Okay, I'm sick, and have had the kind of sore throat that makes me sound like Barry White on a touch of Helium.
Now, I've heard EVERY bloody drink-type-thing out there, and tried more than a few of 'em. I believe warm coke with lime was no doubt one of the laziest cures I've heard of. But I've got my own little Sore-throat cure, and I find that it works every time. Even if it doesn't people seem to love it.
Here's what you do:
Get 1 Lemon
1 Thumb Sized knob of Ginger
3 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar
2 bags of orange Pekoe Tea
1.25 Litres of boiling water
Rum(optional)
-Peel the knob of ginger, slice into medallions, place into your pot of boiling water.
-Take a vegetable Peeler and remove the zest from the lemon in nice long strips. Place the strips into the water.
-Slice the Lemon in half and squeeze the Juice into the pot.
-Turn down the temperature into a low simmer, and place the tea bags into the pot
-let the mixture simmer for two minutes, after this time take the pot off the heat and dissolve the brown sugar into the liquid.
-after the sugar is dissolved Strain the liquid into a teapot or some other serving device that can maintain the heat.
-Pour yourself a glass, and top it off with a splash of Rum.
Trust me even if you DON'T have a sore throat it's a great hot drink for a warm day
Monday, April 28, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
Cullinary Mental Note # 1
I recently made a triple Berry Crisp/crumble...and it was good. Though I had one problem with it, I felt that it was berry enough, and certainly it was sweet enough, but it lacked one thing that I keep telling people is so important when cooking.
CONTRAST!
Blending flavours is all well and good but they need to contrast to a degree otherwise all you taste is the harmony of flavour without catching each and every note that makes up the harmony. In music this is acceptable, in cooking not-so-much.
So how do I rectify this problem in my next Crisp/crumble? Next time I'm adding the juice and the Zest of an orange. Trust me, it'll be damned good, I can't wait for berries to go on sale again.
CONTRAST!
Blending flavours is all well and good but they need to contrast to a degree otherwise all you taste is the harmony of flavour without catching each and every note that makes up the harmony. In music this is acceptable, in cooking not-so-much.
So how do I rectify this problem in my next Crisp/crumble? Next time I'm adding the juice and the Zest of an orange. Trust me, it'll be damned good, I can't wait for berries to go on sale again.
Okay, Recipie time!!!!!
Okay, I love pasta, yes, it is said, and it is more than noted...so it shouldn't come to any surprize to people that I have a love/hate relationship with Kraft Dinner. I love it because it's dead simple for other people and really handy if you go camping, I hate it because to my pallet after years of cooking it tastes like ass, but not normal "tastes like ass" but "tastes like ass despite the fact that it could have been tastier. " So a few days ago I was out of nearly all kinds of tasty food, I had a bit of Cheese, celery, some onions, garlic...and a box of Kraft Dinner Egg Noodles. So I sautéd the chopped veggies, and tossed them into the prepared KD which was made more Palatable through a half cup of grated Cheddar. It wasn't half bad. a little lacking though...It required more substance. The next morning I went to the grocery store and endeavoured to reproduce the recipe using a "from scratch" mentality. It was abso-fucking-lutely beautiful, however it was not without it's problems...though for the purposes of this recipe I've basically dealt with them.
Egg Noodles with Cheese and veggie sauce
Ingredients
1 package of egg noodles
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
3 cloves diced Garlic
1/2 cup chopped Pepperoni(Optional...trust me it's just as tasty without it)
1 1/2 cups heated milk (we're talking room temperature here)
4 Heaping tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese(I like using old cheddar, but that's up to you)
spices and herbs to taste
Okay I did this meal in a little less than 11 minutes from the start of heating up the pasta water to the moment I combined the pasta into the sauce...trust me it's doable, though don't feel you have to keep up with my speed, I was in the mood to prove something, you can take your bloody time.
1) Heat up water for pasta in your big pot, and gently warm up the milk you're intending to mix into the sauce, your are looking for room temperature, not much higher than that, when the water boils put
2) while waiting for the water to boil prepare the vegetables and the optional pepperoni
3) in a pot over medium heat toss in the butter and the oil, let them melt, when the butter is foaming toss in the pepperoni, the Onion, and the Celery.
