Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face
Do you realize we’re floating in space
Do you realize that happiness makes you cries
Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die
“Do You Realize?” by The Flaming Lips
Some of my favorite blogs do corn:
Beetses: Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread
Closet Cooking: Corn and Black Bean Quinoa Salad
Single Guy: A little corn soup at Nopa
The Hungry Dog: Corn Muffins with Bing Cherries
Filed under Farmers Market, Vegetable
Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city
“Hot Town Summer in the City” by The Lovin’ Spoonfuls
Posting will be back to the regular schedule next week, school started and I’m busy…deal with it.
The natural AC that we know as the East Bay is broken, it is damn hot in these parts. What does one eat on Oakland’s warmest day of the summer? Raw oysters of course!
First, make sure your oysters are coming from a reputable source that turns over stock frequently. I personally like Hog Island Oysters.
There are four acceptable ways (in my opinion) to eat raw oysters.
1. Raw
2. The classic mignonette sauce: shallots, red wine vinegar, black pepper
3. A squeeze of lemon
4. A dash of Tapatio hot sauce
See you on monday.
Filed under Uncategorized
When I get off this mountain
You know where I want to go
Straight down the Mississippi river
To the Gulf of Mexico
To Lake Charles, Louisiana
Little Bessie, girl that I once knew
And she told me I could come on by
If there’s anything she could do
“Up on Cripple Creek” by The Band
This recipe is adapted from Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles cookbook, which I love. I used only the finest Canadian escargot from my dear friend Nadine (nothing makes a better going away present than 8 cans of escargot!). Check that, the escargot are actually from Indonesia…eh, close enough. Bourdain’s recipe called for eight (!) cloves of garlic, I backed off on the garlic a little because when I made this the first time it produced an almost gross garlic flavor.
A side note: I was really hurting from garlic overdose so I decided to do a little research on the internet. I found an effective way to diminish garlic mouth. All you need to do is rub your tongue, gums, and roof of your mouth with a stainless steel spoon to get rid of that garlic intensity, it works!
Ingredients:
1 can escargots
¼ cup white wine
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley
3 cloves of garlic
1 stick of butter
Salt and pepper
1 baguette cut into diagonal slices
Directions:
1. Preheat broiler
2. In a small saucepan, simmer escargots, wine and shallots for 15 minutes
3. Meanwhile, chop parsley and garlic in a food processor, add butter until it forms a green paste
4. Meanwhile, brown baguette under broiler about 2 minutes
5. Strain liquid from escargot and shallots, add garlic parsley butter, heat until well combined
6. Spoon escargot on toasted bread and serve warm
There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind
I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.
“Helpless” by Neil Young
Listen up America…
We are losing a very special guest this week, my friend Nadine. Nadine is leaving Emeryville, CA and heading back to her Canadian homeland. I met Nadine a couple of months back and was really drawn to her wonderful sense of humor and overall cheeriness. Nadine will be moving to Hamilton, Ontario to continue her never-ending post-secondary education. I have a couple of recipes lined up that are a celebration of my Canadian friend.
The first recipe is a drink that Nadine and I created, which I think is appropriate for a proper going away celebration. The libation is made from a very unique Canadian product, Boreal Birch syrup. FYI: This syrup is nothing like maple syrup, it lacks the sugary sweetness and has a flavor similar to molasses.
A cool little video on how Boreal Birch syrup is made:
The name of the drink that we concocted is actually way more important than the ingredients or the deliciousness of the drink. Moose cocktail…there…I said it. Why moose cocktail? Because Nadine introduced the term moose cock to me, which is apparently a Canadian slang term for sausage.
For example: “Hey lets crack a Molson, grab a moose cock, and watch some hockey”
This name produced hours of giggles for me and was then used in almost every conversation that I have had with Nadine since learning the term.
It sucks that she is moving, but I’m sure she’ll be extremely happy to be back to her motherland. Oh, I forgot, she is also very talented in the handbag arts. Check out her Etsy page, I’m pretty sure she will still take American dollars.
Moose Cocktail
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. Canadian whiskey
1 oz. Boreal Birch syrup
Canada Dry tonic water
Ice
Slice of lemon
Directions:
1. Fill lowball glass with ice, add whiskey, syrup and lemon
2. Fill glass with tonic and enjoy with a moose cock
Filed under Drink, Uncategorized
Ain’t nobody ever gonna love you the way I try to do
Who’ll take all your pain, Honey, your heartache, too?
And if you need me, you know
That I’ll always be around if you ever want me
Come on and cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby,
Oh daddy, like you always saying to do.
“Cry Baby” by Janis Joplin
Salt and caramel, that is sooooo last year…but it’s damn good. Again, another solid Betty Crocker (remember this?) recipe for the chocolate cake portion. The salted caramel frosting idea came from a Chowhound daily recipe that I received for salted caramel cupcakes. The cake was moist, the frosting had a delicious caramel richness with just a touch of salt on the finish. This recipe may not be for everyone, but if you are an adventurous baker, I suggest giving it a shot.
