Hey All,
Its the end of summer in good ol' Salt Lake City. We've had our first freezes, which prompted me to harvest what I could of the tomatoes. With the exception of a few ripening on the counter, the rest have been cut up and frozen (hint, so much easier than canning and you can use them pretty much the same).
In our meal plan for last week, we had a ghetto ceasar on the menu. It never did get made, until tonight. Since I'm going on a television and facebook strike tonight, I figured I'd blog the recipe. Granted its a bit of this, a tiche of that kind of recipe, but hopefully it inspires some creativity.
So first up were the croutons. Making your own croutons is relatively easy. I'll save you details and let you find your own recipe. The biggest trick, of course is having your pan plenty hot. I don't mind if they have a bit of a toast to them, so you may have to play with it a bit to perfect it. I've also taken a shine to using infused oils. I'll have to do a write up with a how-to the chemists' way. Its fun and its easy, and with the help of our good friend nitrous oxide, its quick!
OK, now for the fun:
1 head lettuce (traditionally one would use Romaine, but I use whatever is on sale or I have on hand....hint, swiss chard makes an amazing ceasar, but I'm letting mine grow some more, to see if its true it is a year round green here)
1 tomato cut into 1/8 wedges (oh, I'm gonna miss my garden fresh 'maters this winter)
3 prepared chicken patties, cooked and diced
1 small bag baby carrots
Croutons
Ghetto Ceasar Dressing: Mayo, dill pickle juice to thin, some dried oregano, minced garlic, and a good dose of parmesan cheese. Put it in a jar or other container so you can shake it up.
Clean and cut or tear the lettuce into a bowl with a tight fitting lid. Pour the Ghetto Ceasar Dressing over. Put the lid on and shake the daylights out of it, coating all the lettuce. Top with the tomato, chicken, carrots, and croutons.
If you grill your chicken, it will lighten it up substantially in the calorie department.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Asian Noodles....perfect after a night out
Hey All,
So, last night we went out and did it up right. I can't believe how amazing the past few weeks have been. Decompressions in San Francisco and Seattle, and Bearacuda last night. Dancing, drinking, too much fun, we needed salty, brothy, morning after food today, so I put together noodles. A flour stick noodle with Vien gia vi vit tiem (canard mijote-stewed duck seasoning) prepared 1 bullion cube to 2 cups water, tomago-yaki, char beef and chicken, purple ruffles basil from the garden (last of the season, I fear), green onions, dried seaweed, cilantro, and some celery that was on its last legs. I realized when I got home from the market that I didn't have enoki mushrooms and bean sprouts, but the effect was still awesome. In scouring the internet for tomago and char meat, I found a couple of new recipes I want to get down before I lose them. To assemble the soup, place the cooked noodles in the bottom of a bowl, garnish with the meat and herb condiments, top up with boiling (I can't stress this enough, otherwise the flavors don't meld) broth, let stand 5 minutes, and enjoy. This is the basis for all kinds of awesome asian soups, so please experiment to your heart's content.
First up, the tomago (taken from Momofukufor2)
Tamago Recipe
3 eggs
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
Put it all in a bowl and whip the shit out of it. It won't foam, it should be crazy thin, in reality. Pour a bit in a pan, roll it over like a crepe, pour another layer down, roll it around... Eh, just go read the Momofuku, its hard to explain how to do it. This is by far the best tomago recipe I've found. Mine was a tad brown but still very tasty.
Next up, the char siu that uses maltose (taken from Rasa Malaysia). Maltose is a must here, I've tried recipes without it, and quite frankly, they suck! I do mine a bit differently using a large flat steak and boneless skinless chicken thigh to plus up the balance, rolling the chicken in the steak skewering it before roasting. Oh and a substitute for the rose wine, super dry Chardonnay and a drop of rose essential oil, if your rose EO is diluted, make sure its in a consumable base oil and use a few drops.
BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu/Char Siew/蜜汁叉烧)
Ingredients:
1 lb pork butt (cut into 4 pieces)
3 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
Char Siu (Char Siew) Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons maltose
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine (玫瑰露酒)
3 dashes white pepper powder
3 drops red coloring (optional)
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Method:
Add all ingredients in the char siu sauce in a sauce pan, heat it up and stir-well until all blended and become slightly thickened and sticky. (It will yield 1/2 cup char siu sauce.) Transfer out and let cool.
