One day the thought crossed my mind about blogging? Will I have something to say?
Could I Write once a week? Then I found an article titled " How to start a food blog" in the Amateur Gourmet. That was it. I started my blog in the Seattle PI, promising to write twice or 3 times a week. HA! I write almost every day! Now I have my own savory blog because my food obsessed mind has way too much to say.
All this thanks to the Amateur Gourmet! Today I realized that the Amateur Gourmet
upgraded his site! If you read food blogs, then you probably know the Amateur Gourmet. So way to go! I am so proud to say that I am the third person to add comments to his post about upgrading his site. When you read this, there will probably be atleast 20 comments or maybe 200.
Good luck with your new look, Amateur Gourmet.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Rude Food by Vir Sanghvi
I grabbed a book from the library titled "Rude Food" by Vir Sanghvi. I expected to read about real stories in the kitchen, how hard it is to survive in the dirty culinary world, how chefs fight and spit in your food. O.K, I'll stop. I think I expected an Anthony Bourdain type book, one of those books that will scare you into ever even thinking of opening your own place
and might convince you that chefs are possessed with the worst job on earth.
Vir Sanghi is slightly negative about the culinary world but not in a depressing way. He paints a picture of the restaurant world as it really is, minus a constant nagging negativity. He knows how to give credit when needed and makes sure that every detail on every subject is thoroughly explained.
Although a lot of the stories are about Indian cuisine, he writes about every type of cuisine, gives you surprising facts and history and most of all motivation to try foods that may seem odd at first.
The book is compiled of short essays of only a few pages each on basically every trend in the culinary world from truffles which he compares to the smell of sex, to caviar to a whole section dedicated to explaining diet trends.
If you are obsessed with food, the history of food, the smell of food or just want to learn some culinary tips, this is the book for you.
And as far as the subject of wanting to be a chef or learning how to cook( been harassed a lot lately):
All I hear is how this world is so hard. I shouldn't bother because my legs will hurt all the time,
working in a hot kitchen is really bad for your pores. But hey, wake up and smell the coffee
culinary fools. Working is rarely fun and everyone gets sick of their job at one point.
I would rather have a smiling belly then even dream of doing something else.
and might convince you that chefs are possessed with the worst job on earth.
Vir Sanghi is slightly negative about the culinary world but not in a depressing way. He paints a picture of the restaurant world as it really is, minus a constant nagging negativity. He knows how to give credit when needed and makes sure that every detail on every subject is thoroughly explained.
Although a lot of the stories are about Indian cuisine, he writes about every type of cuisine, gives you surprising facts and history and most of all motivation to try foods that may seem odd at first.
The book is compiled of short essays of only a few pages each on basically every trend in the culinary world from truffles which he compares to the smell of sex, to caviar to a whole section dedicated to explaining diet trends.
If you are obsessed with food, the history of food, the smell of food or just want to learn some culinary tips, this is the book for you.
And as far as the subject of wanting to be a chef or learning how to cook( been harassed a lot lately):
All I hear is how this world is so hard. I shouldn't bother because my legs will hurt all the time,
working in a hot kitchen is really bad for your pores. But hey, wake up and smell the coffee
culinary fools. Working is rarely fun and everyone gets sick of their job at one point.
I would rather have a smiling belly then even dream of doing something else.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Orna and Ella Pancakes
Here is a recipe for sweet potato pancakes. It is from a really amazing restaurant in Tel Aviv. Every person who tries them is hooked!
Orna and Ella's Sweet Potato Pancakes
1 1/4 kilo sweet potatoes(750 grams after peeling and cooking)
2 tb soy sauce
3/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of fresh black pepper
butter for frying
Cream sauce
3/4 cup of chives
250 grams of sour cream
1/3 of a cup of mayo
salt aand pepper as desired
mustard and lemon as desired
1. Peel potatoes and cut into big pieces
2. Cook in a pot of water until soft.
3. Place in a strainer for an hour or two in order to drain the water out.
4. Place potatoes in bowl, add soy and mix with hands.
5. Add flour, sugar, salt and pepper and mix with hands(remove any hard or black parts).
6. The batter should be soft, even and a bit sticky. If it is watery add some flour.
Don't overmix or it will become too sticky.
7. Heat a teflon pan with butter on medium heat.
If you want to perfect it, you can put it in an icing bag and use that. You can also use a spoon or your hands to make little rounds. The dough is a bit sticky so you have to practice on the first few in order to get them to come out perfect. Fry on each side.
