Ok so this is the first post that is (mostly) unrelated to food. I just went and saw Ocean's 13 the other day and IT IS AWESOME! The cast alone (Joe Pesci, George Clooney, Bernie Mac et al.) was great, and the plot tied in elements from the previous two movies very well. The opening credits were reminiscent of the original Ocean's movie done in 1960. I had gotten the baking bug earlier that week, so a few hours before I left for the movie, I made cookies! It wasn't mom's recipe, so she was a bit miffed, but they were good cookies nonetheless. It was a great way of not having to spend too much on concessions! Cookies and Dark Chocolate aka (although i don't know why) Men's Pocky take care of the snacks, and then you can either bring some water or grab a coke. This is where being female has its advantages, no one bothers you when you have a big purse. Looking at it now, my purse isn't even half the size of some I've seen out and about now, and my everyday purse is even smaller! Guys, try man-purses. My grandpa has one, and it looks like a small version of a messenger bag. And my grandpa is no girly-man! He's 82 and has only stopped chopping logs for the fireplace because the doctor said no. If it makes you feel better, call it a messenger bag or briefcase. If they let you in with it, bring a backpack.
Back on subject!!
Ocean's 13 was a definite hit, and I recommend it to anyone who likes James Bond movies or heist movies. It would help if you have seen the other two movies in the series, but there is enough explanation and unrelated stuff there that it's not absolutely necessary. Go see it!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Debts
You know how most people have cash debts or credit debts? Apparently, I have pie debts. For the past few years, I have been the pie supplier for small parties at a bar my dad likes. Nice people... even when they're tipsy! I usually make only one or two pies, but from what I hear they are gone in 10 minutes. Wow. Because of this, people who have done favors for me now ask for pie instead of another form of payment. That and barbecue sushi. What is that, you ask? Eastern style pulled pork barbecue in sticky rice wrapped in a tortilla sushi-style, then sliced into 1 to 1.5 inch pieces. I once made a HUGE platter of it for a party there and for a Taekwondo awards ceremony after-party and they were a big hit.
Anyways, I'm now making two apple pies-- one for a person who says I owe her (and right now I do, because I got some cool shoes from her), and one for a person who more than deserves it and needs it. It's a great comfort food, right up there with my grandma's chicken soup (and it's Kosher, oy vey!), my mom's chocolate chip cookies (she won't give me the recipe darn it!!), and my dad's chicken cacciatore.
My dad says I am now the pie-master of the house so he won't help me. It's not my fault that I like making pie crusts from scratch and they come out better than commercial pie crusts... oh wait, yes it is. He could at least help with the pie innards.
I'll post some pics of the pies and the "pie-nots" later.
Anyways, I'm now making two apple pies-- one for a person who says I owe her (and right now I do, because I got some cool shoes from her), and one for a person who more than deserves it and needs it. It's a great comfort food, right up there with my grandma's chicken soup (and it's Kosher, oy vey!), my mom's chocolate chip cookies (she won't give me the recipe darn it!!), and my dad's chicken cacciatore.
My dad says I am now the pie-master of the house so he won't help me. It's not my fault that I like making pie crusts from scratch and they come out better than commercial pie crusts... oh wait, yes it is. He could at least help with the pie innards.
I'll post some pics of the pies and the "pie-nots" later.
Monday, June 25, 2007
An image is worth a thousand words
Here are the promi
sed pictures!
The flan; with sliced peaches, papaya, and lime and a caramel crunch. This is only half of the 9 x 9 version, and it served four. The recipe called for cinnamon in the custard, so it was a nice flavor along with the vanilla and normal custard- caramel flavors. Most custards, such as crême brulée or zabaglione, have strong flavors, but the flan is made even more powerful by the dark caramel coating. This is not for the faint of palate. It's fun to play around with the flavorings you add to the custard. Where the recipe calls for vanilla extract, try a fruit flavor or almond or even chocolate or rum. You want the things to be the same consistency and viscosity of the vanilla, though, so DO NOT use chocolate syrup if you want to mess around with chocolate. Try to find something thinner. If you want, you can also mess with the caramel and add food coloring to the water and not let it get so dark. Just think, purple flan! For the caramel crunch, just make a batch of caramel but don't let it get too dark and then take a forkful of it and fling it onto a greased or non-stick-sprayed plate à la Jackson Pollock (be careful it's messy). It's neat if you can get some ribbons going or some threads. You'll have to work quickly though or keep it on a hot plate to keep it malleable. Caramel coating becomes like GLASS once it cools. To put it on the flan, loosen it from the plate after it has cooled and then place it on top or on the individual servings as you like.
