For the next couple of days I’m staying with my college friend Ryan in the Chicago “gayborhood” (god I hate portmanteaux). He’s a lactose-intolerant vegetarian, which means he’s a vegan most of the time. I thought it would be nice to thank him for letting me stay at his place by trying my hand at [...]
Posts under ‘Experiments’
beefs
In case you were wondering, Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon IS that complicated. Spelling it right is, too. Kim and I set out to recreate this epic dish and, even starting as a two-person team, it was still about a six-hour process. I also don’t know how Amy Adams had time to fall asleep, because there [...]
I just ate the worst fucking cookies
My stomach burns with the fire of a thousand pissed off suns.
This happens only rarely, because of my health nut CEO, but every once in a while, a vendor will send someone in the company baked goods, which are then scavenged ruthlessly by the flocks of office women. So when I see an alert from [...]
apple cake in a skillet, or, how not to set your kitchen on fire
Not long ago, a bunch of medievalists I know went apple-picking, as you do here in the city named after unusually large fruit, resulting in 15 lbs of apples sitting on my kitchen floor. I did what one naturally does under these circumstances while avoiding paper-writing, and baked: first whole-wheat apple muffins with brown sugar, [...]
The secret ingredient is a lot more meat.
So by popular request (i.e. harassment from Jo) here is the recipe for the illustrious winner of Chef’s Choice at the chili cook-off.
Ingredients:
2 Green Bell Peppers
3-4 Jalapeño Peppers
1-2 White Onions
1 Large Can Tomato Sauce (~29 oz)
1 Can Tomato Paste (~12 oz)
1 Bottle of Beer
3 Cans of Beans (16 oz each)
1 Pound Ground Chicken
1 Pound Ground [...]
Rectum? Damn Near Killed ‘im!: A Chili Retrospective
I am the precisely wrong person to write about the 1st Annual Gloria Huang Birthday Chili Cook-Off, considering that hours after my first-prize triumph, I had to be generously driven by the 3rd placeman to the hospital to ease my insufferable stomach flu symptoms. (Full disclosure, none of these chilis cause spontaneous stomach flu, but [...]
Risotto… it takes forever, but it is delicious!
The last few items in our weekly CSA box were cherry tomatoes, canteloupe, and some summer squash. Summer squashes are the ones that you can eat basically fresh, like zucchini and crookneck squash. All you need to do is cut ‘em up, add salt, and maybe toss them in a pan with olive oil for [...]
Bread
Help, I need a camera that doesn’t make the world blurry. I was impressed how this batch came out.
Back to flying…
First Food Failure, lovingly retold.
Scale of Fail: 1 million vs. 300 in Battle of Thermopylae, then getting pushed back into Persia by the fucking Athenians.
So here’s my problem. When I make up recipes, I think things will be GREAT. They are not always great. I feel like I’ve got imagination, but terrible form. The form will come with either [...]
Et Tu, Brute: How you too can kill Caesar.
I am a tragically addicted to Vapiano’s, a cooked-to-serve pasta place that offers overpriced but delicious food, exactly the way you like it. But it is very expensive, and although I love me some caesar salad, it shouldn’t cost 10 of my hard-earned dollars.
Here’s the thing about salad. It should be so easy to get [...]