Year of Eating Dangerously: Asia

I have no desire to go to China. The myriad of books that I have read lately have only deepened my "un" desire to see that country. The one thing I would like, though, is to taste the food as it is supposed to be. Every book that I have read agrees that when Chinese food is done right it is a thing of sheer beauty. Evidently the crap we have been eating in the States is just that, crap.
As for Korea I have no desire to eat posintang (dog soup). Yes, I do understand that one man's pet is another man's dinner but it isn't as if these are free range dogs. These are horribly treated, brutalized animals. It is no wonder many of the people whom the author asked about posintang gave him the cold shoulder. It is mostly the uneducated and the macho poseurs who give him any props for looking for a good bowl of the soup. I actually had to put the book down during this chapter (I usually read while I eat) because my stomach was beginning to churn.
I did, however, enjoy the chapter in Laos. It was nice to see him enjoying local food that was odd but not unappetizing. I don't think I could ever eat a live shrimp salad but the ant egg salad didn't sound so bad.

Vegetarian Sandwich

One of the difficulties I have had in trying to eat vegetarian is making a good sandwich. There is always, of course, the grilled cheese sandwich but I also like a nice hearty sandwich that will really fill me up for lunch. Then someone gave me the idea for using hummus as the "meaty" part of a sandwich and an idea click in my brain. I toasted up some whole wheat bread, spread hummus on it, add a slice of vegan pepper jack "cheese", then added tomatoes, kalmata olives, and cilantro leaves.
Voila!
A quick, tasty, and satisfying lunch.

The Year of Eating Dangerously: Elvers

The opening chapter to this book actually made me a little sad. My feelings had nothing to do with the writing because I do enjoy the slightly wordy, pretentious and yet self deprecating style that the author has. What made me sad was the whole "elver" culture so to speak. Basically the elvers are baby eels that make a dramatic swim to a resting area before returning to the Bermuda triangle area to mate and die a few years later, or so it is thought. It is utterly fascinating to read about how much we don't know about the eel and also that it is so resistant to domestic farming. Every eel that is farmed or eaten had to be caught live. There is no sustainable method for farming eels. So as international demand for eel grows the actual supply of eel diminishes. As the supply diminishes the price increases and this is the root of what had me a little blue.

What once went from a bucolic (albeit poor) seasonal staple turned into a regional delicacy. This regional delicacy and seasonal staple for the poor transformed into a worldwide delicacy in part by the Japanese and Chinese over fishing their supply. On the one hand it is good that some of the poorer people are able to get a bit of extra cash to help them along by fishing for the elvers. It is a shame too because what had once been a local, seasonal delicacy has been all but obliterated by economics. This destruction of a local way of life makes me want to explore central Ohio and find out just what we do best, what sets us apart.

What local delicacy do you have in your region?

I Have Power

Woo-Hoo! I FINALLY have electricity back. We have been without power since early Sunday afternoon and it has been a pain in the neck. You don't really appreciate the conveniences of modern life until they are taken away from you for a few days. Do you realize what a joy it is to make a cup of coffee in my own house? I am so excited to actually make dinner tonight too and not have to eat crappy, fat laden, take out. . .again.

Weekend Recipe Roundup

Wow, is it Saturday again? Already? My how time just whizzes on by. It's a good thing that the OSU game is away because it is a rainy, humid, gross day here in central Ohio. I'm also excited it is a night game because this way maybe we'll be a little slower tonight at work so I can actually get some extra work done that I have been putting off. Anyway, here we go with this week's recipes

Almond Peach Strudel
Spinach and Lentil Curry
Smoky Black Bean Chili
Healthy Thai-Style Salad of Grilled Eggplant, Tofu, and Watermelon
Summer Vegetable Cianfotta
Peach Cupcakes
Soy Bacon and 'Cream Cheese' Stuffed Mushrooms
Fingerling Potatoes Braised with Smoked Paprika
Spanish Rice with Soy Chorizo

The Year of Eating Dangerously: Intro

I will admit that I am a little bit behind in my reading. I blame Simon R. Green for his sci-fi trash novels that I devour like there is no tomorrow. I just started reading The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure in Search of Culinary Extremes and the introduction just sort of blew my mind. Here is a guy who grew up with the kind of life (at least on paper) that I would have killed for as a child. He lived on the country estate with the homegrown, fresh produce and meat cooked sparsely and elegantly and yet he wanted what I grew up with. The sterile microwave, fast food, quick fix kind of meal. Here he was enraptured by an American style supermarket where I would have been in heaven on a gentleman's farm. It's crazy how the grass always seems greener. It is kind of funny too how we both ended up on an exploration of food. His is a bit riskier and more exotic yet despite the vast differences growing up we both want to experience a richer, better culinary experience.

Barefoot Blogging: Grown up Mac and Cheese

I made Ina's Grown Up Mac and Cheese the other night for dinner and it was okay. I think it only turned out okay because of my personal constraints. The biggest issue was that I couldn't put the bacon in it (you know, cause of the whole vegetarian thing). I think the bacon would have made it so much more appealing (because what doesn't taste better with bacon?). I did consider using Baco's in there but decided against it. That just seemed way too cheesy (pardon the pun). The other issue I had was the Gruyere cheese. That stuff is expensive! I mean really freaking expensive so I substituted Swiss cheese for it. All in all it did turn out alright but nothing great and, again, that is due to my own constraints. If you are going to make the Mac and Cheese then go all out and spend the money (and add the bacon if you can) and I'm sure you will enjoy it because everyone who did spend the money on the Gruyere and added bacon seemed to have loved the recipe.

