Nika's Culinaria - Eat With Your Eyes

New Blog beckons you

2007-03-04T12:43:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to remind you that all new blog activity for Nika's Culinaria is at the new address for Nika's Culinaria.

Make sure to update your links.

Dont forget to update your feed link too!

Nika's Culinaria

Feed Link

Dont miss out on all the fun!

New post at new blog, oven-fresh!

2007-01-28T09:58:00.000-05:00

I have added the latest post to my newly migrated blog. You might want to surf over there and check it out.

Remember that all further new posts will be at my new blog, http://nikas-culinaria.com.

Also, if you have not already done so, modify any blogroll links to the new one.

Dont forget to re-subscribe to my new post RSS at this link. The RSS for this blog is bound to be rather boring :-)

Let the migration begin!

2007-01-23T18:26:00.000-05:00

Today, I am starting the official migration of traffic from this blog to my new blog at http://nikas-culinaria.com.

Its my hope that you will visit there from now on. It has everything that this site does, with better navigation!

If you could, please modify any blogroll links to this URL to the new one.

Also, re-subscribe to my new post RSS at this link.

I will be putting redirects throughout the site but I know I will miss some readers.

Sorry for all the rigamarole!

Nika

PS: check out my about page to learn more about me.. tho no pics of me yet! (Am very shy so not sure if it will happen)

Blood Orange: An irresistible photo-meme

2007-01-22T07:43:00.000-05:00

Before some 2 years ago, I had never heard of blood oranges. Now it seems like they are everywhere. I love oranges, especially the kind you peel, like navels. I adore fresh squeezed but dont like doing it myself (dont like to get the citric acid all over my poor dry winter skin and the wax the stores put on the peel always ends up flaking off onto my palms - yucktastic).

If you search across the food blogosphere, you will find many examples of blood orange lust. Here is a small listing for you to cruise at your leisure:

MattBites beautiful blood oranges
The Food Section on blood oranges
NYTimes
California Blood Orange
a Blood Orange Quinoa Salad
Blood Orange Cordials
German blood orange kit kat sort of candies
Blood Orange Sour

I will be updating this post a bit later to discuss how I took this shot, in case you were curious.

Tropical Shakes from South America (Well Fed Network article)

2007-01-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

Its that time again! Here is my monthly contribution to The Spirit World blog over at The Well Fed Network.

Tropical Shakes from South America (Well Fed Network article)

(Mora (Blackberry) Shake © 2007 Nika Boyce)

Without a doubt, January is a time of fighting the winter doldrums. Many across the northern tier states are having a wicked trying winter with unusual amounts of snow while we have been oddly warm but very dark and dreary with non-stop fog here in New England. For many of us, thinking of tropical climes can be a treacherous thing unless you have the means to jet off to the Caribbean, South America, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia or other reasonable locations.

Without such options, I am left with a trip to my local Latino market to get a taste of my childhood. I remember visiting relatives in Colombia for Christmas and experiencing equatorial weather and foods. One refreshing sort of drink comes to mind: the fruit shakes made from tropical fruits (frescos de frutas) like guava, mangos, guanábana, and berries such as blackberries.

In the parks of Pereira and on the coast of Colombia (cities like Cartagena, Santa Marta, Tolú, and Barranquilla), street vendors can be found whipping these drinks up to order. Back in the 60s, they would serve the shakes up in glasses that you would use and then give back to the vendor who would then rinse it out for the next patron. Its likely this has changed since then! Nearby, food vendors can be found selling things like empanadas, yucas fritas, chontaduros (roasted and salted acacia tree fruit, sort of tastes like chestnuts), candied fruits, and simply divine roasted ears of corn (mazorca asada).

These frescos de frutas are not only rejuvenating, they are also loaded with Vitamin C and other antioxidants. You can make it like they do in Colombia (see below) or you can get creative and add your favorite smoothie amendments.
You can buy most of these as fruit pulps (stored in frozen packs) like you see below in your Latino grocery store.

(Fruit pulps © 2007 Nika Boyce)

Mora Shake

* 1 14 oz. pack of Blackberry (Mora) fruit pulp - FROZEN (do not thaw)
* 1 C ice
* 1 C cold milk (do not use whole milk, this really wants 2% or 1%, skim would not hurt)
* 1/2 C sugar

Put fruit pulp, sugar, milk, and ice in blender and blend until well mixed. You may need to add a bit more milk to get the consistency you desire. You also might need to stop and open the blender a couple of times to force the unblended chunks down into the base for proper blending.

(Mora (Blackberry) Shake up close © 2007 Nika Boyce)

I hope you take the time to hunt down some of these fruit pulps and give a try at making your own frescos. You can’t go wrong!

Related Posts:

How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)

Yucas Fritas (Fried Yucas or Cassava Root) Recipe and How 2 photos

Empanadas - The Recipe

Flash Flickr Movie of How to make Colombian Empanadas

Chicharron - Deep fried pork belly - How To

How to make Colombian Empanadas - directions

Latest full recipe for Colombian Bunuelos (2006 post)

Last year's Christmas Bunuelo Decadence

A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide

Colombian Frescos

Lechona preparation

Menu For Hope III winners announced!

2007-01-16T08:59:00.000-05:00

Pim has announced the winners of the 2006 Menu for Hope charity event over at her Chez Pim post today. Check out that link to see if you won and what you won.

Did you know that the 2006 Menu For Hope raised $60,925.12 ?! Thats just mind-bending!

For the winners of my prints and pinwheels who are visiting here - you do not need to register with blogger etc - just drop me an email at nika7k at yahoo dot com. After I verify your winning status, I will prepare and send your winning prize! Thanks again for bidding in the Menu For Hope!

My winners are:
UE27 Picture and Pinwheel Cookies helenjane
UE28 Picture and Pinwheel Cookies Ida
UE29 Picture and Pinwheel Cookies she
UE30 Picture and Pinwheel Cookies lmg
UE31 Picture and Pinwheel Cookies Stuart Spivack
UE32 Picture and Pinwheel Cookies Gerald San Jose

I can't thank you all enough for participating. I have got some serious baking in my near future! I already have the prints ready to go so its a matter of rigging up packaging that gets you pinwheel cookies and not pinwheel crumbs!

Meme: Where do you live?

2007-01-13T10:06:00.000-05:00

Matt over at Matt Bites had a lovely post detailing his home in LA. It was great in that it really localized you into his own slice of LA.

Michael over at Chicken Fried Gourmet suggested that more food bloggers might do right by writing a bit about their own homes/worlds.

This is my "Where do you live?" post.

I have lived all over the US and was born outside of it. I had moved 15 times by the time I graduated high school and then I moved a lot more. As a result, when I decided I wanted to have kids and a family and all that, I wanted to stop moving. My husband and I lived in the South End in Boston, MA when we decided to stop renting and buy a house. We soon mapped the concentric rings of expensive living radiating out from Boston. We ended up looking at housing WAY far away from Boston (with still working IN Boston). We settled on a tiny little town called Wales, some 70 miles from Boston. We chose this place because we found some beautiful land and we built a house.

This place is not about food. Closest grocery store is something like 15-20 miles away. We have one restaurant that serves Italian-American food of the suburb variety. We have one gas station that has some food and some alcohol. We have no stop lights, this is a SMALL town. If we want to go out to a restaurant, we drive to Worcester or Boston. We dont eat out much! When I want to go to Whole Foods, its about 70 miles or so to the closest one (the one I prefer is in Cambridge).

We love it here because we are hermits and telecommute. Culture? Not detectable.

Below is a quickie tour of some of Wales.

Ramen: Nothing lost in translation

2007-01-10T10:07:00.000-05:00

In the appreciation of Mr. Momofuku Ando, the late inventor of ramen noodles (1-9-07 ed New York Times by Lawerence Downes) Downes said,

"Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Give him ramen noodles, and you don't have to teach him anything".

Mr. Downes does a beautiful job of summing up the pros and cons of ramen-eating, it all rang so true. Its a beautiful appreciation of an interesting man who sought to make cheap good eats and who ended up feeding a globe of students.

I am not ashamed to admit that I rather like ramen noodles or that my kids like them.

I am sure there are a million million different ways to make them. Here is my way. I boil it 3 minutes, drain completely, add a bit of butter and then about 1/4 of the seasoning MSG package. I mix and wolf. Sometimes when I am really hungry (tho I did this more back in the grad school days), I add a raw egg after draining the noodles. I put it back on the stove until the egg is cooked (I am not all that fond of salmonella).

My husband makes it more like a soup.

Thanks to the ramen-conditioning I received as a youngin I have moved on to more adventerous territories like nuclear hot Korean ramen and miso soups directly from Japan that have no english on the package whatsoever. I just wing the directions and try to guess at the intended flavor(s).

Momofuku-san, we will raise a bowl of noodles in your memory today.

Some interesting links:

Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum Wiki entry

Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum (新横浜ラーメン博物館, Shin-Yokohama Rāmen Hakubutsukan) official site

Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, Tokyo Food Page

Food Play: Why my deep fryer aint kosher anymore

2007-01-05T07:54:00.000-05:00

(Tempura Bacon, its whats for breakfast, lunch, or supper)

I adore tempura as a nice break from sushi when I go out to the woefully few Japanese restaurants here in the rural boonies of Massachusetts. I have not really tried to make it at home because 1) when I am grocery shopping at enormo-food-hell supermarket they just do not have tempura batter that calls my name and 2) I usually decide against making oil-laden foods.

But sometimes, especially when you have a new deep fryer that is so easy it could walk your dog and paint your nails for you, you get a wild hair to fry SOMETHING up.

I know, its not well what happened, but it did.

The third element that enabled me to do this deed was that I found some tempura batter mix at my favorite Japanese grocery store in Worcester. Now the game was on.

I have been harboring a secret desire to make tempura bacon and hot dogs so I finally did. You can see those images at the top and bottom of this post.

Let me assure you that if you do this right the bacon comes out quite edible and delicious in a seriously gluttonous way. The hot dog needs to be eaten as soon as it cools because it can get dried out. I am not a huge dog fan so maybe I am just picky about my dog-texture.

Be sure to use cold tempura batter. You see Iron Chef Morimoto putting icy water in his mix. I ran out of ice so I used reallly cold water, mixed it all up and then held it in the freezer for a bit to really cool off. The other thing I did was to dip the bacon (and later hot dogs and onions) in the wet tempura mix and then in panko bread crumbs and THEN carefully put it into the deep fryer basket (when it was in the oil so the bacon and dogs just float on the surface and dont stick to the basket).

There is really not much more to add to this. I am part scots so MAYBE thats my excuse? I am also part many other things so its possible that I am just wrong. Just pass me the napkins.

(Tempura hot dogs, yeah thats what I said)

Electronic Gluttony: A pig roast by any measure

2007-01-03T10:01:00.000-05:00

(The making of a lechona - latino pig roast)

As a judge for the 2006 Food Blog Awards I had to to look at and evaluate a HUGE number of food blogs.

I read so much filling prose, I saw so much beautiful photography.

I came very near to catastrophy.

Around 11:30 or so last night, after debating various nominations ALL DAY LONG with other judges, I very nearly didnt want to ever blog or surf blogs again!

I know, its shocking, but true.

I must be ok because here I am today adding even MORE content to the huge food blogosphere (for better or worse). I have learned a lot and gained so much perspective from the exposure to so many different blogs. (Even if it did leave me quivering with hyper-exposure overstimulation syndrome, something I will call HOS for short).

I found the perfect visual personification of my experience over at Grab Your Fork's blog in today's post "Cafe Mix, Sydney".

Visit, but for the love of all that is good and holy, be sure to be hungry before you go!

In the spirit of stretch-mark inducing cuisine, I will share a sparsely worded pictorial of what it takes to prepare a pig for a latino pig roast (traditional at Christmas and New Years).

Be warned, we ARE talking about carnage and reality here. If you are a vegetarian or of a delicate constitution you may not wish to scroll further down.

(Chef and pig at attention)

This fellow was so patient. This look tells the story. He is wondering why in god's name would a self-respecting woman with pre-teen daughter in-tow want to spend time in the bowels of a large latino supermarket, in a less-than-spotless prep kitchen, shooting pictures of a perfectly boring and routine activity like getting the pig ready to roast. On top of all that, my spanish is so bad (was my first language but it has suffered massive attrition over the years of living in gringo-landia) that it was hard to explain to him why I would want to take these pictures. As a result, I am now putting together a photobook on latino foods (really, honestly, look at my eyes, would I lie?).

Let us commence with the gore and oddly intimate aspects of pig roast making.

(Another view of the carcass)
This was a young pig, not suckling nor fully mature. Perhaps something like a junior in high school, still somewhat tender but with some meat on the bones.

(Bone breaking - hacking really)

I watched and was forced to deduce the purpose of things by observation, not interrogation. Maybe its better this way.

Here the chef is using a meat cleaver to crush the vertebrae of the spinal column. Why oh lord why, do you ask? This is the first step in getting the carcass to lie flat so that it roasts evenly.

(Cracking open the chest cavity)
He then pulled open the chest cavity and pulled down the rib cage, breaking it along the spine so that it would lay open.

(Ooh, yeah, right there, that feels great)

(Man, that feels so good)

Another thing that has to be done to get this carcass to lie flat is to break the joints. This is the intimate odd part I mentioned. It is really reminiscent of a massage (a harsh one to be sure) and the chef was really quite meditative about the whole thing. He must have done MANY of these. I think 10 pigs for this New Years alone.

(Salt bath)

The chef sprinkled salt all over, inside and out. He also rubbed it into the skin and meat.

(Lemon Juice rub)

After the salt came the lemon juice. He sloshed the juice everywhere, very liberally.

The pig sat after this treatment for about 15 minutes or so while the chef got the marinade going. This involved garlic, whole oregano, and mystery spices (or ones I just did not recognize in spanish - see, mysteries).

(A hosing)

After those 15 minutes, the chef hauled the carcass over to the freshly scrubbed sink and he washed off the salt and juice.

(The rub)

What I didnt show earlier is the poorly shot and rather disturbing images of the chef gouging holes into the skin and meat. The skin so that it renders into crisp goodness, the meat so that it can accept the rub/marinade. The chef is methodically rubbing in the marinade, pushing it into pockets he made with a knife and all over the surface.

(Ready for the long night)

After the whole carcass is covered in rub it goes into the walk-in cooler over night. The chef said that he would rub coconut water onto the skin before roasting for 4 hours. The coconut water gives the skin a slightly sweet flavor and I think helps with the crisping and carmelizing process.

He said that this would cost something like $60 and feed some 50 people (ok, maybe 10 of my relatives).

Hope you enjoyed this.

I am planning to do more of these in the future. One showing the making of salchichas (colombian sausages) (also see these pics) either by a butcher or myself (have to get a meat grinder 1st though). I also promise better pictures because today I will be taking delivery of a new flash bracket and 580ex flash for just these purposes!

Related Posts:

How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)

Yucas Fritas (Fried Yucas or Cassava Root) Recipe and How 2 photos

Empanadas - The Recipe

Flash Flickr Movie of How to make Colombian Empanadas

Chicharron - Deep fried pork belly - How To

How to make Colombian Empanadas - directions

Latest full recipe for Colombian Bunuelos (2006 post)

Last year's Christmas Bunuelo Decadence

A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide

Colombian Frescos

Lechona preparation

Resolution-Free New Years!

2007-01-01T10:39:00.000-05:00

(There is more ice in this photo than in this MA winter, so far)

I do Christmas, Easter, the solstices, beltane, samhain, Valentines Day, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, birthdays, all of that (all in an areligious way). I have even done a Seder for cultural growth for the little ones (my husband was amazed and puzzled, poor guy).

(Pure comfort)

BUT, I do NOT do New Years resolutions, period. I also loathe new-year diets and dieting. This is my least favorite time on the Food Network. Oy, too much with the diet shows, already.

I am not sure what it means but I spent the day yesterday cooking massive stews and soups and homemade corn tortillas. I scrubbed all my pots and cleaned the kitchen like a fool. I didnt mind either, which for me is novel, I hate cleaning too :-).

For me, at my age, my 40th New Years was relatively free of reminiscing. Its something I do not really like to do anymore because living in the past is tedious and I need all the energy I have to live in the now. I did give thanks once again for our new baby, Baby O. That is a good thing to remember. I did give thanks for the entire family and the opportunities I have had this year to grow creatively.

(Q)

(KD)

(Baby O)

I did not (and certainly will not) waste a second worrying about calories or diets or carbohydrates.

I will not indulge in that guilt-ridden consumer trend that sweeps through the US this time of the year. I have lived way too many years on diets (Oh NutriSystem, how many times, I shall not count them) and have begun to break free of that insidious group think. I have three kids to teach healthy food attitudes to, thats a huge responsibility. What I put in my mouth and theirs ARE the lessons, not any lecture I could give. I dont mind telling them that I love pralines, loathe malted balls, and such. I will never tell them to watch their weight or that birthday cake has to many calories to have a second helping.

SO many "will nots" huh.

What I will do this year is love more, hug more, smile more, cook more, create more, live more.

I hope you will too!

Colombian Tamales How-2 Guide

2006-12-29T11:49:00.000-05:00

Christmas in Colombia is QUITE a production. Its not just one or two days like here in the US and it can be exhausting if you are not used to partying constantly for a better part of some 15 days, day and night after day and night. If you think you will be spending christmas in Colombia next year be sure to condition your liver with a serious regimen of rum training over several months. Otherwise, you will be such a light-weight that you will not remember past December 15th or so.

One of my most enduring memories from Colombian Christmases would have to be eating tamales at midnight on Christmas Eve. Even though I now live way the h*ll north of the beautiful equatorial paradise that is Colombia and far from my mom, I set out to make my own tamales this year (first time for me). I have put together a few pictures of the assembly process to help you with the how-to. Since I was shooting in the kitchen with low crappy lighting and also taking care of three kids and dealing with a delivery man, all at once, my shots are not the best here and not in great focus. I apologize for that ahead of time!

This is best done surrounded by all of your favorite relatives (preferably mamas, abuelitas, and tias who know how to do this and who have all sorts of stories to tell) so that you have help and make it all go by quickly. I had just myself!

(Christmas Eve Tamales - The set-up for assembly)

(Pork and chicken are marinated overnight)

(Filling includes masa, eggs, peas, pork, chicken, carrots, and hogao")

(Wrap tamal up in banana leaves and tie with string)

(Wrap tamal up in foil and steam 3 hours)

Here is the recipe that our family uses to make Colombian tamales. There is quite a bit of preparation time, so you will need to start at least two or three days ahead of the planned serving time. This recipe should make about 20 tamales.

Ingredients:

20 chicken thighs, skinned and defatted (save this. Can be rendered to crisps and schmaltz for other recipes).

20 pork ribs about the length of your finger with a good amount of meat on them. You'll probably have to buy them as a rack and chop them up yourself. (If you don't want pork ribs, use 20 chicken legs)

Marinade:
3 bunches of green onions, finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 heaping tsps of ground cominos
1 tsp of salt
1 packet of "sazon" seasoning

Hogao:
5 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 bunches of green onions, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of ground cominos
1/2 package of "sazon" azafran
1/2 cup of packed, chopped cilantro
1/4 cup of olive oil
salt to taste

4 C "La Venezolana" or "ArepaHarina" precocida masa harina (extremely fine precooked corn meal - you simply can not use any substitutes here, find this ingredient)

Tamales:
5 large carrots, peeled and 1/4" sliced
2 cups of frozen green peas
5 large red potatoes, scrubbed, 1/4" sliced (put in water to prevent discoloration)
8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and 1/4" sliced

Package of thawed/frozen banana "platano" leaves (latino food store), cut into 12 inch square pieces and rinsed in VERY hot tap water.

