Oh right, the blog

I give up. I had been counting on a new CSA subscription re-igniting my interest in cooking from the low ebb it had fallen to, but the Teena's Pride gourmet box is...um...what's the opposite of inspiring? I'm going to go with soul-crushing. Another week of squash and eggplant and herbs. And three small beets. That's great; Thanks for that. There's always either too little or too much and it's never too much of something I actually want.

Blogs always linger on too long either tapering off with apologies for lack of posts of bilious rants about what the blogger used to like. I'm cutting this off before I do any more of either. If I find I have something to share later, I'll try some new social media instead of putting it up here. Blogs are so 2008, anyway.

I'll just end by wishing you all happy holidays and that you can enjoy cooking more than I can at the moment. If you've got a blog or somesuch you'd like to send whatever readers I've got to, please post it in the comments.

Cobaya dinner at Azul

My apologies to those who tuned in for your weekly dose of CSA dissatisfaction and regret. You'll have to come back tomorrow for that. Today, I've got my write-up of last night's Cobaya dinner at Azul in the Mandarin Oriental hotel.

The event was filmed for the Bizarre Foods television series (unless Zimmerman's got another hosting gig I don't know about. The dinner wasn't particularly bizarre, but I haven't seen more than 15 minutes of the show so I don't know how closely it sticks to its remit.) but it wasn't disruptive at all so far as I could tell. The production crew did take notice of my note-taking and asked if they could film me, but I declined and apologize for depriving you of breathless footage of blogging action. On the plus side, the room was all lit up for the cameras so you'll be getting better photos here.

We started with a couple cocktails concocted by the executive chef Joel Huff. First up was a champagne cocktail with green tea and Asian pear. It started blah, but the flavors came through as it warmed up. Sencha nose, fuity roundness and champagne bitterness. Not bad, but no real improvement over a decent glass of plain champagne to my mind. I didn't catch the multitude of ingredients that made up the second cocktail. Huff demoed how to make it, but the scrum of photographers was too thick for me to get near the front and I feel like a fool holding my camera overhead like a paparazzo. I can tell that that's frozen mint spuma on top, though. I'm no cocktail connoisseur, so I found it a whole lot of effort to make fruit punch. I do like the touch of vanilla, though. Perhaps there were subtleties lost on me.

After the drinks it was time to get seated. It's a nice space. The overly numerous and solicitous waitstaff made me rather uncomfortable. A sign of my lack of class, I'm certain, but I can put my own napkin on my lap, thank you. As we waited for the first course, We got a basket of some really tasty house-baked breads--crisp and slightly warm. The olive bread is especially nice as it is redolent of sweet olive oil.

That first course was uni from Santa Barbara topped with a little fresh horseradish and sorbet made of monstera from Paradise Farms. I enjoyed the separate components, but the whole was much less than the parts. The sweet bubblegum flavor of the monstera makes great sorbet, but with uni? Ech. Maybe if there was more than a couple bites I would have figured it out, but it just did not work right off the bat and that's the only chance it had.

The second course was a pumpkin swordfish tataki. Apparently, "pumpkin" is the variety of swordfish as well as three different components on the plate. There's crisp fried green onion and a little pool of soy sauce (maybe) as well. Pretty presentation, but difficult to manipulate. Lovely flavors, though. Different combinations revealed different aspects, but everything together was the best with the sweet pumpkin jelly, salty sauce and tangy chutney (that's what I'm calling the stuff on the far right) all working with the fish in different ways. Nicely balanced.

The third course--Pickled squash and pumpkin oil--never arrived. If that's because it didn't work and Huff decided not to present it, then good for him.

Instead we skipped straight to beetzanella: beets prepared in a half dozen different ways paired with four or five preparations of Wisconsin blue cheese. This wasn't my prettiest photo of the plate, but I wanted the overhead view so you could everything. Visually stunning and at least as good to eat. There wasn't a unpleasant flavor or texture or a combination that didn't work. A fabulous plate.

And then there's this. Smoked octopus, cauliflower vadouvan. Like the previous course, this tastes as good as it looks. I'm assuming here that you understand that it looks unpleasant and off-putting. Some people at the table complained of tough octopus, but mine was tender which, combined with the overwhelming smoke, gave it the flavor and texture of a hot dog and not a particularly good one either. The big squeeze of mildly spiced goop only adds to the resemblance. Let's just move along.

Now this is much nicer to look at: Carnaroli rice risotto with chanterelles, snails (under the rice) and a poached egg over a bed of forest floor aromatics. The snails were fed on basil which we were told affects their flavor, but I can't say I could tell. Oh yeah, Huff came by to shave white truffle over top but my after-shot was overexposed. I tried to defend this dish to my fellow diners as an inoffensive mushroom risotto, but my table was in open rebellion after that last course. The bland truffle and actively offensive smelly junkpile under the bowl came under particularly harsh attack. The latter was matter of the chef's vision not being well received rather than a problem with preparation. Although, if you want that, the risotto was rather stiffer than I prefer and a touch underdone. The mushrooms were tasty, though.

I should mention at this point that I had the wine pairing and all the wines were pretty good. The pairing with the next course, Morgon Beaujolais was outstanding--easy drinking, but still complex. Not boringly fruity or overly harsh. And a surprisingly good pairing with fish.