The Sauce: Mix all ingredients and season as desired.
* This recipe is from Israel and the sour cream is a bit different. You might have to be creative and use a different cream or yogurt. I noticed that recipes from different countries may vary because the products are slightly different.
Orna and Ella's Sweet Potato Pancakes
1 1/4 kilo sweet potatoes(750 grams after peeling and cooking)
2 tb soy sauce
3/4 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of fresh black pepper
butter for frying
Cream sauce
3/4 cup of chives
250 grams of sour cream
1/3 of a cup of mayo
salt aand pepper as desired
mustard and lemon as desired
1. Peel potatoes and cut into big pieces
2. Cook in a pot of water until soft.
3. Place in a strainer for an hour or two in order to drain the water out.
4. Place potatoes in bowl, add soy and mix with hands.
5. Add flour, sugar, salt and pepper and mix with hands(remove any hard or black parts).
6. The batter should be soft, even and a bit sticky. If it is watery add some flour.
Don't overmix or it will become too sticky.
7. Heat a teflon pan with butter on medium heat.
If you want to perfect it, you can put it in an icing bag and use that. You can also use a spoon or your hands to make little rounds. The dough is a bit sticky so you have to practice on the first few in order to get them to come out perfect. Fry on each side.
The Sauce: Mix all ingredients and season as desired.
* This recipe is from Israel and the sour cream is a bit different. You might have to be creative and use a different cream or yogurt. I noticed that recipes from different countries may vary because the products are slightly different.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Five Foods You Should Know About!
1. Meyer Lemon
Is it a lemon or an orange? I am a big fan of cooking magazines so there are always ingredients that I stumble upon that I am not very familiar with. I found a recipe that required a Meyer lemon so I went out to find one. First stop, Whole Foods. I asked the man in the produce section if he had any. He kindly replied that there are none left and went off for a second. He came back holding a lemon and orange in each hand. He rubbed the two together like you would rub rocks to start a bonfire. Then he said " smell this." " This is what a Meyer lemon smells like, a cross between a lemon and an orange."
I was determined to find this citrus mystery so I went to the Pike Place Market and searched all the stands. There it was, the beautiful citrus treasure. I took it home and started to put together a vinaigrette until I felt compelled to taste it first. I expected it to be sour like a lemon but it tasted more like an orange with the slight bitterness of a lemon. I peeled it into segments and ate it like an orange. A citrus delight!
More about Meyer Lemons
2. Elephant Garlic
Elephant garlic is garlic for the garlicky challenged. It looks hefty and is elephant like in size but is light on taste. It's the Eau de Toilette of garlic, the light version of this smelly kitchen basic. It is not exactly a garlic but more like a type of leek.
See the description here
Each clove is enormous in size and closer to the size of regular bulb of garlic. You only have to give the the garlic one whack to uncover an oversized chunk of garlic. So for those who want a subtle hint of garlic, this may be what your looking for. This may be less potent, but no promises that you won't stink!
3. Bubble Tea
My girlfriends are all bubble tea girls, we never go out for coffee but we are always up for bubble. Originally from Asia, bubble tea is a tea that comes in many flavors, filled with little pearls made of tapioca. These tapioca balls, otherwise known as Boba or Pearls have a gummy texture and can be found in different flavored teas, from sour apple flavor to green tea with chocolate. These chewy balls are sucked through enormous straws so that each pearl can plop into your mouth individually. This tea, usually found in Asian cafes can be flavored with a milky sugary mix and can be made hot or cold.
As Bubble tea is becoming increasingly popular, the pearl can be found at juice bars all over the Seattle area. If you are a bubble tea virgin, your first encounter should be with cold bubble tea at an Asian cafe. It may taste akward at first but it becomes addictive after a few slurps.
More on Bubble Tea
4. Pho
Pho, pronounced fa is a Vietnamese soup , that is served in big bowls with heaps of noodles and your choice of protein.
The broth is a clear brownish color garnished with green onions and an assortment of herbs such as basil, mint and even white bean sprouts. The soup is served with thin white rice noodles and hoisin sauce. The amazing thing about this soup is that it is a full meal in one bowl. Usually after a bowl of this, you can hardly think of ordering anything else. It is also fairly inexpensive. For under 6 dollars, you can dine out and be very full. More about pho
5. Panko Bread Crumbs
Panko bread crumbs are a Japanese type of bread crumbs that have invaded the cooking world and made regular bread crumbs seem like they need to get a life. These extra coarse bread crumbs are usually irregular in shape and will promise a crunchier, non soggy breading on anything from fried vegetables to fried chicken.
