Newest Obsession

My mom made soba noodles with dipping sauce last night. They were great. My newest obsession. I am now invstigating the many ways of soba.

My mom thinks I should write a cookbook. She says she and my grandma are willing to be guinea pigs for my 'research' to write to book. I guess anything is possible!

Food Time Machine

There are a lot of days I wish I had a food time machine so I could have some of my favorite foods again. One of the reasons I learned to cook was so I could re-create some of my favorite dishes. If I hadn't learned to cook, I would have lost forever my Grandma's potato salad, her gravy, spicy hot tamales, my Mom's Swiss steak (which she still makes but not as often as I would like!), my Dad's shrimp wymus (which I still don't have exact but that's because he made it up and there is no actual recipe), my Grandma Kathleen's bourbon balls. There are some recipes I'm still working on, like my Grandfather's potato soup and my Grandma's bread pudding. Some of these recipes I haven't actually tasted the real thing since I was little girl. And if I finally recreate them, it will be good. But if I had a food time machine it would be wonderful. I could taste the recipes the way they were and ask some questions. But mostly I would be able to see and eat with the people I have loved and lost.

Food brings us together and binds us in an invisible but tangible way. Recipes are handed down from generation to generation to insure a little bit of immortality to the person who made them for us. I was only seven when my paternal grandfather died but I can remember that he made his potato soup all the time and it was so delicious and it made me feel safe and warm and loved. My brother and I still laugh at the way my Grandma Wilhite made biscuits and gravy. She was an awesome cook but a terrible baker. Her biscuits bordered on the awful. They were hard, flat little things (which seems really strange to me since they were Bisquick biscuits so I have no idea how she managed to get them not to rise) and they were almost always burned on the bottom. But as my brother says, it didn't matter because once you put her gravy on them they were heavenly. They were just an edible spoon really because you would have looked weird spooning gravy directly into your mouth but trust me, you wanted to.

There are also restaurants, now long gone, that I wish my time machine could take me. Las Vegas doesn't really appreciate history and so no one mourns the old restaurants. But most of the places I miss were family run restaurants that knew our names and welcomed us in to eat. Like the Miller Family Steakhouse, which was in an old Sizzler location and Mr. Miller always made sure to say hi when we came in for Sunday dinner, which was about once a month for most of the eighties. We knew when his kids got married, when the Millers had a new grandchild. I miss the Silver Star, a takeout only Chinese place where you couldn't see the kitchen but you could hear the woks a clangin' and they made the best fried rice I have ever eaten in my life (it was almost black and so wonderful). You could order enough food for a family of five for under fifteen bucks and have enough leftovers for a week. I miss the chicken chimichangas at Garcia's. They also made a killer chocolate mousse with Kahlua in it. There was the crab rangoon and strawberry chicken at Kwelin. The pizza at Pizza Inn. Enchilada's at Hilda's. The turkey sandwich at Country Inn on those yeast rolls and their killer honey mustard dressing. The soup and cottage cheese dip at the Alpine Village. I miss the atmosphere at Poppa Gar's. That Italian place we used to eat at on Boulder Highway. The food was so good at those restaurants but even better is the warm memories I have of eating there with my friends and family.

If you had a food time machine, where would you go? Who would you eat with? What food memory makes you happy?

My brother got a cast iron skillet for Christmas and he asked me if I would show him how to make my grandmother's gravy. I'd be honored. I hope I can do it justice. So that when he makes his own gravy he can savor the flavor of sitting at her table, crammed together in that tiny dining room, the table groaning under the weight of all that food. So his taste buds can remember separating the burned biscuit and heaping gravy over it. So that he can taste her love.

Home Grown Tomatoes

There is nothing like the taste and sell of a home grown tomato. My tomatoes are setting like crazy and now I'm just waiting for the first ones to get ripe. it's not easy gardening in the desert but I'm trying!