Marinate the pork butt pieces with 2/3 of the char siu sauce and the chopped garlic overnight. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil into the remaining char siu sauce. Keep in the fridge.
The next day, heat the oven to 375 degree F and roast the char siu for 15 minutes (shake off the excess char siu sauce before roasting). Transfer them out of the oven and thread the char siu pieces on metal skewers and grill them over fire (I used my stove top). Brush the remaining char siu sauce while grilling until the char siu are perfectly charred. Slice the char siu into bite-size pieces, drizzle the remaining char siu sauce over and serve immediately with steamed white rice.
The leftover herbs are in the back window of my car drying now. Its a weird trick to dry herbs, but if you put them in a paper bag or box and leave them in your car while its warm, you'll have perfectly dried herbs in a few days. I think I'll mix in some dried bean curd and have it handy as a quick soup ala instant miso.
I hope you all are well and thanks for reading. I haven't written as much, I got really badly depressed and pretty much quit doing everything. I'm much better now after a couple months of pretty intense therapy and hope to write about my culinary conquests more in the future.
Lotsa Love,
3day
So, last night we went out and did it up right. I can't believe how amazing the past few weeks have been. Decompressions in San Francisco and Seattle, and Bearacuda last night. Dancing, drinking, too much fun, we needed salty, brothy, morning after food today, so I put together noodles. A flour stick noodle with Vien gia vi vit tiem (canard mijote-stewed duck seasoning) prepared 1 bullion cube to 2 cups water, tomago-yaki, char beef and chicken, purple ruffles basil from the garden (last of the season, I fear), green onions, dried seaweed, cilantro, and some celery that was on its last legs. I realized when I got home from the market that I didn't have enoki mushrooms and bean sprouts, but the effect was still awesome. In scouring the internet for tomago and char meat, I found a couple of new recipes I want to get down before I lose them. To assemble the soup, place the cooked noodles in the bottom of a bowl, garnish with the meat and herb condiments, top up with boiling (I can't stress this enough, otherwise the flavors don't meld) broth, let stand 5 minutes, and enjoy. This is the basis for all kinds of awesome asian soups, so please experiment to your heart's content.
First up, the tomago (taken from Momofukufor2)
Tamago Recipe
3 eggs
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
Put it all in a bowl and whip the shit out of it. It won't foam, it should be crazy thin, in reality. Pour a bit in a pan, roll it over like a crepe, pour another layer down, roll it around... Eh, just go read the Momofuku, its hard to explain how to do it. This is by far the best tomago recipe I've found. Mine was a tad brown but still very tasty.
Next up, the char siu that uses maltose (taken from Rasa Malaysia). Maltose is a must here, I've tried recipes without it, and quite frankly, they suck! I do mine a bit differently using a large flat steak and boneless skinless chicken thigh to plus up the balance, rolling the chicken in the steak skewering it before roasting. Oh and a substitute for the rose wine, super dry Chardonnay and a drop of rose essential oil, if your rose EO is diluted, make sure its in a consumable base oil and use a few drops.
BBQ Pork Recipe (Char Siu/Char Siew/蜜汁叉烧)
Ingredients:
1 lb pork butt (cut into 4 pieces)
3 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil
Char Siu (Char Siew) Sauce:
1 1/2 tablespoons maltose
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rose wine (玫瑰露酒)
3 dashes white pepper powder
3 drops red coloring (optional)
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Method:
Add all ingredients in the char siu sauce in a sauce pan, heat it up and stir-well until all blended and become slightly thickened and sticky. (It will yield 1/2 cup char siu sauce.) Transfer out and let cool.
Marinate the pork butt pieces with 2/3 of the char siu sauce and the chopped garlic overnight. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cooking oil into the remaining char siu sauce. Keep in the fridge.
The next day, heat the oven to 375 degree F and roast the char siu for 15 minutes (shake off the excess char siu sauce before roasting). Transfer them out of the oven and thread the char siu pieces on metal skewers and grill them over fire (I used my stove top). Brush the remaining char siu sauce while grilling until the char siu are perfectly charred. Slice the char siu into bite-size pieces, drizzle the remaining char siu sauce over and serve immediately with steamed white rice.
The leftover herbs are in the back window of my car drying now. Its a weird trick to dry herbs, but if you put them in a paper bag or box and leave them in your car while its warm, you'll have perfectly dried herbs in a few days. I think I'll mix in some dried bean curd and have it handy as a quick soup ala instant miso.