Is it a lemon or an orange? I am a big fan of cooking magazines so there are always ingredients that I stumble upon that I am not very familiar with. I found a recipe that required a Meyer lemon so I went out to find one. First stop, Whole Foods. I asked the man in the produce section if he had any. He kindly replied that there are none left and went off for a second. He came back holding a lemon and orange in each hand. He rubbed the two together like you would rub rocks to start a bonfire. Then he said " smell this." " This is what a Meyer lemon smells like, a cross between a lemon and an orange."
I was determined to find this citrus mystery so I went to the Pike Place Market and searched all the stands. There it was, the beautiful citrus treasure. I took it home and started to put together a vinaigrette until I felt compelled to taste it first. I expected it to be sour like a lemon but it tasted more like an orange with the slight bitterness of a lemon. I peeled it into segments and ate it like an orange. A citrus delight!
More about Meyer Lemons
2. Elephant Garlic
Elephant garlic is garlic for the garlicky challenged. It looks hefty and is elephant like in size but is light on taste. It's the Eau de Toilette of garlic, the light version of this smelly kitchen basic. It is not exactly a garlic but more like a type of leek.
See the description here
Each clove is enormous in size and closer to the size of regular bulb of garlic. You only have to give the the garlic one whack to uncover an oversized chunk of garlic. So for those who want a subtle hint of garlic, this may be what your looking for. This may be less potent, but no promises that you won't stink!
3. Bubble Tea
My girlfriends are all bubble tea girls, we never go out for coffee but we are always up for bubble. Originally from Asia, bubble tea is a tea that comes in many flavors, filled with little pearls made of tapioca. These tapioca balls, otherwise known as Boba or Pearls have a gummy texture and can be found in different flavored teas, from sour apple flavor to green tea with chocolate. These chewy balls are sucked through enormous straws so that each pearl can plop into your mouth individually. This tea, usually found in Asian cafes can be flavored with a milky sugary mix and can be made hot or cold.
As Bubble tea is becoming increasingly popular, the pearl can be found at juice bars all over the Seattle area. If you are a bubble tea virgin, your first encounter should be with cold bubble tea at an Asian cafe. It may taste akward at first but it becomes addictive after a few slurps.
More on Bubble Tea
4. Pho
Pho, pronounced fa is a Vietnamese soup , that is served in big bowls with heaps of noodles and your choice of protein.
The broth is a clear brownish color garnished with green onions and an assortment of herbs such as basil, mint and even white bean sprouts. The soup is served with thin white rice noodles and hoisin sauce. The amazing thing about this soup is that it is a full meal in one bowl. Usually after a bowl of this, you can hardly think of ordering anything else. It is also fairly inexpensive. For under 6 dollars, you can dine out and be very full. More about pho
5. Panko Bread Crumbs
Panko bread crumbs are a Japanese type of bread crumbs that have invaded the cooking world and made regular bread crumbs seem like they need to get a life. These extra coarse bread crumbs are usually irregular in shape and will promise a crunchier, non soggy breading on anything from fried vegetables to fried chicken.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Five Things I learned Since I Started Cooking
1. Mise en Place
As a French speaker, it is an expression that I understood right away. Mise en place means putting everything in place. This is the entire organization of your workplace before starting to cook, including chopping all your ingredients and setting them up in little bowls or neatly organized on a big chopping board. This means to saute or do anything that it says to do in advance. This way when you start cooking your recipe, you do it quickly and effectively and you don't end up burning one thing while looking for another. It's one of those cooking terms that you probably hear all the time on cooking shows but have never really paid attention to.
2. How to Chop
For many this is the most tedious, time consuming task to be done in the kitchen. I used to cut my salad in all different shapes and sizes, which made it not only unsightly but hard to eat. You need to take a class and get a good chef's knife for this(see number 3 for a better explanation). If you are going to invest in any cooking class it should be a knife skills class
because there are certain things you just have to learn hands on. There are also many sites that can help.
Click Here to Learn How to Chop an Onion
Most people hate cutting onions, but learning the onion cutting technique can make chopping them a lot of fun. I have heard from quite a few chefs that chopping onions is their cutting preference.
