Bunch of Bad Apples Applesauce

As I promised, I am back this week with a recipe to use all those fall apples taking up space in the kitchen and causing your pantry to smell of rot.  A few weeks ago my roommates went apple picking without my supervision and came back with 25 lb of apples, but only one of them eats apples.  Back to today, I have a huge pile of apples sitting in the kitchen starting to go bad, even after an apple pie was made.  My first thought to use up these mushy fruit is applesauce.  Since the apples are cooked and do not need to retain their shape, like say apple dumplings, apple sauce is the perfect recipe to not let apples go to waste.  It is a warm, soft, sweet, and tantalizing dish that can be served hot or cold for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, or a snack.  It is a comfort food that immediately takes me back to my childhood when my mom would so often make me applesauce to fit my picky appetite.  I remember sitting at the counter with her while peeling apples on our old mechanical contraption that peeled, cored, and sliced them simultaneously.  Even the smell of applesauce takes me back to the golden childhood years, and sometimes that is a much needed feeling.  Store bought goop won't do; only homemade will satisfy this craving.  However, this recipe has an adult kick: whisky.  So on this rainy afternoon, I took the time to make fresh applesauce for lunch before returning to work.

This recipe is incredibly simple, yet rewarding.  All you have to do it peel, boil, and mash the apples.

• 3 lb of apples peeled and rough diced (use a variety of Gala, Fuji, Grannysmith, Golden Delicious as they provide the perfect combination of flavor and textures)
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1 Tbl cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg (fresh grated please)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• juice of one lemon
• splash of whiskey at the end
• optional: raisins, all spice, apple cider instead of water

Put the apples in a large pot and add water to almost the top of apples.  Add sugar and bring to a boil.  When soft, mash apples to desired consistency (I like mine chunky) and add the rest of the ingredients.  Season to taste.  Eat warm or chill for later. Enjoy.

Pumpkin Chili

Fall has officially hit. The leaves are golden and beautiful, the nights have a slight chill in the air, and everyone I know has a cold. With all its splendor comes a dead period for fresh fruits and vegetables... unless you know where to look.  In fall, I turn to one of my favorite varieties of fruits: squash.  Whenever you are shopping in your local market, these fruits might not stand out to you like the bright, shiny apples also in season but the culinary possibilities of squash should cause you to take a second look as you walk by.  Don't be afraid of their tough exterior and intimidating hard, bitter fleshy insides.  When properly prepared, these beasts of fall unleash a ton of flavor; for example, roasting them to top fresh greens with chevre and caramelized onion.  When added to dishes, they can enhance your dish to another level; risotto is my favorite.  I'm familiar with four basic squash types: zucchini, acorn, butternut, and of course pumpkin, which is the concern of this post.  Many people only are familiar with pumpkin of two types.  First, the nostalgic big guy that you cut up as a kid into scary faces and devious demons.  Second, the gross goop that comes out of a Libby's can to make tasteless pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving.  Please don't let these experiences deter you from exploring the possibilities of pumpkin.  There are few things I have found that pumpkin does not improve.  Add it to morning oatmeal with cinnamon and ginger for a fall twist, muffins for a moist improvement, or risotto for a nice texture contrast.  However, success is dependent, crucially dependent, on using either freshly roasted pumpkin (my favorite and a absolute must for pumpkin pie) or buying high quality canned pumpkin (which I did for this recipe despite my reservations).

I was out shopping this last weekend and some nice looking pumpkins caught my eye.  Eager to pop this baby in the oven, I reluctantly walked away because I didn't have time to properly roast the pumpkin, scoop out the flesh, and pulverize it in my tiny food processor.  But at this point, I had pumpkin in my blood and was craving something to satisfy this yearning.  I found some decent looking canned, but I wasn't prepared to take the leap by using it as a primary ingredient.  So standing in the meat aisle, I thought about which dish could use a little pumpkin mojo.  I looked up and saw ground turkey staring back at me. Then it hit me! "Eureka," I yelled as I ran down the aisle (not naked). Pumpkin chili. Chili is hearty enough and has enough punch from the spices to be able to stand up to pumpkin.  The wheels started turning in my head as I began to formulate some ideas for a recipe.  All in all, I was quite pleased with this new fall twist on a winter classic.  The pumpkin flavor did not overpower the rest of the ingredients, but it provided a silky texture and subtle smooth taste that balanced the heat nicely.

Recipe for Pumpkin Chili with Turkey

• 1 onion, diced
• 1 celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 lb ground turkey
• 2 bell peppers, diced
• 2 Tbl chili powder
• 1Tbl ground cumin
• 1 tsp chipotle powder (or fresh chipotle is even better)
• 2 tsp salt
• pepper
• 1 tsp oregeno
• 32 oz diced tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
• 4 oz tomato paste
• 1 can of pumpkin (or fresh roasted but it is not as crucial in this recipe)
• 32 oz beans (I used half black and half kidney but feel free to play)

Add the first three ingredients to the pan and saute until half way done.  Add turkey and bell peppers and cook until turkey is not pink, being careful to break up the turkey into bite sized pieces. Add the spices and garlic. Stir for 30 seconds to activate the spices.  

