Dec 30

Bacon Baklava?!?

[To my observant Jewish, Muslim, and vegetarian readers: You might want to find less incendiary posts to peruse, like the ones on firearms.]
Sunset magazine is one of my go-to reads for recipes. Every so often, it publishes a recipe that goes above and beyond the pale. Last year’s was bacon baklava.
I saw the recipe in the December issue and thought, this is way too weird. It reminded me of the now-legendary Bacon Explosion recipe that appeared in The New York Times several years ago. Julian’s reaction was the same. A couple of days later, my occasional officemate Deb brought in a foil-wrapped package. She said, “I just had to try this new recipe from Sunset.”
I knew exactly which one. “You didn’t!” I exclaimed.
“I did!” Deb replied with a laugh.

Never ones to turn down a treat, my coworkers and I gave it a try. The best response was “It’s so wrong it’s right!” We also took samples home to our respective spouses. Julian was dubious, as he always is, but became convert enough to make it for one of our holiday get-togethers.

Here is the link to the recipe. In essence, the bacon partially replaces some walnuts in a traditional baklava recipe. In deference to our walnut-allergic friends, I recall Julian used pecans. Instead of a sugar syrup, warm orange marmalade is poured over the top at the end of baking. One small piece is guaranteed to fill you up. [Scientific reason: Fat slows stomach emptying.] This is NOT a low-fat recipe. Remember it did not come out of Cooking Light or Weight Watchers; therefore, pace yourself.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/30/bacon-baklava/

Dec 27

A Quiet Dinner

After three straight nights of partying with our friends, it was definitely time for a dinner à deux. Julian roasted an unrolled boneless leg of lamb similar to what I described in one of my earliest posts, although he did it in the oven rather than on the grill. He made the mint-red wine vinegar sauce, along with frozen peas and the baked potato recipe that appeared in the latest issue of Cook’s Illustrated. Normally we microwave our “baked” potatoes, but he figured this was worth a shot. The spud was fluffier than when microwaved, and the flesh near the skin separated easily; however, I’m not sure it was worth heating the oven to 450° for over an hour. [We don’t have a toaster oven.] I uncorked the bottle of 14 Hands Hot to Trot Red that I’d bought him for Christmas. A pleasant meal.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/27/a-quiet-dinner/

Dec 26

This Year’s Cookbooks

It’s good to live with someone who’s willing to enable my cookbook habit. Even spookier, Julian knew which two cookbooks were at the top of my list:

My Christmas gifts.

My Christmas gifts.

The Food Lab plays into my geek side. (Remember, science is my day job.) Zahav, on the other hand, covers the breadth of Israeli cooking with some non-traditional twists. It contains a recipe for tabbouli made with quinoa, which will be welcomed by my friends with gluten issues. Stand back, it’s time to get cooking!

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/26/this-years-cookbooks/

Dec 25

One Menu to Feed Them All

Last night was the annual Christmas Eve dinner/white elephant extravaganza. Tonight we’re making duck à l’orange for a smaller crowd. There are still the food allergy land mines, but we’ve found a menu that avoids gluten, alliums, walnuts, and zucchini:

Guacamole without onion/garlic and corn chips

Duck à l’Orange

Roasted brussels sprouts

Salad

Brown/wild rice blend

There will be cake, cookies, ice cream, and challah. Wine, too.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/25/one-menu-to-feed-them-all/

Dec 25

So This is Christmas…

Last week I went to my usual salon to get my hair cut. Lena had the All Christmas radio station playing. Most of the songs are so overplayed that I’ve considered wearing noise-cancelling headphones around town throughout December. Then, just as I was leaving the shop, I heard the voice of John Lennon singing his message of peace on Earth and good will to all. He cut through the chestnuts, sleigh bells, and snow men to the core of the holiday.

Today an editorial in The New York Times also brought me back to the optimism that Christmas and the New Year should engender. Here’s the link to the piece, but the last paragraph bears reprinting:

“Evil is everywhere, and anger and hatred are loud. The shouting drowns out the quiet; tragedy and disaster block the view of the good. Yet there are always signs of progress toward a better future. Look, or you may miss them.”

Merry Christmas.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/25/so-this-is-christmas/

Dec 22

A Few Further Words on Firearms

I wrote the previous post on firearms two weeks ago. In the meantime, I learned details of the event that inspired the post. On December 6, a man who had a long criminal record hijacked a car at gunpoint in downtown Seattle. He led the police on a high-speed chase through several neighborhoods and carjacked a few more vehicles until he got into a shootout and was killed right in front of my church. This occurred about 40 minutes after I left that day.
The following week my minister filled in some blanks about the shooting. Although services were over, there were two meetings and a memorial service in the church at the time. When the shooting began, two staff members locked doors and warned people to shelter in place. One door would not lock, so these two people stood by the door to make sure no armed person entered the building. In essence, they were willing to lose their lives to protect the others.
This episode brings up the issue of freedom vs. responsibility in gun ownership. How did the carjacker get the gun? He should not have been able to purchase a weapon given his criminal record. Did someone buy them for him, or did he steal the weapons? If he did buy them on his own, who sold the guns to him? Do the Second Amendment absolutists believe that this convicted felon had a right to purchase and carry weapons? Finally, why should staff members of churches, temples, or mosques need to have active shooter training – and worse, have to use it? It’s a shameful commentary on our society.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/22/a-few-further-words-on-firearms/

Dec 19

Feeding Between the Lines, Holiday Edition

An additional food allergy land mine has appeared among our friends. The youngest member of the Friday night crew has been diagnosed with gluten intolerance and egg allergy. This is indeed problematic, since many gluten-free bread recipes rely on egg protein to provide a semblance of structure. And meringue cookies are now verboten for the youngster. However, we can roll with just about anything around here.