I hope you all are well and thanks for reading. I haven't written as much, I got really badly depressed and pretty much quit doing everything. I'm much better now after a couple months of pretty intense therapy and hope to write about my culinary conquests more in the future.
Lotsa Love,
3day
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Hibearnation - a love letter of sorts
Hey All,
So its been like eons and I'm sure ya'll are wondering what I've been cooking. Well, I went into hibeanation around october, only to arise in May with all sorts of fun and delicious things. Hibearnation was its usual, nothing especially noteworthy, except maybe a new plaything. Out of respect for his life ambitions, I'll spare details and simply say, finally Husbear and I agree on something :)
The love letter part of this is for my friend Tao. She's amazing! I love my lesbians but this one is quite simply one of the best when it comes to finding that right moment to say, "Hey, I'm really glad you exist". Recently, we had a rather deep conversation that pushed me to figure some stuff out.....it was a gentle nudge :) We also talked about our efforts to quit smoking, we've both suffered some pretty harsh setbacks and she is daunted by finding a good nicotine free solution, in the form of vaping aka the ecig. I do owe her a phone call, but wanted to get it down on electrons while my brain was thinking about it. So here goes, my attempt at quitting smoking:
Rule #1: Quitting smoking is hard! Among the myriad of chemicals included in that tasty cigarette are MAOIs and other potentiating chemicals that make a nicotine replacement just not quite the same. That being said, I've had good success by not getting pissed off at myself if I do smoke. I finish the pack and don't buy another. The worst part was the day I found myself without a pack of smokes and had to really work through some of the most intense nic fits of my life. Also, realize your body is going to do crazy things. I've had neuropathy (to the point of dropping me to my knees), mood swings, general aggressiveness, body aches, and a downright shitty mood. The good news, after I've conquered these I've been semi-manic.
Now onto the nicotine replacement end of things: This time around I decided to use a combined therapy. Patches work, kind of....welbutrin really wasn't for me, Chantix made me nuttier than shit to the point of a relationship failure, and cold turkey was simply out of the question. Thankfully, technology has figured out a nifty way to allow one to "smoke" in the form of a nicotine mist, aka the ecig! That being said, the ecig is a daunting creature with many varieties and variations. Word of caution: vaping (that's what ecig users call it), can become habit forming in its own right due to the myriad of devices, flavors, nicotine strengths, etc. Here are some general highlights of what I've learned so far.
I started with the Green Smart Living (GSL) ecig. It was readily available at my local head shop and started me into this foray. It comes with pre-filled cartomizers which quite frankly suck and comparatively cost a buttload of $$$. It'll due to get you started on your pathway to cutting down, but poor vapor output and nasty assed flavors will leave you wanting a real cig after about 6 hours. The battery isn't all that bad, but it is a "shortie".
Up next, I discovered 888 cigs (888). The battery is an impressive long one. The carts still sucked donkey, but I was eternally grateful to have a second battery compatible with my existing cartomizers that when combined with the other one would get me through the day. I found myself with one on the charger that would be ready just in time when the other one died.
It is worth noting at this point, the GSL and 888 are higher voltage batteries (5V) and the chargers are not compatible with many others. Joyetech, I'll talk about them in a bit are a 4.2 V battery and will readily fry and be useless if attached to a 5V charger.
Now that I had made it this far.....I'd been dramatically reduced in my smoking for a good 2 months by now, a pack a week and a pack on the weekends, but I wanted to take it further. I'd heard of this mystic thing called eliquid that one could use to reload their cartomizers and get extra mileage out of them. The folks over at Vapor Kings have a great tutorial about how to do this with existing cartomizers and "blanks". The best deal I've found on blanks so far is over at Vapor Beast. If you are using the GSL or the 888, get Boge standard 3.0ohm cartomizers, anything less will make the battery freak out and dramatically reduce your vaping experience. So I ordered a bunch of 18mg eliquids from Word Up Ecig. Little did I know I discovered a gold mine. Laurin over there mixes the most amazing eliquids I've tried so far. They cost a bit more, but are totally worth it, no harshness, no "off" flavors....she nails every blend she puts up for sale!