The aforementioned fish was turbot, served with preserved lemon, artichokes, sunchokes and a mild perfumey crumble of something we couldn't identify. This was a controversial dish at my table, but I liked it a lot. Every component on the plate worked harmoniously together and none of them, individually or together, overwhelmed the mild fish. Toning down preserved lemon without losing its identity takes a level of finesse that wasn't evident in some of the other courses (unless the octopus was supposed to taste like that).

Next up, a beef duo. 72-second waygu New York strip loin and 72-hour braised shortrib served with seawater potatoes and dots of unidentified green and white stuff. The brown dust by the shortrib tasted of cinnamon which was an interesting choice. Both beefs were juicy and tender, modestly flavorful and distinctly different. They went well with the sauces, but the didn't deliver the wow I know these cuts can. I got they feeling they weren't intended to. The potatoes were about as good as potatoes get and there was a baby brussel sprout I liked too.

Finally, dessert. There's a sesame butter cookie under the strawberry jelly sheet, also strawberry curd, thai basil anise, pickled cardamom sprout, a caramel soy strawberry and one or two other components too. Sorry, I was fairly pickled myself by this point so I didn't get the full explanation and my notes are semi-coherent. I think I liked the flavors but not all the textures if I'm reading this right.

And that was it. It was an oddly schizophrenic meal with wide swings in quality between courses. I'm curious if that reflected responsibility by different teams in the kitchen. Overall, I'd say the highs were high enough that I can forgive the lows. Well, maybe not the octopus. If you were watching Twitter last night, you'll have seen swooningly positive response to the meal, including high praise of the octopus. I'm quite curious to read some alternative views if any get written up.

It's alive!

I'm as surprised as you are, but I'm back. It's for the same reason as last year's return; It's CSA season again, I'm cooking interesting stuff and I don't know anyone who'll sit still to hear me talk about it. I swear, if I ever develop a proper social life, this thing's gone.

I ought to talk a bit about why I was gone so long before I talk about why I'm back. There's the too-hot-to-cook summer doldrums, of course, but I also moved to a new place with a kind of weird kitchen I had a hard time getting used to.

OK, now that I look at the photo, it's actually quite nice. It's just the propane stove and oven that have been problematic. The oven runs about 70 degrees hot and doesn't cool down readily when you turn down the heat. It'll sometimes just keep getting hotter, but I've learned to keep an oven thermometer in there and readjust every 10 minutes.

The burners have been harder to work around. They each have a very limited range. One goes from go from high to very high heat, one goes from very high to very very high and the last goes from too low to hold a simmer to off. I tried adjusting them but only managed to blow a fuse while looking for adjustment screws that aren't where they're supposed to be. Luckily I discovered that if you turn the knobs backwards, in the bit where the flame is just about turning off, if you're careful, you can get low and medium flames, so I can make it work.

Back to the CSA. This year I decided to switch from Bee Heaven to Teena's Pride. There are a couple reasons, but mostly it's because they have a one-person box so I won't have to deal with the weekly vegetable onslaught I got from Margie. I just about managed to use it all, but it was a struggle and I really don't feel like struggling any more. Also, Teena's drop-off point is within easy bicycling distance to my new place which is nice.

This is actually the second week of deliveries. Last weeks box was mostly greens and herbs. I made some chicken in a tarragon cream sauce, Thai lemongrass pork, a chard and sweet potato gratin, steamed some green beans and ate some salad. And I used the arugula in tacos.

Here's this week's box:

Hard to tell what's what with everything individually bagged like that. I'll try to do better next time, but I really don't want to take everything out. They'll be very hard to get back in.

On the right are bunches of mint, basil and parsley. Then a small pak choy and a bag of okra, a stick of sugar cane, a bag of mixed salad greens, several jalapeños, red and plain old sorrel and a variety pack of eggplants.

So, let's see, the basil is spicy, so, along with the mint, we've got Vietnamese condiments. Is sugarcane shrimp Vietnamese or Thai? Works either way since I've got some leftover nuoc cham from the lemongrass pork. I could do something Vietnamese with the eggplants; I think I'll want to use them together despite their differences. I wonder if I'll be able to tell them apart in the final dish. That'll likely use some of the hot peppers in that too.

The okra, I'd like to pickle; that's the best of all possible uses for okra to my mind. I've had some not-so-good pickled beets sitting in my pickle jars for quite some time. Past due to toss them out.

I have to admit I'm not familiar with sorrel. It looks like dandelion, but it's mild and lemony. The red sorrel is maybe a little tough to eat raw, but the plain sorrel is pretty tender. Might be good in a quiche. Maybe I'll just add it to the salad mix which seems a bit skimpy, although that may just be contrast to the lifetime supply of lettuce I'd get each week from Bee Heaven.

Really truly skimpy is the pak choy. There's really not enough there to work with unless I use it as part of a stir fry. The leftover green pepper from last week might go into that too. Both should play well with a black bean sauce.

Anything left? Just last week's avocado that just ripened. I don't see anything here that calls out to be used with avocado, though. Eh, I'll figure something out.

CSA year wrap-up

Once again I have failed you and brought shame to my family by not cooking anything interesting enough to blog about this week. I've roasted the carrots (yummy dipped in chipotle aoli), pickled the beets (using pre-existing brine. Not fabuluous one day after, but I'll need to give it a couple weeks to really tell how they'll turn out), used the sprouts and chives cold in sesame tofu and hot in duck soup, but none of it is worth more than a line or two to talk about.

The closest to a blogable dish I made was kinpira and that's just thin-sliced carrots stir fried in sesame oil and glazed in soy sauce and mirin. Lovely on a piece of miso-glazed fish, but too simple to post unless I had a huge rigmarole of a story to go with it like the person I stole the recipe from did.

