onioncloute

'Tis the season for pies and turnovers. The nip in the air, the naked trees, fingers in mittens all demand one thing: crust. I've made two dishes lately that fulfill this wintery crust-lust. The first, Jamaican beef patties, are curry-spiked pockets of spicy beef. The second is a simple apple turnover that derives much of its awesomeness from the sauce that accompanies it -- a thick, creamy cheddar sauce -- a play on the Southern classic of apple pie with cheddar cheese.

Often on my days off I know that I want to cook something but have little inspiration beyond a vague desire to be in the kitchen all day. That's where resident food-lover and besty Jonny D comes in. By gently suggesting beef pies to my dear mother on facebook (what is the world coming to?) Jon ensured that I would have the inspiration I lacked and that he would have the beef patties he craved. Everyone wins. Having never eaten or made authentic beef patties before and being only familiar with them as the frozen aisle staple that I never cared to try, I wasn't sure how to begin. But after a quick stop at the world wide internet and a generous donation of allspice and cloves from mother's pantry, I was well on my way to beef pie. Turns out these little buggers are way easy to make. Check it:

Jamaican Beef Patties

Crust:
2 c. flour
2 tsp. curry powder
pinch salt
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. shortening
1/3 c. water

Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in butter and shortening. Add water a little at a time until dough comes together. Roll into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling:

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 bunch scallions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 scotch bonnet pepper, seeds removed, minced (ideally, wear gloves, wash your hands, and by no means pick your nose after this step; trust me.)
2 tsp. curry powder
2 tsp. turmeric
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground thyme
2 c. stock (I used vegetable because I had it on hand, but beef or chicken would work fine)

Egg wash:
1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 tsp. turmeric


Saute onions, garlic, pepper, and half of the scallions on medium high heat. Add ground beef and raise heat to high. Add dried spices and stir, continuing to cook until ground beef is almost entirely cooked. Add stock and allow to simmer for approximately 10 minutes, until most of the liquid is gone. Add the remainder of the scallions and remove from heat, allowing the residual heat to "cook" the scallions slightly. Preheat oven to 400.

Remove the dough from the fridge to a floured surface. If your work surface is on the small side (as mine most certainly is,) cut the dough in two pieces, and work with one at a time. Dust dough ball with flour and begin rolling out until you have a large dough circle no more than 1/4 in. thick. Using a large biscuit cutter or, say, a mug from mug night at the Green Leafe, cut dough into circles. Repeat with remaining dough ball.

Place a small scoop of filling in the middle of each dough disc, keeping a 1-inch border of dough all the way around. Fold the dough over, and crimp with a fork. Line up patties on a baking sheet. Whisk together the egg wash ingredients and brush each patty. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until GBD.



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And speaking of GBD (golden brown & delicious,) these apple turnovers are crazy easy thanks to the use of puff pastry.

Apple Walnut Turnovers with Cheddar Creme Anglaise

Turnovers:
1 sheet puff pastry, cut into 8 squares (there will be a little trim if the squares are perfectly square)

3 apples, peeled, cored, and diced in 1/4 in. dice
1 c. walnuts, chopped
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. cornstarch
1 Tbs. cinnamon
2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. coriander
1/4 c. butter

1 egg
1/2 c. milk
1 packet (or 1 Tbs.) turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 425. Combine apples, walnuts, and dry ingredients. Place a spoonful of apple filling on each dough square, allowing a 1-inch dough border to remain. Dot each square with butter. Fold squares into triangles and crimp with a fork. Brush each triangle with eggwash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake turnovers for 20 minutes or until GBD.

Cheddar Creme Anglaise:

2 c. heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. white cheddar cheese

Bring heavy cream to a boil. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar. Once cream has reached a boil, slowly temper it into the egg yolks. Strain and return to the stove. Slowly whisk in cheddar until totally incorporated. Season with a pinch of salt if necessary (if you use a sharper cheddar, you may not need any salt.)

