Love, Sweet love.

Lots on food, Some on drink, some on life....where's the love?

Well, I suppose the love's always been inside. When I cook all I can claim is that when I'm cooking with my heart...I'm cooking out of love, and good food, no matter who complicated or expertly prepared has an inherent quality of tastiness. Usually because it's made out of love. But right now I'm not talking about the love your family has for you, I'm talking Eros here, I'm talking the love that is associates with Romance...yeah Capital R.

There's a stereotype out there, one that starts with "I love this person, I want to cook to impress, I'll find something complicated/fancy/Impressive to show how I love them." The Sitcom ends it with the poor sucker looking like the most pathetic person on the face of the planet with at least one thing that is pompei-esque for sheer carbonisation and burntness. The Romance novel ends it with dinner being tasted, and then ignored in favor of copious, if not exaggerated lovemaking. I see the middle ground being A LOT of work put into a dish that may be beautiful, and may be tasty, but often has so much more art than artifice...which I'm sorry to say often misses the point. Which is: "I love you"

"There is something to be said for spontinaity." Alternatively there is something to be said for planning. But anyone who knows me i'm usually advocating the middle ground, I like the Taoist philosophy of Wu Wei(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei). I don't always plan out any act of love I mearly act on it when the timing is right, and believe me the same principle applies to cooking. (And some people wonder why the Romantic Cultures are so brilliant with food, sex, and philosophy...they were meant to be discussed in the same breath, intensity, and intonation.) Love and acts of love(yes, making love included) should be as natural as breathing, as natural as walking, as natural as smiling. I kinda forgot this because well, I gave into my surroundings and I gave into the demands of modern life, I forgot how natural things should be: in cooking, in writing, in being, in love. In forgeting this simple and important princliple, I was doing myself a really stupid harm. So, now I know why I've been so down, why I haven't been "recovering", more improtantly why I haven't been writing. And I admit it, I wrote this so I could remember this very important principle. But if Teachers pounded anything into my head over two decades of learning If you have a question, remember to ask it for the whole class, and if you have a point to make, share it. Well, I know I forgot something important, and sometimes a little reminder is not entirely out of the question.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love
It's the only thing that there's just too little of
What the world needs now is love, sweet love,
No not just for some but for everyone.
-Burt Bacharach

From Darkness Rising comes: Food...and inspiration.

So, from the depths of well, blatant stupidity and selective amnisia I come rising from the crappy sea of utter shittiness with ideas that need/should be mentioned.

Recently I've noticed within myself certain patterns of spicing and seasoning...certain combinations that seem to work in ways that I hadn't thought of. Since it's past 4AM my time and I'm not going to be going absolutly nuts with every combination but I've got a few good ones that are completely tasty.

Cumin + Cayenne + Lime(Favorite combo for marinating chicken either make a paste of it or add chicken stock to make a more loose marinade)
Cumin + Black Pepper + Rosemary(Rub onto some good beef or )
Cumn + Cayenne/Chili Flakes + Lemon Juice + Basil (this tastes bloody awesome when mixed with olive oil to coat pasta If so mix in with lemon zest it works like a Vinigrette, You can mix this well and make a kickass pasta salad)
Cumin + Black Pepper + Allspice + Cayenne + Coriander(Add Chili Powder and Tumeric and you'll have a kickass spice mixture for beans, Carribian soup, If you're thinking Chilli I suggest dropping the allspice unless you really like it...instead add a little Tumeric and some Cocoa powder it's really tasty and the Cocoa does help add some smoothness. )
Chipotle + Green Onions+ Roasted Garlic + Yogurt + Black Pepper (Trust me it's great, I've used this combo as a dip, but for sheer amazingness: Mix it into your mashed potato, it's tasty shit! Alternatively you can marinate chicken in this mixture to fantastic results.)
Chinese Five spice powder+ Black Pepper + Gold/Dark Rum (This combination is Amazing with a chicken and veggie stirfry don't go nuts with the black pepper, but I know it needs a tiny amount of Spice based heat.)
Salt + Cayenne + Black Pepper (This is MY favorite Steak rub, don't use too much of either spice the key thing is to use enough salt to create a nice crust when you first start the searing...you do not want to salt-crust this sucker, when you first cook up the steak, and when you like rare steak or even medium rare...it makes for a damned tasty Jus...I like using it on roasts too.)
Allspice + Cinnimon + Nutmeg (use this combination in a cream sauce to give it a little bit of kick, also: great over cooked apples)
Butter+ Brown sugar + Nutmeg + Peaches (yes it's a classy combination I found it delicious with Pork)
well, that's all the really awesome stuff I came up with the last little while. I hope to have some more succesful recipies, and post them