3. Get a Good Chef's Knife. This is probably the one thing that any chef or instructor has recommended to me. Yes, you have to spend a lot of money for this! Of all the things that I bought for my kitchen, this is one investment that I feel that I got the most use out of.
The brands that I have been recommended are Henckel or Wustoff but I am sure that there are many out there to choose from. A good knife should cost anywhere between 30 and 100 something dollars. There are better ones of course for more. Just make sure to take good care of the knife and never ever for any reason in this world put it in the dishwasher.
4. Don't Get Fancy on Your Friends. Picture this scenario. My friends are over for a dinner party. I decide to make homemade pasta. I make it in advance. My mise en place is ready and I am ready to toss the pasta in a pan for each one individually. They are waiting, they have already eaten the appetizers and are practically eating the furniture. Then, I realize I don't have enough plates. So I serve three people because some is ready and then continue sweating and grunting obscene swear words while trying to make the rest of the pasta. In the end, I join them after they have all finished eating and my sweating forehead and flustered cheeks reveal that this dinner was not as much fun as it should have been for me. Keep it simple. Make whatever you can in advance because when you have a dinner party, that's what it should be, a party. Even for the host.
5. Your Ingredients Count. If you are making quick meals for dinner just to feed the starving kids or find no pleasure in the act of cooking, then ignore this. I have come to the conclusion that Parmigiano Reggiano is not just a flashy name for a type of cheese, cheap olive oil is a lot of the time tasteless and fresh herbs really do taste better than powdered spices.
It's unrealistic to buy everything fresh all the time but spices like fresh rosemary, basil and thyme go a long way. When I do buy spices, I prefer to buy them at specialty spice stores or in bulk because you never know how long they have been sitting on the shelves of the supermarket.
As a French speaker, it is an expression that I understood right away. Mise en place means putting everything in place. This is the entire organization of your workplace before starting to cook, including chopping all your ingredients and setting them up in little bowls or neatly organized on a big chopping board. This means to saute or do anything that it says to do in advance. This way when you start cooking your recipe, you do it quickly and effectively and you don't end up burning one thing while looking for another. It's one of those cooking terms that you probably hear all the time on cooking shows but have never really paid attention to.
2. How to Chop
For many this is the most tedious, time consuming task to be done in the kitchen. I used to cut my salad in all different shapes and sizes, which made it not only unsightly but hard to eat. You need to take a class and get a good chef's knife for this(see number 3 for a better explanation). If you are going to invest in any cooking class it should be a knife skills class
because there are certain things you just have to learn hands on. There are also many sites that can help.
Click Here to Learn How to Chop an Onion
Most people hate cutting onions, but learning the onion cutting technique can make chopping them a lot of fun. I have heard from quite a few chefs that chopping onions is their cutting preference.
3. Get a Good Chef's Knife. This is probably the one thing that any chef or instructor has recommended to me. Yes, you have to spend a lot of money for this! Of all the things that I bought for my kitchen, this is one investment that I feel that I got the most use out of.
The brands that I have been recommended are Henckel or Wustoff but I am sure that there are many out there to choose from. A good knife should cost anywhere between 30 and 100 something dollars. There are better ones of course for more. Just make sure to take good care of the knife and never ever for any reason in this world put it in the dishwasher.
4. Don't Get Fancy on Your Friends. Picture this scenario. My friends are over for a dinner party. I decide to make homemade pasta. I make it in advance. My mise en place is ready and I am ready to toss the pasta in a pan for each one individually. They are waiting, they have already eaten the appetizers and are practically eating the furniture. Then, I realize I don't have enough plates. So I serve three people because some is ready and then continue sweating and grunting obscene swear words while trying to make the rest of the pasta. In the end, I join them after they have all finished eating and my sweating forehead and flustered cheeks reveal that this dinner was not as much fun as it should have been for me. Keep it simple. Make whatever you can in advance because when you have a dinner party, that's what it should be, a party. Even for the host.
5. Your Ingredients Count. If you are making quick meals for dinner just to feed the starving kids or find no pleasure in the act of cooking, then ignore this. I have come to the conclusion that Parmigiano Reggiano is not just a flashy name for a type of cheese, cheap olive oil is a lot of the time tasteless and fresh herbs really do taste better than powdered spices.
It's unrealistic to buy everything fresh all the time but spices like fresh rosemary, basil and thyme go a long way. When I do buy spices, I prefer to buy them at specialty spice stores or in bulk because you never know how long they have been sitting on the shelves of the supermarket.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
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