Serve turnovers with a generous ladle-ful of sauce and some chopped walnuts.




xx,
onioncloute

It's been a whole month since my last post - and what a month!  One of the most notable highlights was an evening with friends, watching top chef, and gorging on Asian Turkey Burgers.  No, please, keep reading:  These turkey burgers are delicious and not, as you might have thought, gross.  I remember once my Stepmom and I declined attending a cook-out when we heard turkey burgers were being served, but these are special, delicious, Asian Turkey Burgers.

  see, gorging!

( It all started... )

Slice tomatoes roughly a quarter inch thick.  Place them in a single layer on a clean kitchen towel (or paper towels if that's better for you) and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Allow to sit about 10 minutes.  This allows the tomatoes to render some of the water that would otherwise make your tomato pie a shloopy mess.

Combine the first 6 ingredients.  Place sliced tomatoes inside the baked off pie shell and cover with creamy goodness.  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350.  Remove from oven and allow to cool on a baking rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Consider eating this pie for breakfast.

xo
Onioncloute

   

Chicken Noodle Soup (for flu-addled Chris Bopst)

All around me, friends are coming down with the late-summer flu, a horrible mess of a flu that renders its victims useless for at least 48 hours and afterward, dehydrated and generally feeling icky.  When yet another friend and workmate came down with this nasty little bug, I decided to hop to action and throw together a quick chicken noodle soup. 

Earlier in the week, I had roasted a chicken with some thyme and garlic.  I was planning on using it for chicken salad, but when there's a call for chicken noodle soup, I answer it.  I diced up a bit of mirepoix and defrosted my frozen chicken stock, threw in some peas, a little bay leaf, egg noodles, and the aforementioned roast chicken, and voila, I had delicious, homemade soup in about a half an hour!  I must confess, though, I have a secret weapon when it comes to making a restorative, traditional chicken soup -- a ramen noodle seasoning pack.  I keep 'chicken flavor' ramen on hand at all times just in case I should, heaven forbid, come down with something.  Occasionally, I'll liberate a seasoning packet and forsake the noodles in the name of making a more savory, albeit MSG-riddled, soup.  
 
***************

Quinoa-Stuffed Tomatoes

When it feels like 115 miserable degrees in my kitchen, I like to have a lot of little easy snacks I can eat out of the fridge without having to heat a single thing.  Enter the quinoa-stuffed tomatoes.  Ok, you boil water once and cook the quinoa with it; once that's done, you've got a dozen little tomato crowns staring up at you, just begging to be plucked up and eaten.

The salad is a simple mix of the tomato guts, sans some seeds and liquid, cucumber, red onion, avocado, basil, chives, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.

 
Whenever I say 'quinoa,' my Dad says 'keen-waaaaaaah!?'  and it gets me every time.

Keep Eating,
Onioncloute

I'll admit it, I've become afflicted with culinary ennui.  Typically, my interest in both cooking and eating is a constant on which I can rely, but that's not been the case lately.  I've been only vaguely interested in cooking for pleasure lately, and believe me, I'm just as surprised about it as you are.  What's much more shocking is that I'm not even particularly hungry.  The only thing that's sounded good to me recently is sushi, and while it sounds VERY VERY good, I'm low on cash flow and will have to settle for family meal and cheerios snack mix instead.  That said, I can't let my laziness get in the way of my blogging.  As my way of reconciling for my two-week absence, I've put together this double blog!

The first recipe, for gluten-free peach muffins, resulted in my wanting to bake the peaches my mom left at New Smitty's but not having enough of them to make a pie - thus, muffins!  I also had a surplus of greek yogurt thanks to my propensity to buy it every time it's on sale.  I'm almost sick of raita and tzatziki, so I was in search of another approach.  The result was a vanilla-laced greek yogurt to top my light and delicious peach muffins.

   ( Peach muffin recipe... )


Part two of this blog installment belongs in the Single and Starving vault, for sure.  This Black Bean and Tomato Tostada is so easy, you can be enjoying tostadatation in about ten minutes.