Once I got acquainted with vaping, I discovered there is a whole community in the Salt Lake area that enjoys it. It has actually prompted Electronic Stix in Ogden. They specialise in the Joyetech series. This is a much cooler smoke, flavor will be true, but if you are a hotboxer like me, you'll have to adjust your vaping style dramatically. Unfortunately, the GSL and 888 are still my favs when it comes to a satisfying vape in the evening. So far, I've been kinda disappoint with their e liquid, but the "Otter Pop Grape" is tasty, tasty! These guys also have the most amazing 510 passthrough I've tried yet. It runs at 5V, producing tons of warm vapor, truly satisfying from my experience. I'm not knocking on them, I think they've got some great ideas, the Joyetech series, so far has failed to satisfy :(
There is so much to this I could write a novel, but it is 1am in the city of salt and I'm beat. Let me know if I should write more....I certainly will.
Lotsa Love,
Jacob/3 Day Chef
So its been like eons and I'm sure ya'll are wondering what I've been cooking. Well, I went into hibeanation around october, only to arise in May with all sorts of fun and delicious things. Hibearnation was its usual, nothing especially noteworthy, except maybe a new plaything. Out of respect for his life ambitions, I'll spare details and simply say, finally Husbear and I agree on something :)
The love letter part of this is for my friend Tao. She's amazing! I love my lesbians but this one is quite simply one of the best when it comes to finding that right moment to say, "Hey, I'm really glad you exist". Recently, we had a rather deep conversation that pushed me to figure some stuff out.....it was a gentle nudge :) We also talked about our efforts to quit smoking, we've both suffered some pretty harsh setbacks and she is daunted by finding a good nicotine free solution, in the form of vaping aka the ecig. I do owe her a phone call, but wanted to get it down on electrons while my brain was thinking about it. So here goes, my attempt at quitting smoking:
Rule #1: Quitting smoking is hard! Among the myriad of chemicals included in that tasty cigarette are MAOIs and other potentiating chemicals that make a nicotine replacement just not quite the same. That being said, I've had good success by not getting pissed off at myself if I do smoke. I finish the pack and don't buy another. The worst part was the day I found myself without a pack of smokes and had to really work through some of the most intense nic fits of my life. Also, realize your body is going to do crazy things. I've had neuropathy (to the point of dropping me to my knees), mood swings, general aggressiveness, body aches, and a downright shitty mood. The good news, after I've conquered these I've been semi-manic.
Now onto the nicotine replacement end of things: This time around I decided to use a combined therapy. Patches work, kind of....welbutrin really wasn't for me, Chantix made me nuttier than shit to the point of a relationship failure, and cold turkey was simply out of the question. Thankfully, technology has figured out a nifty way to allow one to "smoke" in the form of a nicotine mist, aka the ecig! That being said, the ecig is a daunting creature with many varieties and variations. Word of caution: vaping (that's what ecig users call it), can become habit forming in its own right due to the myriad of devices, flavors, nicotine strengths, etc. Here are some general highlights of what I've learned so far.
I started with the Green Smart Living (GSL) ecig. It was readily available at my local head shop and started me into this foray. It comes with pre-filled cartomizers which quite frankly suck and comparatively cost a buttload of $$$. It'll due to get you started on your pathway to cutting down, but poor vapor output and nasty assed flavors will leave you wanting a real cig after about 6 hours. The battery isn't all that bad, but it is a "shortie".
Up next, I discovered 888 cigs (888). The battery is an impressive long one. The carts still sucked donkey, but I was eternally grateful to have a second battery compatible with my existing cartomizers that when combined with the other one would get me through the day. I found myself with one on the charger that would be ready just in time when the other one died.
It is worth noting at this point, the GSL and 888 are higher voltage batteries (5V) and the chargers are not compatible with many others. Joyetech, I'll talk about them in a bit are a 4.2 V battery and will readily fry and be useless if attached to a 5V charger.
Now that I had made it this far.....I'd been dramatically reduced in my smoking for a good 2 months by now, a pack a week and a pack on the weekends, but I wanted to take it further. I'd heard of this mystic thing called eliquid that one could use to reload their cartomizers and get extra mileage out of them. The folks over at Vapor Kings have a great tutorial about how to do this with existing cartomizers and "blanks". The best deal I've found on blanks so far is over at Vapor Beast. If you are using the GSL or the 888, get Boge standard 3.0ohm cartomizers, anything less will make the battery freak out and dramatically reduce your vaping experience. So I ordered a bunch of 18mg eliquids from Word Up Ecig. Little did I know I discovered a gold mine. Laurin over there mixes the most amazing eliquids I've tried so far. They cost a bit more, but are totally worth it, no harshness, no "off" flavors....she nails every blend she puts up for sale!
