Well, first off this is my first attempt at making a food video, it is thankfully, silent.
I was inspired by a story about crepes over at NPR. Crepes are of course notoriously easy, and notoriously a pain in the ass. Sure simple enough in theory, but no thanks I’ll stick to the cheat I used in the video.
Enjoy, and add some whipped cream on top.
I first tasted passion fruit ice cream 3 years ago in Paris and just fell in love with it. A couple months after returning I got a craving for it and decided to track down a recipe, I found just the right one in Ultimate Ice Cream . Really great flavor, consistency, just like the fine custard ice cream I had in Paris.
After this batch is ready, I’m making some Mango to go along with it.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon AP flour
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup passion fruit concentrate (check asian or hispanic markets)
1 1/2 teaspoons good vanilla extract
Beat the yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow, then incorporate the flour.
Bring the half and half to a simmer, and slowly beat the half and half into the eggs. Pour back into the pan and heat over low-medium heat until custard starts to thicken, do not let it boil it will curdle. Strain the custard through a fine sieve. Allow it to cool off a bit then add the vanilla, heavy cream and passion fruit concentrate.
Chill the mixture until completely cold, then follow the instructions on your ice cream maker. Your end results will be a very soft serve, you can eat it as is, or put it in a container and freeze further.
So, I’ve been talking with friends lately and trying to find inspiration for things to make and things to try with food while I have this unplanned downtime.
As I mentioned in the Focaccia post I’ve been looking through my favorite cookbooks and choosing some of those things to make.
I bought the book below some time ago, so long that Amazon doesn’t remember when I purchased it. And I obviously spent some time going through it. I vaguely recall this may have been around April 2006 when my job got crazy busy and stayed that way. So, the book went on the shelf, and I just grabbed from there tonight and had a total WTF !?? moment.
I think I’ve found the inspiration I was looking for, some of them seem to have been tagged for skills reasons more than taste. But I think it’s clear I need to spend some time in The Book of Appetizers.
As evidenced by yesterday’s fictional post, I’ve got some time on my hands and what better way to spend that extra time than with some of my favorite cookbooks. The recipe I used comes from The Mixer Bible and is one of my favorite breads to make. And if you don’t like onions, there are many other possibilties. How about a lattice of roasted red pepper, or slices of Gorgonzola stuffed olives, tomato and mozzarella. Anything you have on hand can work, and not too much of any topping, it’s about the bread after all. In the photo below I’ve used half the amount of onion in the recipe.
It’s damn tasty!
So my buddy Lionel aka @LyleDAL has been staying on me to keep busy with my recent life changes and not be stuck at home, so each time I have to go into the city for an appointment or interview, I’ve been trying to find ways to keep myself there longer and do something, whether it’s just walking around snapping photos, or staying and having lunch or window shopping for ridiculously priced sunglasses.
So in the interest of appeasing him and for the chance to tease him, I give you:
Lionel’s Imaginary Day in Manhattan.
We’ll start with lunch, since no humane day begins before noon… Curry in a Hurry at the corner of 28th & Lex was our destination of choice.
I decided to have some chicken tikka masala, & vegetable curry Lyle had the Uttapaam with soup & we shared the rice and naan.
From there we had to pop next door because Lionel did not believe that a place of wonder, and spice and hot sauces, could really exist. He didn’t believe in Kalustyan’s!
After proving the existence of Kalustyan’s, I also got Lionel to admit that the Tooth Fairie & Easter Bunny also exist. He has seen the light.
We continued our day heading towards Bryant Park and just happened to pass by Macy*s in Herald Square.. Well, when Miss Lionel saw they were having their annual flower show I heard the kind of squeal that normally only comes from teenage girls. He dragged me by the arm and ran inside to see the “Bouquet of the Day.”
He hyperventilated so hard he feinted.
When he finally came to we were asked to leave by security, and continued on our trek to the park.
At last we arrived, used the free wifi and relaxed in the sun.
As we were leaving we stopped to pay our respects to St. Gertude and called it a day.
And thus concludes Lionel’s Imaginary Day in Manhattan.
