French Toast Kabobs...

By Martha Stewart! What a fun little idea. Now what else can I kabob... waffles, eggs benedict, smores... O the possibilities. found via swissmiss.

Percy Schmeiser

On March 19, 2008, Monsanto settled with Saskatchewan Farmer, Percy Schmeiser [pictured above], for their contamination of his farm with their Round Up Ready Canola [found via Deconstructing Dinner].

What does this mean and why is it important? Monsanto is a large multinational corporation that is the leader in genetically engineered seeds. The US Environmental Agency has labeled Monsanto as a "potentially responsible party" for more than 56 Superfund Sites in the US. 

Monsanto has been very careful to control their seeds and how they are handled by farmers around the world. One argument against genetically modified crops is that there can be cross pollination between crops [ie some genetically modified crops might cross pollinate with the organic crops next door, negating the organic status of the crop]. This settlement with Percy by Monsanto is a step in linking liability of contamination to Monsanto.

From what I know so far, I believe companies like Monsanto threaten sustainability, by threatening small farmers, local community based farming, and contamination of organic farming. Their continued efforts towards genetic modification [with properties like terminator seeds] and seed patents are impediments to larger efforts towards a sounder ecologically responsible society.

Molecular Gastronomy

Molecular Gastronomy has been around for sometime now. The phrase itself was coined in 1988, and though it actually doesn't say new in itself [cooking has always dealt with molecules and food], it describes a new approach to food preparation that is becoming more and more popular. 

This more scientific-themed approach has been on the rise over the past few years. A restaurant I keep hearing about in relation to this is Moto. It has become my Mecca. Here is a fantastic video with the Pastry Chef, Ben Roche, at Taste 3.

found via food for design

Food Science!!

I geeked out this Sunday afternoon when I went on iTunes and found two new podcasts. The first is a Cooks Illustrated Podcast. I've loved the magazine [and the companion America's Test Kitchen] for a long time now, and having a video podcast is sweet icing on the cake. On top of that, the most recent podcast is about Cast Iron Pans [which everyone should watch, because everyone should own a Cast Iron Pan]. Link to Podcast.

The second Podcast is Food Science. Now, given my excitement about Cooks Illustrated, seeing Food Science was like a second slice of cake. Dr. Kiki is as excited about all of this as I am, making her an entertaining and fun host. Link to Podcast. 

I highly recommend both these podcasts!

Hashed Pizza

Is comprised of hash (grated potatoes), a pinch of salt, mozzarella cheese, chopped basil and some freshly ground pepper. It's cooked in a cast iron skillet that's been warmed up and has had a tablespoon of olive oil in it. It's pretty straight forward, grate some potatoes, toss into skillet, fry, flip when browned, fry some more, after a minute, sprinkle some mozzarella and fresh pepper, and when the cheese is melted, plate the dish and throw on the basil. Its pretty easy from here to continue on and make other Hashed Pizza creations in this style. What hit surprised me was the simplicity of the act compared to the time leading up to it.

I didn't wake up trying to create Hashed Pizza. I've been cooking for years now.  I've been experimenting with grating potatoes for the past two weeks since I bought my course grater [for a month including the time I spent zesting the potatoes].  I've been playing with how I slice basil for at least two years, and I've had the specific basil leaves for a few days from an alternate dish. The fact that I brought out the basil originally was so it didn't all go bad before I could use it. I've been working the cast iron skillet for almost as long as I've been cooking. I've preferred Kosher Salt (for the size of its flakes) and fresh ground pepper for at least three years. I used the mozzarella for a similar reason to the basil, didn't want it to go bad before I used it all.

All these small conscious and unconscious acts [as well as others I didn't think to mention] lead up to the Hashed Pizza. What a friend might call a "spur of the moment cooking act" is actually the tail end to long process [or maybe just the middle of a longer one]. Things like this don't just happen, and yet they do.

Deconstructing Dinner

...is a new (to me) Podcast that I've come to enjoy over the past few days.  The host has interviewed a variety of people relative to the subject of the show.  He's done a fine job of editing his conversations with them to keep each show well paced and informative. 

