Cheese Diary: Robiola Crosta

I was at the cheese shop today and this wash rind was purported to be good with Bartlett pears. I happened to have some Bartletts sitting around at home. This seemed like a run of the mill wash rind, more nutty than buttery, strong salty flavor, smells like feet when left out at room temp for a while. Excellent when paired with Bartletts as the flavor of both seem to be enhanced. This is a great way to enjoy seasonal pears. I suppose the earthy flavor can be compared to mushrooms after they've been sitting in the fridge a while, and they're slimy but extremely strong smelling - that's the good stuff.

The morning after: Post Thanksgiving Breakfast

I call this my Thanksgiving Benedict.

Two herb potato rolls cut in half with a piece of turkey meat, a poached egg laid on top with giblet gravy poured over and served with a side of butternut squash. I learned how to poach eggs from Jamie Oliver's site tutorial.

The variety we had for Thanksgiving didn't really lend itself to us getting bored of the food. I was looking forward to breakfast. Mushroom stuffing with a fried egg and gravy was a nice breakfast too.

Thanksgiving Review: The Great Dictator

This was my first year as Thanksgiving dictator.

- Turkey
- Giblet Gravy*
- Apple Stuffing*
- Wild Mushroom Stuffing*
- Deep fried Cornish Hens*
- Sweet Potato Triple Medley*
- Roasted Vegetable Quartet*
- Roasted Cauliflower*
- Glazed Butternut Squash*
- Butternut Squash Soup
- Green Bean Casserole
- Deviled Eggs
- Brocolli & Cheese Casserole
- Herb Potato Rolls*
- Pumpkin Pie*
- Sampler Pie

Needless to say, I'm assuming a life long term.

Kitchen-Sinking: Sardine Chowder

"Kitchen Sinking" is taken from the phrase "everything but the kitchen sink" it's the general phrase I use when I have vegetables that I NEED to use.

The hoard:
a single potato
and a giant leek

solution: Sardine chowder!

Obsessive Egg Foo Young

I do exercise videos off of youtube and one day, a suggested video was this:



How to make egg  foo young. I figured, why not watch it? I know how to make Korean steamed eggs, omelets, I thought the process would be somewhere in between.

It turns out, egg foo young is an easy way to use up left overs. I had some left over Beijing duck from my birthday and what manifested was a duck-shitake,-mushroom-green onion egg foo young. Save a few chewy parts, it was really good. The biggest revelation from this was what mystery Chinese-American "brown sauce" was. It's so simple: chicken stock, soy sauce, and corn starch?

What I have learned recently is that kimchi is not a good mix in ingredient for egg foo young, but mushrooms and any protein are pretty dynamite! I'm a little ambivalent on the seafood as I don't think it would go with brown sauce, but I do remember shrimp egg foo young being a favorite back in the day. I suppose nothing too strong, so maybe no salmon egg foo young.

Mushrooms, always

Kitchen MacGyver: Lobster Claws

I got a lobster recently. For a long time, as in my life prior to last Thursday, I've been turned off my the idea of getting a lobster because of the outrageous $24/lb price tag I've had in my head. Thinking those lobsters are dense and thick, each one could probably be anywhere between 2-5 lbs, right?

Despite considering myself a logical person, my ability to apply it escapes me when it comes to lobsters and estimating medical costs.

Turns out, lobsters at the grocery store are all about 1 - 1.5lbs, and they're only $13/lb.

I've also been obsessed with the dish Lobster Newberg ever since it was mentioned in the Stepford Wives. Yes, I'm one of those types that can get obsessed easily. Anyway, after concluding that I was going to get an A in my class, I decided to celebrate by making Lobster Newberg. If I didn't make it then, I'd still always have the thought lingering.

My main issue came about while I was removing the meat from the lobster. I've de-meated blue crabs before, no biggie, but one thing lobster has that crab doesn't is really large front claws. It's only happen once before that I run into the dilemma of not having a claw cracker and this time, I really had issues trying to crack the claws by hand.

Solution:

Giant 4 cup Pyrex glass measuring cup.

- wrap the claws in butcher paper
- pound the claws with enough force to crack them, obviously without damaging the measuring cup.

And I still don't have to buy a claw cracker. :)

Texas Summer Readiness: Thai Iced Tea and Cold Brew Coffee

Getting ready for Texas Summer generally means that prepping access to cold drinks and plan things you can do inside since 100 degree weather isn't exactly the best play weather.

I've found that I thoroughly enjoy iced toddy coffee. The beauty of the brewing process is that it is impossible to burn the coffee and burnt coffee is really a flavor that no one should get used to. It also keeps in the refrigerator well. I can wake up in the morning, warm my coffee, add half & half and be out the door with a cup better than anything I've paid for. I got the recipe off of Thug Kitchen: Cold Brew Coffee

Another thing I've been working on is my Thai iced tea. I like it. My boyfriend likes it. I happen to have some of the tea in my closet, so I may as well make it so I have some nice variety in my cold caffeinated drinks. One thing I've been having issues with is the separation. It's what my boyfriend looks for. It's the mark of a good Thai ice tea - at least in restaurants. It's pretty hard to achieve. It is also the point where it causes me a great deal of confusion.