulevard Wheat. Zac posted about this beer and his plans to mix it with lemonade. Wheat is my favorite beer and I can't get it on Ohio. Instead of drinking it, then, I wax nostalgic about it. For example, many fabulous evenings of my life have been spent sharing pitchers of Wheat at Minsky's on Main in Kansas City, where each pitcher is ringed with half a dozen lemon wedges. Any time my family in Missouri visits me they bring me some, bless them. I'm sure my parents will bring me some of this at the lake. Perhaps we'll try this lemonade thing.
Tucher Helles Hefeweizen. My sister loves this beer and she introduced me to it. She first had it at Das Stein House in Jefferson City, MO. It's sold at Jungle Jim's so I often get her some (I import German beer and IKEA items to Missouri on a regular basis.)
Left Hand Milk Stout. I have a bottle of this in the fridge right now. One bottle. I first drank this beer at the Old Mohawk Bar in German Village, Columbus, OH. It's rich and delicious and refreshing and awesome. It's not a summer beer. It's a year round beer, a dinner beer if you will.
Chimay. I had my first bottle of this at Myra's Dionysus last weekend after J, J, and I went to see the new Woody Allen movie. Where has this beer been all my life?! Where have these Trappist monks been hiding?! In a monastery or something?! A new favorite for sure.
Now for bevvies beyond beer. If you haven't had a Bellini you really must treat yourself. Bellinis are served in Venice and drinking it really takes me back. Combine peach nectar (I like the tall glass bottles from the grocery store) with Prosecco sparkling wine. Please use Italian Prosecco, please. I'm begging you. Bellini-makings are fun to take to a dinner party, which is one of my favorite things to do. At the end of the evening, after dessert and when the conversation is getting really good, it's nice to have this refreshing taste of summer. If I can't go to Europe, at least I can drink it.
I also had Trader Joe's sake for the first time. It's really good and it may surprise you how tasty it is. They also have a "sparkling" sake, which in my opinion is just wrong, so make sure you get the non-sparkling variety.

I think that about covers it. Beyond my knitting night Shiner Bocks and pints of Guinness that's what I've been tossing back these days. I think next summer I will fulfill my longtime desire to make Limoncello but I didn't get it together earlier in the spring to have some for summer evening, after dinner sipping. What have you been drinking lately?

For all the CSA fans in the house...

2009-07-09T08:54:00.004-04:00

I was perusing Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools blog as I am wont to do when I stumbled across this recent review of LocalHarvest, a CSA/co-op/community agriculture/farmer's market/restaurant search tool that helps you locate such offerings in your area. I'm fascinated by the almost natural synergy (excuse the hackneyed term, but it's early) of back-to-basics movements and new social networking technologies. Many of the locations we're familiar with came up with a simple zip code search (North Star, The Sipples, Wayward Seed, North Market, and many more), so it passed my rigorous testing, at least.

On an entirely unrelated note, for the gastronomic sadists out there: FancyFastFoods is a site dedicated to helping those Cheesy Gordita Crunches and McRib Sandwiches realize their culinary apogee (well, aesthetically... certainly not nutritionally or taste-wise). The food photography, incidentally, is incredible. Like tapas? Here's what you can do with cheap, greasy White Castle fare:

I Cried at Lunch Today, But For All The Right Reasons...

2009-07-07T12:44:00.004-04:00

Fans of street food, Mexican cuisine, budgetary constraint, and the porcine flesh, do take note: Worthington is now home to a new restaurant dubbed Taco Al Pastor. It's an unassuming little joint that doles out the usual Mexican fare (burritos, quesadillas, etc.), but is also one of the only places in the area that serves its eponymous dish: street tacos filled with spit-cooked pork made tender by the enzymatic caresses of pineapple, plus an assortment of spices, herbs, etc. They're all the rage in Mexico City (more here)... Three tacos and a can of Diet Coke for under $5. Go get some.

Will single-source chocolate be the next food item to go extreme?

2009-07-06T14:25:00.006-04:00

Our friend Alan at Patric Chocolate introduced his new chocolate bar today. It's sooooo EXTREME!!! 70% Madagascar bar with freakin' nibs! This may blow any candy bar on the market out of the water. As I told Alan, this bar is ridunculous, for sheez. Buy one and get the 411 here.

beautiful & delicious

2009-07-05T22:33:00.004-04:00

Being friends with Jason offers a multitude of benefits. And many of them are edible! Here's his take on summer snacks before a movie. All ingredients are local.

books for foodies: got a recommendation?

2009-06-10T14:32:00.002-04:00

Friends,

To declare the completely obvious, I love foodie-ish books. In the spring I read Molly's book A Homemade Life. Earlier this summer I breezed through Ruth Reichl's Garlic and Sapphires and 2008's Best Food Writing. I'm looking for more. Do you have an suggestions, foodie books you've loved beyond the super popular titles (like the important work of Michael Pollan or Animal, Vegetable, Miracle)?

Libation: A Bitter Alchemy caught my eye today. What else do you have for me?

You Scream, We All Scream

2009-06-10T08:24:00.005-04:00

R and I have been ice cream-making fools as of late. My mom gave us the ice cream attachment for the KitchenAid mixer for our birthdays. (Remember that R is older than me.) So, we've put it to good use.

Actually, R has put it to good use. She's made lavender, chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla (with real vanilla bean) ice cream so far. All have been excellent. It's not Jenni's, but it's good. And R made it all.

Until now.

I made a ice cream with Bell's Expedition Stout using a recipe from Perfect Scoop. The original actually called for Guinness Stout which is little on the weak side for me. An imperial Russian stout like the Bell's Expedition is more than twice as alcoholic and infinitely more flavorful.

Due to the extra alcohol, the ice cream was soft, but it was very good. Chocolate, roasted malt, hops, coffee all assaulted my taste buds. It was great for my tastes, but R complained of bitterness. That may have been the hops. Pairing this ice cream with some vanilla would probably cut the bitterness.

So, for your own Bell's Expedition Stout ice cream, here's what you do:

Turn to page 32 of Perfect Scoop.
Follow the directions using high-end, organic milk chocolate and substituting a Russian imperial stout for the Guinness.
Mix and chill.
Drink the rest of the beer.
Churn in your ice cream maker. (Here, Ziplock bags, salt, and ice will probably not do.)
Freeze.
Enjoy.

For Your Reading Pleasure...

2009-05-26T20:41:00.002-04:00

From the WIRED SCIENCE blog, an article on an upstart web service called FarmsReach used to coordinate farmers' market vendors and area (Bay area) restaurants specializing in local, sustainable food. We could use something like that here in Columbus, so... yeah... somebody get started on that.

Food Web, Meet Interweb: The Networked Future of Farms
By Alexis Madrigal

Ahhh, Rhubarb. We meet again.

2009-05-11T17:35:00.003-04:00

Yet another fantastic recipe from Simply Recipes - this time, a wonderfully easy and tasty rhubarb sorbet from guest contributor Garrett McCord (of Vanilla Garlic).

My only alteration was to add a few drops of food coloring to the finished puree (since my rhubarb was mostly of the green variety), to get that sweet pink color. Next time I think I'll reduce the sugar by 1/2 cup or so to try to retain a bit more of the rhubarb's tart flavor, but this is really good as is, and the recipe makes a generous amount.

Also worth noting - I used a stick blender right in the pan, rather than the method mentioned in the original recipe. It worked great.

So, when you get tired of all those pies and crumbles ... try this. It's a keeper.

Summer Beer Project

2009-04-17T08:15:00.002-04:00

This post originally appeared on my blog, but I thought I'd reproduce it here...

One of my favorite pastimes of the summer (well, any season really) is the consumption of beer. Each year, I get hooked on a particular beer or other recreational beverage (mojitos come to mind) and am always on the lookout for something to both quench my thirst and lighten my mood.

I was thinking about this summer's drink du jour as the sun decided to visit Misery today. What will be this summer's drink? Will it be an old stand-by or something new. I've decided to explore the possibilities throughout the summer. But before this project begins, let me cover a few favorites or possible winners for the summer.

Cream Ales
This is a style that I barely knew existed. Then my mom delivered some New Glarus this evening, including some of their cream ale Spotted Cow. Cream ales are top-fermented beers that go through an extended period of cold-conditioning or lagering. The Spotted Cow I had tonight was light and refreshing, perfect for summer.

Summer Beer
This one will have beer purists gagging, but it's a good option if you want refreshment and alcohol without the heaviness of several beers. First, you fill a typical pint glass about 2/3 full with an unfiltered wheat beer. Boulevard Wheat works the best for this. Then, pour in a shot of vodka and top it off with lemonade. My friend TJ introduced me to the summer beer a summer or two back. Apparently, it's a big thing in Lawrence, but I won't tell if you won't.