Add the tomatoes, paste, and pumpkin and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add the beans, season to taste, and serve with a dollop of sour cream. Yum!

Enjoy. We have 20 lb of fresh picked apples so next post look forward to something with apples. 

Labor Day Lazy Day

Labor Day is the quintessential american holiday: overindulgence of food, sipping cold drinks in a coozy cup, telling tall tales to friends, sitting in lawn chairs in the back yard.  What more could a person want? Well this year my roommates and I decided to celebrate this great american tradition a day early.  This break in tradition was allowed for by increasing the frivolity and gluttony.  We started off the day with a leisurely bike ride down to a local ice creamery for lunch.  An hour long ride along the water led us to The Daily Scoop where I got a double dip cone of coffee heath and maple walnut, my staple.  After chatting on the patio we headed back to Providence to get ready for the celebration.  The bike ride served as time for me to contemplate the dinner menu.  Now when I think of Labor Day, I think of grilling meat and eating the last of the fresh produce of the season.  So obviously hot dogs were the main course; easy decision.  I don't want to already be repeating recipes, but I had to make panzanella just one last time this summer.  Grilled vegetables rounded off the meal.  My roommate had the spectacular idea to make summer in a cup: mojitos. Quick shower, shoes on, out the door, in the car, off to the farm.  Luckily, Rhode Island vegetable season lasts a little longer than in Missouri.  The tomatoes were still gorgeous, the corn sweet, and the basil fragrant.  According to the farm I got "the best cucumber in the world," but somehow I doubt that.

I started the panzanella by toasting country bread.  Then I marinated the red onion in the vinaigrette while I chopped all the vegetables. Thirty minutes before serving I put it all together to let the bread soak up the juicy goodness and to let the flavors marry.  It is my absolute favorite summertime recipe.  Unfortunately this will be the last opportunity I can make it until next summer. It will be sorely missed.  But soon hearty stews with a glass of stout will replace it and I will be happy again.

Seven Stars country loaf.

Tomato, cucumber, roasted pepper, feta

Dinner

Question: How many Brown students does it take to grill hot dogs? Answer is 3.  One to analyze the best way to grill them.  One to question the utility of the hot dog.  And one to question the higher reason as to why a hot dog is a hot dog. So as men do, we all had to be around the grill to manage the meats. Random pokes.  Meaningless suggestions.  Standing around pretending to be busy.  Oh yeah grilling.  Along with hot dogs, we tossed on corn on the cob and broccoli.  After giving the buns a quick toast we were set.

Meanwhile, the girls were making the mojitos with simple syrup, fresh lime, club soda, rum, and freshly picked mint from our backyard.  They were magnificently refreshing and crisp.  Summertime in a glass.  These will definitely return before winter peaks its ugly head from its hole.

And the feast began.  It was a lovely salute to summer's end.  I wish everyday could be this relaxing.  Next week, I will welcome fall with apples and squash after a bike ride and kayaking.

Good times with friends. 

Back to School Comfort Food

I haven't been keeping up on my food explorations the past month as much as I would have liked.  Upon arriving home from my summer research project, I took it upon myself to take a few weeks to relax before school starts and the job search commences.  I spent my weekends at the lake which is devoid of internet and most human contact so that I could recharge my batteries.  But inevitably the days grew shorter as summer came to a close and I flew back to Providence.  Now that I have settled into my new apartment with three of my college buddies, I  am starting to be able to cook again. My kitchen here is much smaller and more ill-equipped than I have become accustomed to the past few years, but I am learning how to make the most of the space.  Hurricane Earl was suppose to unleash its furry upon New England today (which ended up being nothing more than a few rain drops) so I wanted to make a homey meal that was comforting during the rain downpour and tree-uprooting wind gusts.  In the refrigerator we had a nice assorted of random items, a speciality of one of my roommates: leeks, random bread pieces, ground beef, onions. The leeks were amazing specimens from the local farm.  I wanted to make something special with them.  Risotto? Soup? Then it hit me. When I first got my Ad Hoc cookbook by Thomas Keller I made a mental bookmark when I saw his recipe for Leek Bread Pudding.  Everything of his that I have made has been divine, but sometimes tiresome and intimidating.  I knew that this recipe would really highlight these tremendous leeks.  I followed the adapted SmittenKitchen recipe that was a little lighter with less cream since I intended on making dessert.  I first sauteed the leeks to soften their flavor and texture.  

Then I whisked together two eggs, 3 c. milk, chives, thyme, salt, and pepper.  While all this was cooking I put the torn bread pieces in a 200 degree oven to dry out.  All this was combined in a 9x9 pan along with cheddar.  

After 1 hour in a 350 degree oven, the resulting pudding was puffed, golden, and delicious.  Unlike most bread puddings, this one was savory and did not overwhelm my tongue with fat globules.  Once again, bravo to Mr. Keller. 

Now what to do with the beef. I saw this month that Epicurious had a recipe for high-brow sloppy joes.  I was hesitant.  The sloppy joes I have had have been at school or out of a can.  Bad beef simmered in bbq sauce and smothered in ketchup to cover up any taste or unusual textures.  Putting my predilections aside, I decided to give them a fair chance.  To start, I sauteed a large onion along with one celery rib and a carrot. 

