'Velvetizing'

I recently picked up a wok and stir fry book, not so much for the recipes, which are pretty half assed, but to get ideas. Almost all of them that include meat use this process. Anyway, I read about it a little and tried it with a shrimp stir-fry recipe I made for steph, and now I'm totally in love.

Velvetizing is a chinese method of poaching meat. Meat is always boneless and cut into small stir-fry-sized pieces. The meat is lightly coated with corn starch and egg white (and a little water if necessary). A small amount of oil is heated to 260-280 degrees in a wok. The meat is then cooked, not fried, in the oil for only a minute or two. Because the pieces are small they will be thoroughly cooked and then added back to the stir-fry at the last moment. Intuitively named, it's designed to cook the meat gently while sealing in the flavor and moisture. I've only tried it with shrimp so far, but it did amazing things. The shrimp was cooked perfectly, fluffy, moist and tender. I have never had results like this with a dry heat method.

Thinking about it, it's really ingenious. It combines the extremely efficient dry heat method of frying with the gentle low heat method of poaching. Because it's poached in oil, not water, the moisture has nowhere to go. The egg white and cornstarch create a thin barrier to aid in this effect. However, unlike frying, the heat is low enough that the internal temperature of the food never gets high enough to steam is from the inside, so it stays very very tender and moist.

The draw backs are it adds additional time and mess to your stir-frys, but you can't argue with the results or 5000 years of delicious home cooked food.

Sharpest Knife EVER!

Now that I'm once again in the market for a new knife, I've found that Henckels has just released a new line that may rightfully take the title of the sharpest high carbon steel cutlery around.

For awhile Kershaw's Shun line with it's VG-10 core and 16 layers of SUS-410 stainless steel offered about the best edge retention around. and with a rockwell hardness rating of 60-61 degrees, it was in a league of it's own compared to most other major knife makers at 56-58 degrees. However, J.A. Henckels just released it's Twin Cermax knives, boasting an impressive 66 rockwell score, making it by far the hardest HCS knife around. You can't use a regular honing steel with these because most are 66 degrees as well; you have to get Henckels diamond steel. Those 5 points are gonna cost you though. the twin cermax 6.5" santoku sells online for $189 compared to the shun 6.5" santoku at $99.

To combat Henckels new line, Kershaw has released the Shun Elite, also scoring a 66 and in a similar price range.

As a result, Shun knives are finally starting to come down in price. Most of them are about $20-30 cheaper than last year around this time, which is awesome. Anyone looking for a new knife should check these babies out. I have nothing but good things to say about my Shun santoku.

Leg of Lame? NO!

I didn't take this picture so it's not my fault it looks bad. For some reason it's almost impossible to find a leg of lamb with the sirloin or thigh part still attached. Instead you get the shank half, with or without the bone. This is ok as long as you cook it rare to medium rare (125-130 degrees F) any more well done and you might as well slather yogurt on it and wrap it in a pita.

I went to a job interview this morning and the executive chef told me "everything has already been done, either accidental or otherwise." I took a queue from this and used a recipe from Gourmet magazine. The April '05 issue included a recipe entitled Anchovy and Rosemary Roasted Lamb. I didn't quite follow the recipe exactly so I'm not worried about the feds busting down my door for posting this recipe I did, adapted from the one in the magazine. I served it with a garlic and red pepper couscous with pistachios and mint pesto. Here's how I did it!:

Roast Leg of Lamb:
1 (4-5lb) shank half semi-boneless leg of lamb
5 large cloves garlic, finely minced
6 1/2 anchovy fillets, finely minced
3 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mash the garlic and anchovy's into a fine paste, combine with the olive oil and salt and set aside.

Trim all but a thin layer of fat from the lamb roast. Place the lamb in a roasting pan and score the top with a sharp knive. Rub the spice paste all over, making sure it gets into the cracks. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.

