We Interrupt This Blog...

There has been no cooking this week for many reasons; one is lack of motivation, and the other lack of time.  Between work and housework, I have been volunteering for the bi-annual campaign for KUHF/KUHA (if you'd like to donate, click either here or here). Volunteering is such a great way to feel a part of something bigger than yourself-- what better local non-profit to donate to, become a member of, and volunteer for than the local news and classical radio station?  They provide an excellent service to the community, I can't help but feel compelled to give back.

Also, J has been working late hours and work has provided food, so there's only me, and I am usually content with cereal rather than pulling out pots and pans for a meal where 75% of it will go into the fridge only to never be eaten again.  This in no way implies that I will be that Haversham-esque Aunt that keeps only boxes and boxes of powdered potato flakes, cat food, and dry milk around the house.  Not at all.  

This weekend has a poor cooking outlook as I have a friend coming into town and we'll be up at the Texas Renaissance Festival.

What's a gal to do for a cooking blog, then?  No matter.  I will return triumphant next week, hopefully full of ideas and recipes and flavor!

Food Truck of the Month: October

As the end of October nears, I realize I have not highlighted a local food truck, as I have "promised" to do so in the past.  I mean really, it's a monthly thing, how hard could it be?

Chicken Soup for the Leftover Soul

I want to start this post off by explaining that I took one billion photos of the chicken soup, only to discover later that I left the memory card out of my camera. I think my camera may have a little bit of it's own memory, but until I figure out how to get them out, this is a post without pictures.  

The very next day after our "Mexican Halloween" meal, I had leftover chicken that I couldn't bring myself to eat again.

Another Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe: Spicy Edition!

I have gotten on a kick of taking chicken and onions and whatever else I want and throwing it in the slow cooker to see what comes out.

Yes, this idea stems again from my original garlic bulb recipe, one criticism I wholeheartedly admit to.

Edible Smut: Website Edition

Have you heard of Cookstr?  Me neither.  However, go there.  Read what the nation and world's cooks are saying about food.

And die as you lived: smothered with information and gravy.  Even better, information gravy.

I'm off to eat crepes this morning and beg my crepe guy to recommend a food truck for October's food truck of the month.  There is no way this could not go well.

Rollin' In the Deep...Dish Pizza.

I made Chicago-style deep dish pizza, because of course I did.

Excuses Galore!

I've not posted in a few days as my schedule has been crazy.

In fact, I had to switch some days at work so I could attend not one, but two weddings (and one reception) on Saturday.

Glory, it was wonderful.  It was a day of seeing friends and family; the second wedding was really interesting as I saw and caught up with people I hadn't seen since graduating High School (yikes!).

Needless to say, however, not a lot of cooking has gotten done.  Poor J, having to eat out at all his favorite places. 

I suspect I will find time to post about the deep-dish Chicago pizza I managed to make last week, as it is a post that is ready to go, save the pictures.

I can't blame my schedule entirely, as I have gotten a little bit hooked on "Community" and have been chewing through the seasons available on DVD rather than my own cooking.

Ah well.  I will renew, with dedication, my writing. I just need a little time!

In the interim, please enjoy this video that has me salivating and jealous and wanting to own chickens. It's part of CHOW.com's "obsessives" video series--a woman in Oakland has her own Urban Farm.

No-Boil: Trend or Long-Kept Secret?

I learned something a few months ago that turned my world upside down.

A comment on a lasagna recipe stated that one does not need to boil lasagna noodles, just pre-soak in hot water, and assemble as you would having boiled them--and then bake as your recipe states.

This was described as "an old catering trick," but I've seen this idea pop up a few different places on the web, such as The Kitchn. Of note, however, the link is to a page discussing cooking pasta with "the passive method," an off-shoot of the no-boil method in which you boil for only 2 minutes and then turn the pot off to let the noodles soak for the remaining noodle cook time (10 minute pasta will need 8min left to soak).

I have been craving homemade mac 'n cheese for awhile now, and (pardon the pun) cooking up a recipe in my head to perfect for Thanksgiving, if the purists in my family so let me.  Whilst perusing the internet for recipes, as I am oft to do, I came across a recipe that specifically stated not to boil the pasta--just dump the elbow macaroni right in the cheese and bake.

These are two American staples that have been around for quite some time.  This "no boil" idea and his brother, "passive boil," intrigues me and begs to me try it out.  I also wonder what other factors need to be in a given recipe for this work--like co-ingredients and bake time.

This matter clearly requires further investigation and hands-on testing.  Now all I need is a clear hypotheses and I'll be one rhesus monkey away from "doing science to it."

Edible Smut: The Lattice Cookie

It's not quite pie, it's not quite a cookie, but it does make me green with envy over not having thought of it:
Lattice Cookies.

Have a happy Wednesday, knowing these are out there.

Also, check out the blog this came from, NotMartha.org.