Given all that, probably best to move on to the CSA season wrap-up. I'm not going to go back and review the last 20 weeks of posts so this is just going to be my subjective impression. And my subject impression is that the season went pretty well weather considered. I missed some of the variety we got previous years (beans other than green beans and corn particularly) and sometimes we got not quite enough of what we got, but overall I was happy with what showed up in my half-share.

Part of it, I think, was that I stopped pushing myself to find new uses for everything so I could post three times a week. Relaxing on the blog let me repeat some dishes that I enjoyed having before, although not nearly to the extent that I had planned to do at the season's start.

I cooked some interesting food along the way--the lucuma coconut custard pie was pretty good, the stuffed peppers a good experiment and chicken with grape tomatoes is the only dish whose recipe I routinely have to hand out at work when people smell me reheating it. Nothing as complicated or innovative as previous years, though. I guess that comes from the relaxing mostly, but maybe there was a lack of weird new produce this year. Or maybe not, it looks like I said pretty much the same thing last year.

And, just like last year, I want to clear out my freezer before moving on to Summer cooking plans. To complicate matters, I hope to move to a larger apartment soon which likely means a smaller kitchen (I have kind of an odd set-up here). Whether I sign up for next year's CSA may well depend on how large my new refrigerator is.

I don't think there were any other CSA bloggers this year. Were there any readers? I'd be interested to hear how you thought the season went.

Closing up shop...

at least for the Summer.

During my last week's silence I was suffering through a bout of stomach flu. I wasn't cooking; I was barely eating; and even thinking about food wasn't such a good idea. At this point, I'm starting to recover and while I'm certainly pleased to end the not-eating part, the not-cooking and not-thinking-about-food parts, I'm kind of digging.

I know I'm not entirely thinking straight right now. I still feel oogy considering anything other than small portions of bland ingredients, but I think there's some lasting appeal in not working in a 100 degree kitchen, not wrestling with an electric stove top, not using a mystery box of vegetables on a deadline, not researching novel recipes for the blog, and just not thinking about food all the time.

I'm curious what else I might do with my time. I've been doing the serious foodie thing for about three years now; writing the blog, reading others including the big national ones, looking up recipes, getting involved in the local food community, all that stuff. I'd like to dial it back a bit and try another hobby. And I think it's right here when the marketers have started noticing me that I need to make the decision of whether I'm going Pro-Am or backing away. I don't think I'm that committed. I have got a variety of other interests, you know.

I'm still signed up for the CSA this fall and I could easily see coming back to both cooking with it and blogging about it with some renewed enthusiasm, but I'd be surprised if I do the intensive week by week run-down again. I made so many dishes that I enjoyed but never made again because I was always chasing some new idea, not just for something to post, but because "the new" became an end in itself. Part of it was putting out ideas for other CSA members--and I did help a few stumped folks here and there--but now there's my archive and several other folks who have blogged about their CSAs so I don't think there's any real need to keep it up.

My original idea for this blog was just a place to show off some cool things I cooked and on-going ideas. I did a bit of that with ice cream, learning to bake and finding new ways to work with black sapotes and canistels, but it's taken a back seat to the on-going grind of the posting schedule. Once I've had a break, I'd like to come back to that.

I'd like to thank you all for reading. It has been gratifying to watch my audience grow even if it's been from zero to minuscule. I hope the blog's been interesting and useful for you. I may well be completely back to normal and posting again next week, but if I stick with this then there may be nothing here until October. If/when things gear up again here I'll let some other Miami food bloggers know and, if they care, they'll pass the news along.

Bye!

A programming note

Those of you in South Florida might be interested to learn that the Food Network spin-off, the imaginatively named Cooking Chanel, will be replacing the Fine Living Network on Comcast channel 122 starting on Monday. I've been looking through their schedule and I see that Mario Batali's and Sara Moulton's shows are returning as are episodes of the original Iron Chef and Julia Child and Company which I think was her series from the late 70's.

Of the new stuff, there are a few shows that look interesting. There's Indian Cooking Made Easy; Personally, I'm never sure I'm doing it right when I venture into Indian cuisine. Everyday Exotic is starting with episodes on Papayas and Mangoes which aren't so exotic around here, but I'm curious on what they'll do with them. Foodography, which looks at the history of various foods is pretty similar to an idea wanted to do back when I worked in TV documentaries. It probably won't be quite the approach I'd have taken, though.

Worth a look if, like me, you're into this sort of stuff and miss it since Food Network has wandered off in other directions.

A question for bloggers

I know a lot of my readers (assuming anyone is still paying attention during this lull) are other food bloggers. If you're one of them, I've got a question for you.

In the last couple of weeks I've been e-mailed with come-ons by a couple websites looking to monetize my blog and a PR firm promoting a cooking demo at Macy's. That's more notice taken of me than I've seen in the entire rest of time I've been doing this thing. Have you all started getting these e-mails too or is it just me who's seen a sudden surge?

The only thing I did recently that could have suddenly put me on their radar is my participation in the Food and Garden Festival, but that was so low key I have a hard time believing that that's the case. If any of you have some insight into what's going on here, I'd be obliged if you could enlighten me.

CSA 2009-10 wrap-up

It's a little tardy, but nobody else has written up the season and somebody ought to.

