Not food related

I admit June has been a hard month for me to be diligent about posting. Times have been busy and the food hasn't been as spectacular as I usually like it to be. So instead I thought I would share about other not food things that I have recently enjoyed like....

ROLLER DERBY! Who knew this underworld sport of retro/80s/alternativeness was so amazing and understandably on the rise? (I'm not joking - in the States, they are reaching crowd sizes of 3,000-6,000!)  From the atmosphere (music/clothing/crowd) to the women competing with their crazy nicknames (E. Rolla Virus, Smash'em Moiselle, Misty Miyagi), outfits (think lots of fish net stockings), and aggression on the track, it's completely entertaining! We even had a half time performance of Thriller! And, I've decided this is the one sport where it appears to be completely acceptable to choose which team to cheer for based on the colors/outfits that you like the most; what could be better?! I'm cheering hard for the Bad Reputations, but I'll let out a holler for any jammer who successfully darts through the pack while avoiding those vicious shoulder and hip checks.

LETTER WRITING! Although perceived by many as an archaic and dying art, especially with the rising postal rates and ease of email, it remains one of my favorite means of communication with particular close friends. There is something so focused and intentional about writing a message out by hand that is lost in the quick type and delete of email. Plus it's an excuse for me to be creative and thrifty by remaking/sending out all those postcards I've accumulated over the years. In this case though, I wanted to share the envelope I recently made since I didn't have one that fit the postcards I was using to write my letter on. And it was a fantastic use of an old calendar picture! So easy to make (seriously, under 2 minutes) - you must try it yourself!

BACKYARDS! Wife and I have developed a new tradition on sunny, Sunday afternoons: lawn chairs, books, a cold drink, and cat on a leash. I really have to get a picture of this soon. Molly, our cat, wearing a little blue harness and leash, which is either tied to a chair leg or secured around one of our feet, lying flat in the grass, ears and nose twitching wildly as she is overstimulated by all the outdoor sights and sounds. A piece of grass! EXCITEMENT! A bumblebee!! OMG! Another piece of grass! Roll over in bliss! To the point where when we brought her inside after 2 hours, she plaintively ran around the house mewing and staring pointedly out the window so that we were forced to take her outside again for more grass time.

Okay that's all for now, until I manage a post on the slacker recipes I've been playing with lately - popsicles, sorbet, and iced tea.

Fried Okra!

Well I finally did it! After years of singing the praises of properly made southern fried okra, its incomparable crunchy cornmeal exterior and sweet okra interior where the seeds give a satisfying chewy pop in your mouth, I finally made it myself. I did attempt a scientific comparison of two batters, but unfortunately in my excitement about cooking the okra and eating it as soon as it cooled enough to be manhandled, I actually forgot to keep the batches separate and couldn't tell the difference. While I might be tempted to lament this lack of conclusive data, instead I will rejoice at the excuse to repeat the experiment again :)

I bought fresh okra and sliced it about 1/4-1/2" thick. I used Paula Deene's recipe instructions to soak the okra in buttermilk, then dredge in a combination of flour and cornmeal. I did one bowl that was 2:1 flour to cornmeal, and another bowl that was 1:1 flour to cornmeal. In the 2:1 bowl, I used a cajun spice mix and in the 1:1, I used salt. Having a slotted soon is essential for this!

After dredging, fried in canola oil in a skillet. GLORIOUS. The key thing is adding enough salt to the batter, although you can always try to correct by seasoning with more salt afterwards. I also stirred milk into the leftover flour/cornmeal mixture and made up a dough that I fried in the remaining oil :) Next time I will add an egg so it turns out a bit more like a hush puppy!

S'mores bars

After a long day and an equally long week of late nights, I was looking for the quick & easy dessert fix. Perhaps too quick & easy....I decided to give the baked s'mores dessert concept another try after my somewhat disappointing s'mores brownies experience. This one was theoretically a crunchy graham cracker crust base, topped with melted chocolate and marshmallows and sprinkled with some excess graham cracker base. Utterly disappointing (very likely due to my substitutions) and not really worth writing about except as proof that I have been in the kitchen!