Learning Something New

I love it when I learn something that will help me out in the kitchen. Yesterday I learned how to make sticky rice (also called sweet rice and glutinous rice). Sticky rice is found in a lot of Thai restaurants. It's delicious. But I've always found it hard to make. We tried the rice cooker but couldn't get it right. The directions for the traditional method call for long soaking, then wrapping the rice in cheesecloth and steaming the whole bundle, which seems like a whole lot of work for a little bit of rice. So we kept looking at the large bag of rice we bought at the Asian market wondering what the heck we were going to do with it. Then yesterday I was cruising the Internet for recipes for 'pearl rice balls' (an appetizer with a won ton like filling that you roll in the sticky rice and steam) when I found a website with microwave instructions for making sticky rice. Yes, microwave. And it doesn't require six hours of soaking or cheesecloth. So I made it last night with some fish in a curry sauce and sauteed spinach in peanut sauce. It was perfect!

Here is how to make microwave sticky rice.

Soak once cup of stick rice in one cup (plus a tablespoon or two) of warm water for ten minutes in a microwave safe container. Microwave on high for three minutes. Stir. Microwave for another three minutes. Stir again. You are looking for all of the grains to be translucent. Continue microwaving and stirring at three minute intervals until all the rice is translucent. In my microwave this took about twelve minutes total but mine is pretty low wattage. Enjoy!

Best. Shortcake. Ever.

I love strawberry shortcake. It's the perfect complement to fresh, ripe berries. But I have never found a shortcake that I loved. The biscuit style of shortcake is too dry for my tastes. Those little sponge cakes they sell in the store next to the berries are, quite frankly, hideous in my opinion. Pound cake is too dense and heavy. And angel food cake doesn't soak in the berry juice as much as I would like. So when I saw a recipe in this month's Bon Appetit magazine that sounded a little different I figured I'd give it a try since I had nothing to lose. It caught my eye because it had cream cheese in the cake batter and I've been on a bit of a cream cheese bender lately (I've tried a lot of recipes lately that used cream cheese as an ingredient, from savory recipes to now sweet ones). The cake has butter, eggs and whole milk in it as well so you would expect a very dense cake but it actually had a very fine crumb and it baked up much higher and lighter than I expected (I think due to the high baking powder to flour ratio). The cake was moist and flavorful (through the addition of a bit too much vanilla on my part but I liked it so I'm keeping it that way.) It also had a crunchy topping because you sprinkle sugar on the tope before you bake it. That crunchy topping was so good that I am changing the recipe to a larger pan so that there is more surface for that crunchy top.

If, like me, you love shortcake but haven't found your perfect recipe yet, try this one. It's delicious and so very simple. The recipe also called for making a strawberry syrup in addition to the macerated berries. I did it and while it was a bit more work I'd do it again because it just added another layer of fresh strawberry flavor. But just cake, berries and whipped cream would be fine too.

Shortcake

1 1/2 c. flour (the original recipe called for cake four but I used all purpose and it was fine)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 c. plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, plus additional for dusting
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. whole milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract (the original called for just 1/4 tsp. I liked the vanilla taste but you can cut back if you like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle bottom and sides of pan with sugar and tap out any excess. Cream together butter, cream cheese and one cup sugar. Beat in milk, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread batter into prepared pan and sprinkle remaining two tablespoons sugar evenly over the top. Bake until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan on rack.

Yes, its that simple. And it really is delicious. For the complete instructions, including the strawberry sauce, see the R.S.V.P. section of the May 2008 Bon Appetit. Th recipe is supposed to be just like the one at Millie's Diner in Richmond, Virginia. If I ever get to Richmond, I'm gonna go thank Millie.

Delicious

Dinner Friday was delicious. Definitely try this recipe for a light but filling dinner. You could definitely vary the vegetables but made as is it's a lovely spring dish. I serve it with steamed artichokes and crusty sourdough bread. I's really quick to put together too! Try it!

Pasta with Lemon Cream Sauce, Asparagus and Peas

8 ounces fusilli pasta
1/2 lb. asparagus, sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 c. frozen peas, thawed
1 Tbsp. butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 c. chicken broth
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/3 c. heavy cream
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Dash cayenne pepper

(Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine)

Cook pasta according to package directions. Add asparagus during last minute of cooking time. Place peas in colander; drain pasta mixture over peas and set aside. Melt butter in pan, saute garlic one minute. Combine broth and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir until well blended. Add to pan and bring to a boil. Cook one minute or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in cream, lemon juice, salt, pepper and red pepper. Add pasta mixture to pan and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Dinner tonight

I'm making this for dinner tonight. I'll let you know how it goes!