Stout Float
I love ice cream. I love stouts. However, until I came to COMO, I would have never put the two together. Somehow, it makes sense. This is a drink with which I may have to experiment. Should I use dry stouts or over-the-top imperial stouts (like the Dogfish Head World Wide Stout that nearly knocked me on my ass this evening)? This could be either the most fun of the summer drinks or the most disappointing.

Oberon with Orange Slice
Here's another drink that makes beer purists gag, but I swear by this combination. It was customary in Columbus to toss a slice of orange into a wheat beer, but none compare to Bell's Oberon. The best part might be eating the orange slice at the end.

Dogfish Head Festina Pêche
This is the first beer that cannot be had in Misery, but a quick trip to Illinois will make this terrible reality go away. This is one of the few beers I've had that is light enough, low enough on the alcohol (4.5% ABV), and features just the right amount of fruit to be a one-and-done summer drink. It has rather complex layers of flavoring with a touch of sourness that satisfies after one bottle. I still have three of my four-pack, waiting for warmer weather.

Negra Modelo with Lime
Mexican drinks are often synonymous with summer. I prefer the darker Negra Modelo with a slice of lime. The trick is to see whether you can properly get your lime from the neck of the bottle to the bottom without spilling it all over the place.

I realize that these drinks are beer-specific, but I write about beer. What are you willing to try? What do you think will be this summer's drink du jour? Let me know if you try any of these suggestions. Leave me something in the comments.

Bacon-ham-cheese hamburger Doughnut

2009-04-09T02:38:00.005-04:00

While at an event this weekend, someone (not me) cooked up this bacon-ham-cheese hamburger doughnut. Oh the things people will do with food. Apparently the doughnut "bun" gets a bit lost in all that flavor. Luckily we didn't have to call the paramedics.

Recipe:
Find one glazed doughnut left over from breakfast. Cut in half.
Grill two ground beef patties on charcoal grill.
Grill two or more slices of bacon on charcoal grill.
Grill two or more slices of ham on charcoal grill.
Layer bacon, ham, and cheese between ground beef patties.
Layer more bacon, ham, and cheese on top of ground beef patty.
Lightly toast doughnut.
Put assembled ground beef patties, ham, bacon, and cheese between the two halves of the toasted glazed doughnut.
Eat. Feel your blood turning to sludge. Have the paramedics on speed dial.

Turns out, L. Ron was right all along.

2009-03-06T09:41:00.004-05:00

A gift for the human race, bestowed upon us by the great master Xenu:

(Thanks and blessed glory be to Nick for picking up this bag o' awesome while on a Cali-Philly road trip.)

Nutraloaf: Repulsive or Awesome

2009-02-26T14:44:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite topics of conversation among friends (at the bar or whatnot) is: would you rather lose a major limb or lose your taste buds forever? I find this question to be great for conversation because you quickly identify the foodies in the group and listening to people talk about their relationships to food/cookery/eating is endlessly interesting. At least to me. For the record, you can have my leg but don’t take away my ability to enjoy my just-spicy-enough Sriracha laced cabbage.

Today, while eating lunch with my friends Sam and Wio at Wild Bistro, we approached a related topic. In light of the economy, what is the perfectly nutritional and economic meal? And would you want to eat it? Also, if such a “meal” could be made into an affordable supplement, would you take it and potentially forgo other foodstuffs, saving yourself a boatload of money but sacrificing the pleasures of food?

After returning to the library, Sam emailed this: Nutraloaf. It’s a nutritionally complete “cuisine” fed to misbehaving prison inmates as a punishment. It’s controversial. Is it abuse? Is it brilliant? Does it tap into our core beliefs that all people deserve recognizable foodstuffs that they enjoy, at least to a degree?

It turns out I have a lot of thoughts on Nutraloaf. I like to imagine prison kitchens competing to see who can make the best/worst Nutraloaf. Criteria for judging could be: How bad does it taste? Can you taste the sawdust in it? How super nutritious can it be pushed to be? (SUPER NUTRALOAF could be endorsed by and marketed to athletes!) How long does it last before expiration? How cheap is its production? Also there could be a competition for presentation: ugliest Nutraloaf, molding Nutraloaf into a miniature version of the penitentiary, etc.

Also, what about Nutraloaf eating contests? Forget shoveling delicious pies and Nathan's hotdogs in competitors' mouths! Take it to a new level!

For the super adventurous, here’s a recipe via NPR. Scott Simon ate it.

Would you eat it?

(Thanks go to Sam, who distracted me from my dissertation for a good 30 minutes by alerting me to Nutraloaf.)

Patric Chocolate

2009-02-15T13:43:00.003-05:00

There are chocolatiers and there are chocolate makers. In COMO, we have a chocolate maker. His name is Alan McClure. What makes him a chocolate maker? Well, he takes the chocolate from bean to bar (although, technically, it's not a bean) instead of just melting it with some sugar and milk over caramel or peanuts or whatever. Alan is a true artisan in the chocolate world.

Anyway, R and I have befriended Alan and his chocolate over the past several months. We met at a beer tasting and Alan is a foodie that would make us all proud. He hunts down the best meats and produce all over the Show-Me state, not to mention the lengths he goes to (including trips to Madagascar) to bring people the best chocolate.

I realize that V-day is over, but it's not too late to support a true food lover like Alan. Go to his website, buy a bar or three. He also sells hot chocolate discs and cocoa nibs. You can thank me later.

Bacon Explosion

2009-01-28T16:01:00.003-05:00

I really think one of you meaties out there needs to make it. And then photograph it. And then eat it. And then blog it. Of course.

Rad Dog's Owner featured in ALIVE

2009-01-16T17:16:00.004-05:00

The current issue of Columbus Alive has a feature on Rad Dog proprieter/cart pusher Tawd Bell. I'm glad to see him get the press; he seems like a stand-up guy, and even I (an insufferable, life-long carnivore) find his vegan victuals pretty tasty. Biggest take-away from the article: a joint venture with the Pattycake Vegan Bakery owner is in the works.

Kitchen Sink Chicken Chili

2009-01-06T20:09:00.006-05:00

Lately I've been enjoying quick, healthy and comforting meals as the holidays become memories and my normal cooking and eating routines return. There's not much I love more in January than simmering a pot on the stove or in the slow cooker all day long while it's cold and gray outside.

I've especially enjoyed experimenting with soups and stews lately - this is the type of cooking I always seem to come back to this time of year. They're handy for using up some of those neglected cans in the cupboard, and they also inspire me to dig through my fridge and make my fresh ingredients stretch. If only I could remember this feeling next summer when I'm tempted to (yet again) let those last few tomatoes rot on the vine...

All of this is to say: I'm in the mood for chili. What a perfect winter dish. It's a handy way to use up some of those pantry staples, some things floating around in the crisper drawer, and even some recent crock pot leftovers. Get ready for a wacky ingredient list - I call it kitchen sink chili because it has everything but.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 head green or savoy cabbage, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 large fennel bulb, sliced thin
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp bottled bbq sauce
12 oz. tomato-based vegetable drink (like V8 - I like Knudsen Organic Very Veggie)
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
2 C cubed cooked chicken (rotisserie would work well here - I used what was left on a whole chicken from yesterday's crock pot dinner. Smoked chicken would also be lovely.)

Method:

In a dutch oven or large pot over medium heat, saute the cabbage, fennel, garlic and onion in the olive oil until tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the chipotle pepper, salt, spices, and juice only from the canned tomatoes. Simmer uncovered another 8-10 minutes until liquid is reduced by half. Add the tomatoes (crushing as you add them), chicken, black beans, bbq sauce and vegetable drink. Stir well and simmer covered 15-20 minutes, or until all ingredients are heated through.

This makes a medium-thick, medium-spicy chili - for a spicier finished product, add another chipotle pepper (or just another spoonful or two of adobo sauce). You can also add more or less vegetable drink to reach the consistency you like. This can easily hold on low heat for quite a while - just keep covered and remember to stir occasionally to keep from sticking.

Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and some cornbread on the side. As a side note, I'm happy to say I finally found another use for my Madeline pan - it makes perfect, puffy little corn cakes. Unitasker no more!

Happy winter cooking!

A Cornucopia of Bacon

2008-12-30T14:35:00.004-05:00

mmmm....bacon....and more bacon....

Because everyone (except Ben) needs a bit more bacon in their lives.

I mean, what's not to love about bacon-wrapped white asparagus?

Bacon Today has lots of other wonderful bacon-centric recipes including bacon-wrapped tofurky.

And Bacon Unwrapped has a bit on bacon-flavored bourbon....mmmm...

Miss Bobbie's Cornbread Dressing

2008-11-24T21:06:00.002-05:00

My mom makes the best southern cornbread dressing. As with all the best recipes, it's a combination of just a few simple, but flavorful, ingredients. The texture is very smooth, not like a traditional stuffing, and it's always prepared on the side, never inside the bird. She makes the cornbread with a 50+ year old cast iron skillet.

My favorite way to eat it is cold, the day after Thanksgiving, spread in a thick layer on a turkey sandwich. Heaven.