Once this mixture was translucent, I added 1.5 lb ground beef.  On the rare occasion I did not have cumin so I added oregano and a cajun spice mix along with chili powder once the beef was cooked.  Finally, I simmered the beef mixture with pureed fresh tomato, brown sugar, red wine, balsamic, and Worcestershire. 

Slap the sloppy joe on the fresh cut bun.  Top with irish cheddar.  Spoon some pudding on the side.  Dinner was served.

Admittedly this is not the most glamorous dinner, but that is not the point of comfort food.  I always criticize and find room for improvement but I recommend trying these recipes.  The most important part of the rainy day meal is dessert.  We had mint chip ice cream in the freezer so I opted to make chocolate peace cookies. They were very simple and quick to make.  A fool proof recipe that just involved mixing together all the ingredients.  And no eggs! The cookies were decadently dark when I took them out of the oven due to their high concentration of cocoa powder and chocolate chips.  They had almost a chewy brownie texture, not crispy like a regular cookie.  They were ideal to pair with ice cream; the soft, chewy texture with the bitter chocolate provided a nice contrast to the creamy, sweet ice cream that excited my tongue.  Sorry, I got too excited once the cookies and ice cream were in my bowl.  I meant to take a picture but somehow my bowl was empty by the time I got my camera...

I'm tired of cooking... Let's eat out!

It was my first night at home since the beginning of the summer.  My small hometown does not have a lot to offer in the way of exotic or elegant food.  We have a strip of fast food chains and local greasy spoons.  However, we have a few hidden gems.  There is a small butcher shop outside of town that will cut steaks for you right when you order them.  Now that is fresh.  My favorite is an extra thick cut filet mignon vacuum sealed in marinade.  It is the most tender and flavorful filet I have purchased.  Just a quick sear on a hot grill later along with some sautéed mushrooms and you are in heaven.  As well, we have quite a large proportion of hispanic residents so in the past few years a lot of great, authentic mexican restaurants have popped up.  This is true and real food, no Tex-Mex here.  There is a grocery store that sells homemade tamales (made by the mother of the shop owner) every Friday and Saturday.  There is another restaurant that is called Dos Arcos that my parents frequent at least once a week.  It is simple, cheap, tasty mexican food.  It has a pretty vast menu.  Our meal usually begins with housemade salsa and queso fundido, which is crumbled chorizo sauteed in a super hot cast-iron skillet until some of the great, telltale red grease seeps out then queso is added until it melts.  "Hot plate, hot plate!" the waiter warns as he lowers the still sizzling pan onto the table.  It spicy, cheesy and salty with chips: my favorite dish.  My grandma ate almost an entire dish of it before my family could get a few bites. For my main course I usually get the chile verde, a dish made by stewing pork shoulder in a green, tangy chile sauce.  The food is all fresh made and so tasty. The staff is friendly and I can get a huge meal for under ten dollars too.

Once a year my town hosts a huge event that brings people from across the country.  The population of my town triples for the weekend of Marian Days.  The celebration is basically like Christmas but for Mary; the date seems to have been arbitrarily chosen to be a weekend in August.  It attracts thousands of Vietnamese to my town each year.  It is quite a site to see all the camps set up surrounding the church.  Traffic basically shuts down for a week and extra police force has to be brought in from surrounding towns.  It provides a lot of irritation as well as excitement to the local community.  Some people hate that time of year and leave town.  On the other hand myself, I like to wander around the camp sites to see the variety of shops and people.  One perk for the town is that the visitors set up restaurants tents that serve Vietnamese delicacies.  Each year I try to find a dish more unusual and exotic than the last.  Vermicelli, whole fried crabs, shrimp rolls, bulls balls in broth, but this year trumped them all.  I could only read three words describing the dish as "fried whole fish."  I thought "hmmm this could be interesting." I've had fried fish many times on my fishing trips to Canada but this was entirely different.  When they say whole fried fish, they mean the whole thing.  They gutted and descaled some of it but fins, eyes, tail, TEETH were all left intact.  It was a beastly fish that was a foot long with big, ugly teeth.  They slashed the sides to promote even cooking, put on a light batter, and flash fried it... about a day before I ate it.  The whole fish was served to me on a plate with chop sticks, carrots, parsley, and fish sauce.  It was pretty good but a little plain.  The appearance set a stage that the flavor of the fish did not live up to.