Once I got acquainted with vaping, I discovered there is a whole community in the Salt Lake area that enjoys it. It has actually prompted Electronic Stix in Ogden. They specialise in the Joyetech series. This is a much cooler smoke, flavor will be true, but if you are a hotboxer like me, you'll have to adjust your vaping style dramatically. Unfortunately, the GSL and 888 are still my favs when it comes to a satisfying vape in the evening. So far, I've been kinda disappoint with their e liquid, but the "Otter Pop Grape" is tasty, tasty! These guys also have the most amazing 510 passthrough I've tried yet. It runs at 5V, producing tons of warm vapor, truly satisfying from my experience. I'm not knocking on them, I think they've got some great ideas, the Joyetech series, so far has failed to satisfy :(
There is so much to this I could write a novel, but it is 1am in the city of salt and I'm beat. Let me know if I should write more....I certainly will.
Lotsa Love,
Jacob/3 Day Chef
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Menu planning...a bit of work goes a long way
Hey All,
So I didn't write nearly as much as I would have liked this summer. Things were, well, there's no polite way to put it, this summer fucking sucked! Thankfully, my beloved pulled it all together and got me to Burning Man again. I'm still not quite sure what happened out in the desert this year, and I'm still recovering from the "playa plague", but I seem a lot more satisfied with a "Meh!" than my entire life being rainbows and unicorn farts. There's a lot of stuff at play, and I'm not exactly happy all the time, but such is life.
So one thing we started doing after we got back from TTITD was menu planning. I know every good household should do this, and recently the stress of "What do you want for dinner tonight?" was making me batty. So we're doing it and with some pretty amazing success. Its a bit of a pain to take 20 minutes on Saturday and make a plan for the week, but once the shopping is done, its done and there is a clear cut plan for the week. Oh, and its been quite nice on the budget too....lot's less eating out.
So here's the week and a few things I did to get us ready for it:
Monday - Monte Cristo Sandwiches and salad. These are easy, its basically an egg battered grilled ham and cheese. They come together with ease and its a satisfying meal.
Tuesday - Curried Pork. THINK CROCK POT!
Wednesday - Shrimp Alfredo. Another easy one. Cook the shrimp, pour over a jar of alfredo and viola. That will get served with Normandy mix veggies.
Thursday - Beef Enchiladas. I prepped those today, so another easy one. Pop 'em in the oven until they are ready. The garden is going full tilt and avacados were on sale, so those will be served with a salsa fresco, avacado slices, and sour cream.
Friday - good ol' hamburgers. Grill 'em and enjoy.
So nothing too inventive or crazy, but good eatin' that isn't breaking the bank or being delivered.
So I didn't write nearly as much as I would have liked this summer. Things were, well, there's no polite way to put it, this summer fucking sucked! Thankfully, my beloved pulled it all together and got me to Burning Man again. I'm still not quite sure what happened out in the desert this year, and I'm still recovering from the "playa plague", but I seem a lot more satisfied with a "Meh!" than my entire life being rainbows and unicorn farts. There's a lot of stuff at play, and I'm not exactly happy all the time, but such is life.
So one thing we started doing after we got back from TTITD was menu planning. I know every good household should do this, and recently the stress of "What do you want for dinner tonight?" was making me batty. So we're doing it and with some pretty amazing success. Its a bit of a pain to take 20 minutes on Saturday and make a plan for the week, but once the shopping is done, its done and there is a clear cut plan for the week. Oh, and its been quite nice on the budget too....lot's less eating out.
So here's the week and a few things I did to get us ready for it:
Monday - Monte Cristo Sandwiches and salad. These are easy, its basically an egg battered grilled ham and cheese. They come together with ease and its a satisfying meal.
Tuesday - Curried Pork. THINK CROCK POT!
Wednesday - Shrimp Alfredo. Another easy one. Cook the shrimp, pour over a jar of alfredo and viola. That will get served with Normandy mix veggies.
Thursday - Beef Enchiladas. I prepped those today, so another easy one. Pop 'em in the oven until they are ready. The garden is going full tilt and avacados were on sale, so those will be served with a salsa fresco, avacado slices, and sour cream.
Friday - good ol' hamburgers. Grill 'em and enjoy.