First and second courses combined here!
Appetizer: Tekka Maki (tuna roll) and a Tekka/Kappa Maki (tuna and cucumber). There was also a Spicy Kappa Maki and Spicy Tekka Maki but we ran out before I could take a picture. The S.T.M was made using some of the seared tuna (pictured here). It wasn't too bad. The S.K.M was made by putting some wasabi on the seaweed before adding rice and cucumber and rolling. The wasabi (green Japanese horseradish that is MUCH hotter than what you normally get at the supermarket) that I bought for it was more concentrated than it is normally, so it actually caused my dad, mom and I to turn red and grab the nearest piece of lettuce. My little brother is spicy-food-sensitive, so we didn't give him any. Pepperocinis have nothing on this. Nor do Jalapeño peppers.
Main Dish: Shrimp, asparagus, and sweet potato tempura; seared yellow fin tuna that had been crusted in cracked black peppercorns, a little bit of lemon juice, chili powder, and kosher salt; and bacon-wrapped broiled shrimp.
Garnishes: Pickled ginger, which is traditionally served with sushi as a palate-cleanser; wasabi; and soy sauce.
A good site for sushi recipes and terms is http://sushiday.com.
Okay, I lied, it's more like 533 words... that's about half of what I said it would be worth. I ran out of relevant material. If this were for an English essay, I'd beef it up (pun not intended) and make it at least 1000 words. Good thing it isn't.
sed pictures!The flan; with sliced peaches, papaya, and lime and a caramel crunch. This is only half of the 9 x 9 version, and it served four. The recipe called for cinnamon in the custard, so it was a nice flavor along with the vanilla and normal custard- caramel flavors. Most custards, such as crême brulée or zabaglione, have strong flavors, but the flan is made even more powerful by the dark caramel coating. This is not for the faint of palate. It's fun to play around with the flavorings you add to the custard. Where the recipe calls for vanilla extract, try a fruit flavor or almond or even chocolate or rum. You want the things to be the same consistency and viscosity of the vanilla, though, so DO NOT use chocolate syrup if you want to mess around with chocolate. Try to find something thinner. If you want, you can also mess with the caramel and add food coloring to the water and not let it get so dark. Just think, purple flan! For the caramel crunch, just make a batch of caramel but don't let it get too dark and then take a forkful of it and fling it onto a greased or non-stick-sprayed plate à la Jackson Pollock (be careful it's messy). It's neat if you can get some ribbons going or some threads. You'll have to work quickly though or keep it on a hot plate to keep it malleable. Caramel coating becomes like GLASS once it cools. To put it on the flan, loosen it from the plate after it has cooled and then place it on top or on the individual servings as you like.
First and second courses combined here!
Appetizer: Tekka Maki (tuna roll) and a Tekka/Kappa Maki (tuna and cucumber). There was also a Spicy Kappa Maki and Spicy Tekka Maki but we ran out before I could take a picture. The S.T.M was made using some of the seared tuna (pictured here). It wasn't too bad. The S.K.M was made by putting some wasabi on the seaweed before adding rice and cucumber and rolling. The wasabi (green Japanese horseradish that is MUCH hotter than what you normally get at the supermarket) that I bought for it was more concentrated than it is normally, so it actually caused my dad, mom and I to turn red and grab the nearest piece of lettuce. My little brother is spicy-food-sensitive, so we didn't give him any. Pepperocinis have nothing on this. Nor do Jalapeño peppers.
Main Dish: Shrimp, asparagus, and sweet potato tempura; seared yellow fin tuna that had been crusted in cracked black peppercorns, a little bit of lemon juice, chili powder, and kosher salt; and bacon-wrapped broiled shrimp.
Garnishes: Pickled ginger, which is traditionally served with sushi as a palate-cleanser; wasabi; and soy sauce.
A good site for sushi recipes and terms is http://sushiday.com.