Clean string or cord used for tying meat roasts.

Aluminum foil

A very large crab or lobster steamer with a bottom rack and lid. Fill with salted water about 3 " above the bottom rack.

Pique Sauce:
6 cleaned green onions
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup of minced cilantro
1 tsp of ground comino
1/8 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of white vinegar
salt to taste

Directions:

Two or three days before:
Put the chicken and ribs in separate containers. (Or if you are substituting more chicken, you can put all the meat in one container). Prepare the marinade from the ingredients listed above, divide and put 1/2 on the chicken and the other 1/2 on the ribs. With your hands, work the marinade into the meats. Cover and refrigerate until the next day.

Saute the listed "hogao" ingredients in the olive oil until wilted, set aside.

Preparation of the "Masa":
Corn dough or "masa". Put 4 cups of "La Venezolana" or "ArepaHarina" in a large bowl or container. Slowly add 5 cups of lukewarm (not hot) water or chicken broth. You'll probably have to use your hands to mix well. Most likely, you will need to add more water to get the "masa" to the consistency of cooked oatmeal or grits. This dough does not have the stiff consistency of "empanada" dough.

Assembly and cooking of the Tamales:
Place about a cup of the dough in the center of the banana leaf. Place one rib and one chicken thigh on top. Place about 3 slices each of the carrots, potatoes and egg on the meat. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of "hogao" on top of the vegetables and egg. Then spoon about a 1/2 cup of "masa" on top of all of this and gently spread as much out as you can. Now, fold the edges of the banana leaf over the filling so as to make a package. Do not let any of the filling show. If the leaf splits, just take another smaller piece of leaf and fold it around the package.

Tie up the package/tamale with the string or cord. Believe me, this tying up of the tamales in banana leaves takes practice!! After you have tied up the tamale/package, tear off a 12" sheet of aluminum foil and wrap it tightly around the tamale. Continue with the other tamales according to the above directions. Stack the tamales all the way to the top in the steamer pot and turn up the heat to high. If your pot does not hold all of them, just refrigerate the rest until you can steam them later, or, borrow another steamer pot. When you hear the water boiling furiously, turn the heat down to medium. Always make sure that the pot is steaming and that there is enough water in it. Cover tightly and steam for at least 3 hours. After that time, remove the top tamale and open it up to make sure that the meat is thoroughly cooked. It should be falling off the bone.

Serve the tamales on a section of banana leaf. (Warn guests not to eat the leaf! A favorite Colombian story is that a Gringo was served a tamale. When he finished it he said,"Boy, was this delicious!! However, the lettuce was kind of tough!!" (har,har).

Some Colombians like to put "pique" on their tamales.

To make pique sauce:
This sauce/relish is similar to "pico de gallo" except it does not include the minced jalapeno. If you want to use jalapeno, you can, but it's not legitimate Colombian. This relish is spooned into a bitten-off empanada or onto arepas, into tamales, etc. Yummmm! Its like a taste of sunshine!

Finely mince the green onions and the garlic. Add the other ingredients and let marinate for at least 2 hours. There should be enough liquid to almost reach the top of the relish. You may have to adjust by adding a little more vinegar.

I made enough to freeze (raw) and will see how they cook up out of the freezer at a later date!

Related Posts:

How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)

Yucas Fritas (Fried Yucas or Cassava Root) Recipe and How 2 photos

Empanadas - The Recipe

Flash Flickr Movie of How to make Colombian Empanadas

Chicharron - Deep fried pork belly - How To

How to make Colombian Empanadas - directions

Latest full recipe for Colombian Bunuelos (2006 post)

Last year's Christmas Bunuelo Decadence

A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide

Colombian Frescos

Lechona preparation

Technorati taggage:
food, Colombia, Colombian, tamal, christmas, navidad, latin, latino, hispanic, tamales.

Happy Winter Solstice! May you have light

2006-12-21T08:36:00.000-05:00

(If you are looking for information on my contribution to the Menu for Hope III event go to this permalink)

(Through the portal © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Today is the shortest day of the year and tonight is the longest night. It is an important time for those of us who live in northern lattitudes because it marks a very real and very important occasion, the switch from loss of light every day to the slow return of light, precious seconds every day. I dont get SAD (seasonal affective disorder) so much as just sensitivity to light length and quality. On this day we celebrate the Sun and light candles at night in anticipation for the new year and rememberance for the past year.

If you would like to learn more about the winter solstice and traditions around it (ancient and new) try these links:

Winter Solstice wiki entry
Stonehenge wiki entry
Maps and layouts
Amazing Stonehenge photo gallery
Stonehenge clones and morphisims
Party at the henge
Modern Stonehenge Solstice Ritual
Modern Druids and the Stonehenge
Information on Druids and the Stonehenge
List of Solstice websites that may interest you

To mark the occasion, we made our own stonehenge cake! We printed out some layouts and photos.

(Stonehenge site)

Then we set to work!

We gathered the various materials we would need to build our stonehenge and sat down to the hard work of nibbling on ladyfingers and sneaking bites of frosting.

(Materials © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

We trimmed off the ends of the ladyfingers and cut a few in half lengthwize (for the capstones).

(Cutting the stones © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

(More cutting © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Q spread frosting on her plate as a foundation.

(Spreading the foundation © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

KD did the same. Baby O worked on his nap.

(KD working on her henge © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

The frosting had to be put all over the plate. Here Q is using an off-set spatula.

(Spatula in hand © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

She had to be sure to get a deep enough layer of "snow" so that the ladyfinger stones would stand upright.

(Frosting "snow" © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Q studied the photos and layouts of the Stonehenge and then set to work constructing hers. If you look carefully, you will see that she stuck very closely to the actual layout.

(Frosting does an excellent job of anchoring the stones © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Almost done.

(A few more stones © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

The henge takes shape!

(Henge-in-progress © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

KD's henge is coming together beautifully. It did not last long tho. Alas, cake and frosting are too tempting for a 3 year old.

(Little fingers work the stones © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

And voila, CakeHenge 2006!

(CakeHenge 2006! © 2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Christmas Colombian Bunuelos How-2 Guide

2006-12-19T12:58:00.000-05:00

(If you are looking for information on my contribution to the Menu for Hope III event go to this permalink)

(Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with hot chocolate
© 2005-2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Last year I did a quickie post on Colombian bunuelos but I did not do the How-2 Guide or give a recipe. I will do that now.

Colombian Bunuelos

Ingredients:
2 C white fresh farmers cheese, finely ground or crumbled with fork
2 C Colombian "Bunuelina" mix
2 eggs
milk to moisten
canola oil for deep frying

Directions:
Mix all ingredients (except oil) in a bowl.

(Queso Blanco © 2005-2006 Nika All rights reserved)

(Mix the bunuelo mix with the cheese © 2005-2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Knead, adding a little bit of milk to often the dough and make it hold together.

(What the mix should look like before making into balls
© 2005-2006 Nika All rights reserved)

Make balls a little smaller than the size of a golf ball, DO NOT COMPRESS the dough.

(Roll dough into loose balls, not hard packed ones
© 2005-2006 Nika All rights reserved)

DO NOT DROP THESE DOUGH BALLS INTO HOT OIL.

Heat the oil to very warm (you can stick your finger in it but not very long). Gently drop the balls into the oil and then turn up the heat. The balls will linger at the bottom of the pot until the oil heats up. They will turn themselves as they come up "for air." Fry until light brown. Remove to a drained surface to cool.

(Start in cool oil to avoid explosions
© 2005-2006 Nika All rights reserved)

For the next batch let the oil cool down (doesnt have to be as cool as when you first started) such that a test dough ball will drop to the bottom and then rise slowly to the top. Once the oil has cooled enough to do this, add your next batch.

Always use a splatter shield.

If you drop them into hot oil they will explode and could seriously hurt you.

Related Posts:

How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)

Yucas Fritas (Fried Yucas or Cassava Root) Recipe and How 2 photos

Empanadas - The Recipe

Flash Flickr Movie of How to make Colombian Empanadas

Chicharron - Deep fried pork belly - How To

How to make Colombian Empanadas - directions

Latest full recipe for Colombian Bunuelos (2006 post)

Last year's Christmas Bunuelo Decadence

A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide

Colombian Frescos

Lechona preparation

Technorati taggage:
food, Colombia, Colombian, bunuelo, christmas, navidad, latin, latino, hispanic, dessert, sweet, sugar, cheese, fried.

Judging and Peppermint Fluff Martinis (Well Fed Article)

2006-12-18T09:39:00.000-05:00

(If you are looking for information on my contribution to the Menu for Hope III event go to this permalink)

I have been writing up a storm over at the Well Fed Network these days but not posting (as I should) here because things have been hectic! I have included my latest Spirit World article below for your sugar high consumption needs.

(link to that announcement)
I have a bit of other news - I was asked to be one of several judges for the annual Food Blog Awards, held over at the Well Fed Network. I am honored and very cognizant of the challenges that I will be facing. I take the awards very seriously (in terms of it being important to everyone concerned and the food blogging community) and will do my very best. I would also like all to know that, when asked to be a judge, I chose to withdraw myself from any consideration so that I can judge all categories (makes sense to me!). Being a good judge and member of the community is more important to me than winning one of the awards (not that I would, for sure! There is time in the future for all that)

Peppermint Fluff Martinis (Well Fed Network Article 12/16/06)

This month’s drink for the Designated Driver is actually much more for the sugar-addicted than any other drink I have written about here before. I would be afraid to guess how many calories it might contain. It is honestly only for hard-core fluff lovers and adventerous adults and children.

I decided on this concept when I was making some rice crispies christmas cookies earlier this month.

The fluff you use to make those cookies is really an amazing compound material. While it was cooking in the pan, it sort of deflated and became less than it was so I wanted to see what I could do with it that kept its glorious color and texture.

I surfed over to the official Fluff site and found their online cookbook (PDF) with all sorts of high-caloric nefarious recipes! This is actually the 9th edition of the Yumybook, the first was published in 1930! On page 13 are their “shakes”, drinks made from fluff, milk, and various amendments. I extended the concept and created the Peppermint Fluff Martini in this post. I am sure you can come up with your own favorite variation!

This recipe could benefit from the addition of peppermint schnapps if you were so inclined. I am working on one made with kaluha myself.

Peppermint Fluff Martini

The Yummybook directions call for the use of a blender, I used a stick immersion blender instead. It works just fine.

Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons fluff
* 2/3 C cold milk (I used 1% because thats what I had, didn’t effect it negatively. Might not want to go with the cream, not sure if that would be too fatty and cause pools of fat on the top of the drink)
* Crushed pepermint sticks
* 1 peppermint stick, dipped in melted chocolate
* red food coloring
* Lorann natural peppermint oil

Directions:

Into a tall narrow mixing container add the fluff, milk, and 1 drop peppermint oil.

Mix until all fluff lumps are gone.

Split mix in half and add red coloring to one half, mix until incorporated.

Layer the white and pink fluff with additional peppermint chunks throughout.

To decorate top edge of glass (as shown), before assembling the drink dab a small amount of fluff on the edge and then dredge in finely crushed peppermint candy.

Finish with chocolate dipped peppermint stick.

Give to your loved ones. They will be lucky to finish one of these.

Resources:

Rumple Minze Peppermint Schnapps
Fluff
Lorann Oils

My Menu for Hope III contribution

2006-12-13T14:47:00.000-05:00

Menu For Hope III

2006-12-13T07:15:00.000-05:00

For the winners of my prints and pinwheels who are visiting here - you do not need to register with blogger etc - just drop me an email at nika7k at yahoo dot com. After I verify your winning status, I will prepare and send your winning prize! Thanks again for bidding in the Menu For Hope!

If you have been cruising in food blogistan the past several days you likely know by now that the third annual food blog charity event called Menu For Hope III is currently running (Dec. 11 through 22). Last year this event raised $17,000 for UNICEF. According to Pim (Chez Pim) the donations are up to $10,000, and that was yesterday (Dec. 12), on the second day.

They have plenty of great prizes, including a chance at a meal of your life at the renown Tetsuya's in Sydney, the 2-Michelin Starred Manresa in California, Iggy's in Singapore, L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in London, and more. They offer unique experiences, such as a chance to have coffee with Thomas Keller, or even a cup of tea with Harold McGee. There are also lots and lots of cookbooks, including signed and hard to find items. Also on offer are plenty of goodies from all corners of the world, scrumptious tours, and many other delicious experiences.

This is a very popular blog event. This year it is benefiting the World Food Programme. I like this charity, gave to it the day of the tsunami, I knew they would get the job done.

If you have a blog, blog about this. If you dont have a blog, send this info to your friends and family! (Details below)

I am going to borrow details on this important event from Sam at Becks & Posh and Pim at Chez Pim (who is the originator and main administratrix of the event). I hope its ok with Sam and Pim that I borrow and paraphrase. There are just so many details and I dont want to get it wrong!

What is the Menu for Hope?

Menu for Hope is an annual online Fundraising campaign hosted by food bloggers all over the world. Now in its third year, Menu for Hope was created by Pim Techamuanvivit. Food bloggers donate wonderful prizes in the hope that their readers will buy $10 raffle tickets to try and win one or more of the goodies on offer.

How much does a Raffle ticket cost?

A ticket costs $10 per entry, with funds going to the United Nations World Food Programme. You can enter as many times as you like, specifying the prize code for the item you want to win with each entry.

Where does the money go?

This year we are raising money for the United Nations World Food Programme. You can read more about this charity at their website.

What are all those UW letters and numbers about?

This year, to help with our automated raffle winner-picking software, we have assigned each prize with a four-digit code. On the west coast USA, all of the prizes start with a UW. Please make sure you use the code that matches the prize you are bidding for when you visit the First Giving site to make your donation.

So, how do I bid on a Prize?

Here's what you should do...

1. Go to the First Giving donation page.

2. Make a donation, each $10 will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize or prizes you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. Do tell us how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code -for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for UW01 and 3 for UW02.

3. If your company matches your charity donation, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

4. Please also check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

5. Check back on Chez Pim on January 15 when we announce the result of the raffle. (The drawing will be done electronically. Our friend the code wizard Derrick at Obsession with Food is responsible for the wicked application that will do the job.)

Is there somewhere I can go to see all of the prizes in list form?

The organiser, Pim, will have the entire global list of Menu For Hope prizes on her blog.

Becks & Posh will be featuring all of the fabulous US west coast prizes in more detail throughout the campaign which lasts until December 22nd. Prizes will also be added during the campaign, so keep checking back with us.

How long do I have to make up my mind about which of all these amazing prizes I should bid for?

Bidding closes on December 22nd, so make sure you decide before then.

Is there any way I can donate a prize too?

If you live on the pacific west coast of the USA, please write to Sam at menu4hope.west@gmail.com, outlining the details of what your prize is, whether there are shipping restrictions, your name, your location, your blog name and your blog name url. She will then send you instructions on how to take part as well as a code number to use. Please wait for the code number before posting about your prize on your blog. Thank you.

If you are not situated in pacific coast USA, please contact the host who represnts your region instead:

# East Coast USA –Adam, the Amateur Gourmet - adrober at mac.com
# The rest of the US -Kalyn, Kalyn's Kitchen -kalynskitchen@comcast.net
# UK/Europe -David Lebovitz- davidlebovitz@hotmail.com
# Asia Pacific/Australia/New Zealand (Helen of Grab Your Fork - grabyourfork at yahoo.com.au)
# South America (Cooking Diva - pty_cooking_diva at yahoo.com)
# Canada (Jasmine at the Cardamom Addict - cardamomaddict at gmail.com).

Can I claim tax back when I make my donation?

Since this is a global event, with entries from many different countries, we suggest you contact a tax advisor in your own country to find out the answer to this question.

Where can I read about prizes from areas outside the west coast USA?

Aside from the west coast Prizes being promoted here at Becks & Posh check out the following:
US east coast: The Amateur Gourmet
US (the rest): Kalyn's Kitchen
Canada: Cardamom Addict
Europe and UK: Davidlebovitz.com
Asia Pacific/Australia/New Zealand: Grab Your Fork
And last but not least, our special wine blog host: Vinography

I don't live on the West Coast, can I still bid for these prizes?

There is nothing to stop you, except some of the prizes require pick up in a certain area and others have shipping restrictions. Please check with each individual prize sponsor for more details.

There you go! Rush on out, place your bids, have fun!

Too much of a good thing

2006-12-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

It is possible to have too much of a good thing. Its true, I proved it this weekend.

After a couple of weeks of baking cookies and other goodies and letting the kids taste test this and that, my 3 year old hit her wall. The picture above is exactly what it looks like when you hit the sugar-wall.

What lead to this look? Well, the following is just a sample. There is more incriminating evidence not published here. Thankfully, it ended with just the look and not, well, a loss of gastrointestinal integrity, to put it euphimistically.

Dont go here, hold back a bit on those sweets, pace yourself, for heaven's sake!

A better Irish Soda Bread

2006-12-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

I have a love/hate relationship with Irish Soda Bread. The stuff you buy in the store here in New England around St Patrick's day is filled with raisins and caroway seeds, neither of which my family likes. I hate having to pick the seeds out of my teeth, even though they have a nice flavor.

Every recipe I have tried at home has given me pretty nasty dry crumbly bread that, although it sops up the juices from the New England boiled dinner ok, cloys up the mouth and ends up almost gagging me. Not a happy experience, I tell you.

Recently, my husband did the grocery shopping (always an experience in finding something novel in the grocery bag when he gets home) and he bought a corned beef brisket. With the weather finally getting cold around here, that was a perfect thing for supper.

Well, I went to make the same old Irish soda bread and saw that I had all I needed in the fridge, including the sour cream. A bit later, when I pulled the sour cream out, I realised it wasnt that at all but cottage cheese! I went with serendipity and made the most amazing soda bread yet!

So thats right, this recipe uses cottage cheese (large curd) instead of sour cream. Its so moist, doesnt fall to pieces, soaks up all the juices you would want and stays moist a good few days. Its a major plus that it doesnt cloy up and you dont have to extract it from the roof of your mouth like peanut butter (something that always happened with the other soda breads I have had.)

Try this recipe (below), let me know what you think!

Super Moist Irish Soda Bread Recipe (with a neat twist!)

Ingredients:
4 1/2 C All purpose flour
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/4 C cultured buttermilk
1 C large curd cottage cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Spray a 9 inch non-stick springform pan with flour-Pam.
3. In a large bowl, combine and sift all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder).
4. In another bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk and then mix in the cottage cheese.
5. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until the dough comes together.
6. In the large bowl, knead the dough enough to incorporate all the stray flour in the bowl (will be sticky).
7. Remove to the springform pan and place in the preheated oven.
Watch the color and allow to bake until it reaches the color you like (deep redish brown in my case) and then cover with foil for the remainder of the cooking time (65-70 mins total)
8. Remove from the oven and pop open the springform pan. Slide the bread onto a wire rack to cool. Can serve 8 large slices, 16 medium. Serve with butter!
9. Store in a plastic zip-lock bag.

