Chicago Foodies

Gastrique is SO Fancy

It's one of those things that are snotty to no end. It's a basic sugar sauce made with reduced vinegar and pick your sweet-poison. This time I used apple cider vinegar and peach preserves, some pepper and had me some awesome duck breast and flame broiled pineapple. Starting with a quick shallot saute would add lots of savory depth to this. A dribble of tondo, reduced balsamic cream, went nicely (I think I'll be putting that on my lactose free Breyer's tonight).

The gist is you can use any combo of vinegars and jellies. You can even reduce down fresh fruit if you're ambitious.  I tried a peach and modena balsamic but it was too much. If you don't reduce it for a bit it is very pungent. Experiment with the proportions. I use a bit less that 1/3rd parts vinegar. It's to taste for me. You can even use it as a glaze for a quick finish to an ordinary piece of chicken.

Bottom line, the good or bad thing is that you can call it a gastrique... or just call it a sauce.

Dismembering Duck

This is about the third time I've taken apart a duck and this time it was three ducks.  I have to say that any time I'm do something like this I have my copy of the New Professional Chef out (fifth edition) on the counter as I work.

Frozen ducks are real goldmines. The gold being the rendered fat. Considering I'm preparing for Passover this weekend it will go to good use. I'm using the fat primarily to confit the legs and wings. The breasts are to be part of a small course about 1/3rd of breast served on top of a date and cashew pate with a candied fruit and nut topping... haven't figured it out yet.

Kitchen Sessions: Trotter's Braised Short Ribs pt.1

This was an interesting recipe to follow, from Kitchen Sessions by Charlie Trotter. I don't think it was too obscure and not very hard either. At least not like Keller's short ribs from the French Laundry cookbook which is next on the list, as soon as I get a line on some good marrow bones (I have a good line but it sounds like a good excuse, no?).

The browning of leek, garlic, jalapeño, granny smith, and yellow onion created a wonderful aroma. Dumping  in a bottle of Zin, thyme, sage and coriander seeds certainly added something. Plunking the ribs into the marinade, I did a very hard thing, I tossed it into the fridge for the night.

Maytag = Sexy?

Wow. That's the sexiest Maytag I ever seen. Obviously it's a  concept range, right? Maybe slated for release in 2010? Actually you can get it right now! If you live in Europe.

Maytag here looks like this:
Big Difference.

It obviously costs more too but why don't they sell these here?
They aren't cheap coming in around $2 thousand pounds - that's roughly $4 thousand bucks.

I did try to figure out why the American products are so different (polite way to put it) but corporate Maytag had nothing to say and knew of nobody who could answer the simple question:

Why are the Maytag products from Europe "different" from the ones in the U.S.?

Medjool Dates

You go to certain restaurants and you start to notice patterns... Gunthorp Duck, blood orange reduction, etc. Everything needs a fancy variation, right? Justifies the price and your finickiness... dates are just dates, right?

Well, I have always secretly thought, "Yeah, they do look like little roaches." They have that crispy sort of papery husk of a skin and a mushy center. And they're a bitch to pit. Medjool is on the right and common date is on the left.

Medjool dates are hard not to buy at a glance. They're bigger and plumper. They don't look like dead insects and have a lovely purple hue to them, instead of the date-brown. They are a bit more expensive but honestly dates aren't cheap to begin with and you're usually using them for something fairly elaborate so the extra buck should be worth it for the visual benefits.

Pimp My Spice Rack

Found a neat site where someone found a good way to solve the ever present spice rack problem. I have a spice cabinet and for some reason I can never find anything except achiote and cotton candy flavoring... damnit.

Follow the link to see how a magnetic dry erase board, some containers and a labeler gets you organized. I think you all can piece it together...

Apparently Alton Brown has a similar contraption but don't we all...

Tagine Home Cooking

Over the holidays, a friend of mine who loves to cook turned me on to a very affordable tagine from Sur La Table. As a fan of cooking and experimenting with new foods, I thought a tagine would be a perfect addition to my kitchen-arsenal and I figured for the price (~$20), it would be a great idea for my Christmas list. Sure enough my husband bought one for me but unwrapping the gift was just the start of my adventures in tagine cooking.

