July 10, 2006 at 8:03 pm (cookbooks, food)
I haven’t posted much lately because I spent the last week in Dallas, Texas at the National Federation of the Blind’s convention. I won’t go into details here, but you can read about my misadventures, new blindness technology, and other issues raised at convention over at Ever More Hideous.
As far as food goes, I’ve been reading Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook, which is as entertaining as it is informative. Bourdain delivers sound cooking adviicce that the home cook can use as a bedrock for their burgeoning love of food and cooking. Bourdain uses the same scathing wit that he employs in Kitchen Confidential, his account of his checkered career in food.
In Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain details his blundering mishaps and cocaine fueled stints in the trenches of a variety of doomed kitchens before finally settled at Les Halles, proving that whether his direction is up or down, his pace is always meteoric. His Les Halles cookbook feels like the work of a man who has finally realized his age, and now that he’s found his home at Les Halles, he no longer seems driven to leave destruction in his wake. His cookbook does more good than harm, outfitting the novice home adventurer not just with a variety of French recipes it would behoove any serious foodie to have passing familiarity with, but with advice on everything from how to organize one’s cooking space to how to choose the proper knife for the job.
Frankly, though, even if the book were complete rubbish I would feel indebted to Bourdain for providing a list of companies in the back of the book that offer hard to get food items. Having recently secured an apartment with an honest to god pantry, I look forward to stocking it through the twin marvels of Bourdain’s food knowledge and the immense power of the internet.
Here’s what I’m browsing right now: Dean Deluca
Happy buying!
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June 19, 2006 at 11:44 pm (food)
So, the Great Swedish Meatball experiment was mixed. I have to admit, sadly, that I think this dish needs some white trash. This white trashiness has to come in the form of commercial, salty as hell beef broth. The beef stock I made was lovely, but not nearly salty enough. Partly this might be because I am a touch afraid of salt; dumping a large amount of salt in things tends to give me a heart attack.
I was watching some of my episodes of Good Eats, and I came across the one about meatballs. (Great Balls O’ Meat) Alton Brown suggests browning the meatballs in a skillet and then baking them in the oven in a mini-muffin tin. I’d really love to try this, plus instead of straight pork for the meatballs, I think I’ll try a combination of beef, pork, and lamb. I am still going to use the Golden Gurnsey milk and everything else except the beef broth will be organic, raw, or both.
I also seemed to have a problem with thickening the sauce this time. Ideally, the sauce should reduce into something with a gravy like consistency. (this is not a light meal, folks) This time, though, it failed to come together enough, leaving me with a thin broth-like substance with too much sour cream flavor. Apparently my roux-fu failed me this time around.
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May 28, 2006 at 12:05 am (food)
This morning, I went to the local Farmer's Market and picked up some Golden Gurnsey milk. Sadly I don't have a picture that does the color justice. These particular cows produce a milk that is a vibrant buttery golden color, and the dairy products from this particular dairy sells is raw.
This milk is the next step in the Swedish Meatballs process. I also think that this along with some good solid coffee (Sumatran Mandehling, for example) would make a latte that would be completely otherwordly.
I will be cooking the meal tonight, and I will post pictures if I can get the camera to behave. Sadly my camera is a cheap little thing and doesn't have any clarity to speak of, unless there's a solar flare in my kitchen.
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May 23, 2006 at 4:09 am (food)
This one, in fact:
Right now I am cooking the Brown Stock recipe. It smells fantastic. I'm using marrow bones from Skagit River Ranch, which is a wonderful local farm that humanely raises all its animals. I am what I like to call an ethical omnivore, so I am happy to support them.
This attempt at stock comes about because of childhood memories and because of an adult fascination with food experimentation. One of the recipes I've made since I was little is Swedish Meatballs. To paraphrase Babylon 5, every culture in the known universe has a version of Swedish Meatballs. I've heard of versions that used red sauce, versions that included rice, versions with kolrabies. What I'm making involves a brown sauce, pepper, paprika, and, of course, meatballs that have been seared and then cooked through in the simmering sauce. It's a very simple but very delicious (not to mention hearty) recipe that's helped cement many a friendship.
It's possible to make a rather white trash version of this which involves Jimmy Dean sausage and various other grocery store ingredients of no particular merit. However, I tried it with all organic ingredients last time, and the quality just elevated the dish to a whole new level.
So, this time I'm aiming to make everything I can from scratch. The recipe calls for four cups of beef broth, so the stock is the first thing I am trying. I got a pasta maker for my birthday recently, so next I will try doing the noodles. Sadly, I can't get a good picture of my stock pot with my digital camera.
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