Doping your food for beauty? Carbon Monoxide

2006-12-07T12:28:00.000-05:00

If you pay attention to the main stream or foodie news you will certainly have heard about how the US allows food suppliers to treat meat (beef, pork, even fish) with carbon monoxide to "preserve color" WITHOUT labeling the meat as such.

Carbon monoxide treated meat is pink and remains so, seemingly indefinitely. This is a treatment that does NOT prolong freshness or quality, it only gives the meat a permanent blush.

Thus, these producers are allowed to modify a major food source for purely cosmetic reasons with a poisonous gas and with no labeling requirement.

These are things you likely know. You likely also may have noticed that this same gas kills people every year when the winter season sets in. (40,000 people per year seek medical attention for carbon monoxide poisoning in the United States)

Often times what happens is a home is not being heated with approved systems (power goes out, owner/renter didnt pay bills so gas/electricity is cut off, etc) and someone decides to heat the place with a grill, inside, with no venting. What you get is dead people who are a very bright shade of red.

Why is it that your meat and those poor carbon monoxide victims are the same shade of red?

Carbon monoxide (CO) is composed of carbon and oxygen atoms. It is a product of incomplete combustion (like that grill). Most importantly, it has this very rude habit of acting like oxygen, going places where oxygen likes to frequent. What this means to us is that CO will poison or bind to hemoglobin in blood.

In fact, CO has an affinity for hemoglobin many 100s of times stronger than oxygen. That means that oxygen just doesnt have a chance. Once that CO nestles into the oxygen-pocket on the hemoglobin, its not going anywhere. If that CO is binding hemoglobin in our blood (while we are using it to transport oxygen from our lungs to our bodies) we die quickly.

The Color Red.

When hemoglobin has no oxygen, it is not red. When it has oxygen as a co-pilot, its a bright red. The same thing happens when CO kicks out that oxygen and it hogs the ride. Not only that, it doesnt know when to leave, it stays bound to the hemoglobin long after it's welcome has worn out.

What that means to us carnivores eating unlabeled meat in the store is that meat (and blood), which would turn brown as oxygen releases from hemoglobins with time, remains permanently doped with CO. Humans, for 100s of thousands of years, have known intuitively when their meat has gone bad. Meat has a handy freshness indicator - the color red. When this is circumvented (not for safety or quality reasons but to fool you into thinking that the meat is fresh) we can not decide if meat is fresh or not.

As with many poorly understood legacy foodways, the use of red as an indicator of food quality may not be sufficiently appreciated.

Studies may have been done on the supposed safety of CO in meat but they did not assess real world realities like the importance of red as indicator to the consumer of product safety.

[Just FYI - the metric in these studies for safety was CO toxicity as it outgases from the meat upon opening the package and during cooking of the meat - dont take too close a whiff of your meat when you open it, let it out-gas for a few minutes before you figure out if its nice red AND slimey. Also try not to hover over your meat as it cooks, again with the outgassing.]

Studies by various meat industry positive researchers has suggested that CO treated meat doesnt go bad sooner or later than untreated meat. That is not the problem.

The problem liesin the fact that ALL MEAT will go bad, eventually. If you can not tell by using the color red then you have to wait until the putrefaction has advanced to the slime and stink stage.

There are no studies that I have been able to find that evaluate the advantages to the consumer of detecting early stages of putrefaction (and thus early significant health issues) through the red color indicator.

Putrefaction should be a consentual experience. If you want to age your meat, fine. You will also treat that meat differently than you would fresh bloody red meat. That is how you ensure your own health and safety.

If you have "fresh" bloody red meat and its actually several steps toward putrefaction further than you know, you might be in for a whole world of hurt when your GI tract reaps the benefits of poorly prepared aged meat.

The best way to get meat that has been treated the way YOU want it treated is to use an actual butcher who can tell you what you need to know about your meat (where its been and why).

Value-extended Gingerbreads - fun with frosting

2006-12-06T11:55:00.000-05:00

As part of our holiday baking, we had to make gingerbread cookies. The holidays are not the same without that spicy aroma and their cheery little faces!

I didnt make up a recipe for this, I figured that this sort of thing had been optimized over the millenia of cookie baking. I used this somewhat elaborate recipe found at the Food Network. Its definitely worth the effort! Allow yourself 2 days to make this recipe (below).

When it came to frosting these guys, I wasnt sure what to do. I did a google image search to see how other people did this and I wasnt really inspired. I ended up simply playing with the tips I had and the frosting shapes they gave me. I did what I could (you can see what I ended up in the pics on this page) but soon felt I had exhausted my own concept of the traditional gingerbread cookie.

I started to go off onto other design tangents but desided that these cookies might want to stay in the more traditional realm.

Besides, it takes longer to decorate these guys than to eat them! Its for that very reason I could never be a cake designer. I cant stand to see it all eaten up without the care and love I would put into decorating the cake! Nothing less than prostrations and burnt offerings would salve the decorating goddess within (winks), not a good thing to ask of innocent party guests.

The following recipe is from the Food Network

Gingerbread Cookies 101
Recipe courtesy of Rick Rodgers, Christmas 101, Random House, 1999

The dough must be chilled for at least 3 hours and up to 2 days. The cookies can be prepared up to 1 week ahead, stored in an airtight container at room temperature. I had to bake many batches to finally accomplish the perfect gingerbread cookie. When the dough is rolled thin, it will bake crisp and almost crackerlike. Yet, when rolled thick (my preference), the cookies turn out plump and moist. In either case, the flavor will be complex and almost hot-spicy.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 large egg
Royal Icing (recipe follows)

Position the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper through a wire sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg. Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.)

To roll out the cookies, work with one disk at a time, keeping the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. (If the dough has been chilled for longer than 3 hours, it may need a few more minutes.) Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick, being sure that the dough isn't sticking to the work surface (run a long meal spatula or knife under the dough occasionally just to be sure, and dust the surface with more flour, if needed). For softer cookies, roll out slightly thicker. Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and transfer to nonstick cookie sheets, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.

Bake, switching the positions of the cookies from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely. Decorate with Royal Icing. (The cookies can be prepared up to 1 week ahead, stored in airtight containers at room temperature.)

ROYAL ICING

1 pound (4 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons dried egg-white powder
6 tablespoons water

Make ahead: The icing can prepared up to 2 days ahead, stored in an airtight container with a moist paper towel pressed directly on the icing surface, and refrigerated.

This icing hardens into shiny white lines, and is used for piping decorations on gingerbread people or other cookies. Traditional royal icing uses raw egg whites, but I prefer dried egg-white powder, available at most supermarkets, to avoid any concern about uncooked egg whites.

When using a pastry bag, practice your decorating skills before you ice the cookies. Just do a few trial runs to get the feel of the icing and the bag, piping the icing onto aluminum foil or wax paper. If you work quickly, you can use a metal spatula to scrape the test icing back into the batch.

Dried egg-white powder is also available by mail order from The Baker's Catalogue, 1-800-827-6836. Meringue powder, which is dehydrated egg whites with sugar already added, also makes excellent royal icing; just follow the directions on the package. However, the plain unsweetened dried egg whites are more versatile, as they can be used in savory dishes, too. Meringue powder is available from Adventures in Cooking (1-800-305-1114) and The Baker's Catalogue.

In a medium bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at low speed, beat the confectioners' sugar, egg-white powder and water until combined. Increase the speed to high and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, until very stiff, shiny and thick enough to pipe; 3 to 5 minutes. (The icing can be prepared up to 2 days ahead, stored in an airtight container with a moist paper towel pressed directly on the icing surface, and refrigerated.)

To pipe line decorations, use a pastry bag fitted with a tube with a small writing tip about 1/8-inch wide, such as Ateco No. 7; it may be too difficult to squeeze the icing out of smaller tips. If necessary, thin the icing with a little warm water. To fill the pastry bag, fit it with the tube. Fold the top of the bag back to form a cuff and hold it in one hand. (Or, place the bag in a tall glass and fold the top back to form a cuff.) Using a rubber spatula, scoop the icing into the bag. Unfold the cuff and twist the top of the bag closed. Squeeze the icing down to fill the tube. Always practice first on a sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil to check the flow and consistency of the icing.

Traditional Royal Icing: Substitute 3 large egg whites for the powder and water.

Twisted Thumbs: Guava Coconut Twisted Thumbprint Cookies

2006-12-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

I set out to make some cute little thumbprint cookies and take a few pics. What happened was, well what happens when you dont follow recipes.

As I was making the dough, I remembered that I had some guava paste in the refrigerator. I had also found some sweetened coconut earlier when I was rummaging around in my dark pantry (need to put a light in there one of these days).

Both of these ingredients cry out for special treatment and signify warmer locales than the one I live in. They just seemed to go together.

And they sure did go together, quite nicely. The coconut toasts up nicely. Use only the sweetened kind because unsweetened will dry out into really unpalatable spikes of dessicated coconut. The guava, mixed with some orange juice, reduces into a thick sweet spot of delicious tropical flavor.

I have put the recipe for these cookies on a printable PDF which you can find by going to this page that lists some of my recipes on www.nikaboyce.com.

Let me know if they do anything for your sweet-tooth!

Christmas Foreshadowed

2006-11-28T14:37:00.000-05:00

Yes, we already made our first christmas cookies.

I think the most gratifying part of the year in terms of baking and especially making cookies is around Christmas. I mean, when else can you make WAY too many cookies and send them to friends and relatives. If you made "July" cookies and sent them out, people would NOT know what to do with that, would you?

I personally am really digging the christmas cookie thing this year because they are the supermodel of cookies. They can be so beautiful. They can be so kitchy. They can be so nostalgic.

They definitely multitask and they are yummy. Whats not to like?

Amuse Vue - Newsletter ready!

2006-11-22T14:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I have now put the finishing touches on the first issue of Amuse Vue, the newsletter for this blog.

Surf to the Amuse Vue site and download a copy today. I am still tweaking the newsletter site and getting the listserv finalized so that you can subscribe to an email reminder of when the latest issue comes out.

Go and check out the Amuse Vue site and more importantly, the newsletter in the archives! I am working to reduce the file size as well. Be patient, it has lots of high resolution photos so it makes the file heavy.

Let me know what you think. The contact page at the Amuse Vue site is pre-functional so drop me a note here as a comment if you wish.

Cooking with Q: Mango Apple compotes in pastry shells

2006-11-16T12:15:00.000-05:00

(Mango Apple compotes in pastry shells © 2006 Nika)

Today Q is going to show you all how she made these Mango Apple compotes in pastry shells. You may wonder what a compote is. According to the Wikipedia, a compote is:

.. a dessert made of fruit cooked in sugar syrup.

We took it a bit further and put the sauted fruit into pastry shells that had been filled with vanilla pudding.

Ingredients:
1 Mango
1 Apple
1 container Vanilla Pudding (it would be even better if you made your own homemade pudding. Thats another post, as Alton Brown would say)
3 Pastry shells (We used the pre-fabricated pastry shells from Pepperidge Farms. They are great and work every time. You can also make them yourself!)
Minced ginger
1/8th teaspoon real Vanilla
4 tablespoons butter (If not salted, add a pinch of salt to the cooked fruit.)

(Mango Apple compote ingredients © 2006 Nika)

(Close up of frozen pastry shell from Pepperidge Farms © 2006 Nika)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Line a baking sheet with some parchment paper and stick it down to the sheet with a bit or water or cooking spray.
Bake as per package instructions. Make sure to watch them so that they do not get too brown.
Remove and allow to cool.

(Pastry shells ready for the oven © 2006 Nika)

(Baked pastry shells © 2006 Nika)

Cut out the central part to make the cup to receive your filling.

(Cutting out central party of pastry shell © 2006 Nika)

Cube mango and apple. You are going to cook these two fruits seperately. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter to a small pot over medium heat. Add mango, 1/8 teaspoon of minced ginger, and 2 tablespoons of white sugar. Cook until it has dehydrated a bit and the sugar is starting to thicken the fruit juices. Cool. Repeat with the apple but use vanilla and no ginger. Cool.

(Cubing the fruit © 2006 Nika)

Put some vanilla pudding on the bottom of each pastry shell and then add the cooked fruit. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint.
Enjoy!

(Q finishing off the Mango Apple dessert © 2006 Nika)

(Q chopping the fruit and posing © 2006 Nika)

(Q is watched by her little sister and brother. The cat got in on the act too.
© 2006 Nika)

(Here we can see the audience a bit better © 2006 Nika)

Food & Wine Magazine Photo Contest: I am one of the first place winners!

2006-11-08T07:31:00.000-05:00

(My winning image: Spice cake with homemade dark chocolate sauce
© 2006 Nika)

I am very proud and honored to say that I am one of the four first place winners in the first annual Food & Wine Magazine food photography contest!

They write about the contest on the Food & Wine Magazine web site.

The grand prize was a very spiffy Canon camera. Firts place winners got most excellent swag, as seen below!

The grand prize winner Jessica Thomson of Seattle, WA won with an image of "Papaya-Jalapeno Sorbet in Black and White Espresso Cups". Very lovely.

The other three runners up are:
- Linda Nihot of Astoria, Ny with "Eggs in Bombay"
- Karen Bolla of Alameda, CA with "Pears"
- Christian Remy of Brooklyn, NY with "Cooling Pomegranate Syrup"

I got three books and a lovely letter from their director of photography. These are great books filled with lots of excellent food photography. Cant wait to dive into them!

(F&W SWAG! - personal info erased © 2006 Nika)

When I hit the submit button I NEVER thought it would win, I just dont WIN contests, ever. All I can say is that you can never know how these things will turn out unless you give it a chance!

Again, my thanks go out to Food & Wine for selecting my photo this year!

Contemplating Food Photography

2006-11-06T12:06:00.000-05:00

(Medium format via CS2 © 2006 Nika)

A bit of navel gazing today.

Why do we blog?

Why do I blog?

The truth is that it is a way to have a conversation with you about something that I find, obviously, endlessly interesting: Photography. It so happens that I find food most accessible and mutable. Food photography is not so much about making us hungry to eat or showcasing any sort of culinary or food styling talent I may have or develop but rather, its about the technical and aesthetic process that goes into shooting beautiful and interesting food.

Why not shoot quirky images of poodles or drainage pipes?

I shoot food because it is easy to care about and become invested in the subject. The nature of food photography is such that you fall into and consume the image almost effortlessly.

I make it public here because your side of the conversation helps me grow and understand the impact of my photography on the viewer. For this reason, every comment you all have given me has been worth its weight in gold.

That seems to be a good enough and re-affirming reason to blog.

(Gallery Print via CS2 © 2006 Nika)

Pre-constructed tomatillo salsa

2006-11-04T15:45:00.000-05:00

(Tomatillo en macro © 2006 Nika)

I am working myself up to making a tomatillo salsa with these lovely tomatillos that I shot today as well as the jalapenos shown here. These are our organic homegrown jalapenos that are starting to ripen!

(More tomatillos © 2006 Nika)

(Red Jalapeno © 2006 Nika)

(One last tomatillo © 2006 Nika)

I am thinking about this recipe by Rick Bayless.

Salsa Verde: Green Tomatillo Salsa

Recipe courtesy Rick Bayless. From Mexico One Plate At A Time

Ingredients:
8 ounces (5 to 6 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
Fresh hot green chiles, to taste (roughly 2 serranos or 1 jalapeno), stemmed
5 or 6 sprigs fresh cilantro (thick stems removed), roughly chopped
Scant 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
Salt

Directions:

For the All-Raw version: Roughly chop the tomatillos and the chiles. In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos, chiles, cilantro and 1/4 cup water. Process to a coarse puree, then scrape into a serving dish. Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually a generous 1/4 teaspoon.

For the Roasted version:

Preheat a broiler.

Roast the tomatillos and chiles on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler until darkly roasted, even blackened in spots, about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side, 4 to 5 minutes more will give you splotchy-black and blistered tomatillos and chiles. In a blender or food processor, combine the tomatillos and chiles, including all the delicious juice that has run onto the baking sheet. Add the cilantro and 1/4 cup water, blend to a coarse puree, and scrape into a serving dish. Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove the excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually a generous 1/4 teaspoon.

I will post back when I settle on a recipe and share the end results.

Books of Note:

Whats on your food blog bookshelf?

2006-11-01T12:35:00.000-05:00

(My food photo and blog bookshelf © 2006 Nika)

Things are settling down from the whirlwind of the birth and integrating the new little guy into our lives. Lots of cleaning has been happening (millions thanks to my mom who has been a HUGE help and who unfortunately just left today!).

With the cleaning came some much needed organization. One thing that came together was some of the books I use for culinary and photography inspiration.

I love reading the Culinary Institute of America's "The Professional Chef, Seventh Edition" and "The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef" books. These text books are jam-packed with very useful information that builds a good foundation for any cook. They also have some great pics.

I am going through my new "The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers", learning as I go.

The technical and artistic aspects of food photography are discussed in a clear and simple voice by Lou Mann in his book "Digital Food Photography".

But when I want to become truly inspired I look through some books I got recently from StockFood. These food photos are divine even though they are stock images!

There is much to learn from these catalogs of books if you pay attention to the details and try to put yourself in the pro-photographer's shoes.

(Close up of some of StockFood's catalogs © 2006 Nika)

Whats on your shelf?

A low key Halloween birthday party

2006-10-29T09:09:00.000-05:00

(Wild lighting effects from relighting candles © 2006 Nika)

Our oldest daughter Q celebrated 10 years on this earth so we had a bit of a bash. It was pretty low key, just family.

Since the birthday is near Halloween the party takes up that theme.

We made birthday cupcakes with cute scary decorations.

(© 2006 Nika)

(© 2006 Nika)

And then we sat down to Q's requested dinner, lobstah (and shrimp and scallops!) :-)

(Lobster, panko shrimp, garlic shrimp, and butter sauted sea scallops © 2006 Nika)

(Close up on the lobster © 2006 Nika)

WellFed Network Article - Sparkling Cadaver Cider Cocktails

2006-10-22T06:40:00.000-05:00

This is my latest article on The Spirit World blog, part of The WellFed Network.

Sparkling Cadaver Cider Cocktails

(Drink with Witch Finger cookies © 2006 Nika)

What wiggles, jiggles, and tickles the nose?

Without exploring all THAT could describe (this IS a site rated for all audiences), here I am talking about a gruesome cadaveric drink, floating jello fingers with veins included, that is actually composed of a delightful sparkling apple cider. Something about the jello with Twizzlers makes the cider turn a toxic yellow that will surely delight any child.

By letting the kids participate in the making of the jello fingers (or hand or foot or eyeballs or whatever floats their boats) as well as the suggested witches finger cookies (see below), they get to expand on the Halloween fun beyond one night of romping in the dark.

Sparkling Cadaver Cider Cocktails

Ingredients:

Sparkling apple cider (can substitute with apple cider and soda water or ginger ale)
Desired body part (we constructed jello fingers, do what makes you all gross out maximally)

(Sparkling Cadaver Cider Cocktail © 2006 Nika)

Witch Fingers

Ingredients:

1 roll of prefab white sugar cookie dough from the dairy case
red fruit leather (for the nails)
extra all purpose flour

Directions:

Work some extra flour into the cookie dough to stiffen it so that it doesn't flatten much during cooking.