Her recipe:

1 skillet cornbread, crumbled (she makes sure to note that it MUST be made with White Lily brand white cornmeal)
4 slices white bread, torn into pieces
1 C onions, minced
1 C celery, minced
1 1/2 tsp ground sage
1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 can chicken stock, or equal amount from turkey

Mix all ingredients together in a large dish. The stock and spice quantities are *suggestions* and the list above was her attempt to quantify them when I asked. You really just taste as you go and make sure it "looks right." Once you feel good about it, cover with foil and bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 or 15 minutes so it can brown.

As it goes with many Thanksgiving foods, serve with lots of gravy.

Early Turkey Planning

2008-11-16T13:21:00.005-05:00

Here is a preliminary menu for the big day...

Starters:

Assorted Cheeses from World Harvest
Bubble & Squeak (because Ashley's dying to try it - vegetarian)

Dinner:

Cornbread dressing (not vegetarian)
Smoked turkey (not vegetarian)
Sweet potato casserole (non-marshmallow variety)
Spanish smashed potatoes with kale (veg)
Vegetarian dressing
Vegetarian gravy
Collard / mustard greens (cooked with vegetarian Vietnamese broth, ghee, and Ethiopian spices)
Roast root vegetables
Groundnut harvest stew

Dessert:

Sweet potato pie with spicy dark chocolate
Possibly some other pies, cakes, etc.

Drinks:

Single malt scotch (Lagavulin?)
Bourbon (Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve?)
Żubrówka with apple juice (as always)
Achel Trappist Extra
Schlafly Reserve Imperial Stout
Schlafly Reserve Barley Wine Style Ale
+Some seasonal stuff and IPA's
Wine? (It depends on what everyone brings. We may go here for some supplies as well.)

Did I miss anything? I may start a wiki and then everyone can contribute without searching their Gmail for the discussion.

Update: I have now created the wiki. If I missed anyone or if any regular DV posters want in on the recipe action, let me know. You will need to respond to the invite in order to access the wiki. Again, if you want in on the action, send me an email at my Gmail account. (My blogger username is the same as my Gmail account.)

Bell's Makes Misery Tolerable

2008-10-29T22:41:00.003-04:00

I lazy and didn't want to post this twice, but R and I attended a beer dinner last night. Check my post at living in misery for all the details.

Trickster Doughnuts

2008-10-28T14:09:00.003-04:00

Do you like doughnuts? Of course you do. But what if they looked like other, more savory foodstuffs? Would that be too weird for you to take? WOULD IT?!?!?

Haiku Review: Trader Joe's Tuscan White Bean Hummus

2008-10-14T18:10:00.002-04:00

Divine dip from heaven
This world is a better place
Because you are here

Autumn Is a Time for Beer

2008-10-09T22:38:00.003-04:00

Actually, every season is a time for beer. I just wanted to make some suggestions for the fall season and all the fine beer hitting the shelves.

First of all, the pumpkin beers are out. I normally do not like fruit or vegetable-based beers, but this is an exception. I would also like to point out that I have only found one pumpkin ale up to snuff. Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale is by far the best I've had. Somehow they have created a beer that actually tastes of pumpkin and nutmeg and cinnamon and all that without skimping on the alcohol. The beer comes in at 8% ABV. That's no trick, friends. That's all treat.

I also have a Southern Tier Pumpking sitting in the fridge waiting to be consumed. I will have to get back to you on that as I make my way through some other noteworthy beers in my stash.

Besides the pumpkin ales, one should look to the many brands which make an Oktoberfest beer. An Oktoberfest beer is basically a marzen, a German style of lager that's dark and full-bodied. Every brewery and their sister has a marzen available come September. However, only a few stand above.

My pick for this year comes from the masters of the lager: Great Lakes Brewing. Their Oktoberfest is a chocolaty brown with just enough bitter to not infringe on the beer's crispness. No one makes better lagers than Great Lakes, no one.

Another cool addition to the Oktoberfest crowd this year is Coney Island Brewing's Freaktoberfest. The color is the strangest I have ever seen in a beer. The beer pours almost a bright, hot pink color. The head is straight on pink. I think they were going for blood red, but they made a super marzen in the process.

Finally, every season has a one-time only seasonal release. The fall brings us Bells Hell Hath No Fury Ale. It's described as an American dubbel, whatever that is. Just know that it's rich, dark, and intense. Snatch it up quickly as only a small batch has been brewed. Plus, it's kind of pricey.

Be on the lookout for my next beer report for the winter months. There will be plenty of stouts and porters to go around for sure. Also, I will be posting the sweet potato casserole for anyone who is interested.

Still Here

2008-10-05T23:32:00.005-04:00

Just thought I'd let you all know that we are still here in Misery.

Also, I wanted to start a discussion on Thanksgiving. I know that several of you are planning on attending the whatever annual Native American genocide day or whatever we're calling it now. Maybe we could all post ideas for food items, recipes, and drinks for this little shindig.

We will smoke a turkey as is our usual contribution. I will also provide my sweet potato casserole (which we actually had tonight for dinner). I'm sure there will be more to add to the menu as the event draws nearer.

As far as the drinks, I have a start on that already. I have been aging some special beers from Schlafly Brewing out of STL. They made a limited edition Stout (brewed in bourbon barrels) and barley wine that actually improve with age. Also, I'm sure there will be some bourbon and scotch floating around the Dingo-Early household come November.

So, start posting menu ideas and recipes for the big event. Even if you are not able to attend, I'd like to hear what people are planning for the second-best meal of the year. (R's Polish feasts on Christmas Eve are decadent.)

ANOTHER UPDATE: 2008 Columbus Summer Chili-Dog Challenge!

2008-10-02T09:33:00.004-04:00

[Pics provided for the benefit of Abby... sheez! are you happy now?]

As summer wound down, I was able to make it to one last chili-dog destination, the unassuming Acme Dogs located on Cleveland Ave. between Morse and 161. This place is all about choice: several varieties of hotdogs as well as sausages, many types of buns (poppy, sesame, egg, plain), and a whole slew of condiments. They have a number of specialty dog combinations, including one that 's wrapped in bacon and deep-fried (!). The coney sauce was pretty good, the beef hotdog with natural casing was a wonderful choice, and cheese + brown mustard = :) . I shan't forget to mention the peanut butter milkshake I got there as well, which was divine. Will I go there again? I already have, in my dreams at least (does anyone else have chili-dog dreams?).

Now behold! in all my masticulating glory:

UPDATE: 2008 Columbus Summer Chili-Dog Challenge!

2008-09-04T12:37:00.002-04:00

Dear readers, you may recall my previous post announcing my chili-dog extravaganza. Here's an update, in the form of hastily jotted notes from the front lines:

I've gone off the reservation, hitting a couple of joints not covered in Alive's original article. the Blue Danube has an *okay* chili-dog, but the weiner is massive, so much so that after 62% of it, you're either bored with the taste or highly uncomfortable.
I know lots of folks swear by Skyline Chili, but I can't get behind that alternate-universe, bizarro "chili sauce" syrup they put on their coneys--after eating two, I feel like I need an insulin shot.
Rad Dog's all-vegan chili-dog was surprisingly good, and eating it while walking around the Wednesday farmer's market/craft fair in downtown Columbus made for a nice experience. Two minor complaints: too much chili (especially for eating on foot), and veggie dogs could use some sort of "casing" to give them a more believable texture.
To all the haters out there: I *can so* eat chili-dogs and still lose weight.

More to come...

I'll play

2008-08-18T19:08:00.002-04:00

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea (Okay, so I haven't had nettle tea, but I've braved stinging pain to make my own nettle soup before)
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (I have had alligator. I think that counts)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (Another one where the name does not even come close to describing what it actually is.)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (so good)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (I had grasshoper sushi once)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whiskey from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzleo
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong (this is a tea that tastes a lot like a smoky, peaty single malt. Delicious.)
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Well, I got 56...not bad for someone who's been mostly vegetarian for 12 years...

Playing with Food Redux

2008-08-18T10:01:00.005-04:00

My friend at Central Standard posted this list of 100 things every omnivore should try in his/her lifetime. Check out my results and add your own to the comments. Even most you vegetarians out there could answer a few of these. (Meatitarians too.) Of course, I added some comments to some of these items.