4) stir the onion and celery until they start to go transparent, when they do add the garlic.
5) stir in the flour into the pot, making sure that it mixes completely with the fat, you will see a roux happen and you may not believe how much the vegetables facilitate the process of creating a roux without lumps.
6) when the roux is mixed stir it around and let it bubble for a minute, then slowly add the milk to the roux while stirring, the idea is to incorporate the milk completely into the roux, when the sauce begins to thicken and bubble, turn down the heat to low-medium.
7) Add the cheese, stir it in, let it melt. Once melted turn the temperature over the sauce to low. (At this point I added some Cajun Seasonings...but in all honesty do what you like with it, basil, oregano, Cayenne, nutmeg, black pepper...yeah.)
8) when the egg noodles are done according to the instructions on the package, drain the noodles, then mix with the sauce.
You're done! Eat it up, and realise how much more awesome this is than Kraft Dinner
Egg Noodles with Cheese and veggie sauce
Ingredients
1 package of egg noodles
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced onion
3 cloves diced Garlic
1/2 cup chopped Pepperoni(Optional...trust me it's just as tasty without it)
1 1/2 cups heated milk (we're talking room temperature here)
4 Heaping tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese(I like using old cheddar, but that's up to you)
spices and herbs to taste
Okay I did this meal in a little less than 11 minutes from the start of heating up the pasta water to the moment I combined the pasta into the sauce...trust me it's doable, though don't feel you have to keep up with my speed, I was in the mood to prove something, you can take your bloody time.
1) Heat up water for pasta in your big pot, and gently warm up the milk you're intending to mix into the sauce, your are looking for room temperature, not much higher than that, when the water boils put
2) while waiting for the water to boil prepare the vegetables and the optional pepperoni
3) in a pot over medium heat toss in the butter and the oil, let them melt, when the butter is foaming toss in the pepperoni, the Onion, and the Celery.
4) stir the onion and celery until they start to go transparent, when they do add the garlic.
5) stir in the flour into the pot, making sure that it mixes completely with the fat, you will see a roux happen and you may not believe how much the vegetables facilitate the process of creating a roux without lumps.
6) when the roux is mixed stir it around and let it bubble for a minute, then slowly add the milk to the roux while stirring, the idea is to incorporate the milk completely into the roux, when the sauce begins to thicken and bubble, turn down the heat to low-medium.
7) Add the cheese, stir it in, let it melt. Once melted turn the temperature over the sauce to low. (At this point I added some Cajun Seasonings...but in all honesty do what you like with it, basil, oregano, Cayenne, nutmeg, black pepper...yeah.)
8) when the egg noodles are done according to the instructions on the package, drain the noodles, then mix with the sauce.
You're done! Eat it up, and realise how much more awesome this is than Kraft Dinner
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
In My Humble Opinion Part 3...god should I rename my blog?
Okay, I have a lot of opinions, especially when it comes to food.
Some of these opinions are derived from long experience cooking or reading about food, however, this one was especially developed by my childhood and further expressed by my short period spent at a university residence cafeteria. To sum up my opinion simply: Most people don't know how to properly roast meat.
I grant you, sometimes it's a matter of taste, I can understand how some people would not like their roasts to be bleeding as they carve them up, some people are squeamish about blood, fair enough. What I object to is the hockey puck syndrome I keep seeing, meat should be moist, tender, and flavourful. I object to cooking a steak unto the point where it looks like a hamburger that has been left on the grill all day for a company barbecue. I know people that would consider doing that to a steak to be the highest form of heresy, why then do we so casually accept that people should be allowed to do it to their Sunday roasts? If you're going to say that gravy is supposed to solve the dryness problem then I'd say you should be sent to some kind of culinary re-education centre. Gravy is supposed to be used to increase the flavour found on your plate and hopefully make up for a lack of intense flavour that we find in the most simple of roasts. People should realize that having a tender, moist roast is the ideal that we are all searching for. There are many methods of keeping roasts moist that exist, even when using a dry cooking method such as roasting...but see, method is only half the problem. People need to start picking their meats better, pick more tender cuts and pick meat that has aged a bit if you don't, stop picking the really tough cuts expecting that they'll magically become nice and tender if you cook them in the oven. Marinating doesn't hurt either way, nor does butterflying a roast, there are so many food and cooking websites out there that most people have no real excuse to not find methods of improving their cooking techniques save for a strong degree of laziness.