Yesterday, I was in KC.  I started off the morning with my usual greek yogurt and berries.  Then we went to see the cheap show of Dinner for Schmucks.  The movie looked hilarious from the commercials, but it was full of painfully awkward situations that were simply not enjoyable.  Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords was the funniest part of the movie but he just had a supporting role.   After almost walking out of the movie, we ate at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant called Eden Alley.  It's a very unusual place because it serves no meat but is located on an expensive shopping district in a area that loves red meat.  But to my surprise, we walked in and it was very busy.  The restaurant is in a big room that is filled with vintage, antique shop tables and chairs designed by local artists.  Everything they make has the option of being vegan, but it does not taste vegan.  I once had mushroom loaf (like meat loaf) and would never have guessed that it did not have meat.  For our meal, I had a tomato based black bean soup with sirachi sauce and a salad with beets, green apples, couscous, dried cranberries, mandarin oranges, feta, and a poppy seed dressing.  The soup was the best black bean that I have ever tried.  The beans were not overcooked and just gave way with the right amount of pressure.  The tomato base provided a much deeper texture and flavor than the traditional broth base.  The sirachi gave it a nice bite as it went down my throat.  Their dessert tray looked amazing, and I was shocked to find out that most of the cakes were vegan.  Now I am not usually a cake person, but I just had to try a piece.  I got a huge slice of avocado-lemon poppy seed cake and my girlfriend had coconut cloud cake (not vegan).  The cake was a funky yellow color and incredibly dense (it's hard to get a fluffy cake without butter or eggs).  It was covered in florescent green icing.  I was a little skeptical but on my first bite I was blown away.  I never thought vegan cake could taste like it.  It was moist and flavorful with tones of lemon and the subtle creaminess of avocado.  I think they might have used the avocado to replace the butter, which is genius.  It was delicious, but definitely not cake in the traditional sense.  The texture was very heavy and had varying density which provided a lot of different textures.  A new word is needed to describe this "cake." The coconut cloud cake was just like the name describes.  The white cake was like and airy with a pillowy coconut frosting floating on top.  When we first got the massive slices we were intimidated and prepared to have leftover cake to take home.  But after those first bites everything changed. Ten minutes later and even forensic specialists wouldn't have been able to find a trace of cake.  It was so amazing we cleaned the plates.  And afterwards, I didn't feel weighed down like I usually do after eating cake.  I will definitely have it again.  They sell a cookbook that I am excited to try out, hoping they have the recipe.  Eden Alley is a must try if you ever visit Kansas City. 

Last Supper in Chicago

My last week in Chicago was a whirlwind.  Up to the last day I was working on finishing and cleaning up my 12 page research paper on electric rickshaws in India.  At the same time, I was designing a presentation about my work and preparing for questions to defend my work.  Then the little things like packing all my things into not enough bags, cleaning the apartment, doing laundry, grocery shopping, running errands, etc. I gave my final presentation, said goodbyes, and rushed to the apartment to finish packing and get ready for the airport.  I was so busy that I had to make my last supper the week before I left, but oh was it a good one.

I've mentioned before how amazing the Green City Farmers' Market, in Chicago, is and that it has an amazing selection of high-quality food.  I usually only allowed myself to buy vegetables, but for my last week I splurged on meat.  But this was not just any run of the mill meat.  After talking to all the stand owners, I decided to buy from a local supplier of Berkshire Pork.  They had ribs, butt, bacon, and two types of pork chops.  I decided to go with the t-bone steak of pork, the bone in pork rib chop.  It was a little pricey, but I have been lucky enough to taste Berkshire Pork once before in my life.  I have forever been converted and ruined from eating grocery store pork.  The Berkshire makes conventional pork taste like a McRib.  This special, rare pig breed has a much more concentrated "pork" flavor and is incredibly juicy due to the high marbling.  Each bite packs a huge punch of flavor that will knock your socks off.  For meals with produce like this, I like to let it be the star of the show without too many fancy accompaniments or flavor enhancements.  The meat is so succulent and flavorful on its own that I don't want to tamper with it.  I also like to cook from inspiration without a lot of recipe structure.  As I mentioned earlier, I had some wonderful 18 year vintage sweet balsamic vinegar.  On the counter were some bruised and past edible peaches.  Hmmm... salty pork, acid vinegar, sweet peaches.  To cook the pork chop, I took a note from steak preparation.  I super heated a cast-iron skillet then slapped on the chop to let it sizzle for a few minutes per side until is was crusty and caramelized, but still raw in the middle.  It finished cooking in a 350 oven for a few minutes until is was just above pink.  To deglaze the pan, I added a generous splash of balsamic and chicken stock.  I let that boil, then added sliced peaches, and let it reduce to a thick, dark sauce.  The dish was very simple and elegant.  The seared pork chop was juicy with an intense natural pork flavor and the peach-balsamic sauce lended complex notes of sweet and sour that didn't over power the meat.  I was told that it was the best pork chop ever made and the bone had to be gnawed on to get all the goodness.  For the side dishes I had some inedible, week-old stale bread, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, green beans and great vinegar.  The first thing that came to mind was the classic tucsan bread salad, panzanella. It was designed as a way to use up old bread that cannot otherwise be eaten, much like bread pudding.  My sister, and fellow food lover and cook, first made this for me a few years ago and I fell in love with this simple salad.  It has a wide range of flavors and textures: crunchy, soft, chewy, cheesey, acidic, sweet, salty.  It's one of my favorite summer dishes because it really highlights all the best produce of the summer farmers' market.

It's summer. That means ice cream!