Stick a thermometer into the thickest part and roast until internal temperature reaches 125-130 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit at least 20 minutes before cutting. Serve with mint tea, mint pesto and couscous.

for the mint pesto:
4 Tbs parsley, finely minced
3 Tbs mint leaves, finely minced
1 Tbs anchovy paste
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbs capers, finely minced
1 splash red wine vinegar

For the couscous:
1/4 cup dried couscous
2-3 cups stock
2 Tbs olive oil
1/4 cup pistachios, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red pepper, seeded and diced

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes, stirring. Add the red pepper and pistachios and cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the couscous and stir until coated with oil. Pour in the stock slowly, adding less than you think is necessary. Cook until absorbed, adding more stock if necessary. Serve immediately.

for the mint tea:
Bring a quart of water to boil. put 7-10 mint leaves in a coffee mug or tea glass. Put about 5 drops of lemon juice in the mug. Pour the boiling water over the tea leaves and let steep for 10 minutes, covered. Remove the leaves and stir in a drop of honey before serving.

Minneola

I'm not in the habit of trying random citrus fruits that show up in the produce section, but that doesn't mean I never do. The minneola is a delicious not-to-sweet, not-too-tart citrus fruit, notably different than a tangerine. Perfect for someone disheartened by the sweetness of the orange as well as the sourness of a grapefruit. I was interested, so Stephanie looked it up to find its from a group of fruits known as tangelos.

Tangelos are hybrids of tangerines and grapefruit or pomellos. First known crosses made by Dr. Walter T. Swingle in the late 19th century. They are significantly different from other citrus fruits and comprise a category in themselves. They were discoveredOther tangelos include, 'K-early', 'nova', 'orlando', 'seminole', 'Thornton" and of course the 'Ugli'.

Scotch Eggs

I just recently came across this classic pub fare at Brit's Pub in downtown minneapolis. I had literally been in town an hour. Our waiter forgot the original order and returned with the late-night menu, where it grabbed our attention. This is by far the most significant British contribution to the culinary world I've tasted as well as the only reason our waiter received any tip at all. I thought of Steph immediately when I had this cause I think she'd like it and it's amazingly delicious. I'm planning on making it soon.

It consists of a hard boiled egg, wrapped in breakfast sausage, covered in bread crumbs and deep fried. Not exactly diet food, but damned you are if you dimiss it on those grounds. They served it with a dijon mustard mayonnaise based sauce. Here's my attempt at reverse engineering the recipe:

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
2-4 links breakfast sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
oil for for deep frying

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs dijon mustard
1 tsp sherry vinegar
fresh ground black pepper

Put the flour in a shallow dish and roll the eggs in it to coat lightly. Enclose the eggs in the sausage and dust again with flour. dredge in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs. Fry for a minute or two until the sausage is cooked through. Slice in half and serve warm or cold with dijon mustard sauce.

Mighty Muffaletta

EAT IT! My hands still smell like brine from chopping of all those olives and giardinera, but it was worth it. This is the first thing I've made since I moved to Seattle. There's an italian deli not too far from me, so I couldn't help myself. If I had time I would have put roasted pepper in it.

italian bread
mortadella
genoa salami
proscuitto
mozzarella
provolone

for the olive salad:

kalamata olives, chopped
capers
pimento stuffed olives with some liquid
chopped giardinera with some liquid
garlic
pinch of dried oregano
pinch of dried thyme
pinch of crushed red pepper
olive oil

What I Learned From Studying Fat for 2 1/2 Months

In 1994 the USDA released their first nutritional pyramid guide. This was, needless to say grossly inaccurate (I imagine most people wouldn’t think it healthy to eat between 6 and 11 servings of grain per day). We’ve learned a little bit in the last 11 years that show the original to be not only inaccurate but very unhealthy.

(old pyramid) The bottom layer (bread, cereal, rice and pasta) lumps all grains together, when there’s an important difference between whole and processed grains. Refined carbohydrates (bread, pasta, sweets, table sugar etc.) are absorbed into the bloodstream too quickly, because there is no bran left on the grain for your body to breakdown in digestion. As the starch is absorbed into your blood and broken down into glucose your blood sugar rises dramatically. In order to compensate for the elevated blood sugar level your pancreas must secrete insulin into your blood. Aside from putting a strain on your pancreas, a state of heightened blood sugar allows for fast calorie absorption into your blood and ultimately faster weight gain. When people are overweight, even slightly, their pancreas must work harder than normal to supply the larger mass with insulin. This eventually leads to pancreatic failure resulting in a number of health problems including onset diabetes. The new pyramid recommends refined carbohydrates to be eaten sparingly.