Form into small finger sized logs and then shape them with knuckles and such. You can add food coloring to make them look even more disgusting if you feel the need.

Cut out nail shaped bits of fruit leather and apply to the fingers, where appropriate.

Bake as per directions on the dough package, until cookies are done.

Serve with the cadaver drinks above.

(Witch Finger cookies © 2006 Nika)

Kawaisa: Tiny Food

2006-10-20T10:17:00.000-05:00

(Re-ment Tuna Stew © 2006 Nika)

Kawaisa or Kawaii - When being cute becomes a meta-cultural and political phenomenon. It is such a huge concept in Japanese popular culture that I refer you to the following links for further academic study of this odd but fascinating cultural mania:

Kawaii wiki entry
All Things Kawaii
Onatoko - Japanese street fashion
Phoophie.com - Kawaii stationary and more - online store

Kawaii is a term used, as I have seen in practice on Flickr, in appraising exclamation for something that is unbearably cute.

Americans tend to have this visceral response to baby animals. If you would like to get in touch with that feeling surf over to Cute Overload and you find yourself bent over in paroxysms of cute-agony, wailing "No, dammit, that is too cute".

(Baby seal - borrowed from CO)

One of many types of intentional kawaii products or product types that are starting to filter into the American experience is anything made by Re-Ment, a Japanese company that makes extremely small and very realistic household items like collanders and serving dishes and whole kitchens!

The Re-Ment I have been seduced by is the food items they make such as little sushi trays and bento boxes and other types of food that are alien to the American home kitchen.

(Sushi Re-Ment - borrowed)

(A Re-Ment picnic - borrowed)

I bought one (from Japan through a group called J-List - surf the under-18 section. Japanese culture is not sexually repressed when it comes to female nudity, especially if its anime and kawaii) that was cute but I had NO idea what it was. My friends at Flickr who read Japanese were able to tell me that it is a Tuna Stew. The little ladle comes out of the stew, ths stew comes out of the little red pot, the little bits of stew and rice come out of the little tupperware containers, etc. Its fascinating. It also collects dust in my funky cabinet so I thought I would take a few shots and share them here. Voila!

Enjoy Re-Ment, enjoy Kawaii, enjoy tiny food.

(Re-Ment Tuna Stew © 2006 Nika)

Technorati taggage:
food, tiny, mini, re-ment, japan, japanese, kawaii, kawaisa, cute, hello kitty, popular, culture, otaku, sushi, tuna, bento, infantile.

A meditation on sushi - with a twist

2006-10-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

(Plate of sugarful sushi © 2006 Nika)

Sometimes it is fun to play with food and the idea of food. I was in that sort of mood when I set out to approximate sushi as closely as I could with grocery store candy.

How To:

You can do this in so many ways, I chose the following methods.

Some of the basic materials included: fruit leathers, marshmallows, red hots, coconut shavings and an Xacto knife.

(Basic building blocks - fruit leather, coconut, red hots, marshmallows © 2006 Nika)

I used white marshmallows as an inner white base to lend stability and structure to the rolls.

(Construction © 2006 Nika)

On some of the rolls I topped off the marshmallow with coconut for a plain roll. On others I added red hots to imitate red tobiko.

(Red Hot Tobiko © 2006 Nika)

Enjoy!

(Another view of the sushi © 2006 Nika)

Our baby has arrived

2006-10-10T12:03:00.000-05:00

Its hard to get online these days so here is a quikie update.

Our little boy, Baby O, was born 10/7/06 at 7:20 pm (EST).

8 lbs 8 oz. 22 inches long 15 inches head circumference.

We went in on Saturday because I thought my water had broken (had not). They could not get a good heart tracing in the usual spots, only up high on the tummy.

Turns out that our little guy was frank breech. Sitting yoga style, like a little zen master, full lotus.

I knew it was time but the cervix wasnt filling the medical criteria.. they were going to send me home to do a c-section later next week.

As I am a hypnobirthing mom.. I concentrated on the cervix and then before we knew it we fit the criteria (dilation). So I was being prepped for a c-section.. all the lovely needles and scary ideas.

I continued to lay there with more and more labor, doing my hypnobirthing, thinking about how I had seen a video of a mom who turned her breech baby by hypnosis..

Docs came to check and, against all odds, the baby had flipped and we avoided a c-section! The docs were blown away.. I was in labor so I didnt care if they were impressed, I wanted pain relief at this point.

NEVER got it!

I had two epidurals and neither worked at all.. so it was a "natural" birth for me and it was hard-fought I tell you. Delivery was fine for the little one, I was thanking dieties it was over, the doc's ears were burning from my indelicate language that came out of no where! (I never expected to do that, ever, but I survived!)

All apgars were 9s, he is a professional eater, very calm. All that interuterine zazen helped make him my second meditative hypnobirthed baby. So glad its the last labor!

Eggstra Eggstra - A heads up

2006-09-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

(Zygote © 2006 Nika)

That time is almost nigh, the baby is almost done, his appearance is just around the corner. I may not be able to keep up on this blog as much as I have in recent times but its not because I bored with this, its just tiring to just sit at the keyboard! Photo shoots are also a bit more tiring than usual so its harder to get those going as well.

I am hoping to pace myself through the next few weeks to a couple of postings a week on both my blogs.

Dont go away! :-) I know you wont.

Eggs hold great potential and they hide special treasures.

(Challah eggs © 2006 Nika)

Early gestation is a quiet hopefully calm thing.

(Eggland's Best © 2006 Nika)

Sometimes gestation can make you batty

(Screaming eggs © 2006 Nika)

If you open yourself to it, it can be a transcendant inward spiraling journey

(Spiral egg © 2006 Nika)

Or it can make you feel like we are in the End Times (sic)

(Sidewalk egg © 2006 Nika)

All of a sudden, its all over and then other types of fun start!

(Post labor © 2006 Nika)

Hopefully one ends up with a well cooked outcome

(Heart o' Gold © 2006 Nika)

And not scrambled brains!

(A perfect scramble © 2006 Nika)

Another harvest

2006-09-21T07:50:00.000-05:00

(Thumbelina carrots © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Ages ago we planted some thumbelina carrots (Daucus carota sativus) and a variety of eggplants in small containers on the deck. I thought this would be lots of fun for my oldest, Q, to grow, pick, and eat.

(Sprouting thumbelina carrots © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Thumbelina carrot tops © 2006 Nika Boyce)

At one point we had these wild mushrooms growing around the carrots

(Mushrooms from the planter of the thumbelina carrots © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Yesterday Q decided it was time to harvest the little guys and has been enjoying their sweet flavor and cute look.

(Thumbelina carrots © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Thumbelinas and one white eggplant © 2006 Nika Boyce)

A fading garden

2006-09-20T12:09:00.000-05:00

(Bumper crop of jalapenos © 2006 Nika Boyce)

As some of you know I did container gardening this year. It was a mixed success because I have been so tired growing other things (inside me) that I have not been out on the deck much. We did get TONS of tomatoes and lettuce.. perfect for our needs.

Late in the spring I planted some jalapenos that took FOREVER to sprout but they are now the star of the deck garden! There must be something like 25 jalapeno peppers on the plant now and lots of blossoms still coming up!

A rogue pumpkin plant is growing under our deck. It decided it would grow up and over the weeds under the deck and has been putting out TONS of blossoms. There doesnt seem to be any pumpkins tho. I think the bunnies are helping themselves to the pumpkin and squash blossoms and baby fruits.

Hmm.. I wonder if blossom-fed rabbit is tasty... :-)

(Fading pumpkin blossoms © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Some of our flower boxes are STILL growing with colorful flowers. Here you see some johnny jump ups (ID courtesy of B at the Culinary Fool!).

(Window boxes still have some blooms © 2006 Nika Boyce)

The marigolds that I planted with my lettuce garden container are all thats left in that container. They have really loved this shallow plastic thing.. massive blooming.

Here is what it looked like at planting.

(Just planted lettuce container © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Here is what one of those marigolds looks like now.

(Marigolds are still quite vibrant © 2006 Nika Boyce)

OT: How the "war" effects our lives, and yours

2006-09-19T09:58:00.000-05:00

We got some bad news yesterday and I had to say something tho it feels like just p*ssing into the wind.

My husband worked for a tenured prof (deputy head of his department) at a university for almost 8 long very productive years. Their mission was (and is) to disseminate the hard work and interesting projects happening in the academic and private supercomputing communities as educational initiatives for K-12 and undergraduate kids.

This is big synthesist thinking that had a DIRECT impact on many teachers and kids across the USA (you and your neighbors). It leveraged already funded projects, extending their reach even further, well beyond that envisioned by the review boards on the original grants. It created synergies between academia and industry, it created excitement. This work was deeply appreciated by these communities.

This work has been killed because several grants, that bouyed this work, have been rejected by our government after YEARS of support.

You may ask why, and I will tell you. This has happened for the very same reason that so many other people are having to fire postdocs and lab techs or outright shut down their labs across the USA - the money is being shunted to the war.

Its very simple, its also not something most of you would know, its being kept very quiet outside of the science communities.

I do not work in science anymore (even tho I have a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology and had an excellent publication record including two Nature articles) because my field has been strangled by this administration (I worked in the nuclear transfer, stem cells, and reproductive biology world).

Every lab I worked in since I finished grad school had to be shut down or severely curtailed due to non-refunding of critical grants.

I am not certain what we are going to do. This means that my husband's job is coming to an end soon (just in time for the delivery of this baby).

What I would like to say to those who have gotten this far in an all-text no-food photo that has nothing to do with food post (other than perhaps wondering how we will get enough) is this:

- vote democrat in this fall's midterms
- push your congresscritter (very hard) to impeach Bush
- push the critter to bring war-crimes charges against this administration
- push same critter to investigate the massive fraud perpetrated by this admin
- further push for the reinstatement of what has been lost in this country - a return to educational and scientific excellence

Without direct action by we the citizens of this republican-ravaged country, they will get away with murder and larceny and the genocide of the American Way.

Thanks for reading. Its a beautiful day, I think I will try to get out and take a few deep breaths.

Dear Flickr Friend has passed

2006-09-17T11:05:00.000-05:00

We have never held or seen this kitty in person but we fell in love with him on flickr (and his wonderful dad Kenny who we send our thoughts and love today).

He may have lived and died in far away Kuala Lumpur but we could see through his lovely photos that he was a sweet soul.

Rest In Peace little Tino

Well Fed Network Article - Virginal Sangria

2006-09-16T10:29:00.000-05:00

Here is my latest article on The Spirit World blog at The Well Fed Network. Enjoy!

(Sangria Still Life © 2006 Nika Boyce)

A good sangria is like an attentive partner on your journey into an agreeable evening. The first sips are scintillating, the fruit sings and delights. Soon it is time for tapas or other favorite snacks, priming the appetite for what is to come or to buffer the insides for an evening of bar hopping.

A good sangria can be deceptively mild in its intoxicating abilities. For those of us who are the designated teetotaler (as I usually am), a virginal sangria will have to suffice. I like the following recipe because it skirts somewhat closely to the "spirit" of a sangria, but is non-alcoholic.

To me, this means that I miss out on the truly amazing Spanish wine one should use in an alcoholic sangria, but it also means I can enjoy a very refreshing sangria all night long.

(Sangria up close © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Ingredients:
Your favorite fruits (I used red delicious apples, oranges, plums, and peaches), sliced artistically
3/4 C homemade grenadine (Pomegranate syrup)
4 C 100% Cranberry Juice
4 C Ginger Ale, cold

Directions:
The day before you wish to serve this sangria do the following:
In a large bowl place sliced fruits, cover with the cranberry juice and the pomegranate syrup.

Refrigerate overnight. Also have the ginger ale cooling in the fridge.

At service:
In an attractive serving pitcher add ice and the 4 cups of ginger ale.

To this add fruit chunks and the soaking liquid. Serve and enjoy.

You may wish to nibble on some quality olives, a strong sausage, and a favorite cheese. This snack would be a good culinary venue to buy some Spanish imports for experimentation. Don't buy a lot and if you don't like a certain product, you have given it a try but not spent the farm on it.

(Tapas of a vague sort © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Sangrias have been discussed previously here on the Well Fed Network, check out these links too:

Cucumber, Ginger and Sake Sangria & Fresh Vegetable Spring Rolls

Sparkling Sangria and Seared Shrimp

White Wine Strawberry Sangria (aka Mom Juice)

Sangria: Fun and Festive Recipes

Sangria & Ribs

Gadgetopia

2006-09-12T07:49:00.000-05:00

(Image source: LC Corp. - India)

Alton Brown is the patron saint of the multifunction or repurposed tool. If a newfangled gadget is single-use, no matter how nifty it is, he pitches it.

I can totally get behind that. Why? Not because I am cheap (tho I am) or on a crusade to optimize all potential or even remotely theoretical efficiencies of a tool in my kitchen (I am defintely not, that sounds exhausting) but I just do not have the room for lots of gadgets!

I have this whole thought process that happens with a gadget (online or in the store)

1) Questioning: "What in the heck does THAT do?"
2) Discovery: "Oh jeez I NEED one of those things to make pina coladas without breaking the coconut shell!"
3) Evaluation: "$50 isnt THAT much for a tool that makes it easy to puree coconuts inside the shell!"
4) Realization:: "Oh, I just dont have the energy to clean the darn thing"
5) Acceptance: "I dont even LIKE coconuts"

Even if I had a state of the art high tech automated fuzzy logic gadget archiving system that hid away all the mess of many gadgets and made it all accessible at the touch of a button, I would STILL not likely use it all because of the "clean up" factor.

Food gadgets are meant to appeal to one's desire to be more effective at food prep . As I usually am not prepping 50 pounds of any food, a knife is usually enough. Lord knows I have too many knives too! But they are EASY to clean kids!

Knives, just what the chef ordered.

Bush's failure is his legacy

2006-09-11T09:17:00.000-05:00

Wedding cake goodness

2006-09-09T07:47:00.000-05:00

Enjoy some delicious wedding cake. I didnt make it, I shot it.

(Three tier chocolate and white cake with raspberry highlights enrobed in buttercream frosting © 2006 Nika Boyce All Rights Reserved)

(Delicate Details - Three tier chocolate and white cake with raspberry highlights enrobed in buttercream frosting © 2006 Nika Boyce All Rights Reserved)

(Closer in - Three tier chocolate and white cake with raspberry highlights enrobed in buttercream frosting © 2006 Nika Boyce All Rights Reserved)

Whats for lunch!

2006-09-08T07:39:00.000-05:00

(Boston Brats, sauted eggplant with gorgonzola, and home-fried tortilla chips © 2006 Nika Boyce)

This was our lunch yesterday. Boston bratwurst with chunky deli mustard, New England style hotdog buns, homemade tortilla chips, and sauted eggplant with gorgonzola cheese.

Want to see other people's lunchs throughout the world?

Try these Flickr lunch groups.

LapTop Lunches

Lunch!

Show Me Your Lunch!

Mr. Bento Porn

bento boxes

FOOD: I Cooked/ Made this!

(Boston Brats, sauted eggplant with gorgonzola, and home-fried tortilla chips © 2006 Nika Boyce)

In Memory of Steve Irwin

2006-09-05T08:11:00.000-05:00

Food for thought

2006-09-03T13:14:00.000-05:00

On a lazy Sunday, thought I would post up some recent images using my new 50mm lens (inexpensive one!).

(Dragonfruit dessert © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Moody tea pot © 2006 Nika Boyce)

New Amazon store

2006-08-30T18:43:00.000-05:00

I am beta testing a new feature at Amazon that lets me host an aStore where I make recommendations. In this case its supplies one might consider for food photography. These are the things I use. The store may expand if its of use to anyone.

There is also a permalink in the left sidebar. Bear with this post as the system works to display it correctly in this blog post.

Well Fed Network Article - Latino Sweets: Guava

2006-08-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

Here is an article of mine published at the Sugar Savvy blog, part of the Well Fed Network.

You can see that I pulled some of the material from my last post into this article. Writing the article was my inspiration for pulling together the whole Colombian Breakfast How-2 guide post.

Latino Sweets: Guava

In Colombia, where I was born, there is a profusion of fruits that can be had as is or are rendered into delicious sweets. There are many fruits that Americans will not usually see unless they travel down for a visit.

One such fruit is the Guava. Guava in spanish is Guyaba or Guyabana. Some informative links on the Guava fruit include:

* TROPICAL GUAVA- (Psidium guajava L.) - California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc.
* Guava Wiki entry

(An unpeeled guava fruit - Photo credit copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(A sliced guava fruit - Photo credit copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

More and more you can buy this fruit here in the US and it is possible to get the divine guava paste. If you find that, (in your Goya section) give it a try!

(Goya Guava Paste- Photo credit copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

You can eat the paste straight or experiment with it on various breads and recipes. Colombians like to put it on a hot arepa, as shown below, or simply served with queso blanco (farmer's cheese).

(Guava paste on an arepa- Photo credit copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

It would be great as a fruit center in cookies (I have to try that, do not have photos to show you, sorry for the tease!).

Another way Colombians like to partake in the guava is in what is called a Fresco. These are like American smoothies and have been made in South America for ages. Frescos can be made from all manner of fruits, my favorite is a black raspberry fresco.

Guyabana Frescos

Ingredients:

small dice of very ripe guava (without peel)
very cold milk
sugar

Directions:

Note: The amounts used are personal preference and also dependent on how many you want to make!

In a blender mix the milk, sugar and fresh fruit.

Serve immediately.

I have memories of black raspberry (mora) frescos being served fresh in Pereira, Colombia in my Aunt's home. I stood at the back door and sipped my mora fresco as I watched the daily noon-time tropical rain shower beat down the leaves in the garden. The fresco cooled me inside, the cold marble floor cooled my bare feet, and cool rain-smelling mountain breezes swirled around me.

Yet another way that Colombians like to eat this fruit is when it is not ripe. They peel it, cut it into small pieces and then down it as a chaser after a shot of aguardiente. You could do the same with pineapple chunks too. Aguardiente is one of Colombia's signature national spirits (along with divine Colombian Rum). It is a real fire water, tastes like black licorice, very potent.

There are other ways to enjoy Guava, if you would like to add yours, please share!

Related Posts:

How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)

Yucas Fritas (Fried Yucas or Cassava Root) Recipe and How 2 photos

Empanadas - The Recipe

Flash Flickr Movie of How to make Colombian Empanadas

Chicharron - Deep fried pork belly - How To

How to make Colombian Empanadas - directions

Latest full recipe for Colombian Bunuelos (2006 post)

Last year's Christmas Bunuelo Decadence

A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide

Colombian Frescos

Lechona preparation

A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide

2006-08-21T11:45:00.000-05:00

(Clockwise from top left: changua, arepa with queso blanco, pan de bono, and patacones - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

A Colombian breakfast is not just one thing like you might think a proper English fry up would be.

I think that a Colombian breakfast can actually have many different possibilities limited only by the appetite, types of leftovers, and guided by the region of Colombia you are in/from.

This post discusses a breakfast that includes changua, arepas, pan de bono, and patacones. (I will talk about how to make each of those items below.) What you dont see is what you might have to drink with this meal. That could include aqua de panela, strong Colombian coffee, or even steaming hot chocolate.