This was my third year in the Bee Heaven ~Pikarco CSA--the only CSA I've ever subscribed to--so I have only the tiniest modicum of perspective. With that caveat, from that perspective, I'm a bit less happy with this year than the others, both with my cooking and with the CSA overall.

For the latter, the blame can fall squarely on the freezes. That put a big dent in both the variety and, some weeks, the quality of the produce we got. Not a big reduction in the total amount though, I think. I had big plans for beans and for daikon but we never saw either. No white sapotes either. On the other hand, it was nice to try betel leaf and hoja santa; Those were both new this year.

I missed the a la carte offerings we saw in previous years, too. I would have liked to try the various goat cheeses and Mediterranean offerings, but they were only offered in full subscriptions that would have been too much for just me. I also would have bought the occasional bottle of honey had it been offered. I know the freeze limited the supply of milk for the cheese. I recall some mention of it hurting the bees too. I wonder if it affected the ingredients for the Mediterranean stuff.

As for my cooking, looking back over the year I see that I punted with dull and catch-all recipes more often than I would have liked to. I think I got burnt out on all the greens and didn't have much use for all the lettuce and celery. In the first post of the season, I mentioned a plan to revisit recipes from earlier years but I think I only did it a couple times. Still, some interesting recipes in there and some easy and versatile enough to become weekday regulars I can add to my repertoire. I probably won't, but I could.

So what's coming up? I picked up some black sapotes, goat cheese, hoja santa and betel at the Fairchild Food and Garden Festival last week so I need to get on using all of that. Not all in one dish, mind.

I've also got a couple of tomato plants threatening to dump way too many tomatoes on me all at once at some point, assuming the tomatoes ever ripen. How long are tomatoes supposed to hang around growing anyway? The big storm earlier this week knocked a couple green tomatoes off so I've got those to use too. I have an idea that they might go well with the hoja santa but I'm not sure exactly how that might work. Both might be good with chipotle. I could see the goat cheese going in there too. Hmm...

I've definitely got to clear out my overstuffed freezer before so expect some slow down of posting while I deal with that. Also, I have to get a new microwave. The old one still works fine except the little spring that tensions the door latch popped off its mount so now it won't turn on. I wonder if there are any new innovations in microwave design I should consider or if I should go get another tiny defrosting machine.

I think that's about it. Do you folks have any CSA thoughts or summer plans you want to share?

Carolina chicken collard greens stew

Unlike a lot of recipes I make, there aren't a lot of variations of this one on the web. There's just one and it's only on two pages. According to those pages, it was created by Candace McMenamin of Lexington, South Carolina. I just googled her; she's doesn't have a webpage of her own, but she shows up in a whole lot of cookoff finalist and winner lists. Here's an article with an interview with her if you're interested.

I didn't make any changes (other than halving the amount) when making her recipe so I don't feel right making any changes in writing it up either. I'm only borderline comfortable in reposting it here. Here's her recipe as she presents it:

CAROLINA CHICKEN COLLARD GREENS STEW

"This is one of my family's favorite recipes. Collard greens are plentiful here in the South, and I developed this recipe to showcase them in a stew. Some folks say they don't like the taste of collards, but I believe that is because they have not had them fixed correctly. Trust me, anyone who tries this stew with a chunk of homemade corn bread will be begging for the recipe."
Candace McMenamin, Lexington, South Carolina
Serves 4

Ingredients
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 celery stalk, sliced
• 1 medium carrot, sliced
• 1 large potato, diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 4 cups loosely packed chopped collard greens
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 crisply cooked bacon slices
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted


Directions
1. Heat the chicken broth and 3 cups water in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add the chicken thighs. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until thoroughly cooked, about 15 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate with a slotted spoon; keep warm.

2. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, potato, thyme, basil, and oregano to the broth. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Stir in the sugar, vinegar, collard greens, salt, and pepper. Return to a boil, reduce die heat, and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

4. Shred the chicken into 1-inch strips and add to the stew; mix well. Simmer over medium heat until the chicken is thoroughly heated, about 2 minutes.

5. Ladle the stew into 4 shallow soup bowls. Crumble 1 bacon slice over each serving. Sprinkle pecans over the top. Serve immediately.

And as long as I'm giving credit, the cornbread I made was from a recipe by professional food writer Cyndi Allison. Here's here FoodBuzz profile.

Is this the right etiquette for this sort of situation? I really don't know.


Anyway, it's a darn good stew. The collards are just barely tender--the thicker bits not quite. The flavor hasn't been boiled out as it would be in a mess of greens; the broth tastes more of the herbs and aromatics while the collards are fresh and bright with their own contrasting flavor.

Funny that there's so little chicken flavor. It's just outclassed by all these great vegetables. I don't think I'd leave it out, though. It's an important background flavor element and an important part of the texture. You could easily halve it, though.

I'm also surprised at how good the pecans are as a component, lending not just toastiness, but their own distinct buttery nutty flavor, to the mix. I've never considered them as a garnish on a savory dish before. And, of course, you can't go wrong with bacon.

The cornbread is straightforward with good corn flavor and just a touch of sweetness. It's moist enough that you can eat a piece on its own, but dry enough to soak up the soup. A nice accompaniment.

Just a quick pointer

I've already used my green beans and radishes (in nothing terribly exciting so the details will have to wait for the wrap-up), but if you haven't used them or your collards, you might want to try a recipe I found that calls for all three. It's Sinigang na Manok, a Filipino dish of chicken in a sour soup. Here are a couple typical recipes. One substitutes in lemon for the traditional tamarind. I wouldn't do that, personally; The tamarind is the main flavoring. This page has another variation along with some interesting background information and advice.