Various artificial sweeteners are usually unhealthy. High-fructose corn syrup or HCS, was created in the 80’s by a Japanese company. Because it is six times sweeter than sugar, it quickly took over as main sweetener in soda and fruit juices along with most beverages sold. It is not metabolized properly by the body because of it’s chemical structure and goes straight to your liver and puts a huge strain on it. Because of it’s high sugar content and , high-fructose corn syrup should be avoided. Aspartame (marketed under the brand name nutra sweet) aside from having unappetizing qualities, is but no means healthy and is known to cause serious health problems in children under the age of 2. Otherwise it is little to no risk. Sucralose is a chemical manufactured from sucrose (table sugar) that is too complex to be metabolized by your body. It passes through your digestive system without raising blood sugar levels or increasing insulin production. Since no carbohydrates (which have 4 calories per gram) are digested, it does not affect your calorie consumption. Sucralose has not been shown to cause any health problems and is marketed under the brand name Splenda.

Along with grains, all fats and oils are lumped together in one category, when some are healthy and some are not. To understand this difference I must briefly digress into a little chemistry, but bear with me, it all comes together.

Fats are long molecules made of chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms with other miscellaneous elements. When two carbon atoms are double bonded together this leaves an opening in ‘the chain,’ and it is ‘un-saturated.’ If there is more than one carbon-double-bond the fat becomes ‘poly-unsaturated.’ And if there are no double bonds, the chain is full or ‘saturated.’ These chemical differences affect a number of factors including melting temperature. Un-saturated fats, or oils, stay liquid at room temperature (and usually come from plants) and thus are more likely to stay liquid inside your body. Because of the nature of the molecular structure; saturated fats melt at much higher temperatures and are more likely to stay solid inside your body. Your brain is composed almost entirely of fat and needs to be constantly replenished. Your cells use fat to lubricate their walls.

The double bond(s) of an un-saturated fat make it susceptible to oxidation which causes rancidity. Rancid foods are not shown to be unhealthy but may contain free-radicals, which have been strongly linked to cancer. As a result, un-saturated fats have a relatively short shelf-life. By adding hydrogen and thus completing the chain - or saturating the fat - the molecule goes from a ‘cis’ formation to a ‘trans’ formation. This process is used in several commercial products to increase overall life and is called ‘hydrogenation.’ The terms ‘cis’ and ‘trans’ describe the shape of the molecule. ‘trans’ fats have been linked with a number of heart problems and increase your risk of heart disease immensely. These fats are shown to cause a serious health risk and should be avoided entirely. Margarine and other butter substitutes are made from this same process, along with most processed/frozen foods.

Diets high in saturated fat lead to high levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, and greatly increase the risk of heart disease and atherosclerosis in both men and women. Heart disease is almost always linked to high levels of LDL cholesterol. On the other hand, diets high in un-saturated fats lead to high levels of HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein) which is inversely proportional to risk of heart disease. Diets high in red meat and dairy fat have extremely high instances of heart disease, where diets high in plant oils and vegetables, low in saturated fat, have extremely low instances of heart disease. There are many other contributing factors to heart disease including age, race, location, family history, weight and activity levels. Saturated fat is necessary in a healthy diet in smaller amounts. However, diets very low in saturated fat are equally unhealthy and cause serious health problems over a prolonged period of time. Walter Willett who designed this alternative pyramid, suggests no more than 5 percent of your calories should come from saturated fat.