It could easily have been beans, rice, chicharrones, and fried eggs with a side of hogao.

This breakfast is an amalgam of breakfasts I had as a kid at home and while on vacation in Bogota, Colombia.

This set of food may LOOK simple but it can take a while and lots of energy.

I would suggest starting with the Pan De Bono and I will cover that first.

Pan De Bono

Note: The translated ingredients and directions on the mix I show below are incorrect! I will give you the correct directions here in English.

Ingredients:

1 box of Pan De Bono mix
3 cups grated fresh queso blanco (farmer's cheese - do not try to substitute this. Go to a latino market and get it fresh)
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 teaspoons sugar
1 cup milk

Directions:

Grate the queso blanco with a fine grater. It is fragile and will crumble/grate easily. Do enough to equal 3 cups. Try to buy enough so that you can eat some slices of it later.

(Package of queso blanco - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Block of queso blanco - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Grated queso blanco - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Pour the mix, grated cheese, milk, and butter and knead until it comes together into a smooth dough.

(Pan De Bono Mix - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Pan De Bono dough ready for forming - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Pinch off small balls and then knead a bit more and then roll out into little snakes about 3.5 inches long and 1/2 inch thick. Gently pinch the snake into a little circle and bake at 450 F on parchment for about 15 minutes.

(One raw Pan De Bono circle ready to bake - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Pand De Bono circles ready to bake - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

While baking these circles will puff up and then brown. Remove and cool. Enjoy!

Baked Pan De Bonos - (Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Next you might want to fry up your patacones. I have covered that in a previous post called How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones).

(Patacones - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Next you might want to make you arepas.

Colombian Arepas

Ingredients:

2 cups Masa Harina (very finely ground corn meal. Do NOT use regular corn meal. I talk more about what to use below)
3 cups BOILING water (MUST be boiling)
2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

I suggest this brand of Masa Harina

(Masa Harina - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

In a large bowl pour in 2 cups of harina, 2 teaspoons of salt and mix well. Add the 3 cups of boiling water and mix with a spoon. Before it cools much knead it with your hands. My grandmother starts kneading almost right away with her heat-tolerant asbestos hands! I cant do that so I let it cool a bit.

Knead into a rubber not overly sticky ball. If its very sticky add more harina. I had to do that and feel that I need to work more on my technique!

Arepa dough, a bit sticky - (Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Form the dough into little patties and then either grill or cook in a well seasoned cast iron pan. Its ok ifthe interior is a bit moist. These can burn easily and dry out easily. I like them toasty, adds nice flavor.

(Cooked Colombian Arepas - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

You can serve them with butter, slices of queso blanco, or even guava paste.

(Arepa with queso blanco and cilantro - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Here is a shot of a package of Guava Paste (super sweet).

(Guava Paste - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

(Arepa with guava paste - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Ok, now you have all the sides to the main part of the breakfast, Changua!

This is a very rich concoction of milk and eggs that is quite filling and very welcome in the morning.

My father ADORED changua and this dish reminds me so much of him that I actually feel sad when I think of it, make it, and eat it. I can still see him bending over a fresh bowl of changua, beaming with joy, inhaling the scent and blissing out on the flavor and the memories from Colombia. We lost my father in 1999 to brutal early onset Alzheimers Disease.

Colombian Changua

Ingredients:

4 cups milk
4 or 6 eggs
1/4 cup diced onions (I used vidalias)
2 tablespoons butter
Dash of cominos
diced green onions, to taste
diced cilantro, to taste

Directions:

Melt butter in a large milk-boiling-friendly pot, add onions and cominos. Saute on low heat until golden brown.

Add 4 cups of milk and bring to a rolling simmer (do not boil so hard that it boils over, that only puts you in a bad mood).

Once up to the boiling simmer add eggs Allow to simmer for between 5 and 10 minutes (some people like the egg well cooked, others like it barely cooked at all).

Add diced green onions and cilantro to serving bowls and then ladle out servings that include eggs and plenty of broth.

Enjoy with all the sides you made all morning long and then collapse on the couch for a leisurely nap.

(Everything together - Copyright © 2006 Nika Boyce)

Related Posts:

How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)

Yucas Fritas (Fried Yucas or Cassava Root) Recipe and How 2 photos

Empanadas - The Recipe

Flash Flickr Movie of How to make Colombian Empanadas

Chicharron - Deep fried pork belly - How To

How to make Colombian Empanadas - directions

Latest full recipe for Colombian Bunuelos (2006 post)

Last year's Christmas Bunuelo Decadence

A Colombian breakfast How-2 guide

Colombian Frescos

Lechona preparation

Well Fed Network Article - Grenadine Lemonade

2006-08-19T09:41:00.000-05:00

Here is my monthly installment at The Spirit World blog on The Well Fed Network.

Enjoy!

Grenadine Lemonade

© 2006 Nika Boyce

I have been playing with non-alcoholic drink possibilities that are not too onerous to concoct but that are somewhat different from the usual. The heat here in rural MA has backed off slightly and there is some hope for more comfortable days. Certainly 80s is better than 105 in the shade!

I also wanted to make a bit of a foray into the syrups that are used to make many classic cocktails. I chose Grenadine and set off to the liquor store to find it.

Let me tell you, you have to either be oblivious or have a big ego to not notice the stares you get when you walk into a liquor store 7 1/2 months pregnant with your 9 year old in tow.

To compensate for being there I bought all these extra non-alcoholic items like peppery bacon and cheeses and more. Didn't help because people were looking at my tummy and not my bacon snacks in the cart!

Anyway, I look at the list of ingredients on the grenadine bottle when I get home and no where is there mention of actual juice, let alone pomegranate juice.

This was a sad thing for me because I was under the impression that grenadine was a pomegranate syrup. This syrup sure didn't taste very good either. It reminded me of a really cheap snow cone.

At this point I decided that pomegranate juice is not that hard to get a hold of and I set out to make my own grenadine. It is well worth the small trouble as it tastes completely different.

To make homemade Grenadine do the following:

Ingredients:

white sugar
100% pomegranate juice

Directions:

Simmer 1 part sugar and 1 part pomegranate juice for about 10 minutes on medium. You want the sugar to dissolve and for the syrup to reduce slightly.

Allow to cool and then experiment with your favorites. Some of the almost 600 cocktails using grenadine, with recipes, can be found here on The Spirit World or at this WebTender link.

© 2006 Nika Boyce

I used my new grenadine to make Grenadine Lemonades, a recipe I conjured myself.

Ingredients:

1/2 C fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 C freshly made and cooled grenadine syrup
ice cubes
1 C cold sprite, seltzer water, or ginger ale to taste. (amount depends on size of serving glass, mine was a pub glass)
lemon slices, lime slices and frozen blueberries to garnish.

Directions:

Chill all juice, syrup, and soda.
Fill glass with ice cubes (I froze some blueberries into my cubes), add soda to 1/2 point, add juice and grenadine and then top off with soda. Mix gently. Add garnishes if desired.

© 2006 Nika Boyce

Dazzling Fruit Tart

2006-08-16T12:27:00.000-05:00

Fruit tart filled with pastry cream, strawberry, kiwi, raspberry, blueberry, mango, and white peach. Source - Whole Foods.

I will let the pictures do the talking, tho I can say, it was divine!

More food shots

2006-08-09T09:42:00.000-05:00

Further work on my macro "on white" stock portfolio

French Roast coffee beans

Crystallized Ginger

Sesame Seeds

Whole Wheat Panko Flakes

White Panko Flakes (dont like this one so much)

Fruit series

2006-08-08T14:30:00.000-05:00

Today I am sharing a few recent photos that I have prepared for stock photography.

Let me know what you think of today's batch.

Philosophical Tomatoes

2006-08-07T09:53:00.000-05:00

Blossom End Rot, I know thy name.

My cherry tomato plant has been slowly yielding and it has lots of green fruits teeing up for their shot at the big time.

My larger plum tomato (at least thats what I think it is, I forgot!) also has many fruits ready to ripen.

I noticed a few on this larger plant that had begun to ripen but then when I looked closer, they were evil looking.

Case in point is this shot that shows how they are rotting from the blossom end!

Brenda from Culinary Fool was able to identify what this is immediately and even provided a link on Blossom End Rot.

You might think I am beside myself in anger or despair but I am not really. There is a chance to fix this problem.

Thus I am actually thankful for this small lesson in horticultural illness, something a plump red juicy unblemished store tomato would never have taught me.

Food can feed your brain as well as your tummy.

Handcrafted organic butter

2006-07-31T11:16:00.000-05:00

Lately, I have been focusing on some basic cooking with my 9 year old daughter Q. You saw her and her little sister KD in a recent post on making Challah. We also did the whole homemade strawberry jam making post (with upcoming blueberry post). We have gotten a lot of good feedback from these series so I am continuing to shoot our basic skills work.

Today is a series of rather static non-action shots of how to make butter. I was testing a new light set up and it was geared more toward product photography than editorial type of shots.

We started with organic sweet jersey cream. Its really worth the money to go with this more expensive product because you get a wholesome, flavorful, and colorful butter in the end.

Why does it matter if the animals pastured on greens instead of cereals from a bag?

The chlorophyls and other colored plant constituents (phytochemicals like beta carotenes) are partially carried over into the milk and thus cream. Commercially produced milk from huge dairies does not have these phytochemicals and thus butter made from this sort of milk must have food coloring added. The breed of dairy cow also determines butter color, Jersey (which we used here), tends to have a more yellow butter color.

Wikipedia entry for butter

Back to the "Making of Butter" (Imagine a majestic announcer voice like from Monty Python)

Ingredients:

COLD Heavy Cream

(try not to get the homogenized type, the fat droplets have been hyperfractured and may be a bit more difficult to coalesce into butter)

Salt, to taste (at the end, do not add to the cream)

Hardware:

A large plastic soda bottle that has been thoroughly washed

(If you need to, rinse with alcohol or a light chlorine solution and then rinse with water - A LOT. I figured the carbonic acid in the soda (VERY LOW pH) would have kept anything nasty from growing in the seltzer bottle I used)

One COLD clean glass marble

COLD stainless steel bowl

COLD stainless steel or plastic fine sieve

COLD spatula

Xacto knife

Directions:

Make certain that your bowl and sieve are washed and in the fridge cooling.

Assemble your cream whipping supplies: cream, soda bottle, and marble.

Put the marble and cream inside of the soda bottle.

Now hand the bottle to your child and have him/her shake the bottle. First it will be what you expect, sloshing cream and a marble rattling about.

Then the solution changes as the fat droplets begin to come out of solution and the marble rattling sound goes away (must be coated with fat). This may happen quickly (like in 5 minutes for us) or longer (perhaps 15 minutes, depends on the size of you container. The bigger container with more shake room the faster the process is.)

Continue shaking until the sound of the rattling marble comes back. Now the fat has come together in a nice big ball in the soda bottle and you are done with shaking. This might be quick or take 15 - 30 minutes. If its taking a while put the bottle in the fridge to chill after about 20 minutes, you do not want the fat to melt.

Once done, have the child rest, maybe some juice would help.

Put the bottle in the refrigerator so that it can get a nice chill back.

Have your bowl and sieve ready.

Pour buttermilk out the top of the bottle and then cut it open around the middle. (Dont let the kid do this, blood is not a recommended ingredient in butter) Let the ball of butter drop into the sieve and use a cold spatula to scrape down butter on the walls of the bottle.

Save the buttermilk for other uses.

Rinse out the bowl with cold water and then put the butter in the bowl.

Massage the butter with the spatula by pushing it against the side of the bowl repeatedly. You will see more buttermilk come out of the butter, rise with cold water.

Continue until no buttermilk comes out. (The buttermilk, if left in, will make the butter go rancid).

Add some salt and mix in. You will want to do this until a taste test tells you it is salty enough for you.

Store the butter in a container that excludes air (oxygen will form free radicals with the fat – goes rancid).

Enjoy on some fresh bread!

(This is actually a shot with store bought butter but I could not resist :-))

Technorati taggage:
butter, homemade, handcraft, food, culinary, cooking, handcrafted, fat, lipid, phytochemical, chrlorophyl, bread, cream, jersey, organic, heavy cream, cold.

Strawberry Jam Delight

2006-07-28T09:54:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, summer jam was never something we made in my house. We lived near corn fields in Illinois and Iowa and would enjoy sweet corn but we never canned it. I think my mother had done quite enough of that on the farm she grew up on so she didn’t feel driven to do it later. She made whole wheat bread but we never even had store bought jam at home, it was considered junk food. Today, I still do not eat jelly or jam unless it is on the table at a restaurant and it looks interesting. Nor do we eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches due to food allergies.

With all this you might wonder why I would even chose to make strawberry jam at all.

Blame blueberries.

We live on a small mountain where wild and domestic blue berries grow with complete abandon. The domestic patches at nearby orchards have been slow to come up but now we are starting the picking season.

Strawberry jam was just a practice run for the blueberry jam we will be making after our pickfest!

So how did it turn out?

Even though this was a proof-of-concept for me, WOW, does homemade fresh strawberry jam taste GOOD and nothing like the stuff you buy at the grocery store. It is worth the trouble 10 times over.

How is it different? It have many layers of flavor, not just the flat monotone of artifical flavors in commercial jams. The flavor profile develops all across the tongue with at least three different seperable flavor experiences, finishing pleasantly at the back of the throat. I made mine chunky so it really perked up the texture and experience.

This jam is pretty easy to make especially since it doesn't require a pressure cooker, just a boiling water bath.

I took the recipe from the insert that you find tucked inside Ball Fruit Jell Pectin and it could not be easier.

Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:

1 box of Ball Fruit Jell Pectin
5 C crushed strawberries (2 quarts)
1/4 C Fresh Squeezed lemon juice
7 C sugar

8 - 8 oz. Ball jelly jars with sealing domes and rings

Directions (some of these are my own and some from the insert):

But a large pot of water onto boil. You will want to cover your jars with 1 and 1/2 inches of water after all are added. Have some hot boiling water available to top it off.

Jar cleaning (My method):

Into an empty dishwasher place jelly jars, lids, and rings. Run on the most robust setting (we used "pots and pans") without any other dirty dishes. If you are not ready for the jars at the end of the cycle keep setting the machine back to the beginning of the dry cycle to keep them hot and relatively sterile.

Clean strawberries by rinsing in cold water, cutting off the leaves and removing the white core under the leaves. Cut them in half and let drip dry a bit while you clean the whole batch.

Cut the berries in half and put a portion in a large freezer bag, close, and crush the strawberries. If you like a chunky jam do not crush the berries into a liquid! Do not use a food processor. You can also use a bowl and potato masher if you prefer.

Put 5 cups of crushed strawberries into a large pot.

Add 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice to the pot.

Add the entire packet of pectin and stir well.

Bring this mixture to a full boil, stirring constantly.

Have all 7 cups of sugar measured and add to the boiling strawberry mixture.

It might seem like 7 cups will not dissolve but it does pretty quickly.

Bring this to a hard rolling boil (if your pot is not big enough it WILL overflow) for 1 minute. Stir this constantly. Remove the foam that forms on the top.

Fill one jar at a time, leave 1/4 inch at the top. (this is called headspace)

Wipe the edge and threads of the jar with a damp cloth so that nothing impedes lid sealing.

Put sealing dome lid on and then the ring, screw on tight (finger tight).

When you have filled one jar gently put it into the boiling pot of water on your stove and cover.

Repeat until all strawberry mixture is gone, adding each jar as it is closed.

Make sure the jars are covered by at least 1 and 1/2 inches of boiling water.

Boil 10 minutes if you are in a kitchen located under 1000 feet altitude, 15 minutes between 1000 – 3000 feet, 20 minutes between 3000 – 6000 feet, etc. Cover with a lid.

Carefully remove jars after boil time to a cloth on your counter.

Allow to cool 12 – 24 hours and then check each lid for a seal. If you can push down on it you will have to either pitch that jar-full or re-sterilize it. The lid should not move when you press down on it.

These jars can be stored in a dark cool pantry for up to one year.

Enjoy it with fresh homemade bread!

Technorati taggage:
strawberry, jam, food, breakfast, homemade, bread, canning, preserves, fruit, blueberry.

Delicious Salmon in Phyllo

2006-07-26T12:47:00.000-05:00

In my personal experience, being pregnant means I have to eat a lot of fish that has omega 3 oils. This means a lot of salmon. A LOT.

This can get tedious, even with the most perfect salmon one can get their hands on. For this reason, I have put together the following recipe that brings together wild caught Alaskan salmon, summer squash, fresh cilantro from my garden, brie, and organic phyllo dough.

Delicious Salmon in Phyllo

Ingredients:

Organic Phyllo Dough (The Fillo Factory Fillo Dough)
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 lbs. salmon fillets, (deboned and no skin)
1 medium summer squash
1/4 vidalia onion (must be sweet and mild)
Course sea salt, to taste
4 - 3 inch by 1.5 inch slices of brie, can leave the crust on
Fresh ground pepper
Fresh cilantro, several sprigs for phyllo pocket and some for garnish.
Lemon slices for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Slice summer squash evenly and thinly. Place on paper towels, sprinkle with sea salt, and set aside. This will reduce some of the liquid in the squash so that the phyllo doesn’t get overloaded with squash water.

Melt the butter over low heat in a small pan.

Using proper phyllo-handling practices, lay down a layer of phyllo (whole sheet) and paint with butter-soaked pastry brush.

Repeat until 5 layers have been assembled, cut in half along the short axis so that you have two equal pieces. You will get rectangles. You can do this anyways you wish, get artistic if you like.

I made two sets of 5 layers so that I would have 4 rectangles to work with.

Set aside.

Slice the Vidalia onion very thinly; slice brie to about 3 inch by 1.5 inches, not too thick; wash several sprigs of cilantro in cold water and set all aside.

Portion the salmon into 4 equal amounts. Allow salmon to lose the chill from the refrigerator until it is almost room temp. Season with course sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Center the salmon in the middle of the phyllo rectangle and then layer on squash slices, onion, cilantro, and brie. Fold over edge of the phyllo rectangle, paint with melted butter, and then fold over second half to form a pocket. Turn it over and place seam-side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with more melted butter.

Repeat this assembly with remainder of fish and vegetables.

Bake in the 400 F oven for 15 minutes. Watch to be sure that the phyllo does not burn on top.

Serve with cilantro and lemon garnish as well as fresh mesclun greens.

Enjoy with white wine, iced tea, or lemonade!

This does really well as leftovers the next day, eat chilled. Be sure to not store this with moist items as the phyllo dough will become really mushy.

Strawberry Fields Forever

2006-07-25T15:52:00.000-05:00

A promise of things to come in the next few days.

I am whipping up my first batch of strawberry jam.

Will share all the delicious details!

Amazing Gadget: Chef'n Vegetable Peeler

2006-07-23T20:14:00.000-05:00

Goodness, I have got to take a moment to rave about this new gadget I bought the other day called a Chef'n Vegetable peeler. It's a vegetable peeler that is different from anything else I have seen before.

You slip this onto your finger with the blade facing away from your palm. You then sort of run your hand over the vegetable (I was peeling the lower parts of asparagus) and it's sharp blade peels efficiently. It feels effortless.