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (However, I have had alligator. It tasted like chicken.)
6. Black pudding (One in a long line of British dishes that are nothing like their name. Pudding my ass.)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (I can't believe that there is actually a cheese out there I have yet to try.)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (Anything from Boon's Farm fits this category.)
19. Steamed pork buns (We called it "pork butt" and it was smoked as well.)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (One word: duck.)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (Another one where the name does not even come close to describing what it actually is.)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (Not in MO, though.)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (Out of the barrel is acceptable; from the can not so much.)
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (I usually enjoy a scotch with a cigar, but the cognac can be nice.)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (I believe this includes Jell-O shots.)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat (The Jamaican joint in COMO serves a dish of this that is frickin good.)
42. Whole insects (I haven't eaten any by choice. We all eat several thousand over our lifetime, mostly while we sleep.)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (I remember the Middle-Eastern celebration we had in 4th grade. One classmate brought in some goat's milk. The chocolate was my favorite.)
45. Malt whiskey from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (I don't know for sure that the price of the stuff we had was this high, but it was plenty good.)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (There's a great Vietnamese place in STL that serves eel still on the bone.)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (I still prefer cake doughnuts.)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (For a long time, I enjoyed the "vegetarian" version of the Big Mac -- sans all-beef patties.)
56. Spaetzleo
57. ~~Dirty gin martini~~ (This may sound funny for such a list, but I won't do olives.)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (I almost don't drink beer that's below 6% anymore.)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (Sweet? No. Bread? No.)
63. Kaolin (I'm not even sure what this is. Wikipedia claims it's a mineral of some sort. I'm not sure how it qualifies as food.)
64. Currywurst (I haven't, but I really want to.)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (If you have attended a state or county fair, you have had one of these.)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (I have not had this, but after reading wikipedia to find out what it is, I want some.)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (I assume that rabbit counts here. My babysitter in second grade fed us some from her husband's recent hunt.)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (I once made kids at camp prove how much Spam they could hold in their mouths and still say some silly phrase.)
92. Rose harissa
94. Catfish (My favorite dish from Betty's is still their catfish with mashed potatoes and corn.)
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta (Both homemade and tube form.)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Overall, I nailed 68 of the dishes above. There was only one I would not try (dirty martini -- but any other martini is acceptable). Make your own list or comment below on how your list would look.

Panang Curry with Local Ohio Vegetables (a farmers' market demo)

2008-08-14T15:19:00.004-04:00

Ingredients:

4 oz can Maesri Panang Curry Paste
2 large cans of coconut milk (about 40 oz)
2-3 medium onions
4 scapes (could substitute garlic cloves or powder)
3 medium green or purple peppers
A bunch of broccoli
2-3 medium heirloom zucchini
A bunch of haricots verts (French green beans)
A bunch of basil
Kosher salt
Cinnamon powder
Sriracha hot sauce
Safflower or canola oil

Procedures:

1)Sautee chopped onions and peppers for 5-10 minutes.
2)Add coconut milk, panang curry paste, chopped scapes, and a few pinches of salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a simmer / light boil.
3)Add zucchini and stir for a couple of minutes.
4)Add broccoli and stir for a couple of minutes.
5)Add haricots verts and stir for a couple of minutes.
6)Add chopped basil leaves, a couple squirts of sriracha hot sauce (if you like extra spic, a pinch of cinnamon, and another pinch of salt.
7)Serve with jasmine rice.

Variations or substitutions:

The only vegetables you really absolutely need are the onions and peppers. Other vegetables can be deleted or added depending on what is available at the market. The Maesri panang curry paste and sriracha hot sauce are available at Jungle Jims in the Thai and Vietnamese sections, but you could substitute the Thai kitchen red curry paste and chili garlic sauce available at Kroger. You also might consider adding cubed extra firm tofu and letting it cook for at least 5 minutes. For even more fun, you might add a can of vegetarian mock duck available in the Taiwanese section of Jungle Jims.

2008 Columbus Summer Chili-Dog Challenge!

2008-08-14T13:07:00.005-04:00

Let me start off by saying that I am still, conceptually speaking, working to restrict my caloric intake this summer, and so far the bathroom scale is mostly moving in the right direction. That said, I couldn't let the implicit challenge embodied in a cover story in Columbus Alive a few weeks back go unanswered: "Dog Days," a parade of local eateries, high- and low-brow, that serve the best wiener-fare this fair city has to offer. I've made it a point to hit all of these joints--yes, even the vegan hotdog cart downtown--in order to have the full chili-dog experience.

So far, I've made it to two destinations: Wholly Joe's (in the Polaris area) and Press Grill (Sho'No'). Both of these places I've been to before, but in my opinion, it's necessary to revisit them to remind the palate what good chili-dogs taste like. This far into it, I've made a realization: I'm no food critic, at least when it comes to chili-dogs. I've rarely met one I didn't like, and even then, I'd still be hard pressed NOT to eat it. Both dogs were good, but for different reasons (poppy seed bun vs. split-top toasted white bun; coney sauce versus hearty black bean chili, stadium mustard versus classic yellow). *sigh* The task set before me is a daunting one, indeed... Pity me, dear readers.

New Restaurant: Sage American Bistro

2008-07-15T17:49:00.002-04:00

The North Campus area has a new chow-hole: Sage American Bistro, which sits in that accursed spot that used to house the Kitchen Lounge (defunct) and before that some Mediterranean joint (also defunct). Results from the first outing were mixed--a tad pricey for the fare, some confusing choices (sesame-encrusted crabcakes? you can't taste the crab!), but some bright spots as well (scallops with blackberry ketchup were actually quite good and well prepared, plus the decor is nice, AND they stock Hendrick's gin). I want to like this place, so let's hope they iron out the wrinkles soon, lest they sink to the ocean floor like those brave, hearty souls that came before...

My Beer Life

2008-06-25T01:58:00.003-04:00

I've been getting into the fancy beers here in Misery. Check out our new website for Columbia Beer Enthusiasts. Then you should all plan your visits around upcoming beer tastings.

Gluttonous in Seattle

2008-06-02T11:20:00.014-04:00

We just returned from our travels to Seattle and have a lot of food-related news to share. We actually ate very well, despite this post's ominous title. Most of my gluttony took the form of beer of which R was unable to enjoy. Anyway, here's my report:

Thanks to our having locals to point us in the right direction and our own experiences in Seattle, we were able to enjoy what has to be the best bits of Seattle cuisine. From breakfast joints to sandwich shops to the best beer the Emerald City has to offer, we fully enjoyed our trip...gastronomically speaking.

Our two breakfasts out were dominated by interestingly eggy creations. Bainbridge Island's Streamliner Diner provided us our first taste of a Seattle breakfast. R enjoyed the pesto-infused green eggs (sans ham) while I enjoyed a fennel-heavy omelet with lots of sausage. However, the coffee was weak (and apparently not very plentiful) and the potatoes were terribly underdone.

Luckily, we opted for breakfast out on Saturday as well. We landed at the delicious Portage Bay Cafe in the U-District. It was a tough decision, but we both went with omelets. I stuck with my Italian sausage-in-omelet trend by ordering the omelet filled with andouille sausage, basil, asiago cheese, mushrooms, and tomatoes. R chose the salmon omelet which include a DV favorite, Manchego cheese.

We also enjoyed some sweets along the way. I slurped on a dark chocolate milkshake from Mora Iced Creamery. Although the ice cream was not as creamy as Jeni's, it's flavor was nearly as intense as Jeni's best. Then I had a bag of donuts from Daily Dozen Donuts of Pike Place Market fame. Usually, I order a half dozen donuts covered in cinnamon and sugar, but they were cleaning out the day's batch for $2 a bag. It was disappointing, but I will be back.

The highlight of the sweets had to have been at Theo Chocolates. We were unable to get in for a tour, but that was soon forgotten as we sampled several of the bars Theo had to offer. R picked up several of the 3400 Phinney bars and other Theo confections.

This vacay was also as close to a beer vacation as I have ever experienced. If there is a west coast IPA I haven't tried, I don't know what it is. I had more Stone Ruination IPA's than maybe ever. I had similar IPA's (and even doubles) from the likes of Elysian, Elliott Bay, McMenamins, Dogfish Head (not west coast), and some others I don't recall. Plus, I returned to one of my semi-regular haunts in the Elysian Brewery on Pike for a bartender's sampler that included a nice hefeweizen, odd pomegranate pale ale, a Guinness-like stout, a rich barley wine, and really bitter ESB.

The highlights of the beer portion of the trip were our visits to Bottleworks and its pub, Brouwer's Cafe. First of all, the pub was ridiculously well-stocked. There were something like 60 or 70 beers on tap, plus another 200-300 in the bottle. Need I say more? I had a Lagunitas Maximus IPA that was super hoppy and pleasantly bitter. There was even a good ginger beer for R that was surprisingly spicy and not sweet at all. I continued my support of Lagunitas by purchasing a bomber to take home along with a Laughing Buddha Mango Weizen. Additionally, I had to purchase more Stone Ruination for immediate consumption.

In order to drink beer, one must visit several bars. Besides the aforementioned bars at Elysian and Brouwer's, I was able to enjoy several local joints that probably are left out of the average travel guide or tourism brochure. There was the Viking Tavern in Ballard which featured a retro style that's been well-kept and a nice selection of local brews on tap. An old YMCA camping pal took me out to Capitol Hill's Linda's Tavern with it's hipster vibe and animal heads protruding from every wall. We also spent some time in West Seattle where West 5 is located. this cocktail lounge had that hipster, retro feel along with some kick-ass nachos and more IPA.