Until recently, fat in general was thought to be unhealthy and a number of fat substitutes were introduced. The much debated Olestra was created by the Proctor and Gamble Corporation in 1968. It’s synthesized by combing 6 or more fatty acids to a sucrose molecule. The result is a molecule to complex to be broken down and is not absorbed into the body. Aside from the unpleasant side affects, Olestra absorbs fat soluble vitamins A, E, D and K preventing them from being absorbed. To compensate for the vitamin loss manufacturers saturate snack products with these vitamins, so this is not an issue. It also takes any carotenoids out of your body including beta-carotene which could prove a health risk considering most Americans don’t get enough beta-carotene to begin with. When Olestra was originally released, the FDA required the product have a label indicating it contained Olestra. In 2003 that requirement was revoked. Now most reduced-fat and no-fat food products contain fats similar to olestra if not olestra. Olestra and like fats should probably be avoided entirely as they may pose a health risk.

Mario!

I had a really weird dream last night that I went to one of Mario Batali's restaurants and he was there. He was really stressed out and crazy, but he let me check out some food book he got in high school. But then I got tomato sauce fingerprints on it and he put me in a headlock. Then we ran out.

Brillat-Savarin

The legendary gastronome said many things, two of which strike me:

"The world is nothing without life and all that lives takes nourishment"

"Desert without cheese is like a pretty woman with only one eye."

Peach Melbas and Care Bear Villians

There's a fly in here I can't kill. It keeps flying around, just cruising around my apartment mocking me, taking it's time, waiting for me to drop my guard before it buzzes back around my head again.

Anyway, the night was hot and fevered and so is my sleep. It's about 3 in the morning and I've woken up about every hour to pour an ice cold glass of water down my throat so I can sleep again. During one of these periods I dreamed the the color from my pictures was bleeding away. I couldn't stop it but sought to capture ALL the colors as they seeped away and became like a care bear villian. I think it had something to do with this image of the peach melba lingering in my subconscious from earlier.

This drink is actually the opposite of the picture and refreshing on many levels and not abrasive, but definitely intense. It's made from ground up frozen peaches, simple syrup, raspberries, lime juice, spiced rum and ice. It's a lot like a smoothie and can be made hours ahead of time and stored in the freezer. The recipe came from . I topped it off with white flesh peaches which brings me to my next point;

PEACHES ARE IN SEASON. GO EAT PEACHES.

Steph had to work the 4th so my day was fairly uneventful. I had a beer lunch: beer brats with carmelized vidalia onions in beer reduction, served with beer. By the way, the time for vidalia/walla walla onions has passed.

Dinner was simple but delicious: Steaks with grilled vegetable-pesto salad and garlic potatoes. We started out with the peach melbas I got some really beautifully marbled new york strip steaks from top and grilled them. I made a steak sauce that tasted a lot like homemade A-1 but way better:

Steak Sauce

1/3 cup worcestershire
2 Tbs ketchup
pinch of salt
several dashes of tapatio or other pepper sauce

I grilled asparagus, mushrooms and tomatoes and drizzled the last of the pesto over it with a little balsamic vinegar salt and pepper.

I quartered some russets and grilled those as well and then tossed with butter, salt and roasted garlic.

Desert was a raspberry chocolate puff pastry. Aside from some eggwash brushed on the outside for color, these were the only three ingredients. I cut the thawed puff pastry sheet into quarters about 4x4" and placed ~4 raspberries and 5 or 6 semi-sweet morsels and then folded them up. If I had some coarse cane sugar I would have sprinkled it over, but only a pinch.

I love puff pastry dough, it makes you look like you spent a lot of time on something when, in actuality this is the extent and complexity of the desert I make.

Teriyaki

I wanted to make buffalo burgers for the fourth, but top wasn't stocking any buffalo meat. For some reason it makes me think of Teriyaki sauce. The french neglected to take into account the whole spectrum of mirin based sauces when they left it out of the 5 categories. It's incredibly simple and the difference between homemade and store bought is expectedly large. There's reason not to make it just before you need it since it only requires you combine 4 ingredients:

1/2c. mirin
1/4c. shoyu (soy sauce)
1/4c. sake
2 Tbs. sugar

warm to dissolve sugar.

This teriyaki isn't thick and syrupy like the kind you'd buy already made, and can be brushed onto meat as it grills in layers. The extremely high salt from the soy sauce makes it into more of a brine than a marinade and consequently more effective. The mirin really makes all the difference in the world - use a good one and your dreams will come true, but use a bad one and see what I'm talking about. Unfortunately there's not much selection when you're living in a fairly small town like olympia. There's nothing to be learned from the smell, you have to taste it. It should be rich and much to sweet to ever be consumed on it's own and taste only of rice. It's the perfect representation of the japanese simplicity and love of sweetness in savory dishes.