 

To include a proper recipe for this tostada would insult your intelligence.  Simply pan fry a tortilla shell in about a Tbs. of oil.  Then, top with black beans, cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes, and more cheese.  You can melt the cheese in the oven for a couple of minutes, or if you use a smaller size tortilla, I would throw that thing in the toaster oven and leave your regular oven off.  Because it's way hot outside.  Way hot.  I finished mine off with a hearty handful of cilantro and the requisite dollop of daisy.  I seasoned my black beans with some freshly-ground cumin and a little crushed garlic.  Also, after I sliced my tomatoes, I allowed them to drain for a couple of minutes on a paper towell because soggy tostada is unacceptable.


stay cool,
onioncloute

I've been on an ambitious and slightly impractical baking kick lately.  I'm tired of near misses in the world of gluten free bread; I've resolved to come up with some successes, so I've been honing the "easy stuff" - gluten free muffins and quick breads.  The procedure for making muffins, especially the gluten free variety, couldn't be easier:  Sift together dry ingredients; combine wet ingredients; pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until combined.  The gluten free variety are easier simply because you can mix the batter endlessly with no fear of overworking the gluten and creating a tough muffin.  No one wants a tough muffin.

But someone might want these gluten-free blueberry muffins with vanilla blueberry syrup:



( Continue... ) 

This has been a most excellent week for food.  RVANews ( rvanews.com/features/yogurt-marinated-chicken-kebabs-with-basmati-rice-and-cucumber-raita/ ) published a recipe of mine for their 4th of July grilling installment, and I received a slew of positive feedback on it.  My mom's boss is using the recipe for his next supper club.  Precious.

Work has been going absolutely brilliantly for the past couple of weeks.  I've been concentrating on improving the desserts, and I've had some wonderful successes:



This is the Boca Negra from Baking With Julia, one of my favorite cookbooks.  I love BWJ because the recipes are lovely and, for the most part, well written despite being compiled from a group of disparate  'pastry elites' from Gale Gand to Marcel Desaulniers.  Actually, one of the main reasons I love it is because I know that when I see a recipe allegedly from Marcel, it really means its from Kelly Bailey.  There's one for mint chocolate night caps, and I swear I can hear her dictating the recipe when I read it.

The Boca Negra is a flourless* chocolate cake that uses bourbon to enhance the natural awesomeness of the bittersweet chocolate.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you how much I enjoy using bourbon and chocolate together.  ("You know what this cake needs?  Booze.")
  *The Boca Negra from BWJ actually has approximately 2 T of flour in it, but because Paul Keevil, an owner of Millie's, was recently diagnosed with Seliac's disease, I substitute a gluten-free flour mix from Bob's Redmill, and it works like a dream.



Then there was the blueberry mango pie.  I'm in the process of perfecting my pie crust (and who among us isn't, really?)  I'm having more successes than failures in the crust department, and this was one shining example.  However, the fillin' could've used another tablespoon or so of binder, as the fruit was quite juicy.  In further pursuit of pie crust, I made an apple tart yesterday, for which I resurrected KB's totally awesome BOURBON pie filling (someone's got a problem, and that someone is me.)  The tart was a smashing success.  Dongettes in attendence, Susie, Kendra, and Angie, were completely enamored with the light, buttery crust and the delicious corn-syrupy fillin'.  

Tart Fillin' (Inspired, per usual, by KB)

2c. corn syrup
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. bourbon (I usually use jim beam for this kind of thing.)
4 T melted butter
1 T vanilla
6 eggs

Bring the first 5 ingredients to a simmer.  Lightly whisk eggs.  Temper hot liquid into the eggs.  Cool in an icebath. 

(This makes more than enough for a 9 in. pie and can stay refridgerated for about 2 weeks.)

I've also been practicing my devotion to the cold soup, most recently exhibiting itself in a chilled cucmber soup with smoked salmon and dill blossoms.  I just adore dill blossoms because they look like fireworks.  Regard:

  Charming, no?