Maybe the best food we had on our entire trip was found at Salumi. You have not lived until you have a sandwich at Salumi. We arrived about 20 minutes before they opened at 11:00 AM to find ourselves at least ten people from the door. Once inside, we discovered a very narrow storefront with a counter of Italian ladies hastily slicing salami and piecing together sandwiches on olive-oil soaked breads. R opted for one of the various salami's on said bread with some moz. I went with the hot sandwich of chunked pork, onions, and peppers. It all smelled and looked so good that I nearly forgot to take a picture before taking a few bites.

Although we didn't have the greatest Thai food or took full advantage of all the fresh fish, we did consume quite a bit of what Seattle had to offer. It helped to have such knowledgeable and generous hosts in M and A. Now, I will fight off a cold and detox for a few days.

only on the left coast

2008-05-27T15:54:00.002-04:00

made me happy.
at folklife in seattle this past sunday.

Best Breakfast Burrito

2008-05-11T13:22:00.005-04:00

Before you even read this post, you knew that I would talk about the burrito at North Star. Of course, you also know that we don't live anywhere near a North Star these days, which is just sad. Additionally, if you read my mom's day post, you'd know that I attempted to recreate said burrito for R.

There are no pictures (of my burrito) because R ate the burrito so fast. (Full disclosure: I insisted that she eat it before it got cold and forgot to take a picture.) So, you'll have to picture it in your head...or go down to North Star and buy the real thing.

Below is my estimation of what goes into the AM burrito at NS. If any of you have any suggestions or notice something I've forgotten, please feel free to supplement.

Boil water to both remove peels from tomatoes and to cook cubed sweet potatoes.
After removing tomato peels, squeeze out all the seeds and toss the tomatoes into a food processor with some cilantro, garlic, onions, salt, and apple cider vinegar. Process to make salsa.
Cook some onion and/or garlic in olive oil until tender and add a can of black beans. Cook until steaming.
You could roast your own red peppers on a grill or gas stove (propped up with a fork). I opted for some roasted red peppers in a jar.
Fry an egg, the more organic the better.
As far as cheese goes, I used some organic white cheddar (extra sharp), but I think a smoked Gruyère would be even better. The cheese should be shredded.
Sprinkle some cheese on the tortilla. I used whole-wheat tortillas today, but next time I will use sandwich wraps. They are bigger and stretch over the food better, allowing for more stuff inside.
On top of the cheese, pour on the beans, peppers, sweet potatoes, and chopped cilantro before topping it off with the egg.
Fold the burrito the best you can. The whole wheat tortillas don't fold so well. That's why I suggested the wraps.
Either dump some of the salsa onto the burrito or put some aside for dipping.

Image taken from Breakfast with Nick.

Haiku Review: Dosa Corner

2008-03-25T18:14:00.002-04:00

Vegetarian

Indian (North, South): spicy.

But, for Easter lunch?

--
(It was really pretty good; homepage here.)

Dolsot Bibim Bap!

2008-03-07T08:30:00.004-05:00

Since Abby has awakened the sleeping beast know as Digital Vittles, I thought I'd add my two cents.

COMO finally got a Korean restaurant. It doesn't sound as if it's as good as Oxford's new Indian joint, but it's something.

The dolsat bibim bap was adequate in filling that gaping void in my stomach left from the absence of good ethnic food in Misery. We didn't have to think long about our order. R and I have longed for a sizzling bowl of rice, vegetables, beef, rooster sauce, and fried egg ever since leaving our beloved Columbus.

The really funny part is that in researching the new restaurant, I found this blog. A quick read will demonstrate why we are so starved for fine cuisine. The bloggers actually seemed scared to try much on the menu of the new restaurant. How can you be a foodie and fear ethnic food?

Oh, and our waitress looked like Sun from Lost. R noticed, not me. So, that releases me from any guilt over my racism.

Sorry. No pictures of the eats.

rohan india

2008-03-07T08:19:00.003-05:00

oxford, ohio, has a new restaurant.
it's an indian restaurant.
and it's good.
thankfully, it's being mobbed by small-town ohioans, desperate for good eats.

the foodies rejoice!

The Mere Thought of this Disturbs even Me...

2008-01-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

From Gizmodo:

This is a cheeseburger. In a can. It's a cheeseburger in a can. I honestly can't figure out how I feel about this: is it the greatest achievement of mankind thus far, or is it an abomination of foodstuffs that deserves to be hucked back into the gaping maw of whatever food processing plant it was spewed from? I just don't know what to think anymore. Would you eat a cheeseburger in a can? Keep in mind that it'll look nowhere near as delicious as the example above when you pull it out of the can.

And the product page (it's German!).

tangerine sorbet

2008-01-21T11:44:00.001-05:00

this sorbet is surprisingly distinctive, both in color and flavor. at first its taste is fresh and tangy, just like a tangerine, and then the second flavor is sweet in a warm way, kind of a roasted or earthy sweetness. i have to think of a better description. it's definitely just the right amount of sweetness to balance the tang. i used this recipe with a few variations. i halved all measurements. i ended up juicing five tangerines to yield 1 1/2 cups juice and i also juiced one blood orange, which boosted the color nicely. blood oranges are so gorgeous. i would have garnished the finished sorbet with the candied zest but i ate it last night after the syrup cooled. i put the juice + syrup in the refrigerator overnight to cool and made the sorbet first thing this morning, which is a great way to start the week.

Xmas Eating

2008-01-01T18:55:00.001-05:00

As usual, there was much eating in the land of Dingo-Early this holiday season. (And there should be more with J visiting.)

We made cookies...We did the Polish thing...I made my brioche (although, Santa looks like he's been pumping HGH into his mustache.)And here's to more good eats in 2008!

(I know that there were problems with the pictures. I just hope that I didn't forget to include any.)

To B(acon) or Not to B(acon)...

2007-12-21T13:12:00.001-05:00

Having trouble deciding on whether or not to eat the hands-down best foodstuff known to the human species? Well, worry no more. This handy flowchart will help you figure it out (Thanks, beerorkid.com). Happy holidays, one and all!
--
(Image Credit: "Angel Bacons" by Sappymoosetree, under a CC-Attribution-No Derivatives License)

Worthington Farmers Market Will Soon Take Over Planet!

2007-11-30T11:15:00.000-05:00

More here.

Genocide Celebration Pictures

2007-11-26T08:10:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics from our Genocide Celebration...
Scenes from the Waffle House...
R made a phone call to J to make our meal at the WH feel "traditional".
The only thing we smoked was the turkey...and some short ribs...and a neck or two.
Here's the spread. Besides the turkey and short ribs, we enjoyed sweet potatoes, roasted root vegetables, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls (not throwed), goat cheese and squash turnovers, butter-pecan Brussels sprouts, and a delicious squash soup. (Plus some beer.)Here was my attempt to eat with Jack. It's hard to tell, but Jack discovered that the starch from mashed potatoes makes an excellent styling jell.Finally, there were no more than four options for dessert! There was the apple pie, sweet potato pie (Bodhi's favorite) with bourbon whipped cream, cheese pie, and chocolate ice cream. It was more than I could handle. We pretty much wore pajamas the rest of the weekend.
Of course, none of this meal would have been possible without the many contributions by our friends J & J (R's colleagues in Rhet/Comp) who brought the beer, rolls, soup, turnovers, ice cream, and their best creation, Vered. S & J brought Jack, green bean casserole, pies, some cheese, and mashed potatoes.

It was strange not having many of you with us for this edition of the Genocide Celebration, but the company and food we did have helped make this a successful fourth Thursday of November.

Gobble Gobble, y'all.

2007-11-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

Go here.
And here.
Now share all your risky T-Day recipes below in the comments section!

Cameron Mitchell Dumps Fish & Steak Chains on Ruth's Chris...

2007-11-07T16:38:00.000-05:00

...for a not-too-shabby $94 million. Story here.

vittles photo captioning contest!

2007-11-03T19:34:00.000-04:00

the readers of this blog are witty & intelligent.
bring on your captions, people!
(there's no prize, by the way, beyond the joy you will experience.)

2007-11-02T16:31:00.000-04:00

My days of picking & scraping are over.
Mat, thanks for the new & amazing technique.
It's a life-changer, seriously.

A plea for help!

2007-10-29T20:22:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Ben and I went to Lynd Fruit Farm and picked ourselves LOADS of the most delicious Rome apples I've ever tasted. This was my first ever apple-picking adventure, and I've learned two important lessons:

Climbing a tree at 32 is a different experience from climbing one at 12, and

16 pounds of apples is just a ridiculous amount of fruit. Seriously.

Between us we've already eaten 4 out of hand, and 7 more went into the Joy of Cooking's lovely Apple Crisp. I've set aside 8 lbs. for jelly, and we're still left with ... well, let's just say

A Great Many Apples.