Slow-Cooker Spaghetti Sauce

Another work week, another slow-cooker adventure!  Last week, I tackled Spaghetti Sauce.

Steaks on a Plate

I believe in the judicious use of failure.  One must learn, in a way, to fail, as a comparison for success.

This is not new.  People the world over, from philosophers to 50cent have discussed this idea--light needs dark as much as dark needs light.

This is a long road to say that the last time I attempted steak, I failed miserably.

Edible Smut: The Cherpumple

Have you not heard?

They call it, "The Cherpumple." It's three different pies, inside three different cakes, inside icing.  Even better, someone made this in response to a chef in Philly making a "Pumple" (a pumpkin and apple pie inside of a chocolate and vanilla cake, respectively).  Someone in LA seriously looked in the mirror and said, "We need to go deeper." Yes, I am the 8,000 person to make an Inception Joke related to this cake.  I care not. 

Someone phone Dallas, this needs to taken to the next level--let's fry this bad boy and sell it at the Texas State Fair.

DID I JUST BLOW YOUR MIND?!?

Okay, that's enough. Off to go and think about how NOT to make this abomination (also, diabetes called, it wants to know if you could somehow add twinkies). 

Places I Love: The Texas Renaissance Festival

On Friday, I went to camp at The Texas Renaissance Festival (TRF). I've been camping annually since 2004, but attending TRF since I was eleven. 

Being gone all weekend means I did no cooking whatsoever.  In fact, I ate as much convenience-food as I could, except for a delicious Ham and Potato Leek Soup that my dear friend and best-chef-that-I-know, R, made on Saturday night.  It was so good--chunky and rich in all the right places.  I love a good home-cooked meal, especially out camping.  Don't get me wrong, I love convenience foods, prepackaged in all their high fructosey goodness.  For laughs (and eats) I bought the biggest jar of cheese puffs as I could find.  God Bless Utz, the purveyors of fine "cheese" products.

I digress.  I love TRF. It's not the costumes, or the shopping, or the camping, it's the whole experience.  There is music playing, people dancing, and I even saw a wedding take place.  You're free to be whomever you want, be it a tall man dressed as a bee or a small baby in a unicorn outfit.  I even saw a goat dressed as a dragon.  I go in costume, but have been known to go in regular clothes too.  The experience is different each time I attend, and I have made good friends and met fine people.

This would not be a food blog if I didn't talk about what I ate--I had sausage-on-a-stick, and J sampled the fried alligator.  I think he came out the winner, as his was tastier and my corset was so tight I couldn't finish the sausage on a stick.  No matter, it left room for the ice cream I ate later in the day.  R commented, "there really isn't anything so comforting as Vanilla Ice Cream," and she was right.

I plan on going out to TRF a few more weekends this season, and if you're in the Houston Area, I suggest you try it out--with Astroworld gone, it's the closest thing we'll ever have to Disneyland/world, only better!

Cracking the Pomegranate: There Will Be Juice

The pomegranate: the seeds are edible, the red and white flesh is not, and many philosophers believe it was actually the forbidden fruit.***

The Apple of Madness

The melanzana, or eggplant, has always been a mystery to me. I've never been quite sure how to properly cook one.

"I'm Pete, this is my brother, Re-Pete.  I'm Pete..."

It's not that I'm not an eggplant fan--I've had it before in salads and on sandwiches. I've had it on a pizza, or simply fried or grilled, like in a tempura or at a friend's bbq.

I Want You, I Knead You: Butter

I made my own butter about a year ago.  I had read about it somehow online, and decided to try it.  I made cookies with that butter, and while I couldn't taste any real difference in home-made butter cookies and store-bought butter cookies, I was happy to have tried it.

Who you callin' "Butter Ball," bub? Oh me, right.

I got the itch to make butter again the other day, as I had a ton of leftover heavy cream from an ice cream recipe.  I make mine in a food processor, but one could make it in a mason jar or with a whisk, or even an electric mixer--The point is to agitate the cream until it separates into butter and buttermilk.

Once you are done, you simply have to squeeze the remaining buttermilk from the butter, and save both in the fridge (a cheesecloth comes in handy for the squeezing).  But what to do with both butter and buttermilk?

Once Eaten, Twice Shy

Update: The slow-cooked chicken, 8hrs later.

I hate leftovers.

I do, I hate them.  I don't like eating the same meal twice, and until recently, there were several instances when I found it hard to eat a homemade meal in the first place.

My enemy, my friend, Lentil.

Lately I have been captivated by the mysterious and sensuous lentil.  I have eaten (and greatly enjoyed) them before, and yet, have not been brave enough to cook them.

How does one cook a lentil?  Is it a grain, or a legume? What do I cook with them?  What do I do if I have some laying about, what does a typical non-soup recipe for lentils look like?

For me, the lentil is a foreign mistress, a wild stag that must be broken.