But really people...Dry roasts? Come on, you really should be able to do better
Some of these opinions are derived from long experience cooking or reading about food, however, this one was especially developed by my childhood and further expressed by my short period spent at a university residence cafeteria. To sum up my opinion simply: Most people don't know how to properly roast meat.
I grant you, sometimes it's a matter of taste, I can understand how some people would not like their roasts to be bleeding as they carve them up, some people are squeamish about blood, fair enough. What I object to is the hockey puck syndrome I keep seeing, meat should be moist, tender, and flavourful. I object to cooking a steak unto the point where it looks like a hamburger that has been left on the grill all day for a company barbecue. I know people that would consider doing that to a steak to be the highest form of heresy, why then do we so casually accept that people should be allowed to do it to their Sunday roasts? If you're going to say that gravy is supposed to solve the dryness problem then I'd say you should be sent to some kind of culinary re-education centre. Gravy is supposed to be used to increase the flavour found on your plate and hopefully make up for a lack of intense flavour that we find in the most simple of roasts. People should realize that having a tender, moist roast is the ideal that we are all searching for. There are many methods of keeping roasts moist that exist, even when using a dry cooking method such as roasting...but see, method is only half the problem. People need to start picking their meats better, pick more tender cuts and pick meat that has aged a bit if you don't, stop picking the really tough cuts expecting that they'll magically become nice and tender if you cook them in the oven. Marinating doesn't hurt either way, nor does butterflying a roast, there are so many food and cooking websites out there that most people have no real excuse to not find methods of improving their cooking techniques save for a strong degree of laziness.
But really people...Dry roasts? Come on, you really should be able to do better
Monday, April 21, 2008
Glory to the Béchamel....Yes a new way to apply two old tricks
So, this morning a thought occurred to me, a technique that I used before to glorious ends.
...So, who among you out there like Chocolate Pudding? *Waits for imaginary responses* What about a Rich Chocolate Dessert that could only be described as Liquid Sex? *Waits for considerably more enthusiastic responses* I know most people like chocolate cake, what about combining the two?
And How did I come to this conclusion? Well, truth be told this method has been one that has been knocking around my skull for the last couple years. Have I tested this recipe? See the above questions. Very recently I've been craving two things in particular, 1) Mexican food, and 2) pasta with a nice creamy silky sauce. I admit this posting is more based on the latter, because what does a cheese sauce have to do with Chocolate Pudding? One word my friends: Béchamel. It's the Technical name for a milk based sauce that is thickened with a Roux, I like to smile at myself that this Greek-Italian discovery was officially taken as the "plastic" of the french Culinary movement. Why Plastic? Because if you can make Béchamel out of milk and roux there are dozens of sauces that can be made...though not long ago it occurred to me that in my searches of my cooking literature I did not find any use of the Béchamel in a dessert manner, I found this very odd. So, somehow the idea of combining a Béchamel with chocolate came to me. If you know me outside of this blog you know that I had to sate my curiosity by making the dish. and of course what happened was that I discovered a way of making a fantastically rich form of Pudding. The Béchamel takes to chocolate like Mango takes to White chocolate, not something that you'd normally think might work, but if you were paying attention enough you find that they complement each other beautifully. (Trust me the mango-white chocolate thing is another post.) so since I've no doubt whetted your taste buds for the dish I might as well tell you what I did to make it.
First I made my Béchamel, taking equal parts Butter and Flour...at the time I was making a lot, so if you just want enough for you... Say 45 ml of Butter and flour and 1/2 Liter of Milk.
First, Get your wisk close to the pot that you intend to make this in, you'll need it ASAP when I tell you you'll need it and I never recommend searching around for equipment when time is indeed an issue. Take your milk and either heat it up(in a microwave, or slowly inside a pot) to about room temperature or just over. Now to the Roux! Here's what you do, you melt the butter in a pot say over low-medium, and after the butter has been melted you pour your flour into the butter and stir the flour into the butter until both ingredients are completely incorporated with each other, if you need to use your wisk do so. It should look kinda gross and smell like flour and butter, but trust me it's a roux. Just stir it around until it's bubbled for a couple minutes, at that point the flour should be completely cooked through. Now, get your wisk and your milk.
