Braisin' Hussy

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Thanks for hijacking my comments, Zack. I could delete them, but they're vaguely amusing, so I'll keep them.

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Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Oh dear. I am worried about this new development. Hershey's bought Scharffen Berger.

In other news, remember how I said back in March that I was thinking about moving to Mountain View? And remember how nothing ever came of that? Well, I am moving. This weekend. Not to Mountain View, but to... two doors down from where I currently live. I'm not even switching landlords. I'm moving from a two-bedroom to a one-bedroom. I never needed that second bedroom, I got that apartment because I loved it (such a great kitchen!) and didn't care. Now, I'm trying to be a little more independent (not mooching off my parents QUITE so much). My new place is surprisingly spacious for a one-bedroom. The only sad thing is that it has no dishwasher. Oh well. Time to stock up on paper plates.

If you didn't watch Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel last night, I suggest you catch a repeat (first episode: Why the French Don't Suck). It's an hour long and TV-MA for... swearing and smoking, probably. Yeah, there were some annoyingly staged bits- I could have done without the whole absinthe hallucination bit- but it's still Tony. For those of you who miss Food Network's A Cook's Tour, check this show out.

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Monday, July 25, 2005

Since I'm totally and completely evil, I thought I'd give you all this information. The new URL to get around the Salon DayPass is this. Let's see how long it works. I've only got a wee audience (and some of you are already members), so it's not like this will destroy them. How much can they make off those annoying ads, anyway? Seeing Tucker Carlson's huge smirking face for thirty seconds does not make any more likely to watch his show. Stupid bow tie man. (Not to be confused with Annoying Bow Tie Man, who is Christopher Kimball, editor of Cook's Illustrated.)

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Friday, July 22, 2005

All-Purpose Cornbread
Cook's Illustrated

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp table salt
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and cooled slightly

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 8-inch-square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl until combined; set aside.

In food processor or blender, process brown sugar, thawed corn kernels, and buttermilk until combined, about 5 seconds. Add eggs and process until well combined (corn lumps will remain), about 5 seconds longer.

Using rubber spatula, make well in center of dry ingredients; pour wet ingredients into well. Begin folding dry ingredients into wet, giving mixture only a few turns to barely combine; add melted butter and continue folding until dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour batter into prepared baking dish; smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces and serve.

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Thursday, July 21, 2005

Y'all... I'm thinking about dropping D&D. I enjoy it, but I start getting irritable around 10:30pm. And three and a half hours of game play a week is kind of pathetic. I think our group may be dissolving, anyway. Cameron's moving up to the city, Rob seems to be losing interest, and I'm just tired. Jer has suggested moving it to the weekends, but I'm selfish and don't want to give up my weekends. I don't know what's going to happen.

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Tuesday, July 19, 2005

You cannot tell me that the original creator of the Star Trek Klingon weapon the bat'leth did not get his inspiration from cheese knives.

Cheese Knife:
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Bat'leth:

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Sunday, July 17, 2005

Gingersnap Cookies

2 cups AP flour
1 Tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon mixed together

Heat oven to 350. Whisk the first 5 ingredients together in a medium bowl. Beat the butter until creamy. Add the 1 cup of sugar gradually and continue beating. Beat in the egg and the molasses. Mix into this about 1/3 of the flour mixture, stirring and blending well. Repeat until all is added. Roll the dough into small balls (~ 1 teaspoon of dough), dredging each in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on a ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-13 minutes until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked. Cool on a wire rack.

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Friday, July 15, 2005

Here are some helpful things to be aware of when cooking.

1) Don't assume just because one quick bread baked well in a smaller sized loaf pan that a different recipe will as well. If it looks like it's about to overflow, it probably will in the oven. It doesn't make you less of a person to scrape the dough out of one loaf pan and put it into a larger one. And just to be on the safe side, put a sheet pan on the bottom of your oven to catch any drips.

2) Make sure your measuring cups are labeled boldly. Don't mix up your quarter-cup and your third-cup measure. That's just dumb.

So, yeah. Made chocolate chip cookies last night with 2 1/3 cups of flour instead of 2 1/4, and banana bread with 1 1/3 cups of granulated sugar, not 1 /14. I am a moron of the highest caliber. The cookies are... all right, I guess, but not the best I've ever made. I may pawn these off on Jon and Ryan and make another batch tonight... although I guess that's technically evil. The banana bread tasted fine, or at least the little bits I've taken off the edges are good. The only problem is, since it overflowed, it is now totally stuck in the pan. ARGH. I guess we'll be digging pieces out.

I still have one more recipe to make for this weekend. Yes, I want to kill my friends with baked goods.

Ugh, I just want to redo everything I made last night. So annoying. So dumb.

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Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Who's got a job until September 2006? Oh yeah, that's me!

(doing a little dance)

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I'm not planning on making anything new this week- I think. What I am going to make are two loaves of AB's Basic Bread, one or two recipes or AB's The Thin chocolate chip cookies, a loaf of Pain d'Épices (added a bit of cinnamon and used all AP flour this time), and some spicy bean dip. The last thing is for my D&D group, but the rest are what I'm bringing this weekend to a reading party. Yeah, the whole Harry Potter thing. Lydia's making lunch, Kim's bringing sippables, and I'm bringing baked goods.