Pixie Mandarins

If you get a chance to stop by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market (and you should, you really, really should, Fresh and Easy rocks!)) pick up a bag of their "Pixie Mandarins". They are little oranges, even smaller than Clementines and just as easy to peel with no seeds. They are the sweetest little oranges I have ever eaten. Seriously. They are like juicy candy. So good. Try them!

Hunger

I have said a million times, "I'm starving to death!" But I have never really been starving. I think it would be a horrible thing to be that hungry. Here is a website that appeals to me on several levels. It's called Free Rice
and you play a vocabulary game and if you get the vocabulary word right then a sponsoring advertiser donates twenty grains of rice. You can keep playing as long as you want and it gives you some really challenging words. I've been playing at level 43 which is really tough. It goes up to level 55 but says it's hard to stay above level 48. But you don't have to worry about choosing your level, the game will do it for you based on the words you get right and wrong.

I saw this game yesterday in my Mensa magazine and then again last night on NBC News. With two references in one day I had to go check it out. I played today and not only did I learn some new words (that's important for a writer, right? I wasn't just wasting time, right?) but I "donated" three thousand grains of rice, or about half a cup. Now I know I'm not going to end world hunger but if everyone played this game for five minutes, think how many hungry people would have rice.

Here's one to get you started:
"Stertorous" means a) jumbo b) attractive c) snoring d) permeable

Head to Free Rice and learn some new words and feed some people. It's all good. And the answer is c.

Ah, Brownies

I love dessert (as anyone who has ever seen my ass can attest). And for me, the ultimate dessert is brownies. Why? Because they are the most perfect cross between cake and candy ever invented. Rich, fudgy, loaded with extra chocolate and then embellished to your hearts content. Mmm.

Brownies are easy to make, take only one bowl, no mixer required and you can vary them infinitely. I once had a man, who had recently gotten engaged, offer to dump his fiancee and marry me after eating one of my s'more brownies. (Graham cracker crust, rich brownie center, smooth marshmallow cream on top that I toasted with a blow torch. Yummy.) I'm not sure he really would have married me (I also had a proposal over my home made peach pie and yet I'm still single. The way to a man's heart may be through his stomach but apparently the stomach has a short memory span) but it was nice to know my brownies were that good.

I love taking brownies and seeing how I can make them better. My malt ball brownies with malted chocolate frosting are to die for. Black forest brownies are sinfully good. Others have exclaimed over my German chocolate brownies (I'm not a big fan of coconut so I'll just take their word for it) And my brownie trifle was once given the highest compliment, "it's better than sex". While I'm not sure it's that good, it is a pretty awesome combination of brownies, chocolate custard, whipped cream and ganache. My brother also says it can induce coma if not given in small doses. Wimp.

My favorite brownies are loaded with chocolate then frosted. Pretty basic but I then drizzle ganache over them because I just can't leave them alone. For those that don't know, ganache is just chocolate and heavy cream mixed together. Lots of people are intimidated by ganache. It's so easy if you use my microwave method. (Oh, be quiet all you chocolate purists, yes you can make a great ganache in the microwave!) Put a few tablespoons of heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 20-30 seconds until quite warm. Pour in chopped chocolate. Stir until all the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth and glossy. It will look really disgusting at first as the cream sort of separates but keep stirring and it will all come together and be soooo good. The ratio varies depending on how thick or thin you want the ganache to be, but a good rule of thumb is two parts chocolate to one part cream for a sauce-like ganache. I use a mixture of both bittersweet and milk chocolate in my ganache, mostly bittersweet with just a touch of the sweeter milk chocolate to mellow it out. Three to one seems just right. Of course if you love milk chocolate, just reverse it for a sweeter ganache. Use this ganache for drizzling over brownies, ice cream, using in butter cream frosting, fold into whipped cream for an amazing chocolate mousse. Ganache is to die for!

