Experimentation!

Potato salad. I grew up with the stuff, and I loved it when Granny Miller used to make it, but her memory didn't survive long enough to get the recipe from her. Which is a shame. So for the last few days I've been experimenting on myself to recreate her recipe for a warm, mustard based German potato salad. Needless to say, I haven't hit success yet, otherwise you'd have a new recipe. But I've had some fantastic fried potatoes the last few days with a mustard crust. ^.^

In other news I'm throwing up a quick picture of one of the temples in Egypt as compensation.

Roasting a chicken

If there's a single thing which depresses me is eating crappy fast-food day in and day out as I work my arse off. Granted, my arse is looking a little slimmer because I know how horrible it is for me and I don't eat a lot of it, but still I can't wait to get home to cook one of my favorite meals: Roasted Dutch Oven Chicken.

This is one of the easiest recipes that I know from my scouting days, you put it on the coals or in the oven at 300 or so degrees, and you leave it alone for 3 hours. The best thing about a dutch oven is that it will lock all the moisture inside, leaving a tender bird which falls right off the bones.

Roasted Dutch Oven Chicken

Tools:

Dutch Oven (cast iron are the best!)

Small heat resistant metal rack to rest the chicken on (or a cleaned out tuna can with paper removed and the top and bottom removed)

Ingredients:

5-6 lb whole chicken (make sure the bird isn't bigger than the dutch oven, and make sure it is thawed out!)

Salt and Pepper

cooking oil to cover the bottom of the dutch oven

Set the oven to 300 degrees. Take the chicken and make sure there aren't any goodies inside of the bird (in case the company that preps the bird treats it like a turkey and leaves any 'surprises' in the bird like a packet of gravy, which would be BAD). Place the metal rack inside the dutch oven and place the bird on top. Make sure you have at least an inch away from all the sides of the dutch oven for best results!

Liberally apply salt and pepper to the bird, making sure to get the inside of the bird, and then place it on the metal rack. Then pour oil into the bottom of the dutch oven to about the halfway point of the metal rack. Don't let the oil get up to the bird, we aren't trying to fry the bird, only use the oil to help steam/cook it! (yes, it seems counter intuitive, but oil will

Put the lid on the dutch oven and place it inside the oven. Once it is in there, LEAVE IT ALONE! Wait three hours and check the bird, it should be cooked all the way through at this point and smelling delicious. You can cook the bird for even longer at 200-250 degrees, but make sure you use a meat thermometer if you do to make sure it is done. This will make the chicken just fall off the bones each and every time!

Bien Camino!

Work, Work, Work. . .

Work! What an ugly four letter word! Granted, it is nice to get a paycheck, but I'm going to be on day nine without a break tomorrow. This wouldn't be bad, but I've of course overdone everything in the last nine days, working during the day and then writing at night. Really trying to get that book done.

I swear if my diet gets any worse I'm just going to gain four hundred pounds and call it a day. Sigh!!!

With that said, I decided tonight it was the perfect time to make a simple dinner tonight: spinach and onion on simple wheat pasta.

Spinach and Onions on Pasta

Tools:

Big Arse Pot

Skillet

Strainer

Cutting Board

Something sharp that you shouldn't run with (knife)

Slotted Spoon

Ingredients:

1 cup dry pasta (cooked al dente based on the last recipe)

heavy dash of salt for the pasta water

WATER! (just in case you couldn't figure out that you needed water to cook the pasta)

1 onion, sliced thin

2 cups fresh spinach

2 slice of bacon

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Alright, cook the pasta until it is al dente (almost done) in the big arse pot, and strain the water out of it (reserving a half cup for the 'sauce'). In the skillet on medium heat, cook the bacon slice to release the fat. Take the bacon out when done and then add the olive oil and garlic to the pan. After the garlic begins to sizzle throw in the onions and crank the heat up to high. Cook the onions for a minute and then add the spinach and toss around, covering the spinach in oil/flavor. Crumble the bacon back onto the spinach. Pour the pasta into the pan, turn off the heat, and add the reserved liquid to the pan to cool it off/create a sauce. Salt and pepper to taste!