(Ugh, I HATE the month-or-two-old design of Food Network. That stupid flash banner makes everything else I'm doing that much slower. Like copying a simple url- takes forever for the current one to show up. So the first time I published this post, all my links were pointing in the wrong directions. Also, I'm not fond of my ooooooold work computer that struggles with everything.)

We'll see if I make anything else. After today, the only thing left to make will be the cookies, which means I still have Friday open for something. Oh, but laundry. Hm.

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Monday, July 11, 2005

Read this. Then come back and read my blog. Pardon me while I go slam my head into my desk a few hundred times. Sweet Jesus.

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Sunday, July 10, 2005

Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Cook's Ilustrated by Sarah

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1/2 pounds)
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 large onion (about 1 pound), trimmed, peeled, and quartered
4 cloves garlic, peeled
8 to 10 sprigs fresh cilantro plus 1 sprig fresh oregano
1 14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes, drained lightly
1/2 medium jalapeño pepper
1 chipotle chile in adobo, plus up to 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Pinch of cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste

Garnishes
Broken tortilla chips (or strips)
Lime wedges
Sour cream
Shredded cheese (cheddar or monterey jack) or crumbled cotija cheese
Diced avocado
Cilantro leaves

Bring chicken, broth, 2 onion quarters, 2 garlic cloves, epazote, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil over medium-high heat in large saucepan; reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large plate. Pour broth through fine-mesh strainer; discard solids in strainer. When cool enough to handle, shred chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Puree tomatoes, 2 remaining onion quarters, 2 remaining garlic cloves, jalapeño, chipotle chile, cumin, and 1 teaspoon adobo sauce in food processor until smooth. Heat oil in Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering; add tomato/onion puree and 1/8 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has darkened in color, about 10 minutes. Stir strained broth into tomato mixture, bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer to blend flavors, about 15 minutes. Taste soup, adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and, if desired, up to 2 teaspoons additional adobo sauce. Add shredded chicken and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish accordingly.

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So I was just watching the beginning of the Powerpuff Girls movie, and paused on the image of the Professor buying the ingredients with which to make the girls. He buys sugar and "spices"- parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. While I love the Simon and Garfunkel shoutout, those aren't spices. They're herbs. So it wasn't just the Chemical X that made them different from normal little girls, it was the fact that the Professor used the wrong ingredients.

I'll shut up now.

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Friday, July 08, 2005

Okay, I think I'm going to make the Cook's Illustrated Tortilla Soup from the March-April 2005 issue. Either tomorrow or Sunday. I need to buy an onion and a jalapeno, as well as various garnishes (lime, avocado, cheese, sour cream). I also want to get more salsa makings. #6 was good! And easy!

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Thursday, July 07, 2005

So, I've got the better part of a roasted chicken to do something with... Jer suggested soup, chicken salad, or fajitas... I thought about mixing it in with some mac and cheese or just doing my favorite, picking at it off the bone. Any suggestions? I've got all the white meat and half the dark meat. Plus a carcass.

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Woo, found my phone.

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Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Note to everyone: I left my phone at Jon's last night. I'll get it after work today. By then it will have run out of batteries. So I won't be able to get/make calls for a while. Please don't panic.

Update on the phone situation: Well, I thought it was at Jon's. I'm getting a little worried. So, still no phone. Email me if you want to talk.

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So, in case you are thinking, "Salsa? She comes back, says she's starting to cook again, and she makes salsa?! That's not cooking, that's assembling!", I would just like you to know, I roasted a chicken last night. I made Marcella Hazan's Chicken with Two Lemons. I'm just not quite sure what I think of it. I think I prefer a brined bird. However, I did the trick again of baking some rice in the bottom of the roasting pan... man, that's so good. Even though I totally overcooked it and it was crunchy in a lot of places, it was still really good. I put it in at the beginning of the roasting when I really should have waited, like, a half hour before doing so. I added a cup of rice, two cups of boxed chicken broth, and some leftover frozen sherry-rosemary chicken sauce (from Christmas- we keep things frozen a long time). That was über-good. I wasn't so taken with the chicken (I thought it was supposed to taste lemony, but it didn't), but we'll see if I change my mind later when I eat the leftovers. I bought some corn, too, but I haven't done anything with it yet. Which is annoying, because corn = time bomb in terms of flavor. You want to get that stuff cooked as fast as possible. When I cook it tonight, it will not be ambrosia. It should still taste pretty good, though.

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Tuesday, July 05, 2005

One of my easier salsas. Quite tasty. I realize I'm being a product whore here, but Muir Glen makes such tasty tastiness. If you're using plain diced tomatoes, maybe add one or two jalapeno or serrano chiles.

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Salsa Attempt No. 6

2 14.5-oz. cans Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes with Green Chiles, undrained
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon (1-2 Tbsp)
2 serrano chiles, seeded and chopped
2-3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
Dash of ground cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Mix everything in a bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Taste to make any final salt adjustments. Enjoy.

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I am back from the horror... the horror... that is Southern California. Look for me to start cooking again in a few hours!

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