Another in the mirin sauce family is tare, or yakitori basting sauce. It's made with mirin, sugar, shoyu and sake, but is simmered with grilled chicken wings for 30-35 minutes afterward. The result is unbelievable. In restuaraunts the grilled chicken on the skewers would be dipped into the tare pot during cooking and acquire more chicken flavor with each skewer. According to the cookbook this recipe came from - The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo - Restaurants boast to have been using the same tare base for ten years. Eating the wings afterward is the recipe thanking you for making it.

Momos Momos!

Not much more to say. Delicious as usual. I'm not crazy about this presentation. The napa cabbage should be turned around to draw out the off-white momos instead of fading them away.

Momos

1 large package wonton wrappers
1 recipe turkey filling
Momo sauce

Garnish:

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
½ cup chopped green onions

Wet the corners of the wontons so they stick. Place ~1 tbs of turkey filling in the middle of each wonton and fold together. Steam the momos a few at a time, making sure they don’t touch each other. Cook until the dough turns transparent, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately with momo sauce poured over. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and green onions.

Turkey Filling:

2 pounds ground turkey
½ cup chopped fresh dill
1 bunch green onions (green part only)
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper

Combine ingredients in a stand mixer or by hand. Use immediately or refrigerate up to 24hrs ahead of time for optimal flavor infusion.

Momo Sauce:

2 29oz cans tomato sauce
1 sliced serrano chilis
5 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
remaining dill (throw in whatever is leftover from the turkey filling)
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp of salt

In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the shallots and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, herbs and chilis and cook another minute. Add the tomato sauce and remaining ingredients. Bring up to a boil and then down to a simmer. Cook until flavors are infused, tasting periodically, about 30 minutes. Serve warm over momos.

Penne alla Vodka

By making this with the spicy pepper vodka we had leftover from the bloody mary's, I thought, at the time, it was a bold and daring experiment that would yield untold glory or total ruin. It was however, mediocre. I didn't realize that as the vodka cooked away it would take all of it's infused flavors with it leaving us with a sweet (and still very good) tomato sauce. Also, I have to thank John Graham, who let me borrow his negative scanner which brings us this image. The recipe came from my beloved


I found this book on half.com while looking for 1,000 Indian recipes. Both are hardcover and came out the same year, but this was about $3 with shipping and the other was $21 and I doubt 1,000 Indian Recipes was endorsed by Mario Batali.

The recipe I used was:

1/4 c. unsalted butter
1/4c. finely chopped red onion
1 28oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped, w
1/2 c. tomato puree saved from tomatoes
salt
1 Tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup spicy pepper vodka
1 pound penne
1/2 cup grated parmesan

1,000 Italian Recipes called for a 1/2 cup of cream instead of the puree and no tomato paste. Keep in mind while I was making this I thought there would be a nice peppery bite to balance out all the sweet tomato-iness. The whole time I was eating it, I couldn't help but think about this capaldi recipe for a deconstruction of a tomato ravioli. I haven't been able to find agar agar (or Kanten) around, but once I do I'm totally gonna make that.

More Shrimp From Steph

Shrimp on Shabbat? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely. This fusion recipe wasn't particularly impressive, but very nice. A variation on the spring roll that included a pesto salad dressing. It works well as a delicious summer food but lacks the substance and heat for a colder season. Steph found the recipe on Epicurious and made it while I tried to get john's negative scanner to work. the good news is I did! more to come

What's Up With Copper River Salmon?

For only about 4 weeks in may the markets have been flooded with this pricey fish. Supposedly the cold waters of the copper river require the salmon store more fat for the journey, resulting in their unparalleled deliciousness. This phenomenon has been growing in popularality for the last few years and accumulated such a buzz that prices have soared to $22+/pound. I guess the higher costs come from the brief time period during which it's available

Back in Town!