Slowly pour the milk into your roux and wisk CONSTANTLY to combine. You don't want ANY and I do mean ANY lumps in your sauce, though this should not be an issue if you did your job with the roux in the first place. When you combine the two ingredients, raise the heat to medium, you want to see some small bubbling in the dish when you've combined the two ingredients. You should notice that the milk is now nice and thick. TURN DOWN THE HEAT...trust me, burnt milk is bad, burnt Béchamel is a crime against taste.
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients:
Béchamel
Chocolate: 250 ml-450ml (broken-up chocolate, Chocolate chips, whatever.)
Liquor: 60ml(Orange, Coffee, Hazelnut)(Optional but worth it.)
Take your warm Béchamel, place it over a low heat, just enough to maintain a warm temperature, and mix in the chocolate into the sauce until it melts, if you aren't opposed to making more dishes use a double boiler and melt the chocolate and mix. Now, I suppose you're wondering why I have a variable amount of chocolate for a fairly static recipie. Simple, not all chocolate is make alike, and not all chocolate cravings are easily sated. I have listed the maximum amount you should need and the minimum amount you should need, do some work of your own and find what works...and if I need to tell you how to add 60mls of Liquor to a dish...no comment.
...So, who among you out there like Chocolate Pudding? *Waits for imaginary responses* What about a Rich Chocolate Dessert that could only be described as Liquid Sex? *Waits for considerably more enthusiastic responses* I know most people like chocolate cake, what about combining the two?
And How did I come to this conclusion? Well, truth be told this method has been one that has been knocking around my skull for the last couple years. Have I tested this recipe? See the above questions. Very recently I've been craving two things in particular, 1) Mexican food, and 2) pasta with a nice creamy silky sauce. I admit this posting is more based on the latter, because what does a cheese sauce have to do with Chocolate Pudding? One word my friends: Béchamel. It's the Technical name for a milk based sauce that is thickened with a Roux, I like to smile at myself that this Greek-Italian discovery was officially taken as the "plastic" of the french Culinary movement. Why Plastic? Because if you can make Béchamel out of milk and roux there are dozens of sauces that can be made...though not long ago it occurred to me that in my searches of my cooking literature I did not find any use of the Béchamel in a dessert manner, I found this very odd. So, somehow the idea of combining a Béchamel with chocolate came to me. If you know me outside of this blog you know that I had to sate my curiosity by making the dish. and of course what happened was that I discovered a way of making a fantastically rich form of Pudding. The Béchamel takes to chocolate like Mango takes to White chocolate, not something that you'd normally think might work, but if you were paying attention enough you find that they complement each other beautifully. (Trust me the mango-white chocolate thing is another post.) so since I've no doubt whetted your taste buds for the dish I might as well tell you what I did to make it.
First I made my Béchamel, taking equal parts Butter and Flour...at the time I was making a lot, so if you just want enough for you... Say 45 ml of Butter and flour and 1/2 Liter of Milk.
First, Get your wisk close to the pot that you intend to make this in, you'll need it ASAP when I tell you you'll need it and I never recommend searching around for equipment when time is indeed an issue. Take your milk and either heat it up(in a microwave, or slowly inside a pot) to about room temperature or just over. Now to the Roux! Here's what you do, you melt the butter in a pot say over low-medium, and after the butter has been melted you pour your flour into the butter and stir the flour into the butter until both ingredients are completely incorporated with each other, if you need to use your wisk do so. It should look kinda gross and smell like flour and butter, but trust me it's a roux. Just stir it around until it's bubbled for a couple minutes, at that point the flour should be completely cooked through. Now, get your wisk and your milk.
Slowly pour the milk into your roux and wisk CONSTANTLY to combine. You don't want ANY and I do mean ANY lumps in your sauce, though this should not be an issue if you did your job with the roux in the first place. When you combine the two ingredients, raise the heat to medium, you want to see some small bubbling in the dish when you've combined the two ingredients. You should notice that the milk is now nice and thick. TURN DOWN THE HEAT...trust me, burnt milk is bad, burnt Béchamel is a crime against taste.
Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients:
Béchamel
Chocolate: 250 ml-450ml (broken-up chocolate, Chocolate chips, whatever.)
Liquor: 60ml(Orange, Coffee, Hazelnut)(Optional but worth it.)
Take your warm Béchamel, place it over a low heat, just enough to maintain a warm temperature, and mix in the chocolate into the sauce until it melts, if you aren't opposed to making more dishes use a double boiler and melt the chocolate and mix. Now, I suppose you're wondering why I have a variable amount of chocolate for a fairly static recipie. Simple, not all chocolate is make alike, and not all chocolate cravings are easily sated. I have listed the maximum amount you should need and the minimum amount you should need, do some work of your own and find what works...and if I need to tell you how to add 60mls of Liquor to a dish...no comment.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
In My Humble Opinion Part 2
While I'm on pasta, Not that long ago I went to a "very good" Italitan restaurant in victoria (not Pagliacci's ) and sampled thier Pomodoro, Garlicly alfredo, and pesto platter...I have subsequently sworn never to return there again.
As a Note:
Pesto should not taste like it was made from dried cillantro, the leaves should be fresh and balanced with cheese, garlic, and nuts.
Pomodoro should be fresh tasting and have little salt because the pasta is usually well seasoned, it should not taste saltier than chugging down a full bottle of soy sauce.
the pesto I can forgive...however anyone who is cooking at a high-end Italian Restaurant who can so badly fuck up a pomodoro that I refuse to eat it deserves to be taken out back and kneecapped with a 12 gauge slugg.
In both knees.
As a Note:
Pesto should not taste like it was made from dried cillantro, the leaves should be fresh and balanced with cheese, garlic, and nuts.
Pomodoro should be fresh tasting and have little salt because the pasta is usually well seasoned, it should not taste saltier than chugging down a full bottle of soy sauce.
the pesto I can forgive...however anyone who is cooking at a high-end Italian Restaurant who can so badly fuck up a pomodoro that I refuse to eat it deserves to be taken out back and kneecapped with a 12 gauge slugg.
In both knees.
In My Humble Opinion Part 1
If I were to describe perhaps my favorite food I would have to sit down for a few moments and think through it, and about 70% of the time I would likely respond with: Pasta. (In case you're wondering about the other 30% it'd be divided 25%: Pizza and 5%: Flavor of the Moment.)
I can think of no other food that in my experience has proven itself to be so amazingly versatile and varied, and I am not just talking about the shapes of dried pasta, I am also talking about the sauces. These two factors that share such a Chicken-and-the-Egg relationship with each other up to the point where you can have a solid argument with a fellow pasta lover on what shape of pasta combines best with what kind of sauce. Assuming that you can agree on which variety of dough you pick in the first place. Though truth be told each of these ideas are leading somewhere...perhaps a description of my Favorite meal, the one (shamefully or no) that I feed myself when I want my (and I cannot stress this enough) FAVORITE pasta dinner.
Dough
Dough is to Pasta as clay is to pottery, I like this metaphor because of how true it works mechanically. You can't make good pottery without good clay and you can't make good pasta without good dough. Anyone who has made pasta from scratch looking for relatively authentic texture knows that the very specific texture of the pasta comes from Semolina/Durum flour, though you can make homemade pasta without it...it really doesn't compare. But wait a minute! what about the flavored dough!!! Which I have to say are generally more fun and more exciting. When it comes to my personal preference I love the Spinach flavored dough, something about that appetising green colour does it for me every time.
Shape
Shape is married to sauce, they are intentionally designed to complement each other. You've got funny shaped pasta, long pasta, pasta that is meant to go into soup, try cooking lasagna with full pasta sheets and you gain a whole new apreciation for how impressive the stuff is. When it comes to my preference...I like the long pasta, the kind that you can twirl around your fork and eat with gusto and some fun. I usually buy linguine because it's a good midground long pasta that can be used for most kinds of sauces, but for my strong preference...nothing beats fettuccine.