Okay, here is my dirty little secret. If I'm running short on time I'll cheat and use a brownie mix. Brownie mixes are pretty easy and if you 'doctor' them a bit they taste almost as good as home made. If I'm 'cheating' I'll add four tablespoons of chocolate syrup (Hershey Special Dark) and at least an extra half cup of chopped chocolate. Also, if you substitute a little of the water called for with Kahlua or vanilla rum it will really taste yummy. Of course home made is best but I always keep a box of brownie mix on hand for 'emergencies'. A doctored mix can be in the oven in less than five minutes and that can cover a lot of emergency situations!

If you have the time, here is an easy brownie recipe to get you started. Embellish to your hearts content and enjoy!

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of a 9 X 13 baking pan. In a large microwaveable mixing bowl, microwave butter and unsweetened chocolate for 1-2 minutes until butter is melted. Take bowl out of microwave and stir until all of the chocolate is melted. Stir in sugar. Mix in the beaten eggs and the vanilla. Stir in flour and chocolate chips until just combined. Spread into greased pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (Be careful not to over bake. They are fudgiest when slightly under done. A toothpick inserted near the center should come out 'almost clean" - meaning not gooey but not perfectly clean either. If you cook them too long the center will be dry and the edges inedible.) If you can wait that long, cool and frost. If you can't wait, eat them warm with some vanilla ice cream. Heaven!

Food Porn

I read cookbooks for pleasure. Cookbooks and cooking magazines and gourmet food catalogs are pornography for foodies. I love to read the recipes and if there are pictures then it's even better. Now we add to the list of food porn the internet.

I have had a subscription to Bon Apetit since I was a teenager. My grandma got it for me because she knew how much I like to cook. Every month that issue would come and I would peruse it's glossy pages for recipes and photographs like a frat guy with a Playboy. ( I wish I could say I just read Bon Apetit for the articles but I'd be lying. And honestly, I wish it had a centerfold of like a cake or smorgasbord or something). And I save my favorite issues to read over and over again. Recently the magazine has undergone a bit if a 'makeover' and the magazine is better than ever with a little more everyday type food as well as the true gourmet stuff. I love it even more now, if that's possible.

I also love those little grocery store checkout cookbooks with the 'pictures of every recipe'. At one point in my life I had several hundred of them, stored in cardboard filing drawers, many of them with their pages marked with colored paperclips for the recipes I had made, or wanted to make someday. During my last move I got rid of them except a few well worn favorites. It's only because I'm a struggling writer that I don't keep collecting them but at four dollars a pop I can't afford them right now. So I just surreptitiously read them in the line at the checkout counter and make mental notes of any interesting recipes.

Don't even get me started on food catalogs. I read the Dean and Deluca catalog with almost religious devotion, drool over Harry and David and save my Zabar's catalogs for years. Heck, I even read the crappy Swiss Colony catalog at Christmas time just to see what's in the 'Super Tower of Treats'. Yes, I know I have a problem, but it's my problem, don't judge.

And now I search the internet for recipes. Many sites have pictures and I must constantly remind myself that licking my computer screen is probably not a good idea. So I will try to add more pictures of my recipes here on Gourmand Girl so that food porn lovers like me can enjoy.

The only thing that could make it better is if you could taste the food. Scratch and sniff was a start, but I saw a marketing campaign for juice that put one of those little strips (like the ones with the mouthwash or breath strips) into a magazine so you could 'taste' their product. Now we just need scientists to make one that tastes like white chocolate key lime pie to put next to the recipe and I'd be in high heaven.

My Favorite Blue Bell Flavors (so far)

1. Ultimate Neapolitan
2. Pecan Praline's and Cream
3. Mint Chip
4. Moo-lenium Crunch
5. Banana Nut

I only have three and a half days left to try and eat as much as I can. I'm up to the challenge!
P.S. The Shopette across from my office on base has an AMAZING selection of Blue Bell. There isn't a vegetable in the store - in any form, canned, frozen, fresh, I mean nada, zip, nothing - but they have every flavor of Blue Bell in pint and half gallon. Gotta love that!