Which brings me to my plea for help...

I know there are some good apple recipes rattling around in your noggins ... could you toss some my way?

Eggplant Recipes

2007-10-15T15:28:00.001-04:00

This weekend I went to "Your Dekalb Farmers Market: A World Market" and bought a nice looking eggplant. Now I'm looking for some good eggplant recipes to supplement my old standbys.

I'm a singleton so recipes that store well and result in good leftovers are especially welcomed.

cooking season: it's on

2007-10-13T12:13:00.001-04:00

The weather on the west side of Ohio has finally turned to the cool and crisp temperatures I crave all year. The other night I wanted to cook chili, vegetable soup, potato-garlic soup, caramel corn, pumpkin muffins, and an apple pie. I live alone. Prudence overcame my desires for immediate gratification of tasting these favorite foods, items I've been anticipating cooking once autumn finally showed itself. I'm doing my best to only cook a few things at a time, relying on personal favorites and embarking on new recipes and ideas.

I still love this and make it often.

Best Pumpkin Beer Ever

2007-10-08T16:52:00.000-04:00

Although I am not a fan of most of their brews, Schlafly has recently released an excellent pumpkin ale. It has a rich flavor that screams "PUMPKIN PIE!" If you want to try some, get it before it's gone. I bought some Saturday and our store is already out.

have you heard of this?: diner journal

2007-09-27T12:16:00.000-04:00

I may have to subscribe after payday.
Diner Journal Magazine.

Via The Glass Doorknob.

Farmers' Market Report

2007-09-22T13:44:00.000-04:00

We've been traveling the past two weekends, so I was glad to resume our Saturday morning ritual at the Worthington Farmers' Market. It didn't disappoint:

We got the most beautiful baby greens mix, plus carrots, new and sweet potatoes, leeks, cantaloupe, onions, a butternut squash, eggplant, jalapenos, sweet corn (still!), and (always great) pork from Curlytail Organic.

We only bring a $20 bill with us to the market every week, so it's been fun for me to look back at the photos of what we got for that amount. This week is the best haul so far, even though the corn is getting more expensive. I'm a sucker for Doran's corn, though, so I'm sure I'll keep buying it as long as they have it, no matter the price. Maybe we'll get corn for another week or two?

Eating our way through Como with Rebecca & Zac

2007-09-18T22:41:00.000-04:00

...Or "What I did on my summer vacation." By Ashley and Ben.

Booches: Made Ben a little teary-eyed.

Lowbrow dinner: Highbrow dessert.

The smoked backyard feast: Perfect in every way.

Check out the whole slideshow of our trip to Columbia!

Stuff Ben and Ashley Should Consider Consuming When They Visit Misery

2007-09-11T16:05:00.000-04:00

(In no particular order...)

1. Booches - Greatest burgers you've never eaten. This is what God would want White Castle burgers to taste like. They're cooked on a 100-year-old grill and served on wax paper. Washing down with a Boulevard Wheat or Pale Ale is preferred.

2. Flat Branch Beer - The food at this brewery is not that great, but the beer is decent. I particularly like the KT Trail Pale Ale (although, it's no Columbus PA). We can even take a growler home, if it pleases our guests.

3. Chartruese - I recently stumbled upon the Blue Fugue and figured that Ben and Ashley would love this place. The Fugue features a mysterious shot of happy called the Chartreuse that's spiced by some French monks.

4. BBQ - There are plenty of places to get some BBQ in Misery. My local favorite is the Buckingham. Smoked, dry-rubbed meat is their speciality, but I love me some smoked sweet potato.

5. Thai by the River - Down by the muddy banks of the mighty Missouri, there's a little stand that serves fresh doses of the most authentic Thai in COMO (which actually isn't saying much). Cooper's Landing is at the end of a long dirt road that features its own Thai kitchen and beers by the bottle.

6. Ragtag - Although the Ragtag isn't known for its food, the flicks are good and indie. I do enjoy sucking on a spicy dog and sipping a Bells during the intermission while the Ragtag staff change the movie reel. If we're lucky, we might get to see this guy sing old-timey before the showing.

There's more to our new home than these six highlights, but I thought everyone would want to know what their missing this weekend.

Pumpkin Pancakes

2007-09-03T18:30:00.000-04:00

I noticed that the farmers' market had pumpkins and the grocery was selling pumpkin beer, so I used my keen sense of deduction to conclude that it is now pumpkin season.

Since fall is upon us, I decided to treat R to some pumpkin pancakes. It's really difficult, so pay attention...

Step 1: Make pumpkin batter.

Step 2: Mix about half a can of pumpkin pie stuff into the batter.

Step 3: Add a bunch of cinnamon or nutmeg to the mix.

Step 4: Make the pancakes.

Step 5: Eat the pancakes.

We followed all the steps and had an enjoyable breakfast on our deck.

The End

Farmers' Market report

2007-09-01T12:39:00.000-04:00

This morning at the Worthington Farmers' Market:

potatoes
basil
green beans
cantaloupe
corn
carrots
onions
heirloom tomatoes
kombucha tea (Ben loves the stuff, go figure)
beer brats

*bonus: found spin art on our walk to the market!

=$19.90

perhaps an unfortunate food package photo?

2007-08-30T23:08:00.000-04:00

Bikes, Food Geekery, and Deep-Fried Vittles

2007-08-30T22:15:00.000-04:00

Those of us blessed with the miracle of basic cable should be on the look-out for the second incarnation of Alton Brown's poetic travelogue, Feasting on Asphalt. This time around, the Food Network uber-geek (and Digital Vittles patron saint) takes his crew on a motorcycle excursion around the Mighty Mississippi to sample the regional (and usually deep-fried) cuisine and culture. Several episodes have already aired, but hey--it's basic cable, so you know there will be reruns galore.

the second meeting of the oxoh diners' club*.

2007-08-24T10:15:00.000-04:00

Last night Jason came over for dinner at my place.
The menu: thai mojitos, green curry, homemade peanut sauce, jasmine rice, thai-style coleslaw.
The music: Elvis, Andrew Bird, and the Flaming Lips.
The company and conversation: outstanding, as ever.

Stay tuned for next week, when Jerms and I are going to introduce Jason to Richard's Pizza in Hamilton and he's going to teach us a thing or two about the Indian section of Jungle Jim's.

*Any suggestions on a name? Small-town Ohio Vegetarian Foodies?

Lemon ginger cupcakes

2007-08-23T21:03:00.000-04:00

With lemon cream cheese frosting. These are going with me to my poker girls' annual camping trip this weekend. We do a lot of eating and drinking on these trips ... mostly drinking. I'm (happily) always in charge of desserts. And booze.

Farewell, cruel world. See you on Monday.

Scenes of a Dinner Party

2007-08-14T20:33:00.001-04:00

As Abby mentioned in her last post, I have now thrown my first official Oxford Dinner Party, featuring produce from the Oxford Farmers Market and spices, sauces, chutneys, beers, and chapatis from the Jungle Jims. Celebrating the abudant produce of August, I made a trio of curries: Bhindi Masala (Okra and Heirloom Tomatoes); Tamarind Curry with Chickpeas and Heirloom Eggplant; Massaman Curry with new potatoes, onions, and cauliflower. The three curries were accompanied by chutneys (coriander; mint; coconut) and chapatis. We also had some lovely Beer, including Bells Oberon and Brasserie de Rocs (a woman-brewed, belgian ale on tap at the surly girl saloon in c-bus). Abby contributed a rockin mango lassi

Below are a few pictures Abby took of the meal; soon, I'll be getting my own digital camera so you can expect much more farmer's market and cooking blogging ahead.

Ice Cream in Misery

2007-08-14T09:37:00.000-04:00

R's new colleague made some great chocolate ice cream the other day...and he blogs.

In other Misery news...

I hope you all appreciate the fried-food-on-a-stick-heaven that is the Ohio State Fair. The Misery Fair had very little to offer. It was so disappointing that we opted to eat dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Sedalia(!) instead.

R is on her way to Detroit, and I will join her soon, hopefully with something to report back to you all.

extra! extra!

2007-08-11T16:28:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, our dear friend and Vittles co-founder Jason recently moved to the town where I live, in order to begin a job at the university I attend, which happens to be in my very own department. Anticipating the culinary delights that would accompany his arrival (as well as the plethora of other benefits to me in having a dear friend move here), I have been anxiously awaiting the calendar turn to August, the first day of which he arrived. Tonight, my friends, my first meal at Jason's house will take place. You can be sure I am taking my camera and a notebook in order to report back to you what magnificence he prepared and I ingested. I only ask one thing in return: try not to be too jealous.

Are Farmers' Markets expensive?

2007-08-11T13:52:00.000-04:00

When I got home from the Worthington Farmers' Market this morning I laid out all my goodies and started thinking about how much everything cost, and not in the "Wow, this stuff is expensive" way, but in the "Hey, I think I did pretty good today" way.