I ALWAYS cut myself with the blade of a regular peeler. I slip or it twirls around at the wrong moment. I get fatigue in my hands from holding regular peelers too (especially when peeling potatoes, yuck). (Ok, I am a bit of a peeling wuss but at least I eventually get the job done!)

This peeler is like a dream. It feels like an extension of my hand and with just a small amount of practice I was peeling delicate asparagus like a demon.

It also leaves your hand open for use because you are not holding something as its attached to your finger. So if you need to catch a slippery vegetable before it flies away from you (that's me and potatoes) you can.

It comes in this avocado color as well as stainless steel with black, stainless steel with white, sunflower, and tangerine.

Local Foods: Organic Deck Garden update (7-23-06) - before and afters

2006-07-23T12:48:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest update on our organic deck garden here in central Massachusetts. You may remember that this all got a very late start but we do what we can!

For those of you not familiar with earlier posts about this garden, here is a list of them:

Local foods - Organic deck garden 2006

Hail-recovery and happy sunshine

Why do I not just plant in the ground? I have Rambo rodentia and rabbits who would eat everything up in a flash if I gardened in the ground (I have been there once before, I don't need that aggravation).

Deck garden at the beginning (6-8-06):

Deck garden today (7-23-06):

Successional Lettuce planting then:

Successional Lettuce planting now:

Corn transplanted from the lettuce bed to the side of the house:

Corn, beans, cucumbers, squash, etc today:

Tomato then:

Tomatoes now:

Radishes then:

Radishes now (ready to pick):

Carrots in the beginning:

Carrots now:

Eggplant then:

Eggplants now:

Bell Pepper then:

Bell Pepper now:

Pole beans then:

Pole beans now:

Jalapenos then:

Jalapenos now:

Well Fed Network article - Radiant Bloody Marys

2006-07-16T10:38:00.000-05:00

Good morning all, hope you are enjoying some bright sunshine like we are here in central MA (for once!).

In this post I am sharing my latest Well Fed Network The Spirit World blog article with you.

Radiant Bloody Marys

(Image Source: Nika's Flickr)

A Bloody Mary can be a resplendent experience but not if a store bought mix is used. That really just negates the whole concept of a summertime tomato based drink. Why waste your time with the mix when there is a wide selection of fresh tomatoes calling out to be transformed into the perfect drink. In the average grocery store you should find not just red run-of-the-vine tomatoes but scintillating yellow and orange ones.

(Image Source: Nika's Flickr)

I have put together the following concoction for you to spread your tomato essence wings. It is up to you whether you wish to add the distilled spirits.

Radiant Bloody Marys

Ingredients:

Freshly juiced tomato juice, 4 oz. (red, yellow, and orange, as you desire)
Horseradish 1/8 tsp
Minced garlic 1/8 tsp
Fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1/2 tsp
Sea salt, pinch
Chopped cilantro, 1/4 tsp, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
Bunch of fresh cilantro

Directions:

I used our juicer for the tomato juice but if you do not have one do the following. Cut up the tomatoes, run through the blender, and filter out skins and seeds. With the juicer there may be some separation of the lighter stuff from clear liquid. Mix the juice before serving.

Combine tomato juice, horseradish, garlic, lemon juice, chopped cilantro leaves, Tabasco sauce to taste, and pinch of salt; mix well. A blender is not really necessary. Pour into serving glass (ice is up to you) and garnish with cilantro.

Seen below served with my summertime tomato tarts.

(Image Source: Nika's Flickr)

Summertime Tomato Tart

2006-07-14T08:46:00.000-05:00

(Summertime Tomato Tart © Nika All rights reserved.)

These succulent tarts were a success with the whole family. They have delicate little cherry tomatoes, basil, gorgonzola cheese and some mild chevre. They melt in your mouth, give them a try!

The following in my own recipe and how-to photos.

Ingredients:

The Fillo Factory Fillo Dough (mine is organic from Whole Foods and amazing stuff, MUCH better than the other storebought stuff I have gotten in the past)

Dried beans (not to be eaten, for blind baking)

1/2 stick of butter

Sweet cherry tomatoes

Gorgonzola cheese

Chevre cheese

Fresh basil

Hardware:

Mini-muffin tin

Parchment paper cut into sizes to fit into the tin holes

Pastry brush

Directions:

(Bounty of tomatoes © Nika All rights reserved.)

Slice cherry tomatoes in half, coat with good quality olive oil and sprinkle with Italian herbs (or herbs de provence if you prefer).

(Sliced cherry tomatoes, ready to roast © Nika All rights reserved.)
Roast at 400 F until the cherries are slightly browned (this is to your taste as well, they need to loose some water and pick up some carmelized flavor).

(Roasted cherry tomatoes © Nika All rights reserved.)

Simultaneously, make your fillo dough baskets.

Follow the usual rules with fillo (keeping dough covered to prevent drying) and cut out 3 inch by 3 inch or so squares (big enough to put into the muffin tin and stick up along the sides).

Coat each square with melted butter, layer about 5 squares. Put into the mini-muffin tin and then line with your precut parchment sheets. Fill the tin with beans, on top of the parchment.

The following photos shows all the steps.

(Various steps to making the fillo baskets © Nika All rights reserved.)

(Close up of three stages of fillo basket © Nika All rights reserved.)

(Completed tin, ready for the bake © Nika All rights reserved.)

Put tin in 400 F oven and watch closely, bake until light brown.

(Lightly browned fillo dough basket © Nika All rights reserved.)

Remove the tin and allow to cool. Gently remove the parchment liner and beans.

(Lightly browned fillo baskets © Nika All rights reserved.)

Slice some rounds of chevre and then quarter the rounds. Crumble some gorgonzola. Cut up basil as you desire.

(Chevre and gorgonzola cheese, basil leaves, ready for assembly © Nika All rights reserved.)

Place piece of basil on the bottom and then some roasted cherry tomatoes, add chevre and gorgonzola cheese, drizzle with some of the olive oil from the roasted tomatoes, add a bit of basil slice to the top.

(Assembled tart © Nika All rights reserved.)

Enjoy!

Smells and Sounds of Home: Making Challah Bread with the Kids

2006-07-11T11:03:00.000-05:00

(Many more how-to photos below)

Recently I have been hankering to make bread. I usually make White Bread plus from The Joy of Cooking but this hankering was specific to a bread I had not made before – Challah.

Part of this comes from knowing a bit about the rich Jewish family traditions that surround this bread. Sure, its made well enough in bakeries around the world. It is also much more appreciated if it is made within the home, as part of the love that goes into the Friday evening meal. There is considerable religious context that surrounds the bread but it would be disingenuous for me to speak to that as I am not an observant Jew!

What I resonate most with is the conjuring of love, home, and hearth that comes from the making of this bread. Instead of buying a cooked loaf in a store somewhere made by strangers intent on profit, the bread baking in your own oven made by your own hands infuses it's beautiful aroma throughout the home, embracing everyone within with its promise of fellowship and simple joy of fresh homemade bread.

When I set out to make this bread I envisioned the happiness of sharing it with my family. What actually happened was that my daughters and I had a glorious engrossing afternoon of making dough, kneading it, braiding it, allowing it to rise, and then enjoying it's smells as it baked. What a wonderful magical afternoon! We will be eating challah for at least a week.

We used Joan Nathan's recipe for Challah bread. It can be found in her cookbook "The Jewish Holiday Baker". It is easy and quite forgiving! I used 5 eggs instead of the 4 called for by accident because this was the first time through this recipe (the 5th should be used as an egg wash). Do be watchful of the color of your bread as it bakes, mine was too dark before the recommended baking time, vagaries of the oven!

Now in Joan Nathan's voice with our photos and occasional notes (Note that my 9 year old daughter did all of the steps with her own two hands. The 2.5 year old also made her own little loaf, with a bit of help from her older sister.):

Challah Bread

This recipe calls for two kinds of flour. Bread flour includes more gluten, helpful in the braiding. However, if you can find only all-purpose flour, use that. It also calls for 1/2 - 3/4 cup of sugar, because I like my challah less sweet than many challah eaters, even in my family! If you are going to use just one loaf, perform another mitzvah -- give away the second. If you are making a month of challahs, as I sometimes do, double the recipe and freeze several just after braiding them. Take them out of the freezer 5 hours before glazing and baking.

Ingredients:

1 scant tablespoon (1 package) active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 large eggs
5 cups bread flour
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, approximately
1 tablespoon salt
Poppy or sesame seeds for sprinkling

Directions:

Note: Technically, the separation of challah with a blessing, according to the Talmud, refers only to dough using flour that weighs at least 3 pounds 11 ounces. If the flour weighs less than 2 pounds 11 ounces, you do not have to separate the challah at all, and if it weighs more than 2 pounds 11 ounces and less than 3 pounds 11 ounces, you can separate it without a blessing. The challah is usually blessed after the flour, yeast, water, and other ingredients are mixed.

The dough:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the sugar and the oil and mix well with a whisk or a wooden spoon. Beat in 4 of the eggs, 1 at a time; then gradually stir in the bread flour, 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, and the salt. When you have a dough that holds together, it is ready for kneading.

(Proofing the yeast.)

(Focused on the tasks at hand.)

(Eggs for the mix.)

(Breaking the eggs, look at those cute kid fingers!)

(Measuring out the flours.)

(Stirring the wet batter before it starts to come together.)

2. To knead by hand, place the dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead well, using the heels of your hands to press the dough away and your fingers to bring it back. Continue, turning the dough, for about 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding the remaining 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour or as needed.

(The dough is wet when it first starts out.)

(The dough comes together beautifully by the end!)

To knead by machine in an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, knead for 5 minutes on medium speed, or until smooth. You can also process half the dough at a time in a food processor fitted with the steel blade; process for about 1 minute.

3. After kneading, place all the dough in a large oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rest in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. You can also put the dough in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees for a few minutes and then turned off.

(We used oiled parchment paper and a Tupperware tub to minimize loss of heat and moisture.)

(We put the closed container out in the hot shade, didn't want to bake it in the sun.)

4. When the dough is almost doubled in size, remove it from the bowl and punch it down -- the rougher you are, the more the dough likes it. Return it to the bowl, cover it again and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes more. Or, if you have to go out, let the dough rise slowly in the refrigerator several hours or overnight and bring it to room temperature when ready to continue.

(Start of the first punch-down.)

(End of first punch-down.)

Braiding and baking the challah:

(The dough upclose, after the 30 minute rise, ready for shaping.)

5. To make a 6-braided challah, take half the dough and form into 6 balls. Roll each ball with your hands into a strand about 14 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Pinch the strands together at one end and then gently spread them into 2 groups of 3.
Next, take the outside right strand over 2 to the middle empty space. Then, take the second strand from the left to the far right. Regroup to 3 on each side. Take the outside left strand over 2 to the middle and the second strand from the right over to the far left.

Continue this method until all the strands are braided. The key is to always have 3 strands on each side so that you can keep your braid balanced. Make a second loaf the same way. Place the braided loaves in greased 10- by 4-inch loaf pans or on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.

To make loaves symbolizing the 12 shewbread, the consecrated loaves placed on the altar in the Temple of Jerusalem, shape one half of the dough into 12 tight balls and press them together in the bottom of a greased 10- by 4- inch loaf pan. Repeat with the second half of the dough in another pan.

We chose the simpler method of just three stranded loaves:

(Dough was split into 12 equal sized balls.)

(Equal sized strands are formed.)

(The toddler makes her own strands too.)

(Three strands are joined at the top.)

(Strands are braided together, being careful to not stretch any strand too long.)

(The braid is sealed off on the end.)

(Braided loaves ready for the next step.)

6. Let the challah loaves rise another hour, uncovered. Fifteen minutes before putting the loaves in the oven, beat the remaining egg and brush it gently over them. Five minutes later, lightly brush them again. Then sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds and let dry a few minutes.

(Loaves are put onto greased cooking sheets.)

(Loaves rising uncovered in a warm oven.)

(Risen loaves getting their egg washes.)

7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake the loaves on the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more. Turn off the oven and leave the loaves in 5 minutes longer to get a dark-golden crust. Remove and cool on a rack.

Yield: 2 loaves

(Loaves out of the oven. Like I said, watch the color of your bread! Egg bread like this with the egg wash can get dark fast. It was done PERFECTLY inside.)

(Such divine bread!)

I say make this bread with your family as soon as you can get it together.

Books of Note:

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Molecular Gastronomy 101: Part 2 – The Nose and receptors

2006-07-09T17:18:00.000-05:00

(Image Source: Gray's Anatomy – Nose)

I continue the Molecular Gastronomy series that I started in this post with a discussion of the nose, a sensory organ crucial for sensing what we eat.

Whereas with the mouth we speak of "tastants" when we talk of the chemicals that excite our tastebuds, we use the word "odorant" to refer to the volatile chemical compounds that excite the receptors in our nose.

Specifically, the region that is affected by odorants is the olfactory epithelium region (Regio olfactoria) that is located on the roof of one’s nasal cavity (actually there are two, below each eye, inside the sinus).

(Image Source: Olfactory Epithelium)

This regio olfactoria is about 2.5 square centimeters in area and contains some 50 million primary sensory receptor cells.

Odorants must be able to partition into (dissolve and move through) the mucus that lies over the olfactory epithelium. Such chemicals are volatile, water soluble, miscible into lipids (can dissolve into fats), as well as several other characteristics. This could serve as a severe barrier but in fact non-mucus dissolvable odorants can be chaperoned across the mucus barrier by "odorant binding proteins" or "lipocalins". These proteins allow for a selective sensing of these non-mucus soluble odorants (selective barrier method).

The structure of the epithelium is shown below:

(Image Source: Olfactory Epithelum)

Each epithelial sensory cell has tiny hair-like structures called cilia that fan out into the mucus. The cell detects an odorant and then sends a neural impulse along it's axon (nerve fiber) into the olfactory bulb that lies above the olfactory epithelium.

(Image Source: Trigeminal Chemoreception)

There is a second type of smelling called trigeminal chemoreception which detects mechanical and temperature related stimulation (found in the mouth, nose and eyes). Chemicals that excite these sorts of sensory cells tend to be perceived as mechanical or temperature in nature. For example, the volatile chemical that gives peppers their heat, capsaicin, affects the trigeminal chemoreceptors and is sensed as heat versus a certain smell. Other examples include menthol, camphor, mustard oils, onion odors.

(Image Source: Vomeronasal Organ)

There is a third type of smell sense called vomeronasal chemoreception. Scientists are currently testing to see if humans have a functional vomeronasal organ (VNO), found in all mammals. This is an interesting type of smelling in that it seems to use different receptors and is not linked through the brain. This sort of smelling is social, relating to inter-animal relationships and chemoreception through the VNO affects social behavior. Pheromones are detected by this gland. If indeed humans have a functional and not just vestigal VNO we would not be consciously aware of detecting anything because the VNO works outside of the brain, directly on our bodies.

Receptors of Olfaction

Getting down to business, one should ask "How do those chemosensory cells detect odorants?"

As with so much found throughout our bodies, signals are mediated by proteins embedded in the surface of the receptor cell. These proteins have the ability to bind odorants and then activate signaling inside the cell, leading to sensation.

Genes for olfactory receptors are legion, some 350 receptor genes have been identified in man. This is a huge number of genes, less only than the very large family of genes involved in immunity, an enormously complex system.

(Image Source: 7 transmembrane g-protein coupled receptor)

These genes encode what are called olfactory seven transmembrane G-protein coupled receptors (a common structure that is reflected the human body and that of other animals). A good overview of these structures is found at THIS LINK.

What we sense as a vague gradient of recognizable and not so recognizable smells in our environment is actually detected in a very discreet or specific manner. Our ability to interpret what those specific chemicals are may have been more informative eons ago, perhaps similar to the way dogs can detect as yet poorly understood odorants exuded by human cancer patients.

Today, our sense of smell serves us as well as we seem to need it. We no longer forage amongst strange plants to survive and thus we no longer consciously tune into the specific wholesomeness of our food.

What we do retain is a propensity to disdain new taste and odor sensations, a cautiousness that has served us well for millenia.

But, as most foodies and gastronauts know intuitively, we monkeys are powerful curious and some of us put just about anything in our mouths, at least once!

Stay tuned for the next installment of this Molecular Gastronomy series.

Books on Molecular Gastronomy:

Related Posts:

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Molecular Gastronomy 101: Biology Basics - Part 1

2006-07-03T17:19:00.000-05:00

(Image Source: Gray’s Anatomy - Oral cavity)

To understand the Molecular Gastronomy "movement" its best to start from First Principles. To begin, its useful to re-introduce ourselves with the physiological basis of taste. This means - let us examine the organs that higher vertebrates (specifically we humans) use to taste what we eat.

Although we all have mouths and noses, it is easy to take them for granted and to not be aware of their complexity.

The diagram above shows one view of a mouth and tongue. On the surface of the tongue, as you well know from touching your own, is a whole rugged landscape of bumps and crevasses.

(Image Source: Gray’s Anatomy - mucosal lining of tongue)

Therein are a wide variety of structures, the one most relevant to this discussion are the gustatory calyculi or taste buds.

(Image Source: Gray’s Anatomy - Taste Buds)

These are complex multisensor units that are wired into the nerves that innervate the tongue.

(Image Source: Human Taste Bud Ultrastructure)

These are the basic quantum or unit of taste on our tongue (and, when developing in the womb, on the lining of the oral cavity).

We are wired to detect 5 general classes of "flavors": sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and glutamic species (an amino acid) also called umami.

There are many misconceptions regarding the regions of taste sensation in the mouth. You have likely seen those diagrams where sweet is on the tip of the tongue, bitter at the back, sour towards the middle, and salty along the edges.

In fact, each of these gustatory buds is capable of detecting all five "flavors".

I will discuss the molecular biology of taste or chemoreception in the next post.

Beyond the chemicals or "tastants" that we detect in the food that comes in contact with our tongue and inner cheeks, we also use olfaction (smelling) to appreciate and evaluate the food or drink we are enjoying.

(Image Source: Gray’s Anatomy - Nasal cavity)

Molecular components are also involved in that process and will be discussed in a future post.

Thus, tasting is not as simple as one might think.

The next question should be, how does that taste bud experience flavor?

My next post will discuss the concept of receptors and how the taste bud translates exposure to certain chemicals in our food into a neural impulse that we integrate in our minds as a flavor.

Stay tuned!

Books on Molecular Gastronomy:

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George's Coney Island Hot Dogs in Worcester, MA

2006-07-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

I generally do not take pictures in restaurants for a couple of reasons: I don't go out to eat that much, I live in a desolate culinary wasteland and when we do go out to eat it is not something to take pictures of (as in, Subways, Cracker Barrel, Mc Donalds, too depressing to go on, you can see why we don't go out to eat much), I don't like to lug my camera into restaurants, and finally, I am shy so running around taking photogenic shots of a restaurant runs against my mien.

Nevertheless, I have been itching to give it a try in a location that is NOT Mc Donalds, has some character, is informal, and might have some small amount of interest to you.

Thus, I have a bit of a photo essay of George's Coney Island Hot Dogs in Worcester, MA. This place is right next to Union Music where we rent our musical instruments so when we returned our alto sax for the summer we stopped in and checked out the scene.

Background on George's Coney Island Hot Dogs, from their site, is as follows:

Coney Island has been serving its delicious hot dogs for generations to generations, everyday but Tuesday.