Finally, in the personal cooking realm, I was positively thrilled to be the recipient of someone else's culinary skills.  Since I began cooking professionally, it's been pretty rare for someone to want to cook for me, and usually I'm fine with that.  I mean, I do it because I love it.  When I have a household of people over, I want to be cooking and feeding and hostessing.  But ocassionally, I want someone else to cook for me, and it's usually at breakfast that this need most fully expresses itself.  I want to be lazy.  I want to watch.  I want to put on a Three Dog Night album and pad around the apartment barefoot as though I were a stranger in it.  

Such was the case when dear, sweet, stinky marc made me the most winningest breakfast sandwich......EVER.  I've been reliving the breakfast sandwich experience until as recently as today, when I finished off the last of the English muffins.  

  English Muffin, Smokey-Ass Bacon, Fried Egg, Horizon American Cheese Singles, Sriracha, and Boy Magic.  Yes.

xx
onioncloute

Jim's European-Vacation-Inspired smoked duck and goat cheese terrine has made me simply crazy about smoked duck.  To be honest, I'm not usually a fan of smoked foods.  But not only have I become a fan of smoked duck, I'm also newly a fan of using the smoker.  Turns out, it's quite easy, and it's a a great excuse to dwell outside during a bustling, hectic sunday brunch at Millie's.  So, inspired by these two new loves, I got my own duck breast and flexed my smoking skills on my step-dad's smoker.  The result was this most enjoyable salad:




( Read more... )

Yesterday was a perfect day for outdoor dining and a bottle of Albarino.  I entertained a new friend on the porch of New Smitty's until sundown (whereupon we commenced to playing Simon's Quest on NES.)  To sustain us during our 7-hour porch-dwelling, I made some yogurt-marinated pork chops (which is, kind of, all I want to eat lately) and a little wilted arugula with chick peas and tomatoes.  We enjoyed the meal with a 2007 Martin Codax Albarino that was quite pleasant indeed.



( Read more... )

Thanks to a very sweet, generous donation from the Biomom, I was motivated to host a modest back-yard get-together featuring everyone's favorite tiny bird, the game hen.  Also featured is a cornucopia of vegetables, pretty much all of the veggies in my kitchen at the time. (warning: no actual 'cornucopia' appears.  I'm saving mine for Thanksgiving.)  But the real special guest is my first pepper of the season, which was marinated, grilled, and split three ways among Jon, Mitch, and myself.  Regard: 





( Read more... )
  

I vowed to Branch that I would post yesterday, but alas, a Memorial Day filled with day-drinking and bug bites rendered me useless by sunset.  This morning I woke up hot and hungry and could imagine no better remedy than my favorite summer gazpacho, inspired largely by the Wildflour in Roanoke.  I'm a big fan of cold soups.  Lately at Millie's I've served a chilled fennel with shrimp (inspired by a delicious soup Ryan used to make at the FC,) a minty pea soup (also known as 'Stephanie's Best Table Soup,') and a sweet corn soup with chive-y crab.  Cold soups aren't generally huge sellers anywhere I've worked, but I implore you, soup-purchasing public, to give them a fair shake.

"shake it like a bowl of soup" - Otis Redding.

( Mas Gazpacho... )

 

On a slightly overcast day, when you're touched by ennui and compelled to stay indoors at any cost, only a pantry salad will do.  The pantry salad is any salady concoction one can whip up without having to run to the store, so of course, it's different for everyone.  My pantry salads almost always feature chick peas because my cabinets almost always contain chick peas.  I buy them compulsively.  I mean, you can never have too many chick peas, right?  Who's with me?  ...



( Read more... )

Let me take a second to tell you about Kelly Bailey:  The 30-something bombshell is, by far, the best chef I've ever worked under.  She went to CIA and worked at the Trellis for a bazillion years and then made the (quite prudent) decision to go to the Fat Canary, which was the first restaurant to employ your's truly.  She's a marathon-running, animal-loving, totally inspiring FORCE in my life.  For a sad couple of years I actually didn't have contact w/ Kelly (who, by the way, just got married this past weekend!!) due to my unfortunate mental breakdown and subsequent peace-out from the FC.  In short, my boyfriend/sous chef broke up with me, and I went a little crazy...heh.