Last week was our annual Latkepalooza Hanukkah party. Since I didn’t want to confuse things by having separate gluten- and egg-free latke batters, I just made glorified hash browns. The following night was my department’s holiday party. I knew one of my coworkers had a gluten issue, so I made a brown rice salad with dried cranberries, pecans, and a maple-balsamic vinaigrette. It was well received by everyone. (The glutenphobe was not in attendance.)

Tonight is the annual Candy Cane Lane party that my former next door neighbor has hosted for at least 20 years. The “known teenagers” from our early days in Seattle are now known twenty-somethings and scattered all over, but many of them still show up for this party. I made the traditional eggnog bread with dried tart cherries, dried apricots, and raisins. (No nuts.) I’m reprising the brown rice salad, but added a little bit of sage to amp up the Christmas feel. I haven’t decided whether to add any pecans to this batch. I can’t use walnuts since at least two of our crew are allergic to them; in addition, Julian has dropped a not-so-subtle hint that he’d like to have pecan pie over the holidays.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/19/feeding-between-the-lines-holiday-edition/

Dec 15

The Treyfecta

The three main Jewish dietary laws are:

  1. No consumption of meat from land animals without cloven hooves and that do not chew cud. The principal meat eliminated here is pork.
  2. No consumption of aquatic animals that lack fins and scales. This eliminates shellfish.
  3. No consumption of meat and dairy foods at the same meal.

Foods that don’t meet these laws (among others) are considered unclean, or trey. The other night Julian was making a tapas recipe of shrimp with chorizo (Spanish pork sausage) sautéed in butter. Et voilà! He hit the treyfecta!

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/15/the-treyfecta/

Dec 14

In the Bag

Our cats have a thing for catnip. Over the years we’ve utilized the bag method to deliver their fix. Here’s the recipe:
Get a paper grocery bag. Cut off the handles, if any.
Crumble a few pinches of catnip into the bottom of the bag.
Set the bag on its side on the floor, and stand back.

Luka and Neli, getting their fix.

Luka and Neli, getting their fix.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/14/in-the-bag/

Dec 13

Measure for Measurement

Julian was making a recipe tonight and started on a rant: “What do they mean by a clove of garlic? These cloves are of wildly differing sizes. And how much chorizo (Spanish sausage) is one chorizo? You can buy chorizos of different sizes. You should write a blog post about this.” Okay, dear, here it is.

A little extra time spent measuring ingredients properly can produce a better final result. This is especially true in baking, where proportions are more exacting. Cooking is a bit more forgiving; however, some errors can render a dish inedible. Julian tells the story of the time one of his housemates made Welsh rarebit and thought the recipe called for 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper per single serving rather than per recipe. The final dish was way too spicy for anyone to eat.

Recipes published in cookbooks or online can be extremely vague on amounts. Julian went off on garlic and chorizo tonight. My issue of late is vegetable sizes. For example, what is a medium onion? Most sources don’t specify. Given the super-sizing of produce these days, what may have been a medium onion to my grandmother would be a small one today. Fruit size is even more problematic, and this can have adverse impacts on people with diabetes who have to watch their carbohydrate intake closely. It’s hard to find an apple in a grocery store that fits the definition of one carb exchange (15 grams). Here are our suggestions to promote clarity in measurements:

Weight is best. Many baking cookbooks will use weights of flour alongside volume measurements. This is because there can be a high variability in flour measurements, based on how you fill the measuring cup. If you sift or spoon flour into the cup, you’ll have less by weight than if you drag the cup through the container of flour. Unfortunately, most people don’t have scales and may not understand the importance of taring. (What’s taring, you ask?  You weigh the measuring cup first, and then zero the scale before adding the ingredient.)

Volume is a distant second best. (See the previous paragraph.) Use a proper set of measuring cups and spoons, preferably metal, for solid ingredients. Use a clear glass or plastic measuring cup for liquids. Cups of solid ingredients should always be leveled off with a straight edge, but many people don’t bother with that. Brown sugar and shortening should be packed into the measuring cups and then leveled off. Set the liquid measuring cup on a surface and read the volume at eye level, not from above. If you come across an old recipe that called for a tea cup of milk, don’t substitute a coffee mug full of milk.

If the proportions look wrong on paper (or on the screen), they probably are wrong. Recipes are written by fallible human beings, and are often subjected to little or no editing by equally fallible individuals. In this case, trust your instinct.

 

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2015/12/13/measure-for-measurement/

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