Please note the above is entirely a work of fiction because as Merlene says…
The gauntlet is down Lionel, I await your reply.
So, my friend Leigh has a great relationship with her dad, and they have awesome Sunday dinners that Leigh is almost always the one cooking for and she has a challenge, her dad can’t have gluten which rules out anything with wheat flour. Breadcrumbs being an important part of meatballs pretty much rules them out for him.
I’ve been doing the low carb thing again, and last year had made low-carb meatballs that just happen to be GF (Gluten Free) so this weekend I made them again and this time, I made notes and measured things so I’d have a proper recipe to share with Leigh.
So here we go.
Low-Carb/GF Meatballs
First you’ll need about 1 quart of your favorite tomato sauce, if your favorite sauce comes from a jar in the food store, then make this one. (blend until smooth)
Ingredients:
Meatballs:
1lb ground chicken or lean pork (I used chicken this time)
1 1/2 lbs of ground beef 90/10 would best
1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
salt to taste or dietary requirements
2 ounces pine nuts toasted
1 1/2 ounces grated fresh romano
Equipment:
Parchment Paper (NOT waxed paper) & Heavy Duty foil
Stand Mixer (or your hands)
Baking dish
Frying pan (largest one you have)
Pot (for the sauce)
measuring devices, spatulas, tongs, etc.
Method:
Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan, let them cool and then grind in a food processor until pebbly, add the grated cheese and pulse until it looks like breadcrumbs.
Put the meats, spices, eggs and nut/cheese into the mixer and mix well. Take a small portion of the mixutre, make into a thin patty and cook so you can taste it, adjust seasoning if needed and taste again.
Cover and chill while you make the sauce, Set sauce aside.
Preheat oven to 325F
Form meatballs, a little bigger than golf balls, brown them in the frying pan with some olive oil. Meanwhile place a thin layer of sauce in the baking dish, when meatballs are browned on all sides, put them in the baking dish, cover with remaining sauce. Cover with parchment paper and then with the foil (the parchment prevents the sauce from reacting with the foil). Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, remove foil and parchment (set oven to broil), skim off any grease that you can, add the topping (recipe follows) and put under broiler for two minutes.
Serves 4-6
Topping:
2 ounces of pine nuts
1 1/2 ounces of grated fresh romano
2 tablespoons butter in small pieces (cold)
Grind the pine nuts and cheese until fine, add the butter and pulse until combined, should be a clumpy wet sand texture. Spread this over the top of the meatballs after baking and broil 2 minutes until golden.
Enjoy.
I’ve been tagged by Merlene to write a post with 8 random things about myself, so here we go.
I’ve hung out with Bronski Beat
Was taught to read at age 3, but couldn’t tie my shoes until I was 7. Today I’m a voracious reader and I wear Merrell Jungle Mocs
I’ve lived in 19 different apartments moving an average of every 2.1 years, and I am not a military brat. 5 of those apartments were in 2 buildings on the same street. Call me fickle, or whatever, I like a change of layout and views. Though, I’d sell an organ or two if I could have back my sweet studio at 1261 N. Laurel in West Hollywood.
Once baked over 3,330 chocolate chip cookies for charity in a 48 hour period over 3 days. I was in a standard kitchen with one oven, and only 2 cookie sheets.
From June – October of 2002 I traveled over 16,000 miles on Greyhound buses traversing the United States several times, in addition to this there was an additional 4,000 miles in a car during this same time.
I first got on-line in April of 1992, the weekend of the Rodney King Riots. I was on several local BBS’s, Prodigy, used a Netcom shell account for IRC.
I worked in the Adult Entertainment Industry for two and half years in the early 90’s. I was not the talent I worked back-office handling wholesale sales, and tracking order stats.
I call myself an Atheist, but I have a Guru.
Now my turn to tag some others….
This morning I was catching up on reading other blogs and came across a recipe for Kale & Roasted Vegetable Soup. I thought it was interesting but have family members who don’t like kale, and it was also a vegan recipe, and I think we all know how I feel about Vegans, (they should be roasted and served with a cream sauce) so there were some obvious adjustments that needed to be made to that recipe, and since I like to fiddle I changed quite a bit of it to come up with the recipe for Roasted Vegetable Soup that follows.