8 weeks in Chicago and I had yet to find a decent ice creamery.  To be entirely honest, I have very high expectations from my ice cream.  I have been spoiled by years of my mom's fresh, homemade ice creams at home as well as fabulous ice cream parlors like Murray's Homemade Ice Creams in Kansas City or Three Sisters in Providence. Especially now that I have begun to experiment with my own frozen dairy concoctions (like maple walnut, banana with nutella and peanut butter, fresh peach, blackberry, cream cheese) I am very critical of ice cream shops.  Mass produced, sugary, low fat ice cream won't cut it.  When I go to a creamery, I want unique flavors, smooth and creamy consistency, and a fun shop location.  I want something that will excite my mouth with new flavors that I can't make myself.  Ice cream made with as much care and attention as Da Vinci put into La Joconde. I found one such place in Kansas City that fulfills all these desires and more.  It's called Murray's Homemade Ice Creams.  It is closed during the winter and has an old school feel.  The ice cream is all made fresh in small batches.  Each cone is weighed so that no one is slighted from all the ice cream they deserve.  The staff is very generous with the samples, which is the sign of a good shop.  The have the most amazing flavor: Chocolate Flake Fromage that is tangy, creamy, sweet, and chocolately all at the same time.  In a freshly made waffle cone, it is without doubt one of the best I've had.  I'm still in the process of attempting to recreate its magnificence to even 5% of accuracy.

(Stawberry and Maple Bacon outside Murray's)

I came to Chicago the first day of June.  Chicago has a weird food culture and inconsistent tastes.  It has some amazing places that are world renowned but slightly ridiculous (cough cough Alinea), some places with fresh local ingredients, and many many awful places that are wildly popular.  Yelp reviews of most restaurants have no consistency and range sporadically from 1-5 stars, love or hate.  For example, the most popular breakfast place is called Bongo Room which specializes in overly sweet, chewy pancakes smothered in sweet icing full of cream.  I guess the pancakes have to be rubbery to hold up to the slop on top.  Or the icing was added to mask the flavor of what lies beneath. I don't understand the hour long waits each weekend.  I ate there once with my girlfriend and we were both sick all day.  I highly recommend eating here if you want to be terrified of eating pancakes again. 

S'mores pancakes at Bongo Room

Then on the other hand, Chicago has marvelous little gems like Hot Doug's.  Chicago is famous for its hot dogs, but nothing stands up to a Hot Doug.  To picture it, imagine a small corner dive diner on the outside.  As you drive up on a typical weekend you see a few people out the door.  Seems odd for this little place.  Then you drive closer and see the line starting to bend around the building. Hmm... Once you park you realize that the line is 100 people deep and over an hour long wait. "Is it really worth waiting in line," you ask yourself.  You decide to see what all the fuss is about and wait. Finally, after sitting in the sun for over an hour you step into the air conditioned building.  The amount of hot dog paraphernalia and pop culture icons depicted as hot dogs is mind blowing. The menu has the classic chicago dog with all the fillings.  Then there are the Hot Doug's.  These are special: duck sausage with fois gras and truffle aioli, wild elk with gouda and beer mustard, rattlesnake sausage with mango mayo, and duck fat fried fries to name a few delicacies.  Of every place I have taken Chicago visitors, Hot Doug's is everyone's favorite.   The atmosphere is fun and quirky in theme with the balding, bespectacled man named Doug who mans the cashier everyday from 10-4 (or until everyone in line is served).  A must have if you ever go to Chicago.

Waiting in Line

Sign of Special Doug's

Mmmmm Lunch for 2

Again, 8 weeks here and I had yet to find a decent ice cream place.  I tried Yelp but given the experience mentioned above, I was severely disappointed with every place I went.  Given that it is summer and it was extremely difficult to eat solid food, I resorted to getting yuppy ice cream at Whole Foods.  Luckily, but with bad timing, Chicago had an event dubbed "The Chicago Luxury Ice Cream Festival" last Friday.  To anyone who likes ice cream, this event was ecstasy.  The event offered all the samples one could eat from a dozen local ice creameries.  Some were more chain like with predictable flavors like oreo while some were luxurious with pear sorbet in a champagne float.  The best flavors were the blueberry swirl from Sassy Cow Creamery (they have their own organic dairy farm they use to make ice cream) and the sour cream chocolate from Mac's.  For two hours we got to sample over 20 flavors of ice cream!! At the half way point we sat out on the patio to digest, consider the flavors we had tried, and strategize our next plan of attack.  It was a gorgeous night in Chicago.  Afterwards we wandered through the building the event was held in, which turned out to the the Nature Museum.  It held a beautiful butterfly sanctuary with butterflies the size of my hand. All in all a fun night, but more importantly a night that revealed the underground dairy secrets of Chicago.