And there we go. Simple, healthy, and making me feel good about life (and a dislocated shoulder) again. Until next time!

Bien Camino!

The Gift of Gab

Blarney. The LAST place I needed to go. Let alone kissing the Blarney Stone, which my mother still shakes her head in disgust. Like I needed more "the gift of gab," I never shut up as is!

Never fear, I will only use this power for 'good'. Ha! Who am I kidding?

Bien Camino!

Abydos

Si, the one, the only, Abydos of Starga. . .not really. This is Abydos in Egypt, the original Abydos, which I visited in 2007 with a Study Abroad Trip (note to self: never be an assistant leader to 53 participants again. I treasure that little bit of sanity I have left.)

This of course is much cooler than what a certain TV series made it out to be; the gigantic wall with all the names of the pharaohs carved in cartouches was one of the coolest moments of this trip.

Bien Camino!

Pasta!

Oh, cold snowy days. . . you make me miss the summer. Fresh veggies, olive oils, fish, pasta. That my friends is paradise. But of course the winter makes dreams of summer food tougher from the lack of fresh veggies. This is easily overcome with any well stocked super-market and just a few ingredients from the greek pasta bar, you can be in pasta heaven again.

Summer Pasta

Tools:

HUGE arse pot (for cooking the pasta)

Large skillet

Slotted spoon or strainer

Spatula

Cutting board

Knife

Ingredients:

2 cups of dry wheat pasta*

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of butter

1/2 small onion, diced

3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup of marinaded olives (black or green, your choice, but get pitted if you can for ease of eating)

1 cup of marinaded cherry tomatoes (cut in half if you have a choice)

1/2 cup of fresh, chopped mushrooms

Pepper to taste

1 tin of anchovies or sardines in oil (I love anchovies for this dish, it reminds me of summer)

dash of salt to cook pasta

* ok, pasta 101 time: get the biggest freaking pot you own and fill it with water and salt and bring to a hard boil. This is the most time consuming part of making this dish. Then add the pasta to cook. The kind of pasta that you use is very important as well, the shapes of pasta were developed over centuries for a variety of tasks, such as holding onto various kinds of sauces. For this kind of dish I love to use a linguini noodle or spiral pasta in this dish. The pasta is done when it is ardent, or cooked right up to the point that it is 'done'. Drain and remove from the heat, but retain some of the pasta water for later!

Ok, first thing first, cook the pasta. From my own experience, pasta boxes lie. They lie like your second cousin who said he slept with a movie star. They lie like a teenage boy talking about making out with a girl. They lie, lie, lie. Don't trust them! Cook the pasta as suggested above, it might take a little bit of practice but it is worth it!

After the pasta is done, put the skillet on the stove on medium heat. Add in the butter and olive oil until the butter melts. Then add the garlic and onion. Let it sizzle in the skillet for a few minutes then add the anchovies and parsley, warm, and then add the tomatoes, olives, and mushrooms.

Pour the pasta into the hot pan and mix it together well, covering all the pasta. Add a little bit of the pasta water into the pan to help develop the sauce if it is too thick. Crack pepper over this all and serve!

Bien Camino!

Colossi of Memnon

These are the Colossi of Memnon, which I visited both in 2005 and 2007 trips to Egypt.

Legends state the statues once advised priests early in the morning, whispering, as the sun rose. But due to a pompous jerk from Rome who wanted to 'fix' the statues, all the cracks were filled, silencing the statues.

And now the science: dew collected in the cracks of the statues during the night, and when the sun began to heat the statues it would boil off the liquid, causing a 'whisper'. So in sealing the cracks, the Roman jerk 'silenced' the statues forever.

And yeah, they were that big. If you are going to build a statue, do it big and with style!

Bien Camino!

Bonus!