If you do try it, do please let me know how it goes.

CSA week nine

Why didn't anyone tell me I was off by a week? And that the week number was stated clearly on the top of the newsletter had I cared to look? I'm not going to go back and change the titles that are mislabeled, but I'm going to try to get it right from this point on.

CSA week one start-up - stalled at the starting line

I was really looking forward to the start of the CSA today. I've cleared space in the freezer, sorted through my stockpiled recipes and I've avoided serious cooking for the last couple of weeks to build up anticipation so I could start this week with some alacrity. But when I got to my pick-up spot all of the half-shares were gone. I looked over the check-in sheet and it looks like we were at least three boxes short. Darn.

I did pick up a couple ears of corn from the extras bin so I'm not entirely bereft. There's a salad recipe I've set aside for the first CSA corn that I can make. Beyond that, I guess it's back to the off-season model for a couple more weeks.

Still, I may as well talk a bit about my plan for this year. I'm deliberately going to be trying fewer new recipes this time around. There are lots of recipes over the last couple years I subscribed to the CSA that I just made once. Many of them showed promise that that first try didn't fully capture and I'd like to go back and improve on that result. I'm not sure how much of that will be worth blogging about. A few tweaks isn't a fully worthy new post, but it's not like anyone's been going through the backfiles. Maybe I'll post with a note that it's a repeat. Any bloggers reading this have thoughts on a proper methodology?

If you want a more proper CSA start-up post, I think there are a few other bloggers who are going to covering it. The Tropical Locavore over at Eating Local in the Tropics has promised a CSA post. I know La Diva of La Diva Cucina and Trina of Miami Dish have talked a bit about their subscriptions in previous years. This is also the first year Bee Heaven's had a blog so we can hear how the first week looks from the other side. Go check them out and see what they have to say.

Recipe Exchange

I'm off visiting my mom this week so, unless you're interested in a review of the new tapas place in Wilmington, Delaware, I've got nothing for you. But here's a class activity for the meantime.

I was recently sent this chain e-mail:
Hi!

You are being invited to be a part of a recipe exchange. I hope you will participate. Please send a recipe to the person whose name is in position 1 (even if you don't know them) and it should be something quick, easy and without rare ingredients. Actually, the best one is the one you know in your head and can type right now. Don't agonize over it, it's the one you make when you are short on time.

After you've sent your recipe to the person in position 1 below and only to that person, copy this letter into a new email, move my email to the top and put your email in position 2. Only mine and your email addresses should show when you send your email. Send to 20 friends. If you cannot do this within 5 days, let me know so it will be fair to those participating. You should receive 36 recipes. It's fun to see where they come from! The turnaround is fast as there are only 2 names on the list and you only have to do this once.

Unfortunately, I don't get out much so I don't know 20 new people to send it to. I'd be obliged if you guys could help out instead and send your favorite quick easy recipe on. I probably shouldn't stick her e-mail up on the web for spammers to harvest so just send them to me and I'll pass them on.

The e-mail assumes only 6 out of 20 people will follow through so no pressure. Only send a recipe along if it's something you really want to share. If you decide to extend the chain, put in:
1. my e-mail from my profile
2. your e-mail address
I'm much obliged for your help.

Proper posting will resume when I get my act together some time next week. Your patience is appreciated.

This is a test

I was trying out some new templates for the blog and accidentally erased a lot of widgets I was using. I've got the new three column display and tag cloud working, but I don't know if the feedburner feeds still work (or what to do if they don't). So, this is a test.

Pop up pancakes

Just a quick post as I try out this simple but unlikely cross between popovers and pancakes. I think I saw this as a guest post on the TheKitchn blog but it comes from MakeandTakes.com originally.

Pop Up Pancake Recipe - makes 24 muffins or fills a 9×13 baking pan

* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup flour
* 6 eggs
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* dash salt

0. Preheat oven at 400*

1. Put all ingredients in a blender and blend well. Let rest for a few minutes for the flour to hydrate.

2. Grease a muffin or popover tin. Pour batter into cups.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

and that's it.

The outside looks good, but the inside is a weird rubbery flan-like texture. Something's gone horribly wrong here.

Ah, I see what happened. I halved the recipe, but didn't trust that I halved the number of pancakes made too. Because who would make 24 pancakes? (Yes, I know. A family with four kids or two teenagers.) That means I filled six indentations on the muffin tin mostly full instead of twelve shallowly. I filled it to the level I did for proper popovers which turned out fine. The recipe didn't specify any level in particular so I just assumed to do it that way.

That's why, when I'm not feeling especially lazy, I try to be explicit and precise when I write up my recipes. You have to give your readers safeguards against both your and their assumptions. I think it goes back to an exercise my class did back in sixth grade. We had to write up instructions on how to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then the other kids would follow them to the letter while deliberately misinterpreting every ambiguity. While willful misinterpretation is rather perverse, if you've ever written instructions for others to follow you know that the disparate interpretations of the readers are plenty to screw things up even with everyone well-intentioned. That's a good lesson to learn early.

All that said, I can't fault Marie who wrote the original recipe. If I hadn't screwed up my halving, I would have been fine.

So back into the oven for another twenty minutes. Still not done, but getting closer. I'm going to keep cooking these things until either they become edible or the smoke alarm goes off. Another twenty minutes and now the outsides are crisp enough that the pancakes can't shrink back down. I crack one open and find that it's nicely light and airy, but still just a little too moist and eggy. Another eight minutes then.