A couple nights later we tried a gelato place we sampled at the Ice Cream Festival called Black Dog Gelato. It's right on the edge of Wicker Park in a simple residential neighborhood, which make parking impossible.  I never would have noticed the spot if I had not been looking for it.  Thanks GoogleMaps.  Black Dog is a very, local small shop opened up by a former pastry chef a couple years ago.  They make the gelato regularly in the shop and close doors once they sell out of flavors.  The first night we went they were almost entirely sold out with only a few flavors left out of about 20.  All the flavors were intriguing.  They had a good combination of classic flavors and unique twists, as well a friendly staff that was generous with the sample spoons.  The chocolate was not intense, chocolate lovers like a lot I've tried.  It was more accessible to the general chocolate taster with a milk/semisweet chocolate base.  It was incredibly smooth and velvety like gelato should be.  However, I saw that they also make their own pies! The owner is a pastry chef by training so I had to get a slice.  At the end of the tastings, I walked out with a slice of apple pie with a crumb topping with balsamic gelato al la mode.  The pie was amazing.  The crust was light and crunchy and the filling was perfectly tart and sweet.  The balsamic ice cream was a fascinating combination of deep, slightly acidic balsamic and sweet, creamy gelato.  Very yummy.  It was so good that we went back another night for seconds and hopefully to sample some different flavors.  This time I got a cup with mint oreo, malted vanilla, and salted peanut.  Chocolate would have been a much better flavor contribution than mint oreo but oh well.  The salted peanut was overly salty for some people but I thought it had the perfect balance of fluer de sel, peanuts, and sweet cream.  It was a orgy of flavors for my tongue.  I will definitely return to Black Dog the next time I'm in Chicago.  

Oatmeal Sunrises

There was something different about today.  Some intangible, immutable force told my body that sleep was a waste of time. Why would someone want to sleep when there is so much to do in the world? So much to see, experience, and share.  It's easy to get caught up in the fast pace of life; to forget where we are going; to mindless go through the motions; to forget how to forget where we are going; to simply wander and enjoy the moment for the moment's sake.  Yes, but today is different.  The awe inspiring beauty of simple, elegant, universal, primitive sunrise reminds me to slow down and appreciate what's around me.  The tranquility of the early morning commuters driving (no honking) in linear patterns and bursts to their destinations remind me that Chicago can be a peaceful, beautiful place if you know how to look at it (The chant-like mesmerizing song of Sigur Ros doesn't hurt either). It can appear overwhelming and unaccepting at a superficial glance but it has many hidden gems if you look past these trivial aspects.  Chicago can be a disaster zone.  People are quarantined off from each other while Transformers films; they turn into barbarians at the first hint of a store sale; they yell and honk because they have to sit in traffic a few seconds longer or might miss the light, "gotta run the yellow!"  Sometimes after living in the city I get angry for these people's rudeness and their unreasonable persistence to be angry, but I forget that they have simple forgotten how to enjoy the little moment's of life.  (Because it is the little, awkward, embarrassing, foreign, quirky, frankly unmemorable moments that stick most in my head throughout the years and I look back most fondly on.)  I try to remind these busy people of the compassion of others in my own feeble attempts.  I always make a point to say hello to the bus driver on my way to work, ask him how he is doing, and give a sincere thank you as I leave the bus.  These conversations are very short and sometimes make the bus driver angry that a skinny white kid is slowing down his route, but I hope that the simple act of a thank you will remind him that he is appreciated and to be a little more positive that day.  I just do little things like that, no grand gestures.  In light of the beautiful sunrise, today cannot be wasted.  No sitting around for laziness sake.  Today will be full of adventures, new experiences, unintended side trips, and accidents.  No plan but to see the beauty of Chicago, hopefully with some little moments along the way.

I recently got braces for the second time.  Life is a cruel mistress but it will all work out for the best.  However, this makes eating very difficult at times, which is the worst part.  I didn't realize how much of the flavor is released by chewing and mixing the food together.  So I've set out to find softer foods that are still bold and flavorful.  I am a big fan of beets.  I know that they look kind of intimidating and gross on the supermarket shelves.  They are usually hidden at the bottom of the rack below some leafy greens.  But when they are roasted, correctly, they take on a super sweet robust flavor and turn a magnificent deep red, which complements the green of salad well.  I found a recipe from Martha Stewart for chilled summer borscht.

Alright beets, sour cream, yogurt, cucumber, dill how bad could this be? A little greek twist to the beet.  It sounded perfect to me.  So I got out my pot, boiled the beets, got out my knife, copped the cucumber, put it all in a bowl, and let it mingle for a few hours.  Wow was I wrong.  It tasted just like beet and cucumber... in a bad way.  None of the flavor melded together like I'd hoped and the creamy consistency I'd expected was lacking.  Hmm puree? My sister is too low on the food equipment scale for that.  Sorry borscht but not cutting it.  I will keep my beets roasted.  On to something else.

I absolutely love oatmeal.  Real, hardy oatmeal not that fake instant stuff.  The coarser, the better with irish steel cut oats as the best )but who really has the time to regularly spend thirty minutes on a bowl of oatmeal?).  My first oatmeal recipes were very basic: milk, oats, lots of brown sugar.  It was inconsistent and often runny.  Then I started experimenting with different flavors: vanilla, almond, honey, berry, peanut butter (not as good as it sounds; quite the opposite actually), banana, spices.  Hmm now what about the texture: milk to water ratio, cooking time, flax, wheat germ, granola.  Egg. What's that? Egg doesn't go in oatmeal, you say? That's what I thought at first too.  But my sister revealed this groundbreaking discovery to me that really allowed me to take my oatmeal to the ultimate level, beyond ordinary fare.  The egg white makes the oatmeal light and fluffy to almost a custard texture.  It gives it a creamy, rounded flavor. Trust me it works.  After many, many tests I think I finally have my perfect recipe.  It is simple, well-rounded, healthy, and filling.

• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 3/4-1 c. milk (with up to half of this volume being water)
• 1 sliced banana
• 1 egg white (egg beaters work best)
• extract: vanilla, almond, banana
• spice: cinamon, nutmeg (freshly ground please), all spice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 c. frozen blueberries (frozen are much better for this than fresh)
• 2 tbl flax seed
• crunchy, real granola

Place the oats and milk in a big enough bowl for it to double in size. Add half of banana, egg white, salt and stir thoroughly.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  Take it out to stir, check for liquid ratio (it should be just slightly watery), add rest of banana.  Microwave 1-1.5 minutes until the top has been covered in foam for a few seconds.  Add your choice of tsp extract and spices.  Then stir in frozen blueberries and flax seed.  Top with a layer of granola.  

You now have a quick, healthy meal in a bowl.  Great for cold winter days or anytime actually.  The bottom is light and creamy, the blueberries cool it down and give a burst of sweetness, and the granola gives a great crunch for a wide range of experiences. For variation try: almonds, pumpkin puree, diced apple, raisins, dried fruits, pecans, a splash of buttermilk on top, maple syrup, or maybe you have some other secret ingredient that I've yet to discover.  It's quite possible.  But I humbly submit this recipe as the best oatmeal that I, at least, have ever had.

Sticking It to the Senate

While the Senate may not have the foresight and determination to pass the cap and trade carbon emissions bill because of outside pressures, there are still some people who do have a conscious and a backbone.  The Senate can choose not to pass the bill but that does not mean that states cannot independently take action to do their part in reducing global warming effects.  A group of western states and Canadian provinces has joined together to form the Western Climate Initiative.  Their goal is to reduce carbon emissions to 15% below 2005 levels by 2020; it's not a huge change... baby steps.  This would be a landmark and huge stepping stone on the path to lower carbon emissions and improved energy efficiency.  With the new carbon caps, power plants and automobile makers will be forced to be more efficient, which means less wasted energy and carbon emissions.  Most likely and hopefully, this will lead to new energy research and plant developments, like nuclear, wind, solar, etc, that will eventually create a zero net emissions process.  We have already dug ourselves into a hole that cannot be reversed for centuries but with any luck by the end of the century temperatures will be the same as now.

To achieve their goal, the WCI intends to initiate its own market based cap and trade legislation.  The laws are still in planning stages but they have a general outline.  First a general total cap on carbon emissions will be set on power plants.  This will force them to be cleaner and more environmentally friendly.  They also have regulation against importing electricity from power plants that are not a part of the carbon capped program.  However, in states like California transportation is the largest producer of carbon emissions.  Regulating vehicles is much more difficult because if the restrictions are too severe the California residents will revolt and kill the project.  Prius and hybrid vehicles are already rewarded and common in California and becoming more popular daily, but to ease the change vehicle carbon restrictions most likely will not be introduced until 2015.  (However, due to the admirable social and environmental conscience of California residents, it has become taboo to drive a conventional gas vehicle.  In some neighborhoods you are shunned if you drive an SUV or the vehicle is vandalized via spray paint or keyed.  This social pressure is the best momentum for electric vehicles that one could hope for).

Granted, this is the in the infant stage.  It will likely have many problems and meet much resistance at the start.  Logistical problems will pop up like determining the total acceptable carbon emissions level, how many credits each person gets (without being corrupted by lobbyists or money), monitoring the carbon emissions in an affordable and practical way, etc.  Despite any of these problems, this is still a huge leap forward for the US. Hopefully it will serve as the example for the rest of the country to set up its own legislation if the Senate won't.  With any luck people will realize that the cap and trade can work effectively...

Cooking the Planet, Pigs, and Dinner

I enjoy a nice sunny day on the water like any other reasonably minded person.  What I do not like is riding in a car on the Chicago jammed highway without AC in record setting, blistering heat and humidity; the windows have to be kept open to avoid heat stroke but at the same time increasing my chance of carbon monoxide poisoning.  As I feel my senses leaving me from the fumes, I wonder "Why does it have to be like this?" I mean, it is 2010. This was suppose to be the decade when the robots rise up and computers control the world.  However, when I look around all I see is antiquated technology in the form of gas guzzling cars, or even worse the 13 mpg, soccer mom SUVs that have never seen life outside the city.  When I was young the future was so promising.  What happened to the Segway nation? What happened to fuel cells? Renewable energy, huh? Wasn't Al Gore suppose to save the world right after inventing the internet? There were so many promising solutions that simply vanished in the past decade.  WTF?! Who is the culprit? Look no further than the mirror the next time you grab your keys to run to Walmart to buy a bottle of water.  We can blame the Senate, House, the President, big business (who all do play their part) but in the end it is the mass population that is responsible for idly sitting back and not demanding better.  We are far too happy to let other people do what is necessary and do not look at the bigger picture.  Each time we commit these relatively small, seemingly innocent violations we add to the snowball that now has almost too much momentum to stop.  Will Arnold Schwarzenegger save me soon? Please.