S'mores bars
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 Tbs white sugar
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I crushed graham crackers)
1 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used chopped unsweetened with a bit of butter and not enough sugar. I do NOT recommend this substitution)
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows(or large marshmallows chopped bite-size)

Line an 8x8" pan with foil. Press 2/3 of the graham cracker crumb mixture into the pan and bake for 10 min at 350 degrees F. Top with chocolate and marshmallows and remaining graham cracker crumbs. Press to flatten with a spatula. Bake 10 more minutes. LET COOL. Pull foil/s'mores bars out of pan and slice into squares.
*Note if you are using bars of chocolate chopped, I pre-melted mine in the microwave. In retrospect as long as you chop up to a reasonable consistent size (e.g. chocolate chip size), it should work fine to just sprinkle on the chocolate as is.

Commentary: Even if you line the pan with foil, the marshmallows still stick to the foil. It was however easy to lift the bars out of the pan and not having to wash the pan was even better! The crust was a fiasco. Super crumbly even though there seemed to be plenty of butter. I used salted butter in the crust and while it's possible I didn't put the full 2 Tbs of sugar in with the crust, it also seemed very salty. Then again it could have been that my chocolate layer didn't have enough sugar to counter balance.  I would definitely use unsalted butter next time. I also think maybe there is something key to the size of the marshmallows and that bite size may turn out better. Marshmallows melted this way are not my favorite texture, either hot or cold. All I can say is, maybe there is a marshmallow club that you belong to if you have success making these kinds of recipes http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/smores-crumb-bars/Detail.aspx and I clearly don't have what it takes. Never gonna be a member. Sigh.

From henceforth, I vow never to use my cooking powers for evil. I shall only use marshmallows either in (a) rice krispies or (b) actual campfire s'mores.

Addendum: Apparently wife and friend thought the bars tasted fine. Go figure. Cooling is essential to liking them more. I think as long as you use UNSALTED butter in the crumbs, and sufficient milk choc chips and marshmallows, it could be an enjoyable dessert.

Things that might kill you... Confessions Part 2

The USDA and I do not agree. I know it is in their best interest to provide cautionary measures that will keep people healthy in the long run, but I hate to follow them at the expense of wasted food. And I haven't died yet. So mostly I just warn my wife in advance, "In case I get really ill and have to go to the hospital, this is what I ate..." DISCLAIMER: I am not advising anyone else to participate in such extreme food practices.

(No photos included for the sake of mental health)

Exhibit A: a quart of stewed plums canned by my dear mother. The most glorious of oatmeal and yogurt toppings,simultaneously tart and sweet. Apparently we haven't been eating oatmeal very frequently with the warmer weather, or someone stuck a contaminated spoon in the jar, but about halfway through the jar, the plums developed a delicate blanket of fuzzy white green mold. But all I could see was half of a jar of plums (in fact the second to last jar that we have), sitting there, forlornly neglected, a rich plum treasure about to be discarded. It broke my little cooking heart. So....I scooped off the mold (which the USDA does not recommend, although many other adventurous jelly/jam eaters online claim that they scrape off the top inch or so and continue eating. According to the USDA, one should not do this since mold can have long creeping tendrils of moldness and it's possible the mold could be producing a mycotoxin that could kill you), boiled it for 15 minutes and poured it into a clean jar. We ate it, and did not die. Success!

Exhibit B: egg whites. According to the USDA, if you are going to have left over egg whites, it's recommended that you use them within 1-3 days of sitting in the fridge (covered). After that, it's better to freeze them in ice cube trays. As though I have spare ice cube trays ... hah. So after 7 days sitting in the fridge, I cooked it up in an omelet and ate it. And did not die.

Exhibit C: Kefir cheese that although fermented by the kefir grains starts to smell really fermented and not taste good on toast... yep stirred that into my buttermilk biscuits. And did not die.

Generally if it's a hard cheese, I cut off the moldy bit and keep eating. If it's a soft cheese, or a yogurt with only a tiny bit of mold, I might get rid of the mold part and bake it in something. For raw veggies, I would cut off a chunk with the mold and toss it, use the rest. If it's an actual cooked food item, I do chuck it. Obviously if it a were a meat product (raw), it would also go straight in the bin.  Oh and bread, depending on the mold penetration, I have been known to just throw away a couple of slices or cut off a chunk and eat the rest....