Sauce
Okay, sauce, what can I say here that hasn't already been said...well my title is IMHO. I think that there are only four kinds of sauces: Vegetable based, Stock/gravy Based, Dairy based, and Oil/fat based.
My Rationale: Okay, how can I argue this? easy. the nature of a sauce is that it is a medium for other flavors to become active condiments for the pasta. That means that really you've got limited options for getting your flavor-solids onto your pasta solids. the typical methods use vegetable puré(marinara), Milk or cream(Alfredo), Oils (Pesto), or a stock/gravy (demi-glacé). This isn't to say that you won't find oil in a marinara or meat in your cream sauce, it is however saying that one of the four methods I mentioned is going to be likely....I can't think of another kind of sauce method.
Okay....here's my "shameful" bit normally I just make my sauces from scratch...it's really not that hard, and I find it amazingly relaxing, however when I'm in the mood for my favorite dish I almost always go for Hunt's Tomato Sauce. Call it nostalgia if you wish, but nothing tastes the same.
Toppings
"Duh, pasta doesn't have topings..." Yes, yes it does, what do you think all that "Parmasan" you've been shaking on top of it is? what about the black pepper you grate over the dish? what about that little bit of parsley? Shit! WHAT ABOUT THE MEAT BALLS!?!
Yes, pasta does have toppings, little additions to the dish intended to help contrast of complement the flavors found within the sauce. Usually cheese, sometimes meat, sometimes other vegitables, but the toppings do exist and they shouldn't be ashamed of their toppings status,
Yet for my dish...grated old cheddar and simple meatballs do the job. Nothing fancy.
So my FAVORITE pasta meal...Spinach Fettuccine with tomato sauce, meat balls, and grated cheddar. Nothing terribly fancy, nothing complicated, the kind of thing a kid would like, which is kind of the idea, this meal is nostalgic to me, Every time I eat it I go back to being eight years old, if only for the duration of the meal.
I can think of no other food that in my experience has proven itself to be so amazingly versatile and varied, and I am not just talking about the shapes of dried pasta, I am also talking about the sauces. These two factors that share such a Chicken-and-the-Egg relationship with each other up to the point where you can have a solid argument with a fellow pasta lover on what shape of pasta combines best with what kind of sauce. Assuming that you can agree on which variety of dough you pick in the first place. Though truth be told each of these ideas are leading somewhere...perhaps a description of my Favorite meal, the one (shamefully or no) that I feed myself when I want my (and I cannot stress this enough) FAVORITE pasta dinner.
Dough
Dough is to Pasta as clay is to pottery, I like this metaphor because of how true it works mechanically. You can't make good pottery without good clay and you can't make good pasta without good dough. Anyone who has made pasta from scratch looking for relatively authentic texture knows that the very specific texture of the pasta comes from Semolina/Durum flour, though you can make homemade pasta without it...it really doesn't compare. But wait a minute! what about the flavored dough!!! Which I have to say are generally more fun and more exciting. When it comes to my personal preference I love the Spinach flavored dough, something about that appetising green colour does it for me every time.
Shape
Shape is married to sauce, they are intentionally designed to complement each other. You've got funny shaped pasta, long pasta, pasta that is meant to go into soup, try cooking lasagna with full pasta sheets and you gain a whole new apreciation for how impressive the stuff is. When it comes to my preference...I like the long pasta, the kind that you can twirl around your fork and eat with gusto and some fun. I usually buy linguine because it's a good midground long pasta that can be used for most kinds of sauces, but for my strong preference...nothing beats fettuccine.
Sauce
Okay, sauce, what can I say here that hasn't already been said...well my title is IMHO. I think that there are only four kinds of sauces: Vegetable based, Stock/gravy Based, Dairy based, and Oil/fat based.
My Rationale: Okay, how can I argue this? easy. the nature of a sauce is that it is a medium for other flavors to become active condiments for the pasta. That means that really you've got limited options for getting your flavor-solids onto your pasta solids. the typical methods use vegetable puré(marinara), Milk or cream(Alfredo), Oils (Pesto), or a stock/gravy (demi-glacé). This isn't to say that you won't find oil in a marinara or meat in your cream sauce, it is however saying that one of the four methods I mentioned is going to be likely....I can't think of another kind of sauce method.