"Meaty" Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage

I found this recipe in this month's issue of Vegetarian Times. The original recipe calls for tempeh but I hate tempeh and so does Chris so I substituted grillers to give it that meaty sort of quality. I really enjoyed this recipe but Chris wasn't such a fan of it but that just means more for me. The best part is this dish only comes to $7 so you still have money leftover to make your favorite side dish or try some cheddar dill beer bread to go along with it.

1 tablespoon olive oil (staple)
2 large apples peeled cored and chopped($1)
1 red onion chopped ($1)
1 large head of red cabbage finely sliced ($1)
1/2 cup cider (or apple juice in a pinch) ($2)
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar (staple)
3/12 Tablespoons dk brown sugar (staple)
4 Morningstar grillers original (or any other faux burger) ($4)

Heat 1 Tbs of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the apples and the onion and saute for about 10 minutes. Add the cider, vinegar, cabbage, and sugar and cook partially covered about 20 or so minutes stirring occasionally. Meanwhile cook the grillers half way then chop up into squares. Toss the pieces in during the last four minutes of cooking.

Weekend Recipe Roundup

It's been awhile since I've done one of these because it has been a little crazy in down here in Cbus. Between trying to find staff to replace my summer help and employees doing fun things like jumping out of windows and shattering ankles I have been neck deep in work. Add to that the performance reviews that I have to finish writing by next week (and I only have one done) and you get the reason why my creativity level has been drained even lower than it normally lives at. Anyhow, on we go to see what everyone has been cooking up the past couple of weeks.
Tibetan Flatbread
Red Cabbage
Quinoa Salad
Grilled Portobella Mushroom Steaks
Lavender and Lemon Lovelies
Summer Risotto
Habenero Garlic Salsa

It's A Boy

I'll tell you what, the strays in this neighborhood sure know a pair of suckers when they see one. The other day Chris and I were walking to Starbucks and a cat came running out from under a parked car and started meowing at us. Naturally we bent down to pet it and he was so adorable and obviously starved. I could tell Chris was tore up about it so we bought some milk at Starbucks and took it out to the kitty who just started to lap it up like there was no tomorrow. I told Chris to pick him up and we would try to carry him home where we had an abundance of cat food to feed it (I picked up the wrong cat food which neither of our current cats will eat. It is amazing how quickly they turn into picky eaters). I never actually thought the cat would be carried the mile and a half home but he stayed right where he was purring away the whole way home. Naturally we fed him outside then went to the grocery store at which point we got torrential rains. I figured the kitty would take shelter then head back where he came from.
Nope.
After it stopped raining a few hours later we went outside and here comes the kitty meowing away wanting more food and petting. He stuck around the whole weekend so we finally relented and called the vet to start shots and get him neutered. We were thinking the whole time that we would be giving him either to my nieces or to one of Chris' friends.
Nope.
Damn cat is so freaking cute that despite both us not wanting to have a third cat we are gonna keep him. Yep, three cats now. So far the new one (who we are calling Tiger Kitty. I know, really freaking creative, eh?) has been sequestered while he finishes healing from getting his berries lopped off so it will be interesting to see how they all get along. This is gonna be interesting.

Cilantro and Garlic Hummus

I love hummus. I could eat hummus all day long and not get bored with it. I never made my own hummus before and I'm not sure why because it really isn't all that difficult to do. The basics are toss a 14 oz can of drained chickpeas into your blender, add a little bit of sesame oil, a teaspoon or so of cumin (I usually go to the "or so" part and put a tablespoon in), a couple cloves of chopped garlic, a tablespoon of lemon juice, and some finely chopped cilantro (about 1/4 cup) into a blender and blend until smooth. Add a little bit of the liquid that the chickpeas were soaking in to loosen it up (a little less than 1/4 cup works for me). What I love about this is you can add anything to the chickpeas that you want to get whatever flavor you want. I usually eat hummus by scooping it up with slices of cucumber or pita chips, whatever is handy usually. Quick, easy, nutritious, and delicious.

Basmati Rice with Cumin

The other day I was making a dish that called for 3 cups of cooked rice. Me being me I put three cups of uncooked rice into the rice cooker. Needless to say I ended up with a lot of extra rice. It actually turned out quite well because I have a new love affair with cumin (which is pronounced "comein" not "kyou-min" like I had been saying). Cumin is one of the ingredients in curry and is also found in most world cuisines that like are spicy. It is easy to see why with it's peppery, smoky, subtly spicy flavor. A little cumin packs a large punch so that is why on a small bowl of leftover basmati rice I added a tablespoon of soy sauce and a teaspoon of cumin and went to town. The cumin really adds a different flavor dimension to plain rice and soy sauce. It makes the rice seem a little bit more exotic and touch more gourmet. I would even make this for a side dish.