edible adventures!

Wedding Food

My fiance and I are getting married in November 2013. It’s a long way away, especially considering I proposed to her a year ago tomorrow. But we’ve done a lot of preparation thus far. The main reason we’re waiting so long is because I still need to graduate college (I started when I was 21, graduating at 24…)

Going to a tasting tomorrow! Woooo

Beer and Food

I just recently finished reading the Brewmaster’s Table by Garrett Oliver, brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery. My interest in beer has been growing steadily, to the point where I’m starting to think a lot about brewing my own beer and cooking with beer.

My wife’s family owns a house in an island in the middle of a lake, and I’m thinking about setting up a nano-micro-craft-mini brewery at the house there. We tend to go up about every weekend, so it would be pretty awesome to get at least a few brew sessions in over the summer months. I know that generally summer is not the best time to make beer, but the temperature on the island tends to be cooler than on the mainland. maybe i’ll make a steam beer (also known as a california common); a style of beer that ferments at relatively high temperatures in comparison to many other styles.

Additionally, I’m going to try to start putting together some killer recipes utilizing beer, both sweet and savory. I’ve heard of things such as stouts in dessert, and IPA sorbet. Of course there is the infamous beer brats…which I think I could really bring up a notch.

Let’s see how it goes. Also…I haven’t written in sooo long. I’m hoping that once college is over, I’ll be able to get back into this at a more regular schedule.

thai green curry

first time making green curry, i usually go for the red.

chicken, green peppers, onion, broccoli, shrimp stock, green curry paste, brown sugar, chopped garlic and ginger, soy sauce, and shredded basil added at the last second. um…yep i think that’s it. sooo good.

azorean caldo verde (portuguese kale soup)

there are two ways to make this, the national dish of portugal. mainland portugese tend to chop the kale very fine, and blend the potatoes and onions into the broth. azoreans, those portuguese who live in the group of islands known as the azores, keep things chunky…just the way i like it.

this soup is really rustic, so there’s no need for exact measurements…but here are the ingredients and directions:

kale (4 or 5 cups, roughly chopped)

portuguese chouriço or linguiça - spicy pork sausage (2 links, sliced into rounds)

potatoes (3 or 4, peeled and chopped into large chunks)

onion (1 medium, diced)

garlic (4 or 5 cloves, smashed and roughly chopped)

chicken stock or water (about 6 to 10 cups)

directions:

bring the water/chicken stock, onion, garlic, and sausage to a boil. add in the potatoes and boil for an additional few minutes. when the potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, add in the kale. kale is really bulky when raw, but just like spinach it quickly wilts. it might seem like you put too much in when you start out, but it will mix in nicely.

turn the heat down for a few minutes and let the soup simmer so the flavors have some time to meld. at this point, taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

yep…that’s it. easy, slightly spicy, earthy, hearty deliciousness.

saúde!

homemade thai peanut salad dressing and marinade

ingredients:

2 cloves garlic

1/2 in piece of ginger

1 tbsp veg oil

1 cup peanut butter (chunky is nice, but smooth can be used if you prefer)

soy sauce

rice vinegar

brown sugar

white sugar

red curry paste

garlic chili sauce

cayenne pepper

lime juice

water

directions

almost all of the ingredients are to taste. this allows you to figure out how thick or thin/sweet or salty or spicy or sour you want it. it’s all about balance, too. if it’s too sweet, add a little more lime juice or soy sauce. if it’s too spicy, add more sugar, etc.

but here’s the main idea:

first get a pan to relatively high heat with about a tablespoon of vegetable oil. add in the red curry paste (i usually go for about 3 tbsp) and mix it into the oil. you want to “burn” the curry paste a little, caramelizing the sugars in the ground up peppers in the paste. as the mixture fries, it’s going to spit a lot so be careful. cook the paste and oil until it’s all incorporated together, it smells fragrant and it’s darkened shade of red. add in the chopped garlic and ginger and stir fry for maybe 45-60 seconds. next, add in around 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and mix thoroughly. at this point, you can turn the heat down to a simmer. add in your peanut butter, and stir it in completely. add in about 2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar, about a tablespoon of brown sugar and a tablespoon of white sugar. stir everything to combine.

here’s where you taste for seasonings and adjust the recipe according to your liking. i really like spicy stuff so i just kept piling on the thai garlic chili sauce and cayenne pepper. i also added in more about 3 or 4 more tablespoons of soy sauce to boost the saltiness, and probably about 2 cups of water because it was getting way too thick. adding in the garlic chili sauce made it a bit too vinegary so i ended up adding more lime juice and bit more sugar to even it out. oh, i also added in some raw red curry paste to funk it up a bit.

some additional flavorings could include coconut milk, sriracha, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves (although i suppose lime zest could work), tamarind paste (for sourness/sugar), palm sugar, the list goes on. read up on thai food for more information.

i use it as a salad dressing, but you can easily marinade chicken breast chunks in this for 2-3 hours, skewer and grill for an interesting take on chicken satay. the sugars in the marinade burn easily, which i like. adds a smoky element into the mix. also, pour it over some fettuccini noodles, top with grilled chicken and raw bean sprouts and you’ve got something that tastes quite familiar if you’ve been to the cheesecake factory. (spicy thai peanutbutter pasta, anyone?)

spicy dinner nomz

homemade thai spicy peanut salad dressing type dressing thing. used both to marinade chicken chunks and to dress romaine lettuce. stir to combine. nom to the nom nom nom.