The Butcher Hook-Up: Ground Beef...

The next time you're perusing your meat counter. If there happens to be a sale on, shall we say, top round (sometimes called London Broil) but you really only want ground beef here's what to do. Buy the steak and ask the butcher to grind it.

You can even be more specific and ask for half ground and half ground twice. Use the twice ground to make some Iowa-Style loosemeat sammies, or shall we say (again), sloppy joes. Or Cincinnati Chili. Or, what I did, a modified Italian meat sauce with onions (see post below), fresh mushrooms, oregano (stem that oregano before using it!) and grated Romano. MMMMmmmmeat.

Stinky Onion Hand

I chopped a half an onion last night and my hand still smells like it. I washed my hands a couple of times, showered, tried rubbing stainless steel and no luck. The steel seemed to work for a bit but the smell came back. I've heard gritty toothpaste, not gel, is a sure fire way to solve this problem. We'll see. So far the plain old white Colgate that I rubbed on my dry hands and rinsed off smells pretty dental.

*UPDATE - Still smells. Onion & toothpaste. It's almost worse now.
**UPDATE - Seems to have subsided. Is that time or toothpaste. The toothpaste smell still lingers.

The Indispensible Toaster Oven

I've actually had several conversations about rice cookers these past couple of weeks. The topic spanned bread makers and vacuum sealers. I've been using a dehydrator very frequently. Dried banana chips are terrific. So maybe this heightened appreciation for kitchen electrics has got me going but I have to say my leftovers have never been so good.

My toaster broke months ago and short of using my oven's broiler to toast a few slices (which I've actually done – sorry Mr. Gore) I've been going without. So when I got a gift of that Hamilton Beach toaster/toaster oven, with the ridiculous name – Toastation, not only have I been able to enjoy toast (seen Nacho Libre?) but I rediscovered the benefits of the toaster oven.

New-Fangled Hot Lunch: The Zojirushi "Thermos"

I've been scoping rice cookers, already owning a kick-ass Sanyo, and know that Zojirushi makes some killer cookers. But I found something really cool that tests my new year's "spending freeze" resolve.

It's a crazy super insulated thermos. But it has multiple containers and apparantly holds things at temperature for a seriously long time. You can stack foods to keep colder items cold, etc. Unlike a rice cooker, its not a real necessity and granted you still need to do the cooking but it stays with you all day. If you are microwave-less here's a great option for what seems to be a copious amount of luncheon.

I'm still trying to make heads and tails out of fuzzy rice cookers. I've had great luck hitting "cancel" and "cook" and everything comes out perfect. Considering all the buttons are in Japanese that's no mean feat.

Buy it on amazon after the jump...

Braised Oxtail Dumplings in a Garlic Broth

So I got on a kick with the shortribs. Oxtail is another one of those $7-8 purchases that when mixed with proper braising liquid, a cab I had handy, and seasoning... and a liberal dose of time, turns simply into flavor.

I mixed up a quick rub with coriander, cumin, pepper, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and a bit of garlic powder and applied it liberally to the tail. A browning in a pan and placed into a preheated cast iron covered pot with the cup and a half of cabernet and into the oven coasting in at 250 degrees.

Fondue: Home Cookin'

When you get fondue pots for gifts, it's a waste to watch them sit on the shelves.  And, of course, you can get fondue at a restaurant.   Geja's is quirky and interesting, but their decor and menu are stuck in 1975, and while I like the decor in a time warp, it's a challenge getting excited over tartar sauce and shrimp cocktail.  Melting Pot looks like it has an interesting menu, but it has too much of a shopping-mall chain feel to it.

So why not have a fondue party?   So for starters I went over to my favorite shop, Pastoral.  And no, they're not paying me to say this.  Seriously.

