I came home today with a spring in my step, a gleam in my eye and a desire to cook with garlic, lemon, white wine and butter. Somewhere the conception and realization of such a dinner, Mike walks in, nods sagely, announces a quite fancy name for such a simple dish and also suggests adding capers. Capers! I had never eaten them before! With a bit of testing, salting, peppering and capering, we then creating a delightful meal!

Anyhow, this is easy to make and awesome.

Dredge thin, flat strips of chicken in a mix of flour, salt and pepper and sear in a large pan with a thin layer of smoking olive oil. The salt and pepper mixed into the flour should be to taste. The flour helps keep the chicken juicy. Both sides of the chicken should be a golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan.

The pan is now full of little chicken bits stuck to the bottom. Before they char, turn down the heat and pour oodles of white wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan, because they are delicious. The white wine will reduce and serve as the base of the sauce.

Add a few cloves of garlic! Fresh garlic is better. If you do not have a garlic press, please imagine me glaring at you. Harshly.

Add the butter to the White Wine/Garlic mix! It’ll melt and brighten up the flavor. I used roughly a tablespoon and a half of butter per pound of chicken. Butter is part of my strict daily anti-hypothermia regimen. However, if you enjoy shivering and turning blue while swimming in the ocean, you might use less!

There is now a pile of golden brown, seared chicken in a bowl, and a simmering collection of white wine, butter and garlic in the pan. Turn up the heat add the chicken and reduce the sauce. The excess flour on the chicken will thicken the sauce. I’m not sure how to explain when the sauce is reduced enough, but it should be ‘Slightly Gooey’, in an appetizing way.

Now, go out back to your lemon tree and pick a good looking lemon. Slice it in half and squeeze the juice over the sauce & mix it up. There are now only three trials left to accomplish before we can enjoy the fruits of our labours: Salting, Peppering & Capering. The key to success is tasting the sauce. In the beginning, the wine will overpower everything. (DON’T PANIC.)

I added a sprinkling of salt, quite a few pinches of pepper, and a crash of capers to the mix. I don’t have a set recipe yet & every dish is more of a process than a formula.

Knowing why a dish is made is so much more valuable than memorizing simply how to make it. Even though someone already invented Piccata, figuring out the process on my own was a lot more fun than blindly following a proceedure. Also, this experiment ended successfully, which is key!

Ciabatta - Fix a starter of 1 cup flour, 2/3 cup water and a pinch of yeast and chill for 12 hours. It will become turn bubbly and spounge-ish.  To begin making Christmas dough, add 2 cups flour, 1.5 teaspoons of salt, a measure of yeast in warm milk and about half a cup of water. For points, use a food processor to blend everything together. This sounds weird but works remarkably well! The processor makes every gluteney but if you don’t have one or enjoy being traditional: kneed, quarter turn, etc, until just prior to your arms falling off. Let rise for 90 minutes-ish. If you enjoy having larger bubbles in your bread, add a tablespoon of oil to the mixture. There were Experiments last night and we discovered this.

After rising, form two long, flat loaves. It shouldn’t need to be fooled with too much but punching it down helps. I also like to throw cornmeal on the tray before I transfer the loaves. Let rise for a slight bit more, then cook at 400′ F for 20 minutes.  You should get two well rounded ciabatta with a thin, golden crust and a fluffy interior.  Did you know ciabatta means ‘slippers’? I did not!

Vinaigrette- Add freshly pressed garlic, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, sugar, mustard and slight amounts of olive oil together. The consistency should be thick & syrupy. The secret is more sugar and less wet ingredients compared to one you’d make for a salad. I suggest making lots of this and keeping it about the house . By about the house, I really mean Securely in the Refrigerator.

Slice a loaf in two and drizze the vinaigrette on both sides, add lots of pepper, a little bit of salt and chopped basil. If it smells good, you’re doing it right! Add prosciutto, a soft mozzarella and if you both wish to be traditional and enjoy tomatoes, which I do not, slice & add one!

You now have a sandwich! You win! There’s a particular name for the vinaigrette, mozzarella, tomato & basil combination but it eludes be just now. Carefully piling the Tomato/mozzarella/basil together without bread or prosciutto will create a simple & elegant appetizer-salad thing.

I speak only to those with souls of fire and an insatiable hunger, (Either for competition or a good meal!) for he that hath no stomach, let him depart!  This post is for Chefs of Iron! For the first time friends all over North America will meet in an EPIC CONTEST for glory, for the praise of their fellow man and because it’s just plain fun. The road will not be easy and (as we dice onions) we will share many tears, but we shall be remembered!