Later in the morning I was tweeting over at twitter.com and saw the obnoxious but funny bot script @Br3ndaBot insulting someone I hadn’t seen before so I checked out @teobromina and came across her blog where she had posted Chancho en amapola I don’t read Spanish but the awesome @LyleDAL thought to run it through Google’s translator and it turned out to be sausage wrapped in puff pastry and coated with poppy seeds, and now I had the perfect accompaniment for my soup. I ended up using chicken sausage for mine and it was amazing.
And there you have how Web 2.0 and social media created a delicious and healthy meal that is still lingering on my palette hours later.
Note: Photos from this cooking experiment are in a flickr set in the order you’d need to see them for assistance.
Roasted Vegetable Soup
Ingredients:
1/2 butternut squash peeled seeded cut length wise into 1/2 by 1/2 in strips
4 carrots peeled cut in half lengthwise
5 plum tomatoes halved lengthwise
1 large yellow onion quartered
1 head of garlic
1 roasted red pepper (jarred roasted red pepper)
A few threads of saffron
1/4 cup white wine
3 cups veggie stock
3 cups chicken stock
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 of a 9 ounce bag of spinach
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 15 oz can of cannelini beans drained but not rinsed.
Sea Salt
Black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Equipment:
Food processor (or blender)
Roasting pan(s)
6-8 quart stock pot
Knives, tongs, mixing spoons, basting brush, measuring cup, cutting boards.
Start:
Preheat oven to 400F
Arrange the butternut squash and carrots onto a pan and drizzle with olive oil S&P.
Peel and quarter the onion, set aside 1/4 of the onion, cut 3 remaining quarters in half lengthwise into 6 wedges arrange on pan and drizzle with olive oil S&P
Cut plum tomatoes in half arrange on pan and drizzle with olive oil S&P
Cut top off the head of garlic brush with oil, surround with foil pour a little oil over top and close foil wrapping tightly.
Roast vegetables and garlic for 40 minutes, then set aside to cool for 10 minutes
While the vegetables are roasting:
Roughly chop remaining quarter of onion add to a pan with 2 Tablespoons of unsalted butter (I use French butter). Chop the pepper roughly add to pan and sautee until onions are translucent (10-15 minutes). Add saffron threads, cook two more minutes, add the wine and cook until the wine is gone. Transfer mixture to the food processor.
After the vegetables have cooled for 10 minutes add the onion, and tomatoes to the food processor with the sauteed onions and peppers, squeeze the roasted garlic from its skin and put in food processor, add one half cup of the vegetable stock and puree until almost smooth.
Transfer the puree to the stock pot add the thyme and remaining vegetable stock and chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile cut the carrots and butternut squash in to roughly 1/2 inch cubes, chop the spinach roughly.
After 20 minutes remove the thyme sprigs, peeling the leaves off if they haven’t fallen off while cooking. Add the carrots, squash, spinach and the beans, simmer 20 minutes longer adjusting salt and pepper as needed. Lastly add the remaining tablespoon of butter. Stir until blended and serve.
I don’t believe it will ever mend, it hurts as much today as it did then.
Five years ago today, Hudson died. Hudson was my best friend, the love of my life and the greatest Basset Hound to ever live, EVER!
Please consider making a donation to the Basset Hound Rescue of Southern California and noting that it is in memory of Hudson.
Every dollar helps rescue and care for a Basset Hound.
Charles
I booked the trip to Paris this morning. My sister Cathy and I depart on May 21st and return on June 1st giving us 10 days to explore the city in more depth than on the previous trips. We’ll be staying in the Montparnasse area right on the border of the 14th & 6th arrondissements.
It’s 3 months and 6 days away but I’m sure that time is going to fly.
CharlesFrenchDotCom
The Traveler (Fourth Realm Trilogy, Book 1) by John Twelve Hawks
Mexican Spanish: Lonely Planet Phrasebook by Rafael