The Craziest Dinner I Ever Made... 8 Courses

When I decided to make dinner for my father-in-law's birthday I started making a list of things I wanted to make and somehow never crossed anything off of the final list. Hence a dinner with 8 tasting courses, + 3 alternates, so that really means 11 courses, no?

I didn't really think that I would begin preparing this in my kitchen and then do most of the work in their kitchen in Milwaukee. It wasn't until that day two that I decided I would never do this again. And of course that is what I always say.

The best news was that my mother-in-law had a new set of cool square plates in all sorts of sizes so all the courses looked great. I should have snapped a pic of at least something.

How To: Seal A Bag of Chips Properly

A really neat trick that seals a bag of chips without a clip...

Close A Bag Without A Bag Clip

Marlin Steak with Parsnip Puree...

Fish has been working for me lately. I did a seared mahi-mahi a few weeks ago and while I loved it my wife wanted fish that was cooked more... she also isn't too crazy about wilted spinach. Her loss. This time she was much happier and honestly it took me half an hour after a long day at the office. Sandra Lee, eat your heart out.

The first thing to do is peel your $0.99 cent parsnip and peel a yellow onion. With a bit of salt and a touch of butter/olive oil, saute them both. As they wilt touch it with a decent splash of some cheapo Chuck's Chardonnay. Crack some pepper and let it cook. When it's a bit brown and the onion is thoroghly cooked turn the fire off and dump the pan into your food processor. Before you continue chop the bottoms off your asparagus and throw away. Chop the bottom 1/4 off of what's left and chop up drop into recently vacated pan. Cook the chopped ends in the saute pan and pop the remaining tall asparagus tops into a tall pan and blanch.

AWESOME DEAL: Cuisinart 21-Piece Knife Set $99

It's not anything super fancy but a forged 21-piece set (Includes knife block and a cutting board) for $99 and free shipping? I'm not sure I would ever use the steak knives but who knows. Having an 8" chefs and a 7" santuko and a 6" chef's is pretty nice, and it's cheaper than some of the used prices I've seen.

You Don't Have to Finish it in the Smoker...

I know. I'm a wimp. A grade-C foodie. I have to finish my meat in the oven. I can't wait for the smoker. It's not like I didn't give it 8+ hours... There's such a thing as over-smoking, right?

Actually you can over smoke meat. Hickory chips are usually the easiest way to get a bitter flavor. Since the flower pot is pretty tame there is little flame on the wood so the chips don't actually catch. I like to wrap the meat in foil and then into a 350º oven for 20 minutes, until the temps is at 200. The juices are all there and chopping it is a dream. I commit another sin in removing the bone from the shoulder before smoking and usually set up 3 or 4 chunks to cook. (Likely to some a bigger sin than the oven-finishing). Yes, the crispy parts are still crispy by the way.

Red Mole: 5 Hours of Love

Mae West says "Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly."

I'm trying to think of other instances where you trade hours of toil and effort for moments of enjoyment. We wait in line for a roller coaster ride... that might be the best "bang for your buck" example. You work all week for the weekend... that's trite. I think cooking is a good example but in reality the time it takes to make that pain-in-the-ass recipe seems to be 1/2 of the reward – especially a mole.

The sauce is notoriously time consuming and needs constant stirring, mixing, blending, searing, straining, etc. It's in 2 parts for most of the process. It dirties every kitchen utensil you have and smokes up your entire house. My dog went into convulsions which brought my wife to hysterics and they both had to go outside. It was kind of funny.

Radish Sandwiches and Lemonade: Light as a Summer Breeze

Lets face it, its hot out there.
And in here, too, if you are like me and without air conditioning. This is no time for hot food. You need something light and cool and easy to make, because you definitely don't want to be moving around to much. I offer a solution: radish sandwiches and concentrated lemonade.