And for tonight's "please forgive this fool for apply to PhD programs," a bonus recipe!

Vegetarian Yellow Curry

Tools:

Knife

Cutting Board

Pot with Lid

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of dried lentils

1 large diced onion

1 large diced potato

1-2 diced hot peppers (or 3 thai chilies/1 habanero)

1 large diced carrot

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 cup of mung beans

1.5 cups of chopped spinach (I use the frozen stuff)

4 tbsp yellow curry powder (hit the oriental/asian markets for the best!)

4-6 cups of veggie stock (depends on how think or thin you like your curry sauce)

2 cups of cooked rice to serve this on.

Take all of your ingredients and add them to the pot. Cover and cook for 30 minutes to an hour on low heat. Make sure you aren't wearing a white shirt, and serve on cooked rice. (cause the curry will stain EVERYTHING). This is one of my favorite 'one pot meals' that I do after a long day working. I can go home, throw everything in the pot, and walk away until it is done.

Bien Camino

Yes, I am a Slacker!

Sorry all! I realized when I got an email that I've been too tied up with work and grad school apps the last week to write anything. Sigh. Then again I've been eating canned soup and bread for a week, so it isn't like I've been making gourmet meals. Or anything healthy.

Ugh. I just realized how bad last week sucked. ><

Well time to make up for lost time with some recipes! And maybe leave the coffee shop before closing.... (not likely!)

This is one of my favorite morning recipes to make: it is a great blend of healthy and bacon. If you are going to do this one, nuke the potato the day before and let it chill in icebox for the next day.

Sweat Potato Hashbrowns

Tools:

Cutting Board

Knife

Skillet with lid

Spatula

Food-type items (ingredients)

1 large pre-cooked and chilled sweat potato

1/5th lb of bacon

1 small onion

pepper to taste

Alright, this is really really easy. Put the pan onto medium heat and throw the bacon into the bottom of the pan. While that is cooking, slice up the potato into thin slices and dice the onion up. When the bacon is done, pull out of the pan and set aside. Lower the heat to low, and then spread the potato thinly onto the pan. Sprinkle the potatoes with onions and pepper to taste. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or so. Liberally munch on the bacon while this is cooking, you can't let bacon go to waste.

Optional: Serve with scrambled eggs and more bacon. If you are feeding others, indicate that your cooking expertise relies on liberal acquisition/inhalation of bacon and that your guests should plan a sacrifice/offering of bacon as the traditional sign of respect to the cook. But in all seriousness, I do scrambled eggs at the same time, and serve ketchup for both (this is a Hoosier thing, don't judge me!)

Bien Camino!

Good job on overdoing the workout!

Welcome to the new year and getting back into the exercising tradition that has slacked for a month. I'm a bit sore but I did it to myself. This is the second day in the row which I've overdone my workout. So I intended to work out for 45 minutes and ended up doing 2.5 hours....nothing a good stretch and soak won't cure later. That and a handful of ibuprofen.

Yeah, it isn't a surprise I'm a bit rough on my body, but I have to keep it in shape for my insane travels. It isn't like I can just throw on a backpack and walk several hundred kilometers without shaping up slightly at first. Well I can, and I lose it fast, but that isn't the point!

Lunch today was delicious, a bowl of black bean soup. I made this from some leftover christmas ham that I snagged from my family and then froze. It spent the better part of 12 hours yesterday in the crock pot slowly boiling away, breaking up all the meat and making a really tasty broth. Add in some black beans and suddenly you have a delicious meal!

Black Bean and Ham Soup

Tools:

Crock Pot (I use my smaller 2 quart for this)

Can Opener

Ingredients:

2 cups of Mr. Pig, broken down in the slow cooker, BBQ style.

1 cup dried black beans

2 tbsp dehydrated onion flakes

1 can of chopped tomatoes with green chilies (medium or hot, your choice)

enough water to cover the soup.