So I started browsing around online for some Farmers' Market vs. grocery store comparisons, and I found this great post, which confirmed my suspicions: that the Farmers' Market can actually be a great value, not the overpriced, elitist, yuppie paradise that many (including my own family and most of my coworkers) think it is. As is turns out, the 100% organic, locally grown food below was a bargain at $15.

1 lb. broccoli

2 lb. heirloom tomatoes
1 lb. boneless pork
8 oz. garlic & herb cheese
4 (huge!) ears sweet corn

The meat and cheese were the big ticket items, and they comprised about 2/3 of the total cost. Still pretty good, I think...thoughts?

Try this: Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2007-08-07T22:25:00.000-04:00

So, right about now is the time when I start seeing baskets of zucchini show up en masse in my office break room, with desperate sounding little sticky notes attached, containing pleas for help in consuming the squash windfall that is early August.

I myself have been in this situation. Too much of a good thing is still too much, and you can only eat so many fritters, bread, casseroles, etc. This recipe is the richest, moistest, chocolatey-ist solution to this problem, and I can't believe I didn't try it sooner. It is truly delicious. Plus it gave me an opportunity to use this adorable sunflower cake pan, a recent gift from my lil' bro.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake, via Simply Recipes (the version above), or the version from the blog with the same name (and one of our favorites).

The version we made has lots of orange zest, which tasted so summery and perfect. This one is going into heavy rotation for sure.

Happy baking!!

Summer Drink Alert!

2007-07-24T18:36:00.000-04:00

I know that the summer is almost over, but I was recently introduced to a new summer drink at a private, outdoor screening of The Muppet Movie. It's known as "Summer Beer".

Fill a glass with about 3/4 of an unfiltered wheat beer. Boulevard's Wheat works the best, but I'm sure any good wheat micro will do. (However, I would not waste Bell's Oberon on such a drink.) Then, almost fill the glass with lemonade. The guy who introduced me to the drink used lemonade from one of those frozen concentrate things which has to be better than the sugary packet mix. Top it off with a shot of vodka. Again, I wouldn't waste the good vodka for this drink. Finally, stir and serve. Ahhhhhhh. Refreshing.

Help me make a Lavender gimlet

2007-07-22T22:27:00.000-04:00

My lavender is ripe for the picking and I have decided to make lavender infused vodka. I have fond memories of Dragonfly's Lavender Gimlet and I want to try my hand at it. Now the problem is that I have not had one in.... gulp, at least two years. So all you Columbus foodies out there: what do you think goes into the Lavender Gimlet?

Greed Shall Be Their Undoing

2007-07-12T15:55:00.000-04:00

They'll spoil it for the rest of us. From BoingBoing:

Whole Foods CEO caught bashing Wild Oats stock on Yahoo forums

Link

h a p p y

2007-07-08T11:26:00.001-04:00

i hope all my foodie friends are having a summer of joy & delight.

When in Portland...Part One

2007-06-26T13:54:00.000-04:00

This city likes to eat.
I freakin' love it here.
Here is our first installment of things we're eating in Portland, Oregon.

Voodoo Donut
I guess there is such a thing as a punk rock donut shop. A place where you can get married under a giant floating donut. No kidding. We didn't take the plunge, but we did enjoy some creative yeasty treats:

Mmmmm, voodoo-ey:

Green Tea Soba Noodle Salad

2007-06-17T16:45:00.000-04:00

I love me some Ohio greens This cold green tea soba noodle salad features local collards, kale, kohlrabi greens, radish greens, scallions and scapes.

Jeni, girl... you know I still love you. But...

2007-06-16T16:48:00.000-04:00

Meet the most perfect frozen yogurt on earth*

Recipe from David Lebovitz, via 101 Cookbooks:

3 C Greek-style yogurt (I used half 0% fat and half 2% fat)
3/4 C Sugar

Optional:
1 t vanilla extract, or
zest of 1 lemon

Mix all ingredients together until sugar dissolves. Refrigerate one hour. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

I used my new (well..from eBay) Donvier hand-crank model, which worked perfectly and was hardly any work at all (not like the one you remember dragging out in the back yard ...and cranking and cranking and cranking... when you were a kid).

Makes 1 quart.

*I misread the label and thought I was buying full-fat instead of 0% fat. I am happy to say it turned out great anyway, although I can only assume the full fat version would've been insanely good...and slightly more perfect.

Fun in the vegetable garden

2007-06-15T20:13:00.000-04:00

When I decided to grow fennel this year, I knew I'd be rewarded with some good food...but I had no idea I'd also get this:

This little fella is one of about 6 black swallowtail caterpillars I found hanging out on my fennel yesterday. Apparently they love the stuff. It doesn't look like they're doing too much damage (yet?), and I'm only really interested in the below-ground portions of it, anyway. So I guess they're my new pets.

Now I want to plant all kinds of host plants for these critters. Which means I'll be planting pawpaws in the fall, not just because I've been dreaming about pawpaw ice cream, but also because it's the host for zebra swallowtail larvae. I mean, just look at him. What a handsome devil!

Hopefully, I'll get some shots of Jeff, Debra, Bob, Stripes, Nacho and Lucy when they do their butterfly thing (and maybe I'll be eating a nice fennel slaw by then, too).

Update: Here's a slideshow of Jeff's caterpillar week:

raining outside::baking inside

2007-05-28T13:04:00.000-04:00

delicious, simple, perfect: gâteau au citron

Unfortunate Product Name

2007-05-26T16:25:00.000-04:00

Passed along sans comment:

Abby Recommends

2007-05-22T23:06:00.000-04:00

Enjoying an ice-cold frosty beer, eating deep-fried pickles seasoned with fresh dill, spending time with a friend you've known for thirteen years, and doing all this in a converted train car. How did I live within 30 minutes of Kehde's Barbeque for four years and never go there? Live and learn, eh? Oh, and if you can swing it I also recommend sitting by a group of forty-something women who spend their dinner time boisterously rehashing the previous night's time out at "a club." It was quite entertaining.

Just goes to show...you never can tell.

2007-05-22T22:43:00.001-04:00

Whenever I visit my parents in central Missouri my mom and I inevitably plan a day for shopping, which is just silly because we both become exhausted from shopping within the first twenty or so minutes of hitting the shops. We're just not shoppers. For us, "shopping," is simply an excuse to spend a few uninterrupted hours in the car for conversation, sandwiched between sharing breakfast and lunch "out." During this trip my mom took me to a new-to-me lunch destination, Breadeaux Pisa in Boonville. I was surprisingly delighted by their pizza (we had the garden minus mushrooms, which I suspected to not be fresh), topped with very fresh veg, delicious sauce, and a fabulous crust (I like crust that tastes like good homemade bread and isn't too thick). For the record, I have never had pizza that claimed to be "French Style" so I can't judge that characterization.

Not only was the pizza quite tasty but they make their own gelato. Yes, I seriously asked, "Do you make this here? Yourself? From scratch?" It was true! You can imagine my delight, as the gelato was not only homemade and flavored naturally* but it was cooled in an Italian gelato cooler, just like in the old country. True, they don't have an overabundance of flavors, but that's just fine by me. It's mid-Missouri after all, people. I had stracciatella and my mom had chocolate. Both were delicious. I can't say it was as amazing as the creamy goodness you'll find in Italia, but it was quite a treat. I'll definitely be back, I can tell you that much. I never would have expected to find great pizza and homemade gelato just off interstate 70 in the middle of Missouri.

*I know I've mentioned this here before but it's so important it bears repeating. In order to tell whether a gelateria uses natural ingredients, check out the banana gelato. If it's bright yellow, it's not natural...and neither are the other flavors, it's safe to assume.

nostalgico

2007-05-22T22:28:00.000-04:00

So, summer is seriously upon us and along with the growing number of blooming pots on my deck, the idyllic surroundings of my finally-abandoned-by-the-undergrads college town, and evening gin and tonics, I have been feeling rather nostalgic for Italy. Recently I've experienced a lot of moments of disbelief that I spent seven weeks in Firenze last summer, including trips to Roma, Cinque Terre, Venezia, Assisi, and a few other daytrips. One way to satiate the longing for Toscana is to cook, of course. Using the simple flavors of delicious olive oil, lemon, tomato, and good cheese, I made Rotini with Salsa di Limone, which I highly recommend. It's the perfect simple summer dinner, especially alongside a simple green salad. I suggest a bellini afterwards.
(Note my new Copco enameled stockpot, originally from Denmark, which came to me via Goodwill. That makes the count of thrifted enameled cast iron four: three Le Creuset and one Copco.)

Farmers Market find: Rhubarb

2007-05-15T08:51:00.000-04:00

Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients

4 C fresh rhubarb, sliced thin
1 t grated ginger root
1 t lemon zest
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1/2 C sugar

Topping

3/4 C flour
1 stick butter
1 T ground cinnamon
3/4 C rolled oats
1/2 C (packed) dark brown sugar

Procedure
In large bowl, mix together first four ingredients and let stand one hour.Add remaining sugar and flour and toss to coat. Spread mixture in a buttered 8X8 dish.