Homemade Cold Press Coffee: Buzz Worthy

I apologize for starting out with a bad pun. I was at work talking coffee and was told about a great cup of cold pressed coffee had in Minneapolis. Of course I looked around and found the Toddy coffee maker... A-hah! I have had experience doing this when I worked in the small Milwaukee coffee shop Ro-cham-bo. Talk about short term memory loss. Anyway I remember it being unruly and overall a fairly nasty process but with a flavorful result. Imagine large scale coffee-bean oil everywhere and having to stir floating grounds to keep the mix uniform. The first thing that came to mind this time is my french press pot. So I tried it out 1 cup of grounds and fill'er up. (the liter pot).

Then I gave it the press to circulate and leaving the filter all the way up, keeping the grounds just submerged, I sat it on the counter and went to bed. In the morning I looked at the black murk out of which little light escaped, the picture is with the sun directly behind it... that's dark.

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose...

It's nice to remember how flowers, in this case roses, used to smell.
I don't know if you've noticed that our new and very pretty flowers, available at your local grocery store or online, have virtually no scent at all. Is this food related? Why do we now have produce that looks awesome until the moment it rots. There's no ripening that I can tell. It one day looks great and the next is trashed. However I have noticed some very lovely tomatoes...

The same goes for spices. It's hard to avoid the larger container of any spice when it's $0.60 more than the small one. You never want to be without, right? Maybe the solution is to buy two of the smaller containters... open them one at a time. Nothing is worse than paprika that has lost it's fragrance or cayanne with a tempered oomph... except, of course, a rose with no smell.

Homemade Bailey's Irish Cream

The website www.secretrecipes.org has unofficial directions to make everything from Baby Ruth candybars to KFC's Pecan Cake. In honor of the impending holiday I will attempt to reproduce Bailey's Irish Cream. My mother will undoubtebly be the litmus test.

The Bailey's recipe follows:

Cuisinart Food Processor $48

Macy's has this for over $100... get it for WAY less online:
Cuisinart 3 cup food processor $47.99 at amazon.com

French Press vs. Automatic Drip

I got a taste of this new coffee-subscription service, Storyville Coffee. In their marketing materials they focused on among other things the benefits of the french press coffeepot. Since I've been unhappy with the taste of my Mr. Coffee I went out and dropped $30 on a Bodum. Apparantly the going rate for a large glass cylinder with a push-top and a handle is no less than $30. I did see an Ikea version (I think it was Ikea) for $15ish but too little, too late.

The knock against the french press is that the water needs boiling first and then about 4 minutes of steeping. So coffee in 10 minutes, not quick and there's no way to set a timer and wake up to it. It also gets cold quickly without a hot plate under it. It also needs a pretty coarse grind or you're left with settled sludge at the bottom of your cup. Lucky me I have a microwave and a good coffee grinder. And that means good coffee.

Nut-Free Foods

In my family, Christmas and Thanksgiving both revolve around the food.  For Christmas, we start with cookies and coffee to get the grandchildren (ranging an ages from 5-31) all sugared up before we open presents, and then we return to the table for a HUGE pasta supper. I serve as the primary baker for our first course.

How many ways to say: Egg in a Basket

Almost every time I eat breakfast at my folk's house my mother makes me a "donut egg" which is a piece of bread with a hole in it, a fried egg, cracked into the hole.

I think everyone has had this breakfast. I was in line for an omelette this morning and heard two people talking about V for Vendetta and how they used to have "Eggy in the basket" (as it was called in the flick) all the time. The response was, "Yeah, me too. We called it ____." I forgot what she called it but it was something I'd never heard before.

Hamantash/Hamantaschen

This also could be called "never butter the pan when making cookies."

Hamantash or Hamantashen are Purim cookies. Purim is this week. It's scary when there's a hamantash.com but there is...

There is a great recipe for hamantashen that serves as a starting point from which I unfortunately deviated. As the potentially groundbreaking triangular cookie is baking I have some confidence that they might turn out and I'm not yet embarrassed by the result to not mention them. (NOTE: having tasted them - I am ashamed) The additions and switches include incorporating 1/2 wholewheat flour into the mix, using brown sugar and succanat instead of white sugar... adding more vanilla and a sprinkle of cinnamon and then getting some frou-frou black currant preserves and apricot marmalade to fill them with in addition to the traditional poppy-seed and berries.