OK, that should do it. Crisp on the outside (for the moment. This is summer in Miami so they'll be getting soggy soon enough.), airy on the inside with thin strands of soft but still kind of rubbery and eggy dough. Ah, screw it. I think this recipe may have been doomed from the start from the volume measurements. The texture seemed a little thin at the start so I should have added a bit more flour. I don't think I'm a big enough fan of either pancakes or popovers to bother trying this again, but if you do, do please let me know how it turns out.

My first blogiversary

It was one year ago today I published my first blog post, although it would be another five days before I published anything much worth reading and a month or so before anyone started reading. This is post number 200 which comes out to somewhat over a post every other day. Huh. I hadn't realized I had written so much. Pretty good for a single-person hobby blog. The CSA helped a lot in forcing me out of my cooking ruts, giving me unusual ingredients to work with and lowering the bar on what's interesting enough to post about. The on-going ice cream experimentation helped too.

It looks like I've got seventy-some regular readers--another number much higher than I expected. If I'm understanding my stats right, most of you started reading a couple months ago; that's' around when Short Order, the New Times food blog put me in their blogroll so I'm guessing people are finding me through there. Thank you all for reading; I hope you're getting some entertainment out of watching me flail about in the kitchen. If you've tried any of my recipes myself--particularly if you improved on them--I'd like to hear about it. I'd also like to thank Kat from A Good Appetite and Trina from Miami Dish my only two regular commenters (of course they have food blogs of their own. The line between interested enough to comment and interested enough to blog is a very thin one.)

On the random passerby front my most popular posts are about hot Mexican carrots and frogmore stew, both with well over 200 unique views since I posted them in late May. I can't say I understand that at all. These are about the simplest recipes I've written about and both had dozens of variations on the Web before I posted. Somehow I'm the third Google hit for "Mexican hot pickled carrots". I've dropped off the radar for "frogmore stew" but I was on the first page for it during July.

Also popular is my rather harsh review of Abokado although it's dropped to Google's second page. Everyone else seems to like the place so I'm hoping they've improved. Fair's fair that my early review falls out of sight if so.

More happily, my post on Malaysian recipes using curry leaves is getting a good number of views and a few people are looking at the other curry-leaf-related posts. My hon tsai tai recipe got some play too (mainly in a couple of geographically localized spikes after other CSAs included it in their shares) . If I had known I would have done something more interesting with it. My tahu goreng post is an up-and-comer with 39 views and 5th place in Google after only a month. Only four people actually spent the time on the page to read it though.

Beyond the whole popularity contest deal, I'm pretty pleased with my series of ice cream posts. There are a lot of interesting and original recipes in there. I like my event reports too; I don't know if readers get anything out of them but they make me pay closer attention to and reflect on what I'm doing there and what I'm eating which makes me appreciate it more and gets me out of making much small talk with whoever's at my table. I think my quiche series where I try to come up with a good savory crumb crust is kind of interesting too. I've got an idea for the next step in that just as soon as I clear out some space in my freezer and free up some of my storage containers.

So what else is in the future? The new season of CSA is coming up which should give me a good bit of blog-fodder. I spoke to Margie from Bee Heaven Farm and she expressed an interest in having a message board for subscribers on her website; I looked into it but the software requires a more competent sysadmin than I can be. In lieu of that, I'd like to open my blog up to guest posters. I'd be particularly interested in hearing from folks who bake and/or grill since I don't do much of either and this blog could use regular correspondents to cover those areas. I'll mention this again if I get a mention in the newsletter and CSA folks start popping by to take a look.

I may wind down the ice cream thing as I'm running out of ideas for flavors that are both interesting and not too weird for my coworkers to eat. If I can find a better audience, I can see this going longer. I could see playing around with unusual pizza or stir fry variations, too. And I'm considering trying a recipe from each week's Top Chef episode once the new season starts. That could be fun. I definitely want to write up more local events and maybe write up some dinners out like I did on my Seattle trip. I don't know if I want to do proper reviews though. They're hard to do fairly when you're dining alone like I am. I'm open to other suggestions if you folks have any.

Otherwise, let me just thank you again for reading and say that I'm look forward to doing this for another year. Or getting tired of it and quitting. One or the other.

Edit: I have been reminded that I should mention that it was on the suggestion of a coworker, Sarah Cantrell, that I started this blog. I had started my experimental ice cream project a couple months earlier and would send out e-mails with some discussion of flavor of the week when I brought the results into work. Sarah suggested I share my thoughts with humanity at large. I had a number of objections to the idea, several of which, such as the huge-time-sink issue and the compulsion/obligation rather than actively fun activity problem, turn out to be quite valid. I think she'd like thanks; I'm not at all sure setting me on this path is anything I should be thankful for.

Some questions for my readers

First a general cooking one: This weekend I roasted a chicken. It turned out really well, but it's the same recipe I've used before so I didn't bother to post about it. I've got a whole lot left and I'm considering what to do with it. The problem is that it's heavily seasoned so I can't just toss it into a casserole or stir fry unless I want the whole thing to taste like Gullah Baked Chicken Seasoning (garlic, paprika and thyme mostly. It tastes like the turkey rub my mom used to use). Any suggestions?

Next, a blogging one: I've gotten a bit ahead and have some draft posts waiting for their day to shine. Updating the Post date and time manually when I'm ready to publish is a minor but real nuisance. Is there any automatic way to update it?