So nothing too inventive or crazy, but good eatin' that isn't breaking the bank or being delivered.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
For Paula, Zucchini Bread....A Walk Down Memory Lane
Hey All,
Where did the summer go? I swear.... So tonight I was contacted by my friend Paula. I met Paula back in my days in Wyoming, we worked together and usually found ourselves up to some type of surreptitious behavior. Needless to say I was lucky to have a like minded soul helping keep things entertaining. We've since moved to quite different parts of the world, but we do still keep in touch.
So she was ranting something about hippies and if they only knew about what actually went into a box of baking soda. It struck up some interesting and snarky conversation reminiscent of the good 'ol days when life was water and rocks and big tumbling ovens..... That carried on for a bit and gardening came up. Well lucky her, she's lousy with zucchini. Mmm, how I do love me some zukes. I haven't taken to growing them, much like Paula, many of my local friends are often lousy with the buggers and I inherit the bounty. At any rate, she was looking for a zucchini bread recipe.
This brings about another story from my college days. One evenings my best friend called me to tell me she had something very important to show me. She appeared on my porch with what appeared to be a baby covered in a blanket in her arms. Oh jeez, really? Well, no, it was a 30 some-odd pound zucchini her mother (I swear the woman mutated everything she ever planted into gargantuan proportions, ask me about Momma H's Mutant Day Lilies sometime.) had grown. Knowing I had freezer space and a knack for making a preserving good food she sent it my direction. I think that thing kept us in zucchini bread for most of that year of college....a great easy breakfast in the morning.
This recipe comes from More-with-Less Cookbook, (c) 1976, Twenty-ninth Printing, July 1982, pg. 82. This cookbook was a gift from my Aunt upon high school graduation. She had a copy and spied it at a yard sale and instantly remembered how useful it was while living on a tight budget with her young family. She told me to at least read the first couple of chapters to get some ideas for the years of tight budgeting ahead. I'm sure glad I did, I ate well all throughout college and never broke the bank. I'm not sure if its still in print, but if you can find it, get it. You'll never regret it.
So here it is Zucchini Bread, makes 2 loaves, oven at 350F:
Preheat oven.
Combine in a mixing bowl and beat well:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups raw, peeled, grated zucchini
1 tablespoon vanilla
Sift together:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
Add to zucchini mixture and stir until blended.
Optionally add 1 cup chopped nuts.
Pour into 2 greased 8" bread pans. Bake 1 hour. Remove from pans and cool on rack.
Optionally, frozen zucchini can be used if pureed in a blender.
I always used to sprinkle a bit of sugar on top too, to give it a nice crispy crust.
Hrm, I just remembered I still have a couple pounds of zucchini in the freezer from last year. Guess I need to get cracking and have some kitchen time.
Where did the summer go? I swear.... So tonight I was contacted by my friend Paula. I met Paula back in my days in Wyoming, we worked together and usually found ourselves up to some type of surreptitious behavior. Needless to say I was lucky to have a like minded soul helping keep things entertaining. We've since moved to quite different parts of the world, but we do still keep in touch.
So she was ranting something about hippies and if they only knew about what actually went into a box of baking soda. It struck up some interesting and snarky conversation reminiscent of the good 'ol days when life was water and rocks and big tumbling ovens..... That carried on for a bit and gardening came up. Well lucky her, she's lousy with zucchini. Mmm, how I do love me some zukes. I haven't taken to growing them, much like Paula, many of my local friends are often lousy with the buggers and I inherit the bounty. At any rate, she was looking for a zucchini bread recipe.
This brings about another story from my college days. One evenings my best friend called me to tell me she had something very important to show me. She appeared on my porch with what appeared to be a baby covered in a blanket in her arms. Oh jeez, really? Well, no, it was a 30 some-odd pound zucchini her mother (I swear the woman mutated everything she ever planted into gargantuan proportions, ask me about Momma H's Mutant Day Lilies sometime.) had grown. Knowing I had freezer space and a knack for making a preserving good food she sent it my direction. I think that thing kept us in zucchini bread for most of that year of college....a great easy breakfast in the morning.
This recipe comes from More-with-Less Cookbook, (c) 1976, Twenty-ninth Printing, July 1982, pg. 82. This cookbook was a gift from my Aunt upon high school graduation. She had a copy and spied it at a yard sale and instantly remembered how useful it was while living on a tight budget with her young family. She told me to at least read the first couple of chapters to get some ideas for the years of tight budgeting ahead. I'm sure glad I did, I ate well all throughout college and never broke the bank. I'm not sure if its still in print, but if you can find it, get it. You'll never regret it.