And though I only knew Kelly for a couple of years, it is her guidance that has been the most salient in the past few years.  At the FC, I was a bit of a moron.  I was reactionary and emotional and just too much of a 23-yr-old girl to really get it.  Kelly was patient but stern with me whenever necessary.  Not only did she impart some of the most faithful recipes in my collection, Kelly also taught me to look at the whole picture before shooting off my gob.  I honestly believe that she made me not only a better cook but a better person.

Today was a trying day at Millie's.  I was tempted on more than one occasion to shoot off the aforementioned gob, but thankfully, I centered my shit and bit my tongue.  I think Kelly would be very proud.  I looked at "the bullshit" in the context of the restaurant and really earnestly thought about what the most appropriate step would be.  I think I'm on my way to a resolution, and most importantly, I didn't make a total fool of myself.  Score. 

I believe that a restaurant is a hard place to work not because cooking is difficult but because cooking with other people is nearly impossible.  I've always been a bit of a soloist -- an only child and never a team member growing up, dealing with people when I HAVE to do so can be quite a task.  But I'm working on it...at least until I'm self-employed ;-)

So, please enjoy this picture of the Lobster Scallop Cannelonni with Smoked Tomato Butter and Snow Pea Salad (one of tonight's new menu items!) while I do some much-needed decompressing with good-time pals Jon, Al, and Josh. 

Toods!

Inspired by the story of Frank Abagnale, the identity-morphing subject of book/movie "Catch Me If You Can," I decided to take two radically different approaches to the same tuna steak.  I purchased one tuna steak from Ellwood Thompson's (www.ellwoodthompsons.com) and created two distinct meals from it, which makes this prime "Single and Starving" material.  It was a fun, easy, cheeky way to treat 8 dollars worth of tuna. 

     Franco-American

   Sino-American

 

( Read more... )

I decided the safest place to start using quinoa flour would be in a recipe on the quinoa flour box.  They're the experts, right?  I made a few slight modifications, but otherwise, I faithfully followed the word of the box.

( She continued... )

During my time off today, I've been looking at as many food blogs as I can possibly find.  So, as it turns out, there are way too many food blogs.  In the spirit of contributing to the problem, I'm trying to find ways to make "Onion Cloute" a 'destination blog.'  hah; I kill me.  I'm going to try to improve my photography, update more regularly, and stop getting totally effin' baked before posting. 

Also, as I suggested upon moving to Richmond, it is probably about time to move the OC to a new server.  Livejournal is for children.  But, I mean, thanks Livejournal, you've been great.  If I'm ever to develop the kind of readership that I covet, I'm going to need to get serious and dump the goat (that's livejournal's mascot, to those of you in the normal world who wouldn't know that.)  By having a better-designed site, I can organize content by topic (crazy, I know.)  That way I can keep all the work/recipe/eating-with-bobby stuff separate. 

Onioncloute may have started as a way for me to chronicle my experience at VOLT, but it's become something more personally meaningful.  I reread, or at least skimmed, my blog today, and I became more acutely aware of the change.  I talk less about my job and more about my life (largely due to the fact that the move to RIchmond allowed me to actually have a life.)  I'm happy with the fact that the blog isn't pigeon-holed too tightly; I like the combination of recipes, silly nonsense, research, and industry talk.  That said, I'd like to considerably up my recipe production.  That cook book isn't going to write itself, you know.  Soooo, in the next few weeks, you'll probably see me tweaking the way I blog in an effort to determine what's best for the OC.  Comments encouraged.


http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com  Beautiful photography and tons of gluten-free tips and recipes make Karina's Kitchen a regular favorite.  The site is user-friendly, pretty, and well-organized.  huzzah.