And a Floridian one: I've stockpiled some of those 2.5 gallon Zephyrhills water jugs for my hurricane supplies and I've been having trouble with them. When my air conditioner's off, my pantry gets rather hot and the plastic softens, crumples, cracks and leaks. I know most people are neither buying expensive refillable water containers nor running their air conditioners all day while they're at work so there must be a solution. Or is it just me?

I'd be obliged for your thoughts. Thanks.

The Omnivore's Hundred - part four

Continuing on from Part three.

Here's how it works.
"list a hundred interesting foods and:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results."

Since this is a cooking blog, I'll add 5) italicize the items you've cooked.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

76. Baijiu - I had never heard of this, but, when I saw the picture at the Wikipedia entry I discovered I've recently been treated to a few glasses. Surprisingly smooth drinking considering how strong it is.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - Feh. Anyone who grew up in the mid-Atlantic states knows Tastycake is miles better.
78. Snail - Like the frog legs it's traditionally prepared drowned in garlic. What's the point?
79. Lapsang souchong - One of my favorite teas. America's Test Kitchen has a really cool recipe where you quickly infuse smoke flavor into meat by putting a tray full of this smoked tea into the oven with it. I want to try it once the weather cools down a bit.
80. Bellini - I had a couple different versions at the Mango Brunch last month.
81. Tom yum - Geez, they may as well have just said "Thai food". Does any Thai restaurant not have tom yum? It's surprisingly easy to make, too.
82. Eggs Benedict - On the other hand. Eggs benedict is a pain in the butt to make. No wonder it always costs so much.
83. Pocky - I prefer Yan Yan, where you dip the cookie sticks in the still liquid chocolatey goop.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. - Some day.
85. Kobe beef - I've had the American equivalent, but I don't eat enough steak to really appreciate the difference.
86. Hare - I've seen rabbit on menus but never hare. It's probably more common in the U.K.
87. Goulash - Easier to make than you think.
88. Flowers - As far as I can tell, petals sprinkled into salad are mostly just for color. You need extracts to concentrate the flavor if you really want to taste them.
89. Horse - Anyone who's tried it want to say what it was like in the comments? I'm curious if it's worth seeking out.
90. Criollo chocolate - I'm pretty sure the top end chocolate makers like Ghirardelli use some in their mix but I don't think I've had the straight stuff.
91. Spam - When you've grown up with scrapple, Spam seems downright classy. My mom used to make a killer Spam fried rice but I can't get it to come out the same. It probably helps to be twelve.
92. Soft shell crab - Great stuff for freaking out your sister. Also best when you're twelve.
93. Rose harissa - Plain harissa sure, but not this extra-fancy version.
94. Catfish - Another gimme for Americans that's probably much harder to find in the U.K.
95. Mole poblano - Unlike some of the other concoctions on this list, this is legitimately difficult to make. You've got to wonder how so complicated a staple ingredient was developed.
96. Bagel and lox - I've put lox on bagles, but I've never made either although I understand lox is easier to make than you'd expect.
97. Lobster Thermidor - I almost always have my lobster simply boiled and served with butter and lemon. I don't have it often so when I do I usually just want a lobster.
98. Polenta - I've never quite managed to get the nice crispy crust I want when I fry it. I don't know how it manages to stick to teflon.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - I used to work in a kitchen store that sold little packs of Blue Mountain with just enough to make a couple cups. I didn't have a very good coffee maker at the time and I think I ruined it when I tried it. Or maybe I'm just not a discerning coffee drinker. Quite possibly both.
100. Snake - Haven't had the chance.

Since I've gone through the list bit by bit I've had a chance to go shopping and pick up some black truffles. These are summer truffles so it's the $20 little bottle not the $55 one. But they fit the entry. I haven't done anything fancy with them yet, but I did try the simple recipe suggested on the bottle: a slice of homey crusty bread, drizzled with olive oil and topped with slices of basil, tomato and truffle. I've just baked some suitable bread this morning, I've got plenty of basil from my garden and Whole Foods had a sale on heirloom tomatoes when I visited Friday so I think I'm well prepared to let the truffle strut its stuff. I made one slice with and one without the truffle so I could compare and contrast. What I found was that the truffle didn't jump out in front. Instead, it was an suffusing earthy richness that undergirded the sharpness of the basil and brightness of the tomato. Now that I've done a little research I see that the summer truffle is much more subtle than the winter variety and that's why it didn't step forward. I suppose I should be a bit less parsimonious with it.

That brings my totals to 72 eaten, 25 cooked or cooked with and three I'm not interested in. Looking over comments of the hundreds of folks who have gone over the list it looks like 72 is respectable. I'm more interested in added to my cooking list though and since I added that aspect myself I guess I'm the benchmark

The Omnivore's Hundred - part three

Continuing on from Part 2.

Here's how it works.
"list a hundred interesting foods and:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results."