All of the episodes are archived on iTunes.  I'd recommend starting out with the first episode from the series which explains what to expect in the rest of the show.  And since they do such of fine job of explaining, I won't, just go download the first episode and see if its something you're interested in.  

Here is a link to the website.

Watermelon Steak

The most amazing thing I have eaten. EVER. It's like a rainbow arching down from the sky and landing on my taste buds. The fantasticallity of this dish comes from the surprise and unexpectedness of it. I would not have thought to bake watermelon, and more so, I would not have anticipated such an outcome.

Its easy to make too. Here's a link to the recipe. I recommend a side of baked potato to balance out the sweetness of using cream sherry on a watermelon.

Potatoes + Oranges

Two things that don't go together right? Think again. This was the best week ever for experimenting with two foods. First of all, nothing came to mind at first when the two ingredients were put forth. Then, like a Singaporean rainstorm, they came out of nowhere flooding my mind. So I still have some other ideas I want to try out after this. It was quite successful and really really REALLY sweet. Less sugar next time.



What's in it? Mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, butter, vanilla, one egg, orange juice, and orange rind mixed together and baked in a orange peel topped with pecans and brown sugar, baked in a casserole dish at 350 degrees. Sadly, I didn't come up with the exact recipe. I found it online by accident after I had thought of something quite similar, though not as elaborate. Having the side of Mashed Carol Potatoes was fortunate as it helped to counter the sweetness of the sweet potatoes.

Eggs & Bell Peppers

... served inside the egg shells. A fancy little trick that makes an ordinary omelet seem, a little extra ordinary. There's nothing to this other than taking the extra time to plate the dish. It does have an interesting effect on how you eat the eggs and bell peppers though. It forces small portions, and the with the small whole basil leaves, enhances the act of tasting the flavor in the items present. Additionally, having the eggs extra runny contributes to the plating of the dish, in which I don't think my eggs were as runny as they could have been. I was attempting to make the bell peppers look like the yolk of the egg. I think I might want to consider just cooking the egg whites next time to enhance this even more.

Looking at my photos, I realize I need to learn how to photograph food to make it look appetizing. Every little bit helps, and I feel like I'm falling a bit short. I was thinking a little moisture on the basil leaf. A bit more shine on the entire dish actually.

Tomatoes and Tofu (+ Rosemary Focaccia)

Today I made tomatoes and tofu. Trying to keep it simple by pairing two food elements and letting them interact with each other. Seeing as tofu doesn't have much flavor of its own, I felt it best to highlight the textural differences of the two items. The tofu was sliced thin and seared in a pan of oil and garlic. The (organic heirloom) tomatoes on the other hand were broiled in the oven, drizzled with some oil, and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and some chopped basil. They paired quite well, and I'm proud of my creation.

I also made some Rosemary Focaccia bread for the first time. It really wasn't that different from pizza dough, though the end result was a pleasant surprise. The crust is browned and crispy, while the center is light and airy. I look forward to trying more breads. (Kneaded and mixed by hand, its quite relaxing for me)

Green Tea Cookies

I attempted to make some green tea cookies the other day. I modified a snickerdoodle cookie recipe, which was originally a modification on a sugar cookie recipe. The cookies were good as sugar cookies, though there wasn't that much green tea flavor to it. I had used the powder from Trader Joe's Matcha Latte Tea as my green tea ingredient, mistake number one. After tasting the cookies, I made the Matche Latte, and realized for the first time that it didn't have much taste to begin with. In fact, I don't think I like the Matche Latte enough anymore to finish the container I bought.

Now I'm left with a ball of dough (I don't bake all the dough when I make cookies, I normally make them in batches of 6 or 12 over the course of a few days) in the fridge that I'm not to excited about. I'm considering making it into snickerdoodle cookies. Seeing as the flavor isn't too strong, there's not much to loose from furthering the experiment... by taking a step back.