Founded in 1918, George's Coney Island remains in its landmark location at 158 Southbridge Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1938, its namesake George Tsagarelis expanded his "store" to include its art deco design, wooden booths, tile floor and all-important counter. In 1940, he added the Romanoff designed 60 foot neon sign. Modeled after George's hand, the hot dog dripping mustard sign has welcomed hot dog lovers and seekers of the secret sauce as well as photographers and artists from all over the world.

Today, George's family continues to serve up incredibly delicious hot dogs that have been acclaimed as Worcester's Best of Best year after year. Taste a delicious part of a Worcester tradition. Most of all experience for yourself the delicious hot dogs at George's Coney Island.

Visit their site for more details and old pictures from the 30s!

Let me just say up front that I rely on my 9 year old daughter, Q, to be my taste guide. This is because pregnancy has given me a permanent bad taste in my mouth so everything tastes like its been drowned in sharp acids (not a pleasant thing, let me tell you).

I got a hotdog with mustard (I can eat mustard on bananas I love it so and I figured I would not be able to taste much dog anyways, why not enjoy some mustard) and Q had one with ketchup and then one with "sauce". "Sauce" is chili poured over the dog. Q loved it! It pretty much turned my stomach but don't let that be your guide!

The dogs are crisped up on a grill so these are not the steamed type which I prefer (I liked the ones I got from dog sellers in downtown DC when I worked for the DOJ, right off the mall, sublime).

Q loved both dogs and said the bun was good stuff. The bun was fluffy enough, did the job.

The service area with just one customer. At times the line grows long but then its gone in a wink. Lots of police frequent this place too.

Behind the service counter

The seating area is huge and OLD! And not meant for rather pregnant women so we had to hunt a bit to find somewhere to sit. This meant going through a door into a bar area where the seating was more forgiving of my growing self.

Tight seating with graffiti

More seating toward the back

The bar area

The dogs in mid-cook

The buns in storage

Q – my taste tester!

My mustard hot dog

Q's dog with "sauce". (It was very dark in the restaurant, this is the best that we could do)

There you have it, our trip to George's Coney Island Hot Dogs. Give it a try sometime if you are in Worcester, MA!

Hail-recovery and happy sunshine

2006-07-01T08:33:00.000-05:00

We are still waterlogged here in MA. I have not watered any plant in weeks it seems and the planters are on the edge of liquefaction. Any more and the mold will be our major crop.

As you all know from my last garden post, we got a hail storm that beat up our plants. Well, as you can guess, they have rebounded :-).

The deck is looking green

The tomatoes are happy and need to be tied up to the trellis.

The bell pepper is blossoming. The jalapenos are finally sprouting (not sure what will happen with those guys – not shown)

Dill is growing gloriously, tastes awesome. I am going to make this dill cucumber yoghurt summer soup today with this fresh dill today.

Radishes are plumping.

Pole beans are finding their way in life, climbing into the trellis.

Corn plants are ready for transplant (and being eaten by the deer and bunnies but what can you do besides try, as Princess Atta says in Bug’s Life (toddler wont watch anything else on TV)

Dew on corn plant, early morning sunshine. (Notice, the sun is SHINING, it’s a stranger here)

Buttercrunch lettuce babies, growing in the morning sun and getting closer to their date with destiny, in our tummies.

Canned Haggis – very special

2006-06-29T21:15:00.000-05:00

I just thought I would share something I found in my evening cruising.

Canned Scottish Haggis w/ Highland Beef (from Caledonian Kitchen. They have quite a lot of other interesting things for sale as well).

Regarding the canned haggis the site states:

"We are delighted to offer you the latest version of our haggis! We have found a grower whose herd has won the Grand Champion Awards for both bulls and cows in the Highland Cattle Division at the National Stock show in Denver, Colorado. Not only is our Highland Beef Haggis unique, but it's also the finest that can be obtained anywhere. With the rumblings of problems with the commercial beef supply, we are pleased to offer this privately grown USDA Inspected Highland Beef version of our haggis. We hope you enjoy our offering from the best of the "rare auld breed.

Ingredients: 100% USDA Highland Beef and Beef Liver, Re-hydrated Oats, Refined Beef Suet, Water, Onions and Spices."

To order (for $154.99/24 cans plus shipping) visit this site.

For serving suggestions visit this page at their site.

"Haggis, neeps, and tatties were NOT the food of nobility. They were prepared and eaten in humble crofts in Scotland. They are the food of the common man, but they also represent the crown jewels of the culinary Folk Art of Scotland. Among the finishing touches to this extraordinary meal would be an oat bread or any other whole grain brown bread. Add a good pint of brown ale such as McEwan's and you'll have a meal our Scottish ancestors would have relished. A bit of tea and homemade Shortbread in front of a fire would be the perfect finish, as well as the prelude to a round of good single malt."

You can buy Vegetarian canned haggis.

One can get a proper uncanned haggis (Presentation Haggis it would seem its called) as well from Caledonian Kitchens.

I think I will stick with corned beef hash.. wonder if its similar at all to this.

Channeling my inner chef – where HAS she been to?!

2006-06-28T09:22:00.000-05:00

(Image Source: Shironoyu)

Thanks to many years of working LONG hours many miles from home, 4 hours of daily commuting and simple exhaustion at the end of the day, my husband and I evolved a home routine of his doing the lion's share of cooking.

It's a curious thing because certain artifacts arise from this sort of arrangement.

For one, we eat a certain kind of homecooking that is very different from the one I grew up with. In the home I grew up in; imagine a mix of Midwestern farm-ish homecooking and Colombian cuisine – worked for us. One day creamy saltine-encrusted pig brains sautéed in butter and then sancocho, rice, patacones, and arepas the next.

But on top of this is something that lies dormant, my latent inner chef. When I do cook (and lately its been hard due to the morning sickness and now with my crazy big tummy not letting me get close enough to the darn counter!) what I desire to cook is not American or Colombian or even in this hemisphere.

I seem to be channeling a beginner Japanese housewife.

When I cook, I whip out the miso paste, soy sauce, tamari, gomaiso, nori shreds, tofu, green onions, ginger, sesame oil, Japanese rice, mochi, and miso vegetable stocks.

I don't make bentos for the kids because we homeschool now and I am not sure that I could go there really, I am a real stickler about not eating or serving food that has stayed out of the fridge much past the time that they have lost their chill.

But I do HAVE bento boxes and I like to serve supper in them on occasion. To me, a fresh homemade miso soup with daikon, green onions, steaming sticky rice, toasty mochi, and a sesame oil infusion is more attractive than a pot roast, prime rib, or roast chicken.

On some days a roast chicken (with Paul Prudhomme's poultry seasoning inside and out) can be a strong contender tho. (As an off topic aside, I would also recommend, for your Cajun cooking needs, Magic Seasoning Salt, we used this on EVERYTHING back in the 80's)

What I cook when channeling this Japanese housewife seems to be sourced from cookbooks I have and have seen, recipes that I find online, Japanese food photos I devour online (Flickr Japanese photos), and from Japanese restaurant experiences (tho these are never what I hope them to be).

I have a long way to go and there are certain things I wont be making (like spaghetti with ketchup or anything drowned in mayonnaise) but I am always drawn back to certain basic ingredients.

I also have a love affair with Japanese tea sweets, called Wagashi, and have posted about them in the past, including a Flickr Slideshow of wagashi images found on Flickr.

In efforts to expand my understanding of Japanese homecooking and also traditional cuisines (such as kaseki, something I want to become proficient at because it is delicious and such a lovely ideal) I either have the following books are will be getting them when the budget allows. Let me know if you have other favorites!

When the Hand of Man becomes Even More Insignificant

2006-06-21T08:06:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I finally figured out what was eating at my tomato leaves - tortoise beetles. There are no IPM (Integrated Pest Management) methods for dealing with this bug that usually attacks sweet potatoes but the stuff I found online said to not worry too much. I planned on picking them off and killing them and seeing how far that got me (I have so few plants).

Well, last night my point of view changed. Not only do the beetles not matter any more, I am not sure I even have tomato plants that will make it the next few days.

Here in MA on June 20 (yesterday) we got at least 1 inch hail for a good 20 minutes (as far as I could tell). Now my tomatoes and radishes and other plants look like someone stomped on them, literally!

Last night a fog arose from the subliminating hail all over the forest. We still had hail on the ground this morning. I wonder how many tons of ice fell from the sky yesterday.

I also wonder how the farmers in this region were affected by this storm, can't be pretty! Jeez, especially the apple orchards in our area.

Right after the storm, still raining

By the pool we just got yesterday

Decimated tomato plant, notice leaves on deck, broken branches.

Beetle holes on the right, hail damage all over.

Hail doesn't just fall, they come down REALLY hard like little missles.

My poor radishes

The offending precipitation, we have bags and bags of it. Might come in handy for homeschool experiments! Is this acid hail? Etc.

Before I woke up this morning my husband saw a deer in our backyard (they are rare in our yard for some reason) and took some shots.

Tropical crepes and cocktail – so refreshing! (Well Fed Network Article included)

2006-06-18T11:10:00.000-05:00

So the other day, while shopping, I bought a load of fruits to shoot with my new macro lens. The outcome was just so delicious, I thought I would share with you a breakfast idea I had and a new tropical cocktail concoction.

The drink, Tart Summertime Kiwi-Lime-Ginger Cocktail, is also featured as a Well Fed Network article!

Let me know if you like these!

Strawberry-Kiwi-Ginger Crepe Suzette

Ingredients:

Crepes
Either homemade (wiki, franco-centric crepe site) or storebought (mine were storebought).

Sauce
1/2 c white sugar
4 tbls unsalted butter
2 tbls apricot preserves
Dash of sea salt
Zest from 1/4 of an orange, minced
Juice of 2 medium sized navel oranges, fresh squeezed
1/8 tsp minced ginger
1 tbl minced kiwi

Filling
Sliced oranges
Sliced kiwi fruits
Sliced strawberries

Strawberry Whipped Crème filling
Strawberry crème, either home made or store
Out (mine is store bought – tastes like a sweet strawberry yogurt)

Directions:

In a small sauce pan add sugar, butter, preserves, kiwi, salt, zest, and ginger, bring to a simmer. Once well dissolved, add juice and turn down to low or even off.

Make the strawberry crème as directed on package. To make some homemade, try this recipe:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons powdered sugar
4 large ripe strawberries, mashed

Preparation:
Whip cream with sugar to soft peaks. Add berries and continue whipping until stiff peaks. Can be used immediately.

If you wish you can warm up your crepes in butter but mine got really hard after that so I used them straight from the package.

Assembly:
Lay out crepe on serving dish, add strawberry cream, layer in sliced strawberries and kiwi, add more cream to taste, fold edges of crepe over and then drizzle sauce overtop. The sauce will soak into the crepe and make it even more delicious.

Serve and enjoy!

The kiwi seems to go really well with the strawberry whipped cream.

This is an original recipe so please do not cut and paste without permission and attribution.

And now for this very refreshing cocktail.

Well Fed Network Article - Tart Summertime Kiwi-Lime-Ginger Cocktail

Father's Day seems to have become this sort of grunge-fest of heavy foods and beer. It would not do to celebrate it in other ways but some of us need a break from the hunks-o-meat and savory beers. To me, these things are better suited to cooler weather, like October, but what can you do!

Nevertheless, it would be great to offer your guests a tropical alternative to the beer and I propose the following cocktail as one that could just as easily be served with or without alcohol. It is a tart drink that can be sweetened to taste, experiment with it!

Tart Summertime Kiwi-Lime-Ginger Cocktail

Ingredients:

Juice of 1/2 a lime, freshly squeezed
1 kiwi fruit, diced with some larger chunks for garnish
1\4 tsp finely minced ginger
Dash of salt (if desired)
slightly crushed small piece of ginger
3 Tablespoons simple sugar syrup (1:1)
8 oz. Ginger Ale
Ice
Kiwi and lime rind for garnish

Directions:

Rub lip of chilled tumbler with ginger, drop into cup. Add ice. In a separate mixing container, add sugar syrup, dash of salt, minced ginger, diced kiwi, and lime juice; mix well. Pour ginger ale into chilled tumbler, and pour juice mix over soda, making sure to swirl minced ginger and kiwi back into suspension first. Garnish with kiwi and/or lime rind. Enjoy!

Let me know if you try this drink as I have concocted this one on my own. Also, let me know if you can think of a snappy name, if it's kewl I will showcase it on this blog (let me know if you want or do not want me to use your name or URL).

These are original recipes so please do not cut and paste without permission and attribution.

Copyright 2006 Nika

If you try these out, let me know how it goes for you!

Lychee nuts - Up close and personal

2006-06-16T07:18:00.000-05:00

Lychee nut fruits are irresistably odd for me, I had to buy some and shoot them as I went down through the layers.

To learn more about these odd fruits visit the Purdue University horticulture site on Litchi chinensis.

"The glossy, succulent, thick, translucent-white to grayish or pinkish fleshy aril which usually separates readily from the seed, suggests a large, luscious grape. The flavor of the flesh is subacid and distinctive."

"The lychee is native to low elevations of the provinces of Kwangtung and Fukien in southern China, where it flourishes especially along rivers and near the seacoast. It has a long and illustrious history having been praised and pictured in Chinese literature from the earliest known record in 1059 A.D. Cultivation spread over the years through neighboring areas of southeastern Asia and offshore islands."

Local Foods – Why am I not eating veggies anymore?

2006-06-13T10:27:00.000-05:00

(Image Source: Whole Foods)

So, I have to admit to this disturbing dynamic in my eating habits – my mouth doesn’t water over vegetables. I know from childhood and our acre garden in Iowa what fresh lettuce and spinach tastes like as you pick it right off the plant. Same for strawberries. Yet, when I walk in the vegetable section of the grocery store, and I FORCE myself to walk the isles, I am so completely unappetized and uninspired. I WANT to grow my own food because I know intuitively that it is more likely I would eat it. When I browse the seed packets at the store though, I find a similar uninspired feeling.

What is that all about it?

I find my answer after putting a little thought into the experience I have with vegetables, in the grocery store.

Yes, sure, I walk the isles, look at veggies, try to imagine delicious preparations that might titillate me. Just doesn’t happen. What happens is that I look at a vegetable and the scientist and mom in me looks at the rind or skin and wonders just how much pesticide lurks there. I look at the potatoes and wonder the same. I become exhausted by this experience and do not buy anything beyond a few tomatoes that I figure wont kill us off RIGHT away.

Thus, its not a wholesome, joyous, sustainable experience.

(Image Source: Whole Foods)

You might think it would be wholesome, joyous, sustainable at Whole Foods but its not! For one, I live like more than 50 miles from the closest one so when I buy anything there I have to plan as if I am dragging the haul to north of the Arctic Circle. I do find myself admiring the beautiful greens and fruits, even the conventional ones but then my frugal side kicks in and I just cant spend that much money and it makes me mad that we cant eat it 24/7. Honestly, it would not kill us to eat it 24/7 in terms of absolute budget on the food alone but the gas to get there and back would make it simply obscene.

So, all of this gets in my way, all this is what is floating in my mind as I stand in Whole Foods by the flowers near the front door, sniffing them and staring at the vegetables and fruits across the way.

PA-THE-TIC.

(Image Source: Whole Foods)

My veggie world has closed down, perhaps you could say it never opened up, because I fear the chemicals (and with good reason). I do not know what the answer really is. I would like to become dependent on vegetables. I want them to sustain me because they can be so strengthening and invigorating where meat pulls me down into a stupor.

So it’s a clash between an easy stupor-fix and the harder to obtain vitality of pure vegetables.

Now if I could just convince my tastebuds.

(Image Source: My flickr stream)

Local Foods – My Very Own Lettuce

2006-06-12T13:45:00.000-05:00

(Image Source: Wish-Bone)
In a previous post I shared some shots of my deck garden. I felt that I didn’t have enough space to plant much lettuce and was rather bummed. I stood outside for a bit the other day and realized that some of the junk in my yard would make for a lovely large lettuce bed.

I am going to share how I made the planter here and then how it progresses over time. Will be planting in succession so I get several crops of super fresh greens!

I planted several types of lettuce from High Mowing Organic Seeds:

Mesclun Mix

Mustard Greens

Buttercrunch Bibb (cant find a link for this on their site)

Here is how I constructed the planter.

I wanted to put the planter on a table because, being pregnant, bending over is hard and its only going to get harder!

I found an unused sand box cover that would be a good size to fit on a table we keep outside.

I drilled holes in the tray, was super easy with my drill.

Here you can see the table has been put into a sunny spot (more sun than my deck) and I put some spacer wood sticks down to elevate the tray to enable draining.

The drilled tray was put on top of the table over the spacers.

Peat moss is put down and watered.

Organic composted cow manure is layered down and watered.

Organic garden soil is layered down over the manure layer.

Blood meal is layered over the organic garden soil and then mixed in well (I know it’s a rich mix).

I mixed peat moss and organic garden soil together (approx. 1:1) and layered that over the top. This is the seeding/germinating layer.

Furrows were made in the seeding layer and seeds were put into the furrows. I also planted some corn to transplant into a spot in back of our house. Marigolds were planted around the edge (along with bibb lettuce) in an attempt to cut down on predators.

Seeds were covered over and then the whole thing was well watered.

Cant wait and am crossing fingers for happy lettuce!

Illusion of community? Food for thought.

2006-06-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

(Image Source - The Whole Brain Atlas - Harvard University)

Without a doubt, almost every single person I have met through food blogging has been kind, thoughtful, and so open to trying new things. These are things I really admire and are what I envision is the best in people. Its not an impossibly high standard and its not unique to the food blog community but I am very glad it is how we are.

When faced with the enormity of the blogosphere, it is human nature to project and fill in cracks; to assume that each blogger is kind, thoughtful, and open to trying new things.

Even with my jaded eye, this week I had an online experience that taught me that the food blogosphere is NOT a homogenous place; all singing kumbaya.

This experience also taught me something about myself and my assumptions.

What the heck am I talking about?

(I do not bring this up to trash a particular blogger so I will speak in non-specifics in terms of the blogger’s identity)

I visited a blog of a food blogger of some fame this week. It told of an experience this blogger just had regarding her being mugged. I have had a similar experience and can tell you it is infuriating and frustrating and can make you feel VERY vulnerable and emotional and falliable.

This blogger wrote about the details. She went further than a simple description of the event and made some race-based statements that were 1) not necessary for the reader to grasp her experience, 2) served to make me feel deeply marginalized (it was my race she was objectifying), 3) made me wonder why I should care what she writes and why that writing should bother me, 4) what obligation she has to any reader that reads her openly public blog, 5) what obligation she might have to the wider food community to moderate her character in the written word, and 6) whether this whole concept of the Food Blog Community is not just an extended illusion many of us care to share.

Lots of meta-issues. Lots to think about.

In my experience with racism, all my life, there is little one can do one-on-one with the racist because they are fully identified with that process; seeing the world in terms of race.

I don’t ask what that person can do to apologize for their world view. I do ask how I find myself vulnerable to it, again and again.