Since this is a cooking blog, I'll add 5) italicize the items you've cooked.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

51. Prickly pear - In candy form from a cheezy gift shop in an Indian reservation museum.
52. Umeboshi - I have a bad habit of purchasing unrecognizable items in untranslated packaging in Asian groceries.
53. Abalone - and pointing to the untranslated specials board in Asian restaurants and saying "I'll have that!"
54. Paneer - with palak preferably.
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - I worked at McDonalds in my youth. Haven't been in in at least a couple decades, though.
56. Spaetzle - This always looks fun to make. I'll have to try it.
57. Dirty gin martini - I'm not much for mixed drinks.
58. Beer above 8% ABV - Generally called barley wine if I'm thinking of the same stuff. My preferred drink at the bar I mentioned earlier.
59. Poutine - All really-bad-for-you food should taste this good.
60. Carob chips - Remember when carob was suddenly everywhere as a substitute for chocolate? Was it actually more healthy? Probably. Eating a chocolate chip cookie must be worse for you than suspiciously eying and then not eating a carob chip cookie.
61. S’mores - I'll eat marshmallows in s'mores and in hot chocolate, but that's it. At least for mass-produced marshmallows. I should try the confectioner's version some time.
62. Sweetbreads - At Union restaurant in Seattle during my recent trip there. I'd cook with them if I could find any to buy.
63. Kaolin - Wikipedia says Kaolin is a a rock that can be used in "a specially formulated spray applied to fruits, vegetables, and other vegetation to repel or deter insect damage." That sounds like it might be used in organic farming. I might have eaten some.
64. Currywurst - A German fast food. I haven't had the opportunity.
65. Durian - This I've had plenty of opportunities for. The Asian groceries I shopped at when I lived in Boston and San Diego carried frozen durians. But even the aspects of durian that are supposed to be non-repulsive have never sounded particularly good to me. Also, I understand frozen is not a patch on the fresh stuff and if you're going to try such a thing you really should try it at its best. I'm not going to seek it out, but if you're having some and you offer, I wouldn't say no.
66. Frogs’ legs - They taste like garlic when you cover them in a garlic sauce. Deep fried, they taste like batter. I'd like to find some simply prepared so I can taste frog at some point.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - I think funnel cake is my favorite of the four, but I feel so urbane nibbling on beignets and sipping cafe au lait on a Sunday morning.
68. Haggis - Not a fine example of it, though, I'm sure. I liked it better slathered with vegemite.
69. Fried plantain - I use butter and a little bit of sugar to get flavor and the caramelized edges you get at the Cuban restaurants, but I'm pretty sure I'm cheating.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette - I haven't had the opportunity terribly often as I've never spent much time in the regions where chitterlings are served and those regions are also places where you'll find good barbecue so I had better things to do.
71. Gazpacho - I've looked into recipes a few times intending to make gazpacho sorbet but I haven't followed through yet.
72. Caviar and blini - Not the really good stuff, though.
73. Louche absinthe - When you think about those romantic poets lounging about so sophisticatedly sipping absinthe keep in mind that it tastes like candy.
74. Gjetost, or brunost - Another obscure cheese with no particular reason to given to seek it out.
75. Roadkill - Is game by car really any different than game killed any other way? Is it nicely tenderized by the impact?

To be continued...

The Omnivore's Hundred - Part two

Continuing on from Part 1 here.

Here's how it works.
"list a hundred interesting foods and:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results."

Since this is a cooking blog, I'll add 5) italicize the items you've cooked.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - In passing while cooking with it. I'm not stupid.
27. Dulce de leche - I've been thinking of making a dulce de leche ice cream that incorporates it as part of the dairy base instead of just a flavoring. I need to read up a bit more to see if it would actually work.
28. Oysters - You'd think they'd at least specify raw oysters. A bit of a gimme otherwise.
29. Baklava - I'm not actually a fan of flaky pastry but soak it in enough honey and I'm sold.
30. Bagna cauda - I haven't actually made a fully traditional version, but I did make this.
31. Wasabi peas - I once bought a bag of these at a farmer's market run by Mennonites. I choose to believe that they were hand wasabied in the traditional Mennonote manner.
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - I've had clam chowder and I've had bread bowls, but I don't think I've had one in the other.
33. Salted lassi - ack! Never again!
34. Sauerkraut - I should put this on my to-make list. It's a pretty interesting process.
35. Root beer float - There was a bar in San Diego I used to go to that did Guinness floats. I never did get around to trying it. That's going on my to do list.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - Nothing against the cognac but I can't see ruining it with cigar smoke.
37. Clotted cream tea - Alice's Teacup in New York does a great cream tea. Theine does one here, but I don't really care for Kyra's mini-scones. Cute in concept, but they're a bit dry for my tastes.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - Can't say I see much point, really.
39. Gumbo - My own recipe and complimented by cajuns I might add.
40. Oxtail - Odd I haven't gotten around to cooking with oxtails.
41. Curried goat - If you've got goat meat, currying really is the thing to do.
42. Whole insects - It was a prank not a meal, but I guess it still counts.
43. Phaal - I don't think I've ever seen it on offer and I don't think I'd bother with it if I did. Eating hot dishes just to say you've survived them seems a bit immature.
44. Goat’s milk - I mentioned the lactose problems earlier. I don't drink a lot of milk in general.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more - I'm not sure. I've had some really great whisky but it was at a friend's house and I didn't inquire about the price.
46. Fugu - According to Anthony Bordain, it's a very mild fish. Nothing really to it but the near-death thrill and I get plenty of that driving around Miami.
47. Chicken tikka masala - This is that British invention. I don't recall seeing available at American Indian restaurants nor during my visit to India.
48. Eel - and plenty of it. I've never seen it for sale to cook with, though.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - I don't see what the fuss is about these sugar bombs. I'm a Dunkin' Donuts man, myself. Butternut specifically when I can get it.
50. Sea urchin - I'm counting uni. I'm not sure I've had anything other than the roe.

and continued here.