OMFG so delicious.

/recovery from mono just got a tiny bit better.

woah. old fashioned(s) are delicious.

i think i’m going to start opening this blog a little more to the world of drinks. i wanted to stick mainly to JUST food…but i realized that beverages are just as important.

i used to HATE whiskey. i would say that most people like vodka (eh. not my thing, really)…most people like rum (delicious)…a lot of people like tequila (hate hate hate as well). gin and whiskey are a little harder to handle. i thought i was pretty sophisticated for liking gin, and didn’t care too much that i hate whiskey. 

but it’s kinda funny - shows like madmen make me really want to start liking whiskey. so i figured, “hey, it’s probably just an acquired taste.” and therefore, i gave it a shot…starting with jack daniels. which i still can’t even stand the smell of. for some reason, it’s way too sour for me. like vinegar sour…i don’t know why.

from there, i moved on to bourbon. i tried maker’s mark straight a few months ago, and it was almost as bad as jack daniels. i will admit, i did like it a little better than jack…but it still had a faint hint of that vinegar that i really didn’t like.

well…over the past few months, my tastes must have changed. either that, or maker’s needs to be mixed for me to find it palatable. that being said, i freaking love maker’s mark and ginger ale now. and tonight i tried my first old fashioned. absolutely wonderful.

for those who don’t know, the old fashioned cocktail dates back to the 1880’s, where it is said to have been developed at the Pendennis Club in louisville, kentucky. to purists, the old fashioned follows an extremely simple recipe, with few ingredients. technically, all you need for an old fashioned is a sugar cube, a few dashes of bitters, and some bourbon. however, the recipe has evolved into dozens of permutations that always include the aforementioned ingredients, along with citrus and, occasionally, a maraschino cherry. 

often the fruit (usually an orange slice, or just the orange peel…but other citrus can be added) is muddled into the glass along with the sugar and bitters. the drink then might be garnished with more fruit, and some even top (or squirt onto the sugar cube) with soda water. 

if you wanted to go all out, here’s what you’d do:

place a sugar cube at the bottom of a rocks glass, and saturate with bitters. three or so dashes usually does the trick. then, cut a half moon of orange in half and toss it into the glass, along with a maraschino cherry. use a pestle to muddle the ingredients until the sugar is completely dissolved. here’s where it gets touchy - you can either add in two cubes of ice at a time (stirring for about twenty seconds between each installment) until the glass is completely filled, and then adding two ounces of bourbon…or you can just fill the whole glass with ice all at once, and then add the bourbon.

the most important step: stir the drink slowly. you don’t want to shake it, because the oils in the orange peel are pretty fragile, and you want to be able to taste it in the drink (don’t you?).  not to mention, this drink is “built” in the glass you serve it in, meaning that there’s no transfer from a shaker tin to the glass, and you don’t want to break up the ice, because that will cause it to melt too fast, watering your drink down before you even sip it.

at this point you can add soda water if you like it fizzy, and then twist a big strip of lemon peel or orange peel over the top of the drink, and stick it down into the side of the glass. then, garnish with a slice of orange and another cherry (usually skewered on a toothpick).

now, i didn’t have cherries…or lemon. but i did have an orange. so here’s what i did: sugar and angostura bitters in the bottom of the glass. half moon of and orange slice, cut in half. muddle it, peel and all. add ice to the top of the glass, add bourbon, stir. i then topped it with another quarter moon of orange. and i am currently drinking it.

this drink is strong, and it lets you know that right off the bat. it’s not super super sweet, and the whiskey is definitely the star player…but all that being said, it’s so delicious. if you like feeling like you’re a businessman from the 50s or 60s, or if you just really like bourbon, this drink is definitely for you. and if you feel like this is an “old guy’s” drink, it’s not. it’s a classic, meaning that it’s stood up to the test of time. and while it may not be the most oft ordered cocktail at T.G.I. McFunnster’s, it’s definitely worth a try. 

cheers.

[don draper’s favorite cocktail, btw]

my breakfast tastes like beer

today i’m playing up the classic flavors of hefeweissbier (clove and banana) in my breakfast.

sunnyside egg

blood sausage (spiced with lots of clove)

banana walnut oatmeal

ahmazing

currently making a sort of ad-libbed cajun stew.

browned some chicken. finely chopped some onion, bell pepper, celery and carrot. made a roux, added the vegetables. covered with water, brought to a boil. added the chicken and some chunks of raw potato. added some lemon, hot sauce, and cajun seasoning. currently waiting about a half hour or so for the stew to come together. contemplating if i should make some rice (the one food i cannot, for my life, make correctly…unless i have a rice maker, which i really should get).

i also tasted it, and it’s not exactly what i was looking for. i’m hoping that the flavors will meld a little better after it’s cooked for a while. if not…i’m not entirely sure what else to add. oh well. 

edit:

i added a piece of crumbled bacon. perfection.