I really do wonder if Solo sells more poppy-seed filling this week. It's like Superbowl Sunday for poppy-seed filling.

Turkey Gravy!

The origin of the Turkey on Thanksgiving in it's glory is largely due to Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post cover. During wartime beef went to the troops although this year, amidst war, it seems like we are making little or no sacrifices.
"None of us have tasted Beef these three years back as it must all go to the Army, & too little they get, poor fellows."

Gravy...
Deglaze your turkey bits and store.
Reserve 1/4 cup (more if you want) pan drippings...
heat very hot and add an equal amount of flour.
Stir in and cook until a light brown to medium brown paste. Remove from heat, it will keep cooking gradually add a flavored stock (star anise & chicken stock...? white wine reduced about in half?)...
adding it gradually will keep it from becoming lumpy...

DON'T BURN IT!

4th of July Flower Pot: BBQ Beef

This 4th at the last minute we had a few people over and smoked some meats... Employing the same Flower Pot smoker from Father's Day I enjoyed a new perspective in the meat department of my Dominick's.

I got a top round roast cap off (oops...) and two packs of chicken thighs. I went back to get some thick Hungarian bacon to lay on top in lieu of a fatty layer and some banana leaves to line the smoker sealing in more smoke.

Cutting the roast into thirds, I rubbed it with the following:
2 tsp mexican paprika
2 tsp hungarian paprika
2 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
2 tsp yellow mustard seed ground
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayanne pepper
1 tsp black (brown) mustard seed ground
1 tsp chopped dried and ground onion

Flower Pot Ceramic Smoker

"Good Eats" is a great show. Alton Brown is kind of wacko but that's what we need. A reason to try silly ideas at home (this guy... he did this on the t.v...). At least it was my excuse.

Ceramic smokers are neat ideas. They are pretty costly too... see Big Green Egg. But they are way better than the old flower-pot. They are insulated and regulated and can blast high heat. I would worry about the flower pot over 300º.

The idea is that instead of radiating heat out, (like metal smokers) requiring way more fuel and drying out your food, the ceramic pot is insulated and has barely any airflow locking in heat and moisture. The only downside is the lack of huge plumes of neighbor-attracting smoke. But since this will be on a condominium deck and the neighbors would likely be pissed, in my case, this is another advantage.

Melon Sorbet

Lucky for me I have scored big bowls of fruit from the office. But since I don't load up on fruit the way I should I had to do something with it and quickly. Enter the blender...

I divvied up the honeydew and cantaloupe (musk), and ended up with relatively equal amounts of about 4 cups each. The honeydew went in first with 1/4 cup of sugar and a generous splash of triple sec. Liquify and pour into a couple of tupperware containers... I'm waiting to see whether they freeze up properly without a churn.  I followed the same procedure with the musk melon adding a touch less sugar as they were sweeter than the blandish honeydew...

Cole Slaw Failure

This is a recipe to help us remember how NOT to make cole slaw.

I set out trying to make a tangy vinegar based cole slaw stretching a bit of an asian flavor into a sweetened tangy crisp slaw. Oh well. While I do like creamy slaws I also like vinegar based slaw. I just used too much vinegar.

Post Memorial Day Malaise

Another Memorial Day goes by without any solid BBQ. Plenty of sausages, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn, etc... but no smokey goodness. For a city boy with a patio the size of a large freezer the lack of smoked, pulled meats from any backyard foray is a marked absence. But there is hope... maybe I can smoke some meats on my miniscule patio.

I was going through my TIVO'd episodes of "Good Eats" and came to the one with the plant pot used as an earthen smoker... I'm intrigued. I've spent the day planning my route home to purchase the necessary bits.. plant pot, some hardwood, an electric hot plate... with any luck I won't burn the place down.

Pulque: Aztec Cactus Cooler

I was looking for Hummus and what do I find at the Devon Market? Nectar Del Razo Pulque in the cooler next to the beer from Croatia... It's gotta be bought and it's gonna be bought.