Chocolate Cake (from Betty Crocker)
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups cake flour (or 2 ¼ all purpose flour)
1 2/3 cups sugar
¾ cup butter
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1 ¼ cups water
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans and lightly flour
3. In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients
4. With a hand mixer, beat all of the ingredients on high for 3 minutes
5. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans
6. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean
7. Cool for ten minutes and then remove from the pans and let cool completely
Salted Caramel Frosting
Ingredients:
1/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons water
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ sticks of butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup powdered sugar
Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, mix water and granulated sugar, turn heat to medium-high
2. Bring mix to a boil and do not stir
3. Let the mixture cook for about 5-7 minutes, DO NOT STIR
4. When the mixture becomes a dark amber color, remove from heat and slowly add cream and vanilla, stir with a wooden spoon until completely combined
5. Set aside until cool
6. Combine butter and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer beat until light and fluffy
7. Add powdered sugar, mix until completely combined
8. Add caramel to the butter mixture, beat until well mixed
9. Cover and refrigerate until stiff, about 45 minutes
Adapted from http://www.chow.com/recipes/12100
To make cake:
1. Lay down one cake round, top with about 1 cup of frosting
2. Lay second cake on top of frosting, cover the cake with remaining frosting
Filed under Dessert, Sweets, Uncategorized
Echoes of reggae comin’ through my bedroom wall
Havin’ a party up next door but I’m sittin’ here all alone
Two lovers in the bedroom and the other started to shout
All I got is this blank stare and that don’t carry no clout at all
“Ruby Soho” by Rancid
Let’s do this! One more zucchini dessert recipe…
Zucchini bread is one of my favorite things to slather with ample amounts of butter. Who am I kidding, I like to slather everything in ample amounts of butter. This bread would pair well with a hearty meal like a pot roast or pork tenderloin or a thirty pound turkey or something like that. Another cool thing about this bread is that it freezes really well, so make it in mass quantities and then pop the extras in the ice box.
Ingredients:
3 eggs, beaten
¾ cup vegetable oil
1 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups zucchini, grated
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Combine eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla
3. Sift dry ingredients together
4. Add liquid mix to dry mix
5. Stir in zucchini and raisins (or chocolate chips)
6. Grease two loaf pans, divide mix evenly between both pans
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean
Pedal down the foot hills
Wheelies on the front
P-p-pedal down the foot hills
Wheelies on the front
“Black Mags” by The Cool Kids
Soft shell crabs remind me of the infamous McDonald’s McRib sandwich…
When looking at a nicely breaded and fried soft shell crab, one might scratch their head and observe that the shape and texture does not really deviate from what a hard shell crab would look like after a hot oil bath. Just like the McRib, the crab is deceiving, leaving no traces of shell or other non-molar-friendly crab parts.
Don’t be scared! Buy the crabs, make the sandwich, you will be happy that you did.
Here’s a good tutorial on soft shell crabs.
How to clean soft shell crab.
Makes two big sandwiches
Ingredients:
For crab:
4 soft shell crabs, cleaned
1 cup of flour
2 eggs
1 tablespoon Franks hot sauce
1 cup of oyster crackers
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
For sandwich:
2 chewy rolls
Spicy brown mustard
Mayonnaise
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Directions:
1. Place crackers in a large ziplock bag and crush until fine in texture, but not completely pulverized
2. Add garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper
3. Place cracker crumbs in a small bowl
4. Place flour in another small bowl, season with salt and pepper
5. Place eggs and hot sauce in a third small bowl, mix whisk with a fork
6. Place enough vegetable oil in a large skillet to reach about ½ inch up the side
7. Place crab in flour, then egg, then crackers
8. Heat the oil over high heat until small drops of water spit (does this make sense? It does to me.)
9. Fry crabs until golden brown on both sides, remove from oil, immediately season with salt, and allow to drain any excess oil on paper towel
10. I think you can take it from here by looking at the sandwich ingredients
Fate up against your will
Through the thick and thin
You must wait until
You give yourself to him
Cucumber, cu-cu-cumber, ca-ca-ca-ca-cabbage
Cucumber, cu-cu-cu-cu-cu-cu-cu-cu-cabbage
He’s a yo-yo man
Always up and down
So take him to the end of his temper
“Killing Moon” by Pavement
I had my first cabbage salad recently at place called Bacheeso’s Garden Bistro in Berkeley. It had an excellent combination of pungent garlic, crunchy cabbage and refreshing parsley. This is my take on the salad, it screams out picnic food to me.
Ingredients:
1 small head, shredded
1/4 cup kosher salt
5 garlic cloves, minced
½ lemon, juiced
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Toss the shredded cabbage in a large bowl with the salt and let sit for 1 hour.
2. Wash the salt from the cabbage by rinsing it with water. Let drain in a colander.
3. In a large bowl, toss with the garlic, lemon juice, parsley, olive oil, vinegar and caraway seeds.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