http://www.anticiplate.com  Perhaps I love this blog so much because of the adorable picture of the professional dancer/blogette that adorns the homepage.  I'd love for someone to take a picture of me in a pot or a grill or deepfryer or something.  I've got my people on it.  The recipes aren't anything too special, but the photography is top notch.

http://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/  This is a very useful vegan blog to which I subscribe.  Particularly hilarious is that the post for this past Monday references Peter Reinhart, a former professor and long, humorous story from Johnson and Wales.

http://www.latartinegourmande.com/  La piece de resistance.  This blog is so juicy its almost discouraging.

http://www.ideasinfood.com  Not the most beautiful of the blogs but certainly the most interesting.  Whereas the previous four blogs offer mainly inspiration in how to make a better blog, this gem simply inspires me to make better food.

Bonjour!

This little slice of heaven is not the Kitchen Proper, but rather the Auxillary Kitchen.  Some people would be like, "you mean dining room?"  But, there's a lot more than dining that takes place here.  All of my recipe brainstorming takes place at the little red and white table Ginger got me for my birthday, where I can enjoy my cookbooks, magazines, and food-related art.  Also, the AK is home to a record player, my beverage station, and a secondary work space (the counter-top with the two mixers on it...which also has extra storage in the back...My stepdad made it.  AWESOME.)



As I think the previous paragraph makes clear, I'm quite proud of the Auxillary Kitchen.  I'm about as proud of it as I am not-proud of the kitchen proper.  Yes, I did install mug hooks that show off a stellar 8-mug collection (ONE OF THEM LOOKS LIKE A PANCREAS!)  And sure, Mom and Dickie donated a very awesome butcher block thingy that's been outfitted smashingly with some decorative plastic placemats from Target.  Oh oh, and there is a T-bone rug on the wall.  But really, my friend Jon said it best:  "For someone who cooks so much, you really picked an apartment with a shitty kitchen."  True words, friend, true words. 

Let's assess:  There is a ridiculously small amount of cabinet space -- two on either side above the sink and a mini-cabinet connecting them, plus the obligatory under-sink cabinet space, which can only ever be used for trash cans and cleaning supplies.  Then, a former tennant 'installed' a crude shelf, which I currently (unsatisfactorily) use to house my drinkin' glasses.  It's an eyesore despite some very charming drinkin' glasses. 

Oh, and speaking of eyesore, the kitchen is also home to the central heating unit and water heater, and they're not, like, hidden.  It's pretty much what you notice when you walk in the kitchen, and there's some sort of building code that prohibits building a wall around them...you know, because of safety.  My original idea and the one that convinced me to choose this New Smitty's over the other potential New Smitti was that I could paint the walls and the pipes -- I wanted to choose one really bright, loud color, and believe me, it would've looked fucking rad.  I can still see it in my mind.  Well, dear ol' Ronnie May put the hammer down on that idea.  I should've remembered that it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission, but sometimes I'm good to a fault.

Compared to the kitchen at Old Smitty's, it's like triage cookery.  I'm thinking of hiring someone to stand there and hold stuff when I cook if anyone needs a job...I can pay you in snacks.  Oooh, I just realized that my kitchen situation in my personal life is analagous EXACTLY to that of my professional life.  Dig it, VOLT was a nicer kitchen with way more to play with and learn and experience, but even though Millie's is..you know..what it is, making that change was the right decision for me.  Ditto Old Smitty's --> New Smitty's.  huh.

Anyway, I'm happy with the Kitchen Proper for two reasons:  When I make that weird little armpit of my apartment look cool, it will be a testament to my genius.  And, it's the best canvas on which to test recipes for a "Single and Starving" cookbook; they'll certainly be limited-kitchen approved.

In closing, here's a compelling shot of the short rib app gracing the menu right now.  Yum.