Repair to your kitchens to await Chairman Frazier (Hopefully with both (1) A Flamboyant Cape (2) Swooshy sound effects!)  and his choice of SPECIAL INGREDIENTS. <Cue smoke machine, lighting>

I’m imagining this being more a catalyst for inspiration rather than an actual contest, especially for those of us ALL ALONE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! XD (I plan to wrap the Special Ingredient in Bacon. If the special ingredient *is* bacon, even better.) Whenever we decide on a Special Ingredient, take a few days to ponder the possibilities, purchase it and then cook an amazing meal over the weekend (With pictures!) and post it! I’m excited to see the variation and creativity we’re sure to come up with!

If you have any suggestions (For Special Ingredients, A Bacon-less division, Paper plate Style awards ["Dish with least peanuts goes to... *Drumroll* ... Spanky!!!"] etc.) Do mention it?

I vaugely remember that Miso & Rice is somehow wrong, or not a proper meal or taboo, but it is GOOD. Toss a dose of miso into a rice pot & eat it when ready! If I’m lacking in time/effort but need to eat a meal that is both tasty & hot, this is always a good beginning.

If you wish to refrigerate creme brulee for a few days, do not sugar & torch the top yet. The caramelized sugar will begin to dissolve into the cream. Fear not, gentle reader, for all is not lost! Your dessert will still be delicious, but with much sugar dissolved, you will rarely get the satisfying *crack* as you break the topping with a spoon. With this is in your belly, you will no longer care about studying for your upcoming flight or doing any sort of work whatsoever. (Desserts are dangerous.)

Calzones are a mysterious breed of creatures. Delicious, but remarkably hard to find in this area. (There are two restaurants with decent creations, both about an hour away.) Calzones aren’t as difficult as you might think; more trouble than stirfry, certainly, but making dough, mixing the filling and folding/shaping are all rather straightforward.

Dough: 1/4 oz yeast, 1.5 cups warm water, 4 cups flour (I chose a bread flour, which resulted in far tougher dough that I anticipated. Beware.) 1 teaspoon salt, 1.5 teaspoons sugar, 1 tablespoon olive oil

Proof the yeast, as necessary, add ingredients together, knead until smooth, let rise for ~90 minutes. If you’ve ever watched the I Love Lucy episode on bread, in which bread rises and takes up the entire kitchen, this is about what you should expect. I formed 6 flat sheets (~8″x10″)to roll the filling into. The dough was rather tough and a rolling pin is suggested.

Filling: Here is your chance to go absolutely crazy, put in anything your heart desires! Add some combination of Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil, Mozarrella, Parmesean, Provolone Cheeses, Pepperoni, or anything else. Brocoli works well, but be sure to chop it up, soak it, and boil it first. Unless health issues are of concern, one can never add too much cheese. I added perhaps 3/4 of a cup of filling to each 8″x10″ sheet of dough, leaving about an inch perimeter.

Brush this outer edge with a mixture of a beaten egg and 1 tablespoon water. This will serve as a sort of glue. Fold the dough over the filling and then fold the edges and seal them. This is more annoying than it sounds. If the dough bunches up anywhere, you’ll get a lump of dough without any of the tasty filling. D: Spending more time here is absolutely worth it.

Brush the rest of the egg mixture on top of each ‘zone. I added sea salt, parmesean cheese and a sprinkle of love to the top of each one, just to make it even better.

Cook at 375 for 25 minutes. The surface should be firm golden-brown but not a rock-solid or carbonized black.

Calzone with Fork on Table

Back to flying…

As in, I sauteed some salt & pepper dusted shrimp with butter, garlic, white wine and lemon juice earlier this evening. I totally pwned them. (http://omnom.foobeh.com/?p=132) I’m always amazed how simple ingredients combine to produce a great dish. It’s improving, not perfect, and I learned a few lessons in the process.

1. Shrimp(s) Need Space! I like the texture and flavor when the shrimp are slightly seared along the edge and this is impossible if you’re stir-frying the shrimp.  Rather, let them simply sit flat for 2-3 minutes in a pan of browning, melted butter & garlic. You’ll have to cook a few sets, setting each aside in a large bowl, but we need to remove the shrimp anyway in order to reduce the white wine & lemon juice! Take a few more moments and do it right. Done correctly, turn the shrimp only once after a few minutes. The shrimp should change from the dark blue-grey raw color to a light red/white with slight searing. If you have done this, then you are the best.

2. White Wine is Amazing. I’ve been increasing the intensity of the sauce and haven’t been disappointed yet. I’ve seen restaurants bolster the richness with butter, but I prefer the tang of white wine with lemon & pepper. Butter is great, but I want complexity. The more wine & lemon juice you reduce, the stronger the flavor will be. Add just a little bit more; it’ll be awesome, I promise.