Finally back in olympia! The trip was culinarily action packed and included: butter chicken, peach champagne cocktail, french toast with rum spiced pears and whipped cream, mexican breakfast casserole , baked brie, strawberry parfait, grilled honey lime chicken sandwiches, and more. (if anyone is interested in these recpies let me know and I'll post em) We drove from the twin cities to spokane in 20 hours straight. It was intense. To save money and time, we brought our own food in a cooler. Everything was really good, but by far the prize was a grilled chicken breast salad with rotelle, grilled peppers, grape tomatoes and kalamata olives. The dressing was made with oils, mayo, white wine vinegar, tomato paste and liquid smoke. There wasn't a recipe really because it was based on one of those premaid salads I got from the grocery store. I'll write down the recipe when I make it again cause it's something that needs to experienced.

Anyway, before I left I started making the coveted vodka, so it would be ready when I returned.

There's absolutely nothing that's not amazing about pepper vodka. It's basically a tincture of chili. It works so beautifully because alcohol will dissolve capsaicin and perfectly extract the flavors of the peppers and garlic, leaving you with essence of pepper in a 40% alcohol solution. Unfortunately this also naturally makes it much less tolerant of lower quality ingredients. The first time I made it I used an older clove of garlic that had gotten really spicy and the aroma overpowered the whole thing. You have to use the best quality peppers and garlic you can get your hands on. I like the purple stripe garlic cause it's really sweet. Jalepeno's are flavorful but always a gamble, especially in a recipe as finicky as this. They have a huge range of spiciness depending on when they're picked. I've had ones that went from bell-pepper-neutral, to fiery hot. Also Top Foods sucks bals because they don't have more than 5 kinds of chilis and no serranos, which I needed for the recipe. They were selling thai chilis as serranos. Both peppers look the same but serranos have 5-15,000 scoville units and thai chilis have 50-100,000, which is hotter than most habenero hot sauces.

I like drinking it 1-1 1/2 oz at at time, straight and chilled. The pleasant spiciness of the chili replaces the burn of the alcohol. But because the capsaicin dissolves in the alcohol, most of the pepper spice is washed away and doesn't linger. Extremely nice.

GET READY TO GET PEPPETIZED!

If memory serves me correct, I might wanna change the name of my blog to the pepper cult, since at least one out of three posts has to do with them. I took this picture in heaven, where I found this stuff. Don't look at it too long though it'll make you garf. I can't stop eating it on bruschetta, it's marvelous.

I have one more pepper post planned for soon, but I'm holding off for various reasons. After that, there will be NO MORE pepper posts for a long time. Even though I have a pretty big diversity in the food I make, I don't like to see my blog becoming peppercentric.

Ketchup? Not on my frites!

I probably wouldn't post about this if I was not trying to avoid writing a final paper - possibly the last paper I ever have to write for school. It's not very exciting and neither are french fries - messy, labor intensive and unhealthy, but I felt like making em. I originally planned to use the potatoes I had, in a recipe for smothered pork chops, but it will probably appear soon on my blog.

This might be the first time I fried anything in my apartment, I can't remember, but it took about a half gallon of oil to fill the wok. In the end, everything in my kitchen was covered with oil, including myself. As a lay on the floor, stuffed to the gills, making oil-angels in the puddles, I could only think of how happy it made me to have a perfect french fry. None of that crap they serve at Dick's.

I fried them twice, since that's how I understand you get a crispy product. After I cut them, I soaked em in ice water for 1/2 hour and then dried thoroughly with a clean dish towel. Fried at 350 degrees for about 6 minutes until they started to brown. Laid out on a cooling rack. I looked up a recipe that said you're supposed to let them sit for at least 20 minutes and up to 2 hours. I'm not quite sure what the logic was behind that. But chef Raymond Capaldi does:

The perfect French fry
Science is a wonderful thing. You take the French fry, you steep it in water for 20 minutes and then you’ve got starch breaking up around the potato. When you fry it, that gives you a nice glass, crispy French fry, simple as that.

By the time I finished the first fry, the first batch had probably been sitting for 20 minutes. They went back in the oil, splashing like little sea otters, getting all crispy, before I pulled out a perfect french fry.