For topping:
In food processor, combine flour, butter and cinnamon. Process until smooth. Pour this mixture into a bowl with oatmeal and brown sugar, and mix until well combined (should resemble pie dough).

Crumble mixture evenly over top of rhubarb mixture.

Bake in preheated oven approximately 50 minutes, or until top is crisp and rhubarb is tender and bubbly.

This would also work with just about any fruit you can think of...especially apples and pears. Yum!

Oh, and don't forget to VOTE FOR BEN!!!

This post is not about food

2007-05-09T22:34:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody. I know this blog is supposed to be about food and all, but I had to post about this: Ben is a semifinalist in the Sundance Channel's "Big Ideas for a Small Planet" video contest! He and I spent the last couple weeks working on his entry, and now it's up on the website (2nd row from the top, all the way on the left) for all to see (and vote for)!

So, go there and vote for Ben! His idea is pretty great, and if he wins the contest, he gets $10,000 to go toward implementing it. It's a good thing!

VOTE EARLY & VOTE OFTEN*!!!!

*Well, once a day, anyway... :)

"Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!"

2007-04-30T12:06:00.000-04:00

"Let them eat rich, expensive, funny-shaped, yellow, eggy buns." This is supposed to be what Marie Antoinette actually said way back when. Kirsten Dunst said cake.

Either way, brioche is some good stuff. My family has made it for my entire life every Christmas morning. My mom and aunt decided some 30+ years ago that it would be fun, so a tradition was born!

This past Christmas I tried my hand at my own brioche, and it turned out fine. This has always been nothing more than a Christmas treat for me, but R recently suggested that I make it for a spring brunch...glad I did. The picture below shows the holiday version with Santa Clause face, but I left out the facial parts to make a sun for the brunch.Recipe:
1 package yeast, active dry or compressed
1/4 cup warm water (lukewarm for compressed yeast)
1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) soft butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup milk, scalded and cooled
About 5 1/4 cups unsifted all-purpose flour
Beaten egg white

Mix yeast with warm water and set aside to soften. With a mixer (Thanks, Aunt Pam!), cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, orange peel, and salt until fluffy. Beat in eggs and yolks, a few at a time, blending well. Then add yeast and milk and gradually mix in 4 1/2 cups of the flour. Turn the dough onto a heavily floured (about 3/4 cup) board and knead until smooth and quite elastic, about 15 minutes. Add more flour to board if necessary.

Butter a large bowl; turn dough over in it to coat surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk. I've also let it rise overnight in the refrigerator before letting it warm to room temperature in the morning.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured board and knead into a smooth ball.

Pinch off a lump of dough to use for decorating (this is for the Santa face) and reshape both pieces into smooth balls. Flatten large ball with hands to a 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick cake on a buttered sheet of foil or a 14-inch pizza pan, depending upon the shape you want to make.

Clip dough with floured kitchen scissors with scissors pointed to the middle. Twist these strips of dough together to make the whiskers/sun rays. Then you can be creative and shape the remaining dough into eyes, cheeks, and mustache how you see fit. Of course the sun design comes out fine as well. My bread (pictured above) didn't exactly look like a Santa.

Let dough rise, uncovered, in a warm place until well puffed, 30 to 45 minutes. Brush surface with beaten egg white - don't beat too much. Bake in a 325 oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until richly browned. Serve hot or let cool on a wire rack and wrap airtight. The loaf keeps well for a week at room temperature, but I usually keep it in the fridge. To reheat...you can figure that out. Pull apart - do not cut - to serve.

First Post

2007-04-18T06:57:00.000-04:00

I tried to get on this blog a while back but was unable to do so. Here was my first attempt a few months back. Thanks A for inviting me. I'll be sure to keep up with the demand...

Digital Vittles

Digital Vittles is the brainchild of our friend J. He and a few other Columbus, OH foodies have put together some great recipes and insider info on great eats.

I planned on joining the fun, but have yet to hear from J. It seems that they are a little slow to allowing others to join or even to put up their own posts.

Instead of waiting around any longer, I'm going to blog here about my first entry for DV...

Each year, my partner, R, wants a cake for her b-day. Now, we're not talking some Betty Crocker crap from the box. Oh no. I made her a cherry-nut cake. You can see what's left of it below and even make your own.

Cherry-Nut Cake
1 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Maraschino cherries
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
2 tsp vanilla or almond extract

1. Mix sugar, shortening, salt.
2. Add eggs, one at a time.
3. Mix and sift flour and baking soda in separate bowl.
4. Alterante sour cream and flour mix to first two ingredients.
5. Add vanilla.
6. Fold in cherries and nuts.
7. Divide into three pans.
8. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Butter Cream Frosting
1. Cream 2/3 cup shortening and 1 cup butter.
2. Add 1 cup white sugar and BEAT.
3. Add two egg whites and 1 tsp vanilla or almond extract.
4. BEAT. BEAT. BEAT. BEAT...(You get the idea.) until fluffy.

This dessert is soooo Web 2.0!

2007-04-16T18:30:00.000-04:00

We had a couple friends over for dinner on Friday and - being a weekday and all - I really didn't have much time for food prep. So I ordered some outstanding take 'n bake pizza and made a tiramisu the night before.

Never having made tiramisu before, and being all geeky, I naturally turned to the internets to guide me. I made a few changes to the recipe, which I've reproduced below. It really is unbelievably delicious, and so easy it almost seems criminal. As with most of my favorite recipes, it's not extremely authentic, but it is much easier than the original, which means that I'll actually make it more than once.

Don't think about caloric content for this one. That would be a bit of a downer.

Original recipe here, on wikiHow.com

Easy tiramisu

(2) 8 oz. containers marscapone cheese
(1) 8 oz. container whipped cream cheese
1 C sugar
4 t. vanilla extract
4 T Kahlua (one mini bottle)
4 T grated dark (70%) chocolate
1 C whipped cream (not sweetened)

1 package ladyfingers (sorry, I threw the wrapper away, but I used one Whole Foods 365 brand package ... probably around 30 cookies)
1 freshly brewed shot of espresso
4 T dutch process cocoa powder

Whisk the first 6 ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream. Line the bottom of an 8 X 8 cake pan with 1/2 package of ladyfingers and brush with about 1/2 of the espresso. Spread 1/2 of the cheese mixture in the pan. Add the remaining ladyfingers in a single layer and brush with remaining espresso. Top with the rest of the cheese mixture and sift the cocoa powder over the top. Cover well and refrigerate at least 8 hours.

Serves 10.

abby recommends: fressen in toronto

2007-04-13T20:43:00.000-04:00

fressen

we had:
organic white wine from argentina.
freshly squeezed apple & ginger juice, mixed with rum.
edamame.
fresh lemony spinach pesto mixed with hand rolled barley and potato gnocchi (gluten free) tossed with asparagus and olives.
homemade basil fettucine.
steamed bundled asparagus on a warm bed of tahini creamed quinoa (wheat and gluten free) with miso hemp butter.

foodie::public education

2007-04-10T20:24:00.000-04:00

11 April 2007.
New York Times:
The Teacher Ate My Homework

About a culinary high school in New York. Love it; love it.

abby eats new york city and toronto.

2007-03-16T17:34:00.000-04:00

What foodie recommendations do you vittle-heads have for NYC or Toronto?

in the oven.

2007-03-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

braised green cabbage.

Haiku Review: Banana Bean Cafe

2007-03-04T18:48:00.000-05:00

Cuisine of Key West...
Pricey? Sure. Tasty? Mostly.
Need reservations.

Expect a more thorough review in the coming days...

Pears with Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Sauce

2006-12-21T21:35:00.000-05:00

We're way overdo for a recipe, so here's a yummy dessert for the oven or microwave.

2 medium pears
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash of brandy or liqueur (optional)
2 whole cloves (optional)
¼ cup vanilla yogurt

Core pears from below, after slicing ¼ inch or so off bottom to level. Peel pears leaving half an inch on top and bottom. Leave stems on pears. Combine brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, cloves, and brandy. Stand pears in oven or microwave safe dish. Pour brown sugar mixture over pears. Microwave for 10-12 minutes or bake for half hour to forty minutes at 350 degrees or under fork tender. If baking, baste pears with brown sugar mixture. You might want to cover pears with foil after a bit to keep them moist. Spoon yogurt over pears to serve. Garnish with mint leaves.

Options, replace yogurt with vanilla ice cream.

on my first day off...

2006-12-18T14:21:00.000-05:00

I just turned in my grades and decided to have lunch in front of the TV. I am watching a show called "Diary of a Foodie"- it is pretty fab show. Here is the website: http://www.diaryofafoodie.org/. Happy holidays all!