4. There Is Never Enough Sauce. I served the Pwned Shrimp over white rice, which felt almost bland. Alas, I should have made more sauce! Rice or pasta is an excellent base for flavor; make sure you have some wine/butter mix left over.

I followed Sophie’s Rosemary Bread guide but mine is simply  ….. Bread, now that said plant is dead. Long live the rosemary.

Once Active-Dry and Instant yeast make sense the world is a better place. Dough rises quickly and just like magic! I broke the incredibly fluffy dough into two boules but fear they were slightly crushed in the process. After rising, the dough was incredibly light, butthe consistency was almost dense while I preheated the oven.  *Shrug* Perhaps that settling is normal?? Everything continued to rise nicely while baking and looked like Christmas morning after half an hour, only covered in sea salt and edible.

I added salt on top of the dough after I formed the loaves rather than with olive oil after baking. Some salt dissolves, leaving a thin, sea-spray layer of flavor throughout the crust as well as in the crystals. I’m not sure which I prefer yet.

There were slight irregularities in the shape of the loaves, probably due to small creases in the dough that I had not properly folded over. At one point, the crust slightly separated slightly; again, likely due to an air bubble, crease, gremlins, etc. The consistency was very reminiscent of Macaroni Grill Bread, which is about everything I was hoping for. The flavor was slightly bland, which is easily correctable by reanimating/finding another rosemary plant, and in the immediate sense, fixed by using excessive amounts of olive oil, basalmic vinegar, salt & pepper. This was a triumph, my roommate agrees. We’re honest about our cooking, here. I’m also one step closer to self sufficiency in the event of the zombie apocalypse.

Bread Boules. Slicing the top turned out better than expected.

Bread!

It's art, guys.

You’ll Need:
Olive Oil
Corn Starch, 4 tbsp
Salt & Pepper
Water, 2/3 cup
Meat/Tofu, ~16oz
Onion, 1 minced
Eggs, 2
Beef/Chicken Stock or Consommé, 32 oz
Vinegar, 4 tbsp
Soy Sauce, 1 tbsp
Mushrooms, if you have any on hand.

Drain the Tofu & slice the Tofu/Meat into thin strips. Lightly coat them in cornstarch. Combine the rest of the cornstarch into the water to create a paste. Mixing the cornstarch now prevents lumping later on when you thicken the soup.
Heat the oil in a large Wok and fry the onions until they’re soft; add the Meat, mushrooms, and turn up the heat. When the Meat is cooked, add the Stock/Consommé. Bring to a boil, let it simmer. Add the Tofu, vinegar, soy sauce, salt, pepper & Water/Corn Starch mixture. Vinegar is for the Sour, Pepper is for the Hot. For a slightly sharper taste, add red pepper of Sri Racha, like a Philistine. Bring the soup almost to a boil, and drizzle in the eggs. Booyah: poached eggs & soup!

The vinegar provided nice flavor that could have used more red pepper and spice. The cornstarch thickened the mixture nicely but more tofu & mushrooms are always a plus.  A Hot & Sour stew is never a bad thing.

Would you eat it in a Wok?

Would you eat it for good Luck?

I do not like green eggs & ham. I do not like them, as a plan! I will not try green beer or beef, unless, I turn another leaf. Inebriation is never right because I have an early flight! I’m writing verse upon a limb & hope these rhymes appease dear Kim… XD

I feel like avoiding the world but love preparing sweet, lemon-y foods, so crêpes it is! Crepes are the best bought off of street corners in Paris, but, being both classy & delicious, one can’t go wrong making them on your own.  I’ve seen a few recipes for an incredibly runny egg batter but I stole a more forgiving recipe from Alton Brown. I’ll experiment with others later on.

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

This is basically no work to create as all of the art is in the flipping. Mix everything together; the batter should be homogeneous and without air bubbles. I used a blender for the mixing and refrigerated the batter overnight to allow it to settle. Reduced the air bubbles allows for easier flipping without any ripping.

I added two tablespoons of sugar, a teaspoon of Vanilla & a dash of Lemon Extract to turn my concoction into more of a dessert dish. The batter smelled strong, but the flavoring was just about perfect; distinctly lemon without overpowering any toppings.

Coat a small pan in non-stick spray or butter and drizzle a thin coating of batter into the pan.  (Thin crêpes tend to taste better, cook faster & you get more of them. Win.)  The outer edge of the crêpe will cook faster than in middle; after ~60 seconds, the batter should change from a light, runny consistency to a darker, solid state. The cooked portion will keep its form enough to allow you to flip the crêpe without too much disaster…

Add a topping, roll them up and enjoy. Alternatively, terribly crass, very hungry people, like me, also enjoy eating them plain.  Yarrr.