Ginger has been asking me for a Chicken Tikka Masala recipe for, like, forever:

1 T veg oil
1 T butter
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 yellow onion
8 oz mushrooms
8 oz cherry tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz broccoli
8 oz asparagus
8 oz red potatoes, medium dice-ish
8 oz cilantro, rough chopped
1 T ginger, grated
1 T garlic, paste
1 T tomato paste
1 c veg or chicken stock
about 1 to 2 tsp of the following:  garam masala, curry powder, coriander, salt, pepper, and a couple of cardamom pods
1 T lime juice
1 tub 1/3 less fat sour cream or greek yogurt

Preheat oven to 350.
Prep the broccoli, asparagus, and potatoes by blanching them in boiling water.  Stand by.
Sear chicken on each side until gbd in vegetable oil.  Place chicken on a sheet tray and place in the oven while you complete the remaining steps.
Add the butter and onions to the pan with the chicken bits.  Stir up said bits.  Add tomato paste and spices, including grated ginger and garlic.  Stir until the fragrance fills the room, and then add chicken stock and lime juice.  Reduce heat.  Add chicken, and stir in sour cream or yogurt.  Add fresh cilantro to finish.

Serve with basmati rice, and say word.

   Mise en place

  Veggies getting hot in the hot pan.

   Tikka Masala!!

Alas, I don't have any pretty plated pictures, as this went immediately into a tupperware container and then the fridge, but rest assured it was delish.  Perhaps I'll take some in the future.  I plan to enjoy this bounty for about 4 days.  Mmm..

With the remaining broccoli stems, I made a little knife-skills salad.  Check it:

Knife Skills Salad

3 broccoli stems, peeled and julienned
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T soy sauce (or make it gluten-free with some tamari!)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp ginger juice (I used my ginger scraps from the tikka masala and just squeezed them over the mixing bowl)
a bit of cilantro
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1 tsp mccormick's salad supreme (!!!)

Combine and eat. 

Actually, if you let it sit overnight or so, it gets even better, but who can really do that?  This recipe relies on the fact that the marinade would be good on a book, so feel free to add julienned red onion, bell pepper, whatevs - it's a winner.  The surprise star ingredient is the mccormick's salad supreme, which housewives have been using to season pasta salad for neighborhood picnics for decades.  It features poppy seeds, sesame seeds, celery seeds, and paprika (perhaps a dash of meth.)  I originally wanted to use black sesame seeds and white sesame seeds (because I believe in sesame seed diversity,) but all I had was the salad supreme, so, you know, voila.










Next update you can look forward to some exciting pictures of the kitchen and auxillary kitchen at New Smitty's.

Hasta la pasta,
onioncloute

So, in anticipation of the upcoming (so close. can't sleep.) visit of long-time lover, Stinky Marc, I read through Marc's recipe posts on the facebook.  I'm an inexplicable mix of jealous and inspired.  First of all, his photography is gorgeous.  My pictures look like cheap 70s polaroids but without the glamorous sepia tone.  In fact, perhaps I should just solve the dilemma of me being barely competent enough to operate my digital camera and 'go polaroid.'  Then no one would know...I mean, other than the four of you.  He has a picture of some mid-shred cheese that makes me swoon.  And there's one picture where you can see a little bit of his beard...I don't need to tell you what this does to me.

Anyway, the recipes aren't particularly off the wall or anything.  Marc is an admittedly novice chef who seems to be enjoying just the act of writing out recipes -- grilled steak hardly needs an explanation, right?  But the voice is easy and honest, very Mark Bittman-y.  It makes good, simple food appear as approachable as it is.  I'm really proud of Marc for pursuing something he's into, but as I mentioned earlier, I can't help but feel a certain jealousy over the whole thing.  I've been working in kitchens for about five years now (not that it's a big deal in comparison to my coworkers, but whatevs,) and in that time, cooking has rarely seemed particularly glamorous or cool.  I mean, sure, it is cool, but never so cool as it looks when someone else is doing it.  I'm not complaining about my chosen career (because god knows I'm ill-equipped to do anything else.)  It's just that, only a few months into his jaunt into the culinary world, Marc has already gotten a cool staging job (at Local Roots in Roanoke) and a gig doing a demo for some hip-ass dogooder collective.  Meanwhile, all my favorite t-shirts have grease stains all over them, my latticework of burns has ruined any hope of a forearm modeling career, and my birki clogs have officially numbed the end of my big toe my entire foot.