I got it home poured a tall one in my Blackhawks Budweiser glass and decided to google it.
http://www.tequilamescal.com/pulque.htm
It's maguey cactus nectar that's fermented to about 6% alcohol. It's syrupy and tastes really good. Kind of fruity but more woody... and sweet. It's like a Zima ...but woody. I could drink this all summer long.

Happy Cinco de Mayo...

Josh's Brisket and Tzimmis

After getting a special call from the father-in-law touting it as the "best brisket I've ever had" I figured it would be appropriate to give it an individual listing and it is the first thing that is officially "Josh's" - huzzah.

The two main ingredients are date stock and star anise. This is a pretty sweet and savory dish. Additional sugar and honey isn't necessary.

Iron Chef Passover

O.K. so it looks like my secret ingredient is dates...

I modified my mom's brisket recipe, omitting the beer and chili paste for the sake of Passover and adding instead beaujolais and the date stock from my Sephardic Charoset. In addition to yellow onions, I added whole anise, carrots, prunes, and sweet potato.

It is an 11lb brisket. I needed a fork and a turning thingy and some muscle. Browning it was a beast. It's also the only potential problem of the day. I'm giving it at least 3 hours at 350º. We shall see.

Sephardic Haroset

A traditional offering is Haroset representative of the mortar we, as slaves, used to make bricks. It also represents sweetness and more often than not has apples as a key ingredient. Stay with me... there are two traditions within historical Judaism. Ashkenozic and Sephardic. For more info read "Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews".

There are many customs that differ. Sephardic Jews for example will eat rice on passover while Ashkenazic jews won't.

In the case of Haroset, Sephardic Jews use dates. Historically "The Land of Milk and Honey" refers to Date Honey or date syrup and to boot it looks more like mortar than chunky apples and nuts. Tastes better in my opinion too.

Rosemary Chicken Stock

Isn't this how it should be done? I had a leftover carcass stuffed with rosemary and garlic from my modified Social Mac and Cheese. What do you do with it?

Into a pot with water and boil for a short bit and then simmer until you're too tired to stay awake. Strain into a plastic heat-resistant container (I then add several ice cubes) and into the fridge. The next day spoon off all the fat and you have your stock.

I was VERY happy with the rosemary and garlic. I forewent the standard mirepoix and while I should have added a bay leaf or two I ended up with a velvety and lushly scented light chicken stock that I intend on using mostly as soup base. Toss in some anise and maybe a dried pepper or two... mmmm.

A Coconut Trick

I've seen the back-of-the-cleaver trick to open the coconut but getting the bits unstuck is always a pain. If you toss the split coconut in the oven at 400º for 10 minutes then remove and let cool the shell pops pretty much right off... you learn something new and food-related everyday.

Holy Mole!

*NOTE: Trader Joe's has recalled this product...

It's like aliens came, beamed me up, and brainwashed me with Trader Joe's crap. I know it's a strong-arm grocery owned by Aldi and they repackage everything with their name smacked on it but MAN! Their Mole Rojo is awesome.

I've made Bayless' apricot pine nut mole and it was unbelievably good. But it took hours and hours. The Trader Joe's Rojo you mix with stock and get a very bitter peppery mildly choco-taste that heats up well and considering the simplicity of the process is a wonderful cheat for a late dinner.

Microwaving India

Tasty Bite dinners and a rice cooker yield awesome multi-entree dinners in 2 minutes flat (per entree). And you have a selection! of which many are vegan; Madras Lentils, Kashmir Spinach, Bombay Potatoes, Jodhpur Lentils, and others. And they're all good.

Today's were lentils and rice. Madras Lentils with kidney beans in a spicy tomato-based sauce and Jodhpur Lentils, yellow lentils in a thinner sauce. Over brown rice it makes for a responsible and tasty dinner.

You will definitely find ones you like more than others but they are all better than you'd expect. Not that they compare to homemade Indian but you can saute some chicken (or goat even) then pour the 'Tasty Bite' of choice over and simmer as long as you want.