The aioli was nothing special, just garlic mixed with chopped chipotle and mayonnaise. Unfortunately some of the adobo oil got in the mix and broke it. That's why it looks all nasty in the picture. The garlic I used was old and spicy so it had a nice punch. This was an amazing sauce, I have to say. I ate it along with some leftover roasted chicken, mmmmm.

Seattle International Film Festival

Armed with a pound of smoked turkey, a half of swiss, a loaf of bread, some fruit and a bucket of homemade trail mix, I journeyed to the city for a week long extravaganza of non-stop international film. It was, needless to say, insanely awesome. Some highlights included: Somersault, My Summer of Love, The Holy Girl, Open Hearts, 3 Iron, Genesis, 4, After Midnight, Frozen, The Lizard, The Ninth Day, Kekexili: the mountain patrol, Earth and Ashes, Mcdull; Prince de la Bun and The World. A week later I return with three oranges and a grown dislike of nutella.

Unfortunately, I had no access to a computer during the festival. I did not have had time to make food anyway, but the U-district has like 10 restaurants on every block. There's a nice little thai place that I enjoyed a lot, on university street near 45th, called Thai Tom. The place was packed and the size of a large walkin closet. I sat no more than 6 feet from the cook on the other side of the bar and watched as he worked five burners, constantly making sauces and stirfrys, cranking out a dish every few minutes. Lots of bubble tea and korean food in the area.

Siff Trail Mix

1 1/4 parts honey roasted peanuts
1/2 part lightly salted cashews
1/2 part dried cranberries
1 part banana chips
1/2 part brazil nuts
1/2 part almonds
1/2 part dried apricots, cut into quarters

I think that's everythin. combine ingredients

If you downplay the cashews in this recipe because they're so heavy, it's more nicely balanced. The brazil nuts have that great earthiness like an almond with a subtle creaminess. I noticed after a few days the salt from the nuts sucked all the moisture out of the apricots and they became tough to eat.

Trio of Pizzas

Shallot and Baby Portobello, Cheese and Basil, and Roasted Garlic and Caper and Toasted Nut Pizza




These were all quite good and highly recommended. The best and most interesting was the roasted garlic, caper and pine and walnut pizza. The corner is missing off the cheese pizza cause my cousin Robbie got anxious and stole it.

Naturally this reminds me of a story about a man camping in the woods. He had run out of his regular hair care product, but was unwilling to leave his hair unruly and unkempt before the majesty of nature so he started greasing it back with the olive oil he had with him. This went on for a few days. He didn't wash it out, he just kept adding to it. Then, he was walking through the woods and a bear picked him up like a savory lollypop and bit his head right off!

Toppings:

Mushroom and Onion pizza:
3 fairly thick sliced mushrooms
1/2 of a very learge shallot, thinly sliced
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
shredded p over the top

Cheese and Basil pizza:
4 or 5 whole basil leaves placed underneath the cheese
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
shredded p over the top

Fancy Pizza:
1 1/2 Tbs toasted pine nuts
1 1/2 Tbs toasted chopped walnut
1 Tbs capers
about 2 heads worth of roasted garlic
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
shredded p over the top

Pizza Dough:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 package dry active yeast
2 Tbs honey
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs chopped herbs (I used parsley and thyme)

Combine all the ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Put in a large bowl and cover with a cloth. Let the dough rise to double it's original size before punching it back down. Divide the dough into three rectangular sections and spread out. Poke holes in the dough with a fork to let the air escape when baking.

Pizza Sauce:

2 28oz cans whole peeled tomatoes, seeded and hand crushed
1/2 medium carrot, diced
2 Tbs garlic, minced
1/2 small white onion, diced
1/2 of a large shallot, minced
3 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs parsley
1 1/2 Tbs thyme
15 large basil leaves
salt and black pepper
4 thin sliced baby portobellos

heat the oil and add the onion, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots and the shallot and season with salt and pepper, cook another 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and herbs and cook 2 more minutes. Pour in just the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Fold in the mushrooms and whole basil leaves. Reduce to a simmer and cook as long as possible, at least 1/2 hour.