Okay....here's my "shameful" bit normally I just make my sauces from scratch...it's really not that hard, and I find it amazingly relaxing, however when I'm in the mood for my favorite dish I almost always go for Hunt's Tomato Sauce. Call it nostalgia if you wish, but nothing tastes the same.
Toppings
"Duh, pasta doesn't have topings..." Yes, yes it does, what do you think all that "Parmasan" you've been shaking on top of it is? what about the black pepper you grate over the dish? what about that little bit of parsley? Shit! WHAT ABOUT THE MEAT BALLS!?!
Yes, pasta does have toppings, little additions to the dish intended to help contrast of complement the flavors found within the sauce. Usually cheese, sometimes meat, sometimes other vegitables, but the toppings do exist and they shouldn't be ashamed of their toppings status,
Yet for my dish...grated old cheddar and simple meatballs do the job. Nothing fancy.
So my FAVORITE pasta meal...Spinach Fettuccine with tomato sauce, meat balls, and grated cheddar. Nothing terribly fancy, nothing complicated, the kind of thing a kid would like, which is kind of the idea, this meal is nostalgic to me, Every time I eat it I go back to being eight years old, if only for the duration of the meal.
First Official Post, you know, the one where I state the Obvious
Hi, I'm Daniel, If you're reading this you're either one of my friends or you're taking a look around the blog-o-sphere and you've found this.
Welcome to my Passions
I love to eat, about as much as I love to cook, and about as much as I like talking about both of these topics. Why did I create this blog? At the suggestion of my Cousin mostly, the idea of being able to finally write down all these food ideas and philosophies that I extol seems way too tempting to me. What will you get out of this if you keep reading it? Hopefully some ideas on food, or a new recipe that I came up with on the spot, or even some commentary on Love and Life, because my passion for food is meaningless without those two four-lettered words. I have an Opinion about food, I also have an open mind to the many delicious things that are created at the hands of every day people. I enjoy food TV, so I understand the idea of the Michelin rating scale and the fancy chefs that can practically spin gold, but more importantly I understand that some of the best meals can be found for as little as five bucks in some hole in the wall that you'd ignore if someone didn't tell you. I am not about "Finding the Perfect meal", Anthony Bourdain wrote about it beautifully, I am not about "quick beautiful eats that are easy and worth the time and effort" I'd happily praise Jamie Oliver for that, I am about the love of food and the love of eating food, on my own, but preferably with friends. Will I talk about food and my joys of cooking on this first post?
No.
I want to hammer a Quote from one of the United State's best chefs that may just get what I'm all about across.
When you acknowledge as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving towards perfection becomes clear; to make people happy. That's what cooking is all about.
- Thomas Keller
Welcome to my Passions
I love to eat, about as much as I love to cook, and about as much as I like talking about both of these topics. Why did I create this blog? At the suggestion of my Cousin mostly, the idea of being able to finally write down all these food ideas and philosophies that I extol seems way too tempting to me. What will you get out of this if you keep reading it? Hopefully some ideas on food, or a new recipe that I came up with on the spot, or even some commentary on Love and Life, because my passion for food is meaningless without those two four-lettered words. I have an Opinion about food, I also have an open mind to the many delicious things that are created at the hands of every day people. I enjoy food TV, so I understand the idea of the Michelin rating scale and the fancy chefs that can practically spin gold, but more importantly I understand that some of the best meals can be found for as little as five bucks in some hole in the wall that you'd ignore if someone didn't tell you. I am not about "Finding the Perfect meal", Anthony Bourdain wrote about it beautifully, I am not about "quick beautiful eats that are easy and worth the time and effort" I'd happily praise Jamie Oliver for that, I am about the love of food and the love of eating food, on my own, but preferably with friends. Will I talk about food and my joys of cooking on this first post?
No.
I want to hammer a Quote from one of the United State's best chefs that may just get what I'm all about across.
When you acknowledge as you must, that there is no such thing as perfect food, only the idea of it, then the real purpose of striving towards perfection becomes clear; to make people happy. That's what cooking is all about.
- Thomas Keller
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