Macaroni & Cheese – Martha vs. The Social

My wife is on a kick. We ate Mac and Cheese twice this weekend, going to lengths to do so at that. Heading up to Milwaukee for Easter allowed the opportunity to hit The Social, 434 S. 2nd St., Milwaukee – where they do a memorable mac and cheese. A rosmary chicken in creamy goat's cheese type of Mac & Cheese.

As they say, the memory is always better and sure enough this time it sort of reminded us of rosemary chicken tetrazini. It wasn't as good as we remembered it. The roasted chicken didn't carry the rosemary instead it was super-rosy integrated into the entire dish.

For comparison's sake we put Martha's Mac and Cheese together Sunday night and while I thought it on par with The Social's, it lacked the oomph from a previous attempt. It was pretty bland as per the directions. I'd tend in the future to add more nutmeg, salt and cayanne to taste and then it should edge out Milwaukee's best...

The Backyard Coffee Roast

What do you do with that old hot air popcorn popper? Roast coffee? That couldn't work.

After a brief visit to Metropolis on Granville (coffee roasters and cafe) refreshed my barista days post college I started thinking more about coffee. I figured a hot air popcorn popper is pretty much the exact same thing but accepts way smaller quantity. The Metropolis guys are not using hot air (so you know). I had a "Popcorn Pumper" from a salvation army trip and figured what the heck.

Coffee-Cake

A little coffee with your fiber? So I made whole wheat pancakes. I figured higher fiber, no bleach... sounds good. We ate most of them, stuck the rest in tupperware with wax paper and had a couple more over the last few days.

Making a whole wheat pancake you are trying to avoid the heavy, super absorbant, grainy cakes. Trying to replicate regular pancakes. These absorbed maple syrup endlessly. They were pretty grainy but tasted good. Like a wheaty cornbread without committing to savory the way cornbread does. So I think maybe use that absorbancy and make coffee-soaked whole wheat chocolate pancakes...

Omelette & Toast

It's just an omelette with toast.  Since I'm on a chive-kick I tossed it in as a garnish.

Throw some bread in the toaster.  I had some zucchini and mushrooms, diced them, tossed them in a small non-stick with butter fried them up and added 3 eggs. Fold them in a couple of times to thicken up the eggs (also why you're using the smaller pan – to make a thicker omelette) and then let them start to set until you can give it a flip.

Once flipped add some cheese. I used Tillamook cheddar (it was on sale) we had cubed for the dog's pills... give it a minute or two and fold over the cheese. Turn off the burner and grab your toast. Use a small ramekin to cut out a circle from the toast. Then slide the omelette on to a plate and use the ramekins to cut out two portions of eggs. Wipe off the edges and serve with the circular toast, chive, and some Louisiana Hot Sauce. It's a basic omelette gone purty.

Goldie Lox

Breakfast was bagels and lox.
Trader Joe's has a smattering of different types available at very reasonable prices. I'd been getting Vita's lox at Dominick's and was enjoying it until I read the ingredients, finding dyes and sodium etc. Joe's brands of lox are all natural, a couple with salt and "natural smoke flavor"...

I tried the scottish smoked lox before and it was too smoky.

I tried the atlantic salmon (I just ate the picture at left) and it was too dull and a bit fishy.

I'm still looking to find one that's just right.

One caveat is that Lucerne cream cheese is very bland. It has comparably little taste next to Philly's. The Philly's tubs of accented cream cheeses have weird wheat ingredients which I think is kind of freaky.

Fresh chives are a great addition to bagel and lox. They can go chopped up on the cream cheese as a tasty garnish or stripped on the bagel in lieu of overpowering sliced onions.

All-Clad's "Emeril" Non-stick Pans

Having little faith in teflon I went and got an 8" and a 10" Emeril non-stick pan. I've had them four years and in that time the 10" has completely lost it's non-stick-ness. I know what I did. I left it on a high-flame. (I actually think my wife did it)