So here it is Zucchini Bread, makes 2 loaves, oven at 350F:
Preheat oven.
Combine in a mixing bowl and beat well:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups raw, peeled, grated zucchini
1 tablespoon vanilla
Sift together:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
Add to zucchini mixture and stir until blended.
Optionally add 1 cup chopped nuts.
Pour into 2 greased 8" bread pans. Bake 1 hour. Remove from pans and cool on rack.
Optionally, frozen zucchini can be used if pureed in a blender.
I always used to sprinkle a bit of sugar on top too, to give it a nice crispy crust.
Hrm, I just remembered I still have a couple pounds of zucchini in the freezer from last year. Guess I need to get cracking and have some kitchen time.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Roast Beef Ranch Wraps....
Hey All,
So I haven't been blogging much lately. That's not to say the eating hasn't been good, I've just been busy and recently under the weather. Has anyone else noticed that summertime colds are the worst? Of course because of the nice weather, I'm failing to keep myself well rested....there is just too much to do and enjoy.
So lunch today was an easy affair, but one that had that moment of "Nice!" to make me want to blog it. Husbear is working on the carburetor cleaning and I've just been fiddling around in the gardens, but we were both grumbling about food.
A quick survey of the fridge and freezer produced ranch dip, tomato, romaine lettuce, and some whole wheat tortillas. Ta-da, wrap time....
4 Slices the tomatoes and then cut those in half to make half moon shapes.
4 leaves of lettuce.
4 tortillas smeared on one half with the ranch dip.
Roast beef to make 4 good hearty wraps.
On with the lettuce, tomato, and roast beef, roll and viola. Quick, easy, and super satisfying :)
So I haven't been blogging much lately. That's not to say the eating hasn't been good, I've just been busy and recently under the weather. Has anyone else noticed that summertime colds are the worst? Of course because of the nice weather, I'm failing to keep myself well rested....there is just too much to do and enjoy.
So lunch today was an easy affair, but one that had that moment of "Nice!" to make me want to blog it. Husbear is working on the carburetor cleaning and I've just been fiddling around in the gardens, but we were both grumbling about food.
A quick survey of the fridge and freezer produced ranch dip, tomato, romaine lettuce, and some whole wheat tortillas. Ta-da, wrap time....
4 Slices the tomatoes and then cut those in half to make half moon shapes.
4 leaves of lettuce.
4 tortillas smeared on one half with the ranch dip.
Roast beef to make 4 good hearty wraps.
On with the lettuce, tomato, and roast beef, roll and viola. Quick, easy, and super satisfying :)
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Now for Something Completely Unrelated
Hey All,
So as some of you know I have this thing for commercial aviation. Ever since I was a young 'un I've been fascinated by planes ranging from the B1900 all the way up to the A380. A few years ago, I stumbled upon Airliners.net and have become a daily viewer to get my fix of all varieties of aircraft. Not too long ago, what did my eye spy, but daily service between PVU (that's Provo, UT) and DEN (Denver, CO).
Well, today was the day Frontier 1655, PVU->DEN started service.
So does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is the Salt Lake Metro area going to be the next to enjoy scheduled commercial service to more than one airport? I would love to see it, and can easily see PVU becoming a great alternate, especially if they can get the UTA (Utah Transit Authority) on board with connection to the impending rail service. I doubt we'd see the likes of Southwest moving down there, but I'm putting my money on 18-21 months before United is flying it.
So as some of you know I have this thing for commercial aviation. Ever since I was a young 'un I've been fascinated by planes ranging from the B1900 all the way up to the A380. A few years ago, I stumbled upon Airliners.net and have become a daily viewer to get my fix of all varieties of aircraft. Not too long ago, what did my eye spy, but daily service between PVU (that's Provo, UT) and DEN (Denver, CO).
Well, today was the day Frontier 1655, PVU->DEN started service.
So does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is the Salt Lake Metro area going to be the next to enjoy scheduled commercial service to more than one airport? I would love to see it, and can easily see PVU becoming a great alternate, especially if they can get the UTA (Utah Transit Authority) on board with connection to the impending rail service. I doubt we'd see the likes of Southwest moving down there, but I'm putting my money on 18-21 months before United is flying it.
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