Perfect Pancakes

... near perfect pancakes actually. It's 10:30pm, and I haven't eaten dinner, and I don't feel like making the few options I have from my pantry stocks. So I decide to make pancakes instead, only at first, I forget the recipe. The recipe I've been making for the past three or four years suddenly eludes my mind. Well, I remember all of it, except how much butter to use. Was it two tablespoons or four? How much is two table spoons out of this block of Plugra I have in front of me? My continues to draw a blank, and I google "buttermilk pancakes," and then it hits me. At one point in time I used one stick of the four sticks that normally come out of the butter box which weighs in at one pound. Then I switched over to the unmarked, Plugra blocks a few years ago because the European butter has more butterfat and is therefore fatter and tastier. That was it, I use one fourth of the block because that's how much of the one pound I used from the butter box.

After solving this dilemma, things start to go much smoother. I mix the wet into the dry ingredients, and let it sit and rise while I wash the dishes I used to mix everything up. I turn on the stove to preheat the Cast Iron skillet, and throw in some butter to grease up the pan. Finally, I lay down my first three ice-cream scoops (I've been using an ice-cream scoop because I still have yet to buy a ladle, and may not because the scoop has been working so well) of the batter onto the pan. After a while I realize that it may not be cooking as fast as I want it to, so I turn up the heat a little. I flip the pancake, only a small corner of the batter splatters out to one side, not far enough to detach from the pancake or over the skillets side walls though. And the top of the pancake is so perfectly golden brown. It slowly rises in the pan as the side walls of the pancake expand, forcing the golden brown roof to rise in dome shape as the ingredients react to the heat forming the light airy caverns inside the pancake. The sides remain white as the original batter because they don't color from direct contact with heat, and gently puff out. I pull the pancake off the skillet and examine the bottom to make sure its a good color. Beautiful. I place it on the plate, and lather it up with some butter and pour some grade A dark amber over the center, watching it slowly spread over the pancake. I then proceed back to the skillet and put down three more scoops of batter for the next pancake.

Meanwhile I take my time eating the first pancake, its tastes as beautiful as it looks. The outer texture slightly crispy as it hits my mouth, only to be complimented by the fluffy interior. Even with all its weight, the pancake almost melts in my mouth as if it were cotton candy, without the graininess. I watch the second pancake as I did the first, and it turns out equally as well. Instead of eating this one, I place it in the tupperware for tomorrow or the following day's breakfast, it fits perfectly into the tupperware. Each successive pancake turns out just as wonderful as the first. Wonderful brown exterior, puffy cloud-like sides, with one small area of crispiness from the flip. They all fit snuggly in the tupperware containers. The air starts to fill with a sweet butter flavor, and I can taste the pancakes in my mouth without having actually putting a fork to it now.

By the end of it, I had two tupperware containers each with three golden brown light and airy pancakes that fit perfectly in them. Every drop of batter had gone into the pancakes themselves, and there was no extra drip before they reached the center of the skillet. Overall, this late night pancake session turned out to be the best series of pancakes I've ever made. What a night. And now I can't wait to get up and have three for breakfast.

Cast Iron German Apple Pancake

Today began with work right away. I woke up at about 7am and started right away by turning off the alarm and opening up a web browser to start doing research. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say what though. It was great though, working at home, in a warm bed at that. Sadly, I was out of oatmeal, and I was out of milk. So I had limited options for breakfast. And ended up having some eggs, rice, lentils and cheese in a bowl, so that close enough to cereal as I could get given my resources.

When work slowed down, I just saved up all my info, got dressed, got on my bike, and headed over to the studio to continue working after the break from the change of scenery. Don, was at the studio when I got there, and after conversing for a while I got back to research, staring to make notes on ideas that were coming to my mind. By about two or three o'clock I was slowing down again, so I opened up Unreal Tournament to take a break. Don joined in for two rounds before he headed off. I stayed around for a while doing some more research, then headed off to the grocery store, bank and library.

When I got home, I read for a while and then accidently took a nap. Got up, did some more research. When I got hungry, I figured I'd continue with the bizarro day, and had some cereal, yogurt with blueberries. Took a shower, and when I got out made myself a German Apple Pancake. Since I didn't have my usual cookware, I decided to use my Cast Iron Skillet as the baking dish. And now its almost ten o'clock and I'm eating a monster sized Apple Pancake.

It has been a great day.