In the 90's fuel cells were suppose to be our savior.  In ten years, "they" promised we would have a hydrogen economy where liquid hydrogen canisters would replace gas pumps and water vapor replacing toxic tailpipe exhaust.  This was another great example of the incompetence of our government science divisions.  The government gave a huge percentage of its research budget toward fuel cell research, but all of the reports were based on fabricated and false data.  As well, they didn't realize that more energy was required to create liquid hydrogen than is released by the fuel cell, resulting in a net negative energy operation.  Because of this oversight blunder, viable other research was underfunded which set us years behind (which is why Japan is master of the hybrid car) and even today fuel cells are not anywhere close to being an effective energy storage device.

Then the new millennium was the era of electric transportation.  The US invented the car and the assembly line, and we lead the electronic industry so why should we not logically also be the forerunners in electric vehicles? American companies became too greedy and satisfied with putting out inferior, unoriginal products while Japan realized that oil scarcity and global warming might actually be a big deal so began developing a hybrid car in 1995.  As a result, we are a decade behind in technology than Japan, who has already mastered the hybrid vehicle after 15 years of experience and research.  Meanwhile, GM has spent a mere two years frantically working on the Volt that will supposedly revolutionize the american car industry by introducing the first plug-in hybrid car (PHEV is a hybrid car that has 40 miles battery power range before the motor starts).  But spilling over $41,000 and without a smart grid capable of handling a huge wave of electric cars, the Volt will meet too much resistance and not shock anyone into consciousness. If people do not want to save money by simply turing off the TV while they are out, they will not plop down another ten grand on a car that they don't understand.  Then there is the all-electric Tesla which is an amazing engineering feat (it beats a Porsche 911 in a quarter mile race).  However, it is two years behind schedule and prohibitively expensive.  As well, it can only travel up to 300 miles without changing the battery, which the US does not have the infrastructure to support.  Neat idea but not working for me.

Cars are the most obvious offender to the environment but not the worst.  Factories and industry emit massive levels of pollution and green house gases that are causing ice caps to melt, cute polar bears and penguins to die (if this doesn't disturb you, watch march of the penguins and then see how you feel), and temperatures to rise dramatically.  Rhode Island should not be hotter than 100 several days in a row; that is not normal, I'm sorry Fox News.  There is a reason that no one in NE has air conditioners.  We had a chance at redemption with the recent bill to cap carbon emissions with the cap and trade bill.  However, due to financial support from oil companies, republican deniers, and cowardice the bill was denied.  There is a complete lack of responsibility and bravery in the leaders of our country.  Even the maverick John McCain who was once a friend of the environment was swayed by reelection votes and money so voted against the bill.  Case in point is the latest BP oil spill.  The company seemed almost to be testing America to see how long they could let the pipe leak until we would actually force them into action.  With solutions like clogging the pipe with trash and golfballs or setting a makeshift cap on top, I have to either assume it is intentional or they are utterly ignorant.  I mean, who would have thought that a sophisticated 75 ton fitted cap installed by intelligent robots would be the best solution?

To improve my faith in mankind, I read this fascinating article about how to roast a pig, Hawaiian style in your own backyard.  This has been something I have wanted to do for years.  I had it all planned out one year but it fell through in the end.  I even know exactly where to get the pig in Kansas.  The pig roast sounds like the perfect day long adventure full of drinks, food, and friends.  Imagine the satisfaction of buying an entire pig, digging a pit for a 1000+ degree fire, and then throwing in the hog to roast for an entire day! That is luxury if anything is.  My main problem is finding enough mouths to help me eat the pork.  That is a lot of meat, especially considering half my family would not eat it.  Reading that article did just the trick to put me in the mood to cook dinner!

I am a die hard fan of SmittenKitchen.  Her writing is very friendly, informal and inviting.  Her pictures are amazing.  But most importantly, her recipes are consistently fantastic and get me praise from everyone who tries the dish.  Some recent successes I have had are: buttermilk ice cream which is great with berry cobbler,  oatmeal cookies, and shakshuka.  The most recent experiment was scalloped tomatoes with croutons.  It was a lovely mix between bread pudding and spaghetti.  I had a week old baguette that was almost uncuttable that I needed to use so I thought it was time to test out this recipe.  To start, I cut the baguette into cubes and sauteed it in evoo for a few minutes to toast it.  Then I added a can of San Marzano tomatoes, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Continued to cook until thicker.  Then I stirred in fresh basil and oregano.  Plus I added a little sausage and topped it with Parmesan.   It was a delicious, simple dish that had the perfect combination of sweet and acid, soft and chewy.   The terrifically stale bread gave a great texture and absorbed the liquid like a dream.  On its own the dish was great, but with poached duck eggs it was over the top extraordinary.  I will definitely make it again.  For protein I just did a simple roast dish of a whole trout.  Good end to a long day after a 3 hour, eventful trip taking my sister to the airport.