Local foods - Organic deck garden 2006

2006-06-08T10:30:00.003-05:00

This is super local! Its our deck. We have planted with only organic materials this year. The soil bag said to not use it to start seeds but we did and they are sprouting fine. These are the same 96 cent planters I modified last year for upside down tomatoes but this year they will be used more conventionally. (see images at end for last years garden)

As these pots had big holes in the bottom I lined the bottoms with plastic grocery bags and poked a few holes in the plastic. I then added a layer of peat moss, a layer of soil, a layer of blood meal, and then a layer of soil.

Things planted or soon to be planted include:
Thumbelina carrots
Tomatoes
Jalapenos
Radishes
A few pole beans
Eggplants
Chives
Various lettuces
Peppermint
Oregano
Bell peppers

Its been cold and raining endlessly here in MA but so far things are ok (planters are able to drain well). With this system we cut way back on weeds and predatory insects and we can visit the plants without getting all mucky – that translates into better management.

Shots from last year

First crop - lettuce

Second crop same pots - all planted at the same time

Local food - Hens of Beauty

2006-06-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

I have been captivated the past couple of days by this cute webcam - called The Hen Cam - run by Terry Golson.

(Image Source - The Hen Cam Site)

She has mounted two different webcams on her farm here in MA, one inside the chicken house and one focused on the chicken yard. She even blogs about the 11 chickens she has, describing their personalties, very cute.

For example, there is Buffy the Chicken:

(Image Source - The Hen Cam Site)

Buffy
This beautiful Buff Orpington was part of a small backyard flock but she was at the bottom of the pecking order and had wounds to prove it. So Buffy came to live with our hens who chase her away from the finest tidbits, but otherwise leave her in peace. Sometimes she even manages to sneak a crumb away from the bossier girls!

She has recently published a cookbook for eggs that looks like a good one to check out. Its called The Farmstead Egg Cookbook and can be found at this link.

We have had layers in the past and, wow, do you get loads of eggs. Its a good thing to have lots of recipes to try when you are swimming in eggs.

Check out the Hen Cam, they are sweethearts. If you look closely, on occasion you will see Candy the Bad Bunny running through the pen, terrorizing the girls.

(Image Source - The Hen Cam Site)

Meltingly god-awful

2006-06-01T07:10:00.000-05:00

I am a big reader for sure. I am well schooled in sci-fi, going way back. I read wide into fantasy and spy. None of this is terribly literate, I completely agree. For my own literary development, I read better things like Dorothy Dunnett.

I even read some books JUST to get in touch with just how BAD published writing can get. Specifically, I read a lot of the Left Behind series for that reason. This stuff is such ATROCIOUS writing that it makes your eyes water. Stuff in the same vein and almost as bad is anything by Dan Brown of DaVinci Code fame. He doesn't write literary fiction, he writes poorly worded screenplays.

For work, I do scientific and technical editing. With some of this one is reduced to a grammar-mistress, whipping the bones of the manuscript into shape so that the reader is not distracted from the data or technical specifications by the almost unreadable grammar that springs from some scientists' and engineers' minds. As a scientist, I can attest to how little training one gets in grad school on writing.

One could say that I have a good ear for BAD writing. Let me tell you (and here I am getting to my point that is relevant to this blog), there is much bad FOOD writing.

My biggest pet peeve with food writing is the use of "-ly". Examples include meltingly, unconscionably, rapturously, spicily, uncannily, swoonily, unhealthily, and other crazy atrocities.

I think meltingly is especially bogus. When I come across this word it is like being snagged by sand burrs during a nice run on the beach. It brings the flow of the writing to a grinding halt. The reading experience is no longer about some delicate sliver of otoro. Now it is about that horrid "-ly" and then ponderings on what brings an author to the place where s/he needs to use this word and others with painfully applied "-ly"s.

As we food bloggists have mostly only two communication tools, writing and photography, we are all budding food writers to some degree.

Do yourself a favor (ok, me too) and read with a critical eye and ear. Do not just assume that the writing you see in the New York Times and other major publications is GOOD writing. Think about how it doesn't serve your needs, think about how some of the word usage is unfortunate and how you might find better descriptive words and devices. Do not copy a style without a sense for whether it is a clear and productive one.

Above all else, do what ever you have to do to avoid the use of painful "-ly" words like meltingly!

Civilization may just depend on it.

DMBLGIT #5 2006 Winners!!

2006-05-30T12:24:00.000-05:00

First I want to thank everyone who submitted their delicious and delightful pictures to this edition of DMBLGT. We had 41 submissions! I am so glad to have emails from each of you. It was great to meet so many nice people.

I would also like to thank, profusely, our three judges for this month’s contest. They are:

Brenda at The Culinary Fool
Bea at La Tartine Gourmande
and Kathya at .let me think I left a spot on your lovely sun.

You all did a beautiful job, thanks so much!

Judging Metrics:
Each judge (4 total) rated each pic on a scale of 1-99 with three categories. 33 for Eatability, 33 for Originality, and 33 for Aesthetics. I am going to present the top three overall winners and then the top three in each category. I will also provide a few comments as provided by the judges in the overall category and in the other categories where not repetitive. I will note the averaged score for each winning entry.

Overall winners (top three):

Food Beam (87.75 out of 99) (GRAND WINNER)

Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc [Fromage blanc and raspberry Charlotte]
Savoiardi + a raspberry/fromage blanc (thick creamy yogurt) mousse

- Love the pinks: "Alice in Wonderland Award"
- Great idea. Original and very good looking
- Very pretty and appealing.

---

Oishii Ringo (86 out of 99)

Rum-Orange Broiled Shrimp with Asparagus Couscous

- This is very nice and would have scored even higher if the focus was a little more precise
- Nice looking dish but wished the picture had had more light
- Lovely dish.

---

Lucullian Delights (74 out of 99)

Favabeans with sundried tomatoes, white wine and thyme

- I love all the green and wanted to rate this higher. However, my eye was drawn to the out of focus background instead of to the in focus bean. I had to force myself to look at the bean. I think a slightly different crop (through the bean in the bowl, maybe) would help this
- Great eye-catching colour,
- Would have preferred a photo of the finished dish!!

------------------

Eatability (top three):

Mekuno Cooking (31.25 out of 33)

Eccles cakes, a spicy raisin-filled puff pastry

- Just give me a cup of tea and I'll be ready!
- Lovely looking food
- Simply love everything about this!

---

Oishii Ringo (30.5 out of 33)

Rum-Orange Broiled Shrimp with Asparagus Couscous

---

Ripe London (30 out of 33)

Tart au Citron

- I would have liked to score this higher but the photo is too dark
- Nice looking pie but too dark
- Photo a bit too dark, wasn’t crazy about the raspberries on top.. but lovely otherwise!

------------------

Originality (top three):

Food Beam (30.25 out of 33)

Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc [Fromage blanc and raspberry Charlotte]
Savoiardi + a raspberry/fromage blanc (thick creamy yogurt) mousse

---

Lucullian Delights (30 out of 33)

Favabeans with sundried tomatoes, white wine and thyme

---

Cookbook 411 (29.50 out of 33)

Portobella Mushrooms

- Beautiful focus and detail! Love the feathery affect.
- Great idea and composition. Lovely details and focus
- Sounds interesting, would have loved to have seen the finished dish.

------------------

Aesthetics (top three):

Chez Pim (30.25 out of 33)

Noodle with crab meat and green garlic

- Looks comforting and I like how the chopsticks help frame the noodles
- Great composition of food. Nicely styled and very nice looking
- Love the use of fresh, local, seasonal ingredients. For me, the black background takes away from an otherwise lovely photograph.

---

Food Beam (30 out of 33)

Charlotte aux framboises et au fromage blanc [Fromage blanc and raspberry Charlotte]
Savoiardi + a raspberry/fromage blanc (thick creamy yogurt) mousse

---

Lucullian Delights (29.75 out of 33)

Favabeans with sundried tomatoes, white wine and thyme

---

Once again, thanks to all and congrats to the winners!

Nika

DMBLGIT #5 2006 Numbers are being crunched

2006-05-30T10:18:00.000-05:00

(Purdue News Service photo/David Umberger)

I just wanted to let you know that we now have all the judge's scores and I am crunching away with the help of post-slide rule technologies.

I hope to have the results posted soon.

Molecular Gastronomy for the masses? (A Rant)

2006-05-26T07:46:00.000-05:00

(Swinging Bacon - Image Source: Alinea Restaurant food gallery)

[I know you all are waiting breathlessly for the DMBLGT results. I am crunching the numbers as they come in. Hope to get them out as soon as the judging period has closed.]

Today I cruised over to Slashfood and saw a post regarding the Gastronomie blog's day by day expose (a delicious and curious one) on her visit to Alinea in Chicago.

I have never visited Alinea but from the accounts you read on Gastronomie and eGullet, it is clearly in the vein of high-tech molecular haute cuisine (Molecular Gastronomy).

It seems that the most prominent practitioner of Molecular Gastronomy would be Ferran Adria chef of El Bulli in Rosas, Spain.

As per the Discovery Channel article by Noelle Paredes, the following chefs are also noted MolGas practitioners (with one of their keynote dishes):

Juan Mari Arzak of Restaurant Arzak (San Sebastian, Spain): Pumpkin-and-squid ravioli.

Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck (Bray, Berkshire, UK): Carpaccio of cauliflower with chocolate jelly.

Grant Achatz of Alinea (Chicago, IL): Dried Crème Brulee.

Pino Maffeo of Restaurant L (Boston, MA): Avocado carpaccio with brulee grapefruit.

Homaro Cantu of Moto (Chicago, IL): Peanut butter and jelly sandwich dumpling.

Dominique and Cindy Duby of Wild Sweets (Richmond, B.C.): Apple red-cabbage gelee and chestnut praline (chocolate filling)

If molecular gastronomy is a new concept to you try this google search and some of these links:

Molecular Gastronomy on the Discovery Channel

Molecular Gastronomy : Exploring the Science of Flavor by Hervé This.

Molecular Gastronomy – Wikipedia article

Various discussions regarding molecular gastronomy at eGullet

McGee on Food and Cooking : An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture by Harold McGee

Here is a link at L'Epicerie for some of the chemicals one needs to work magic in today's Molecular Gastronomy, such as agar-agar, calcium chloride, sodium alginate, carrageenan, and other likely molecular grade reagents (from the looks of it on the page).

(Calcium Chloride - Image Source: L'Epicerie)

Whew, that's a lot of information and its just a cursory peek at Molecular Gastronomy.

But, after all this, I would like to get to my point. If you surveyed all these restaurants you would find at least one commonality beyond their use of molecular gastronomy: they are fantastically expensive, some in the range of a half-grand per person.

Here is my point, as a person of regular non-Paris-Hilton means, that sort of price tag makes me nauseous.

I am the sort that can not see spending a lot on a luxury car, new off the lot. I can not fathom spending many 100s of dollars for one night's stay at a luxury hotel or resort. When faced with these sorts of things, my eyes do not see the value, literally. Gape, I stare, I try to get in touch with my feelings wondering if I am missing something. I am left cold and bit insecure that I am missing some huge not-the-trees-but-the-whole-forest picture.

One can convince themselves, I suppose, that the consumption of a $500 meal is more value-inherent than a night's stay at a very expensive hotel. You consume the food, you have an intensive interactive experience that will be something you remember the rest of your life.

Sure, but I would not be able to do that.

When you are like me and have to trade precious life (time away from family and commuting huge distances to work) for dollars, each dollar spent represents that time lost. It is not value-less or trivial.

Those of us who live at the bottom of the affluence scale have no choice but to imbue money with this sort of meaning because it is the deal or trade we make to survive in this economy.

Thus said, to spend, to invest, $500 on 24 micro-dishes, however revolutionary and profound, is folly.

Here is my soap-box and my vision:

Molecular Gastronomy is in some part about play and experimentation. When that spirit is swept away by the nausea that comes with the bill, that is a DARN shame, dadgummit (winks).

I say, let us find a way to make Molecular Gastronomy more populist, more accessible.

I would love to find a way to get training in Molecular Gastronomy (beyond my own PhD in Cell Biology) and teach it as a course in Elementary and High schools and even at the undergraduate level, OUTSIDE of the culinary school setting.

I think Molecular Gastronomy has important things to teach us all BUT the pompous and sickening prices found in the restaurant setting is such a high barrier that its message may be lost or never found.

(Squab and accupuncture needle - Image Source: Alinea Restaurant food gallery)

Related Posts:

DMBLGIT deadline is here - no more submissions!

2006-05-24T07:49:00.000-05:00

DMBLGIT deadline looms!

2006-05-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

Flash Slideshow

Here is a Flickr slideshow of the latest DMBLGIT entries. You can click on a specific inmage that you are interested in to get more details.

Enjoy!

Related Posts

Technorati tags: DMBLGIT, food, photography, contest, Flickr, Flash, slideshow.

Well Fed Network article - Summer dreams, Mint concoctions

2006-05-19T11:57:00.000-05:00

Here is my latest Well Fed Network article for your reading pleasure.

(Trust me when I tell you not to google pineapple images - some of it is disturbing!)

Summer dreams, Mint concoctions

I imagine there is a place in these United States where it is warm in May and it is not raining like the end of the world. I imagine a place where the sun shines bright and warm breezes dance through the trees instead of the dense fog and drilling drizzle that has hovered over Massachusetts for weeks on end.

In such a place, you are likely to need cooling libations that bring relief to a perspiring (never sweating) brow and an excuse to sit on the porch and relax after weeding the garden.

For such a moment and such a far-away place, I recommend a non-alcoholic drink -

Pineapple Mint Tulip

Ingredients:
1 C Pineapple juice (make it fresh for better flavor)
2 TBS sugar, powdered
1 TBS grenadine*
1 small bunch of fresh Mint, as much as desired
Ice cubes, as many as desired

Directions:
Mix juice, sugar, and grenadine together well. Rub mint leaves on the inside of your glass, fill 1/2 way with ice and top off with your juice mix.

* About Grenadine (grenadine syrup) is a blood-red, strong syrup made from pomegranates. It is the number one among fruit syrups, and is used in many cocktails not only for sweetening, but also to give them a red color.

Grenadine syrup for use in a bar is usually bought on bottles, but you can also make your own:

Use 4 pomegranates to make about 2 cups of pomegranate syrup. After removing seeds, process with food processor knife blade. Simmer pulp with 1/4 cup honey over low heat 3 minutes. Stir well. Strain to remove seeds. (Source: The Webtender)

For the rest of us cold and wet huddling masses in New England, I might suggest a Hot Toddy to help with the moldy frostbite of our lovely northern spring.

Cookbooks used:

Great American Favorite Brand Name Cookbook

Technorati taggage:
nonalcoholic, drink, pineapple, grenadine, mint, pomegranate, tropical, food, well fed network.

Save the Internet protest day - May 16

2006-05-16T07:35:00.000-05:00

"What we have here is a failure to communicate" - Captain, Road Prison 36 "Cool Hand Luke".

Ok, maybe not YET but it may be on the horizon.

We global blogizens assume that the internet is a democratic and free space. Its not and there are market pressures at the hubs of the large backbone providers to split the internet into first class commercial citizens and second class proletariat.

Just to clue you in, we are the proletariat.

Why?

Not just because we are wage slaves, per se, but because we are not huge multinational corporations willing to pay bucks to hardwire a distinction between them and.. well... US.

How you say? Seems that the backbone providers are offering to split the "pipes", giving the big guys fast service and the rest of us slow service.

On first principles, this is offensive but not surprising. A multinational corporation will be a multinational corporation, bless their little ferengi hearts (NOT).

On second principles, it brings we proletariat closer to obsolescence, something we are rising out of with the current net.

Today is a net-wide protest against this change. You too can spread the news by blogging about it at your blog.

Get your blogging tools at this link

Learn more about it:

Save the Internet
Sign up your blog as part of the protest
Robert Reich on this issues

Technorati taggage:
Save, Internet, Save the Internet, protest, Net Neutrality, May 16.

Does My Blog Look Good In This 2006 #5 Flickr Slideshow

2006-05-10T08:34:00.000-05:00

Flash Slideshow

Here is a Flickr slideshow of the latest DMBLGIT entries. You can click on a specific inmage that you are interested in to get more details.

Enjoy!

Related Posts

Technorati tags: DMBLGIT, food, photography, contest, Flickr, Flash, slideshow.

Well Fed Network article - Horchata - Authentic Mexican Drink for Cinco de Mayo

2006-05-05T09:32:00.000-05:00

(Image source: www.Esmas.com)

Well Fed Network article - Horchata - Authentic Mexican Drink for Cinco de Mayo

If you are interested in injecting some more authentic flavor into your relatively in-authentic Cinco de Mayo celebrations try the truly mejicano drink called Horchata.

(Oooh-rrrrr-ch-a-ta, one does not say the "H" sound in Spanish, don't forget to trill your "R"s too. If said right, this word can be fun to say).

Horchata is a milky looking concoction that is served cool. It is based on rice and can have additional nut ingredients, such as almonds (so beware fellow nut allergy sufferers). There are other Latin American countries that serve this, as well as Spain. Take a look at this Wikipedia entry on Horchata for more details.

The following recipe looks delicious, give it a try!

Horchata

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons rice
6 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) blanched almonds
1 inch cinnamon stick (canella)
3 "2-inch" strips of lime zest (rind only, not the white pithy part) 3/4" long
1 cup white granulated sugar
4 cups water

Directions:

Pulverize the rice using a blender. Grind the mixture as smooth as possible. Combine the rice with the almonds, cinnamon and lime zest.

Allow to stand overnight (at least 6 hours).

Blend again for at least 3 - 5 minutes until smooth, with no gritty texture. Blend in 2 cups of water for a few seconds. Line a sieve with 3 layers of damp cheesecloth, place over a large mixing bowl and pour the rice mixture, a little at a time, through the sieve into the bowl, stirring to help it through the sieve. Once done pouring, gather the cloth together at the top, give it a twist and squeeze out any additional liquid into the liquid in the bowl.

Add the remaining 2 more cups of water and stir in as much sugar as you'd like, to taste. If the mixture is too thick, add some additional water.

Cover and refrigerate, can keep several days if refrigerated.
Serve in a tall glass over ice.

------

Mixes are also available (see below). I have even seen horchata for sale in convenience stores here in the North East! Blew my mind but glad to see it.

I hope you are able to make some fresh horchata for your Cinco de Mayo celebration!

Mixes

Horchata Mix by Juanita's 14 oz
KLASS Horchata Drink Mix - Aguas Frescas de Horchata .53 oz.
Horchata D'Vita Instant Rice Drink Mixes

DMBLGIT entries look delicious, keep them coming!

2006-05-03T07:42:00.000-05:00

DMBLGIT is now officially closed to new submissions.

Thank you everyone for your beautiful submissions!

We are now scurrying around like little woodmice judging and scoring and collating.

Check back here in a few days for the results!

I am so happy to be involved with this month's "Does my blog look good in this" contest. We have already gotten submissions which you can see by clicking the slide show link at the top of this blog or by going to this link.

Many of them feature strawberries! Hosting a spring DMBLGIT is a true treat because of the freshness of the foods we eat now.

I am fortunate enough to have three judges onboard to help out with the hard job of judging these delicious pics!

They are:

Brenda from The Culinary Fool
Kathya from .let me think I left a spot on your lovely sun.
and
Bea from La tartine gourmande

All of these lovely ladies are dedicated to food, writing about food, shooting food, and are great people!

Visit this page for details on the contest, enter and wow us with your beautiful April food!