I need to 'get cooking' in a big way.  I feel like my sense of taste has suffered a weird lull since moving to Richmond.  There is great food to be had in Richmond, and my lovely dongettes at Millie's have been gracious enough to enlighten me wherever possible, but still I feel sort of stagnant.  The hits and misses of the "Eating with Bobby" line (my Autism-Aware kids meals) have been interesting but not necessarily the kind of culinary masterstroke that Bourdain got sucking down that first oyster.  I made a peanut butter breakfast bar that looked like turds and tasted like...well...peanut-buttery turds, I'd imagine.  heh.

I have had several victories lately (can you say delicious lumpia?,) so I suppose I'll focus on them and keep pushing on.  There are some big changes coming at Millie's, which will ensure a little bit more freedom for me to "do what I want" on the app menu.  I have some ideas, but I really need to keep reading and eating and playing with food.  Also, the little firedude continues to need to be fed his ridiculously restrictive diet, and that means more taste-testing gluten-free biscuits... Really, what I need is to stop being such a lazy stoner and keep this little bloggio going: Perhaps that can be the catalyst for some new food adventures....

food, ho,
onioncloute

Now that I'm employed by a magnificent (mostly) Vegan family, my ears perk whenever I happen to hear the V word.  This month's Gourmet features a picture of the AWESOME Chrissie Hynde (gotta love a fake-blood-hurling punk vegan with the ability to rock a mullet for 30 years with no one noticing.)  The gist is that she's opening a restaurant in Akron that's as animal-friendly as she is.

I would loooove to be a part of opening a new Vegan restaurant in Richmond.  I'd like for it to be a Southern-influenced Comfort-Food spot.  I've been to Epanema and Panda Veg, and they've been quite busy on each visit.  While I looove Epanema's delish soups and other chalkboard offerings, I was totally unimpressed by Panda Veg.  My clients love it, but I'm not convinced.  I personally prefer vegan foods that emphasize vegetables, grains, etc, rather than relying on meat and cheese substitutes.  To me, a substitute is almost always going to be a sad reminder of what you 'can't' have, whereas if you embrace what you can have, you open up a world of food that can be just as satisfying as any animal-based food.

So, I'm going to try to work in a couple vegan desserts and maybe a soup or two at Millie's.  I wish VOLT would embrace some vegan foods.  I know Bryan's attitude toward it.  It's the same as many chef's I've known, and it's not necessarily friendly.  An unannounced Vegan can fuck up a busy Saturday night in a big hurry.  Plus, when you're used to working with all of nature's bounty, elliminating the 'good stuff' can seem counterintuitive to someone who devotes his life to food.  But veganism isn't a fad that's going away, and VOLT would do well to acknowledge that in some way.  I'd be quite interested to see what that way would be.

And speaking of VOLT, there's an article in Gourmet about Bourbon that inclues a recipe for an "Old Fashioned."  I first discovered the Old Fashioned at VOLT.  Neil had included a witty take on it on the cocktail menu, and I, of course, researched the history of the revered cocktail.  I'd like to announce that the official cocktail of New Smitty's is (drumroll) an Old Fashioned.  Sugar cube + 2 dashes bitters + Bourbon + splash of soda.  Ice.  Rocks Glass.  Orange + Cherry Garnish.  As with the White Russian at Old Smitty's, which featured a delish raspberry vodka, there will be a tiny tweak to the cocktail: a brown sugar cube instead of the traditional white sugar.  The Old Fashioned beat out a whiskey sour with housemade sour mix (featuring Ener-G egg replacer) and a pina colada with cardamom for the New Smitty's House Cocktail.

So, come to New Smitty's, and come often.