Okay, I lied, it's more like 533 words... that's about half of what I said it would be worth. I ran out of relevant material. If this were for an English essay, I'd beef it up (pun not intended) and make it at least 1000 words. Good thing it isn't.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sugar
Sugar is SO MUCH FUN! I decided that I was going to make a flan for my mom's homecoming dinner. Dad and I decided that it would be a gourmet meal after all of the good finds from yesterday. So we're going to have bacon-wrapped shrimp, seared yellowfin tuna, tuna sashimi/sushi (if it's good enough fish), flan with papaya and lime slices, and probably some asparagus and sweet potato tempura. All I need to do is get my dad to take me to a nearby Asian mart to pick up the short grain rice and nori (seaweed sheets). And some pickled ginger because mom loves the stuff. Talk about international...
I had to give my little brother a cooking lesson today because he kept saying "I'm boooooooored" and I wanted him to be quiet. I taught him the wonders of custards (flan), how to make caramel (the topping for it), and colors (define amber, warm colors, and cool colors). Yay.. . The fun part, though, was then making another small batch of caramel and doing sugar work with it. We now have a plate-full of caramel ribbons/threads. I was going for Jacques Pepin's sugar nest, but it didn't quite work out that way. Now we have a crunchy flan topping!! My orthodontist will hate me. Hahahahahahaaaa... (I don't really like the orthodontist, but they're fixing my teeth so that's what matters). I'll post some photos later.
I had to give my little brother a cooking lesson today because he kept saying "I'm boooooooored" and I wanted him to be quiet. I taught him the wonders of custards (flan), how to make caramel (the topping for it), and colors (define amber, warm colors, and cool colors).
Saturday, June 23, 2007
So here's a story... of a chef-like lady... ok you know the tune
For lack of a better picture I have put Gackt as the main picture on my blog, eating what looks to be takoyaki (octopus dumplings). Yum!
My first official job interview was today. I hope it went well. It's a big position for a newbie, so if I get it that will be BEYOND incredible.
A big hug goes out to all of my special people-- Captain Obvious, Nomu-kun, family members, and friends-- for the awesome support network you have been in these past few weeks and for as long as I have known you. You have no idea how awesome you are.
Anyway... by me there is this great place that gets leftovers and rejects from major foodservice establishments, and every once in a while they have a freezer sale. One word: WOW. Today was the first time I checked it out, and there was everything from yellow fin tuna (still frozen, so maybe sashimi-able) to hamburger patties to bacon (in big giant boxes on sheets.. my culinary teacher would be ecstatic) to kielbasa. This place also has nice syrups and cans-o-stuff, if you can find things without dents. Dents are bad; dents = botulism = ew. More than food, they also have the occasional great find in clothes. I was able to nab a $90 sweater for under $15. That's at least an 80% discount-- my grandpa would be proud.
So dinner for the next few days gets to be super-gourmet stuff. A combination of freezer sale goodness and a few nice (and nicely priced) Farmer's Market finds make for a lot of fun in the kitchen. Aren't good deals a wonderful thing?
My first official job interview was today. I hope it went well. It's a big position for a newbie, so if I get it that will be BEYOND incredible.
A big hug goes out to all of my special people-- Captain Obvious, Nomu-kun, family members, and friends-- for the awesome support network you have been in these past few weeks and for as long as I have known you. You have no idea how awesome you are.
Anyway... by me there is this great place that gets leftovers and rejects from major foodservice establishments, and every once in a while they have a freezer sale. One word: WOW. Today was the first time I checked it out, and there was everything from yellow fin tuna (still frozen, so maybe sashimi-able) to hamburger patties to bacon (in big giant boxes on sheets.. my culinary teacher would be ecstatic) to kielbasa. This place also has nice syrups and cans-o-stuff, if you can find things without dents. Dents are bad; dents = botulism = ew. More than food, they also have the occasional great find in clothes. I was able to nab a $90 sweater for under $15. That's at least an 80% discount-- my grandpa would be proud.
So dinner for the next few days gets to be super-gourmet stuff. A combination of freezer sale goodness and a few nice (and nicely priced) Farmer's Market finds make for a lot of fun in the kitchen. Aren't good deals a wonderful thing?
New Blog
Well... I guess I have finally succumbed to the blog fever. Wheee!
Pocky and Flambee, two great things!! Although probably not together... the pocky would die. That would not be good.
Pocky and Flambee, two great things!! Although probably not together... the pocky would die. That would not be good.
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