DISCLAIMER 2: I save all of these experiments with reject or expired food for myself, so never fear guests! You are still being fed high quality food!

Picnic Time!

We had the most glorious Saturday - sunshine and a daytrip to Belcarra Regional Park with some friends. We started off with a 5km round trip hike that was steeper than anticipated for an "easy" trail, but well worth it with the beautiful beach and tiny Jug Island that met us at the end.

We then tromped back to a giant grassy field for a picnic, Frisbee, and general lazing about in the sun. The best picnics in the world include freshly baked baguettes, a variety of cheeses, deli meats, artichoke dip, cherry tomatoes, spiced olives, and fruit salad with a dressing made of yogurt, maple syrup, and a splash of vanilla extract. Oh and chips for the people who believe that potato chips are the 5th food group...

Homemade Caesar Dressing

Right off the bat - I cheated. There are no anchovies in this dressing because I just couldn't deal with them. (Well that's 50% of the reason, the other 50% is economics and laziness). So I looked up quite a few "vegan" recipes, but I wasn't willing to give up the mayonnaise or alternately egg that gives the dressing its creaminess. I ended up using this recipe posted on Chowhound as a start and made homemade croutons for the salad!

The recipe makes a bit more than a pint of dressing.

Anchovy-Less Caesar Dressing
3 cloves garlic (I did end up adding 5, but the garlic flavor was a bit strong :P)
3/4 - 1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dry mustard (ground)
Juice from 1 lemon (you can start with juice from 1/2 of lemon and adjust as needed)
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and cracked black pepper to taste 
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1/4 c. olive oil

Pulse the garlic in the food processor until minced. Add the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT THE OIL and blend thoroughly. Then add the oil in a thin stream while the food processor is going. The mixture should emulsify. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. It is a bit thin, but you could try adding some more parmesan to thicken it (or a coddled egg?), and you have the satisfaction of a homemade dressing!

 Above is the amazing pizza that accompanied the salad. Its toppings included: roasted asparagus, marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, roasted potatoes, fresh basil, prosciutto (on the meat eaters' half) and lots of mozzarella. The crust was homemade (thanks wife!) and the sauce was from last season's organic tomato canning session. Needless to say it was the best pizza we've had in a long while!

Lemony Lentils and Potatoes

The weather here has been oscillating between sunny, blue skies with the heat lapping at your toes like eager little puppies and ominous, overbearing clouds punctuated by angry outbursts of rain. Which also means my food planning is a little out of whack, swinging from extremes of cool salads of greens, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples, pecans and cheese to hearty hot dishes like lentils and potatoes. Here's the rainy side of the menu...

Lemony Lentils and Potatoes (Extra Vegan-Za)
1 c. green lentils
2 c. water
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt 

Bring water, oil, salt to a boil and stir in the lentils. Cover and simmer on low for 45 minutes until the lentils are done. Check at about 30-40min to make sure the pan is not burning dry. In retrospect I would have stopped cooking them at the al dente stage so there was less tendency to fall apart in stage 2 of cooking.

4 c. chopped red potatoes
water and salt to boil in

Bring water and salt to a boil. Cook the potatoes for 15-20 min until just tender. I transferred mine to cold water to try and stop them from cooking further.

1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp garam masala (alternately 1 tsp garam masala and 1 tsp curry powder)
1 tsp turmeric
1-2 tsp fresh ginger (grated or minced)
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
parsley, chopped, a goodly handful
salt to taste (~1/2 tsp?)

Heat canola oil on medium-high til hot. Saute onion until tender and translucent. Add in garlic, ginger, and spices. Saute 2-3 minutes more. Stir in potatoes and lentils. Add lemon juice and parsley and mix in gently. Serve over rice. Delicious! The lemon juice/parsley/curry spice combo is delightfully light on the taste buds.

Extra note: I cooked both the lentils and potatoes the day before and diced up the onion/stored it in the fridge. This made it much faster to prepare as a dinner meal in a limited amount of time.