Ok, take Mr. Pig and put him into the slow cooker. Cover with water until the meat is covered, crank up the heat, and leave it alone for 12-24 hours. This will make your home smell wonderful. I know how tempting that it might be to use this broth as a homemade cologne or perfume, but it would be a shame to lose any of this tastiness.

Once the meat has broken down, add in the cup of dried black beans and the onion flakes. Here comes the tricky part of the meal, you will want to add water to the pan, but you need to make sure that you have enough room left over afterwards for the can of tomatoes/chilies. This is more of an eyeball guessing game than anything, I've gotten really good at it with practice, but still occasionally goof up.

The best trick is to add water to cover all the ingredients and then another 2 inches worth of water. This 'should' leave you enough room in the crock pot for the tomatoes/chilies later. If not, well get a ladle out and scoop some broth into a bowl. This broth will make a delicious snack if you dip bread into it.

Let it cook overnight if possible, but at least 8 hours on low. This will hydrate/cook the beans. About 2 hours before serving, add the can of tomatoes/chilies (juice and all) to the crock pot. This will add some fantastic flavor.

I like to serve this in bowls with a thick rye or dark grain bread on the side. The bread is perfect for soaking up the awesome flavors in this soup.

Well it is back to working on my next book, The Zombie's Diary, and I have a good deal of work ahead of me. A writer's work is never done, not unless the writer likes to starve.

Bien Camino

Happy New Years

For the Western calendar, today was the first day of the year 2012. Last night we marked the end of 2011 and all the memories and experiences that we have learned from it, and welcomed in the future. Being brought up Irish-German-American (yeah, I know, some of the sexiest people in the world), I was taught a fine tradition on New Year's Day that you needed to eat a little bit of fresh cabbage for luck in the coming year. This was one of those absolutes that happened every year growing up, Mom would cut up the cabbage for something (usually coleslaw because that was her preferred way to eat it) and then give/have stolen the cores of the cabbages by my brothers, dad, or most of the time, me (really, this shouldn't have been any surprise!).

That was always great tradition, even if I didn't realize it growing up. And like all grand traditions I tend to enjoy continuing them into my adult life. And you can probably guess that I wouldn't do this the easy way, I love my traditions, but I just need to eat some cabbage during New Year's Day, it doesn't say how I have to cook it.

Spicy Stir Fry Cabbage on Rice

Tools:

Wok or Flat Bottom Pan able to hold at least 1/2 a head of cabbage.

Spatula (metal or plastic depending on the surface of your pan)

Cutting Board

Large Knife

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cabbage (shredded)*

Sriracha hot chili sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1 large carrot, shredded

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tbsp chopped ginger

1 medium onion, shredded

Cooked white rice to serve this on (I make 3 cups cooked rice for every half cabbage I make)

*Ok, although I'm lazy 99.9% of the time, for special meals, I will shredded my own cabbage. Wash the cabbage under ice water and then pat dry. Place it on the cutting board so you can cut the bottom most heal off the cabbage, about 1/2 inch of the cabbage. This will give you a flat surface so you can plop it down on the cutting board. Now that it is flat and doesn't roll, cut the cabbage in half from the top down, creating two equal halves. Now you can lay your now larger flat surface onto the cutting board and 'shred' it with the knife by cutting thin strips off of the cabbage. I do my lettuce the same way when I get a head of iceburg (aka crap) lettuce.

First thing is first and cut everything up before you even put the pan on the heat. Once it is all cut up, you will want to get the pan very hot before adding the oil. From this stage it will move VERY quickly (as all stir fry). Add the garlic and ginger to the pan, then quickly add the carrot and onion. Stir this with the spatula several times to coat the veggies in the oil, and then add the cabbage.

Move it around quickly until the cabbage sweats a little bit (aka, cooks for about 30 seconds on high heat) and then start to add the Sriracha sauce. directly to the pan. Stir the entire time. Take it off the heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over white rice.

Well I better get going, it is the new year and I have many things to do and not a lot of time to do it. Until next time.

Bien Camino!