Giant in the Kitchen: Odd Sushi Fillings
My friend Tory had a sushi making party last night. It was mostly filmmakers at the party, and we ended up having some pretty interesting filling combinations. You should try some of these out following the basic sushi recipe.
I brought over roasted red peppers and homemade sweet potato fries. These actually worked really well. For the fries, I just sliced some sweet potato into strips and sautéed them for about 2 minutes. Take a look at the pictures - it's dead simple.
Initially I was attempting to make some sort of sweet potato tempura strips. I tried to bread the fries in whole wheat panko bread crumbs, but that didn't work at all. It ended up being a hot, delicious, mess. I used scrambled egg as an adhesive, but the panko bread crumbs are a bit too chunky to get a good grip on the thin slices of potato. Next time I make the fries, I want to try baking them. I don't really like frying food, and I bet the potatoes will crisp up nicely in the oven.
We also had red cherries and a couple jalapeno peppers. The cherries were awesome paired with cream cheese and sweet potato. I know it sounds strange, but it was a very subtle flavor - it kind of tasted like summer.
The jalapenos were just a pain in the ass. In the rolls, they looked just like green onion, so it was always a surprise when you got a bite of one. I definitely tried to wash away a bit of the heat with my drink. The thing is, all we had to drink was wine, so I think the jalapenos led to a bit of drunkenness for all involved.
Giant in the Kitchen: Let’s Talk Tortillas
I'm a huge fan of tortillas. I like corn tortillas. I like flour tortillas. I like those green wraps that are labeled spinach but are probably flour tortillas with green food coloring. I used to go through about a pack of whole wheat tortillas a week until I started to read the labels. It turns out that store-bought tortillas have about 10% of your daily recommended intake of sodium. Those giant (and delicious) wrap style tortillas are closer to 25%. Now don't get me wrong, I love salt. It is the single most important spice, but you can only eat so much of it.
Consider a typical day for me. I'm a big guy with a two burrito for dinner kind of appetite. With the store bought wraps, I've just eaten half of my sodium for the day. And, you know I've put salt in the fillings, so considering the beans, rice, chicken, sour cream, shredded cheddar, I'm at 80, maybe 85% of my daily salt intake. Add that to the 30% I had at breakfast and lunch, and I'm way over. I'm screwed. I know I'm gonna have stove top popcorn for a snack later on, and there's no way to eat that without a dash of salt. This is the kind of thing that will crawl into the back of my head, and slowly piss me off. My day is ruined, (RUINED!) because I'm all salty from the damn tortillas.
A few months ago I decided to show the tortilla companies who's boss by no longer procuring their tasty consumables. Three days later I woke up in the woods completely naked with no recollection of what had happened. Withdrawal is a hell of a thing...It was then that I decided that I needed to make my own low-sodium flour tortillas. I haven't looked back since.
What Ingredients You'll Need:
- Flour
- 2 cups unbleached white (preferably organic)
- 1 cup whole wheat (you could probably use any non white flour, but ww is the most low-key as far as flavor)
- Salt
- Your pick of style. I use 1 tsp of ground sea salt. This is optional, but I'd put in at least ¼ of a tsp.
- Oil
- A scantly filled ½ cup
- Water
- 1 cup at room temp.
This really is a simple recipe. I've adapted it from The Well-Filled Tortilla Cookbook. The book is decent if for no other reason than the flour, corn, and hominy tortilla recipes. It's also selling used for 46 cents on amazon, which is basically free (if you round to the nearest dollar...).
The How To:
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Stir in the oil with a wooden spoon. Large clumps will form, this is normal, just break them up with the back of your spoon. Add the water. Stir until you get a gooey ball. Knead the ball on a floured cutting board until it comes together. It should be a very manageable ball of dough (maybe 4 minutes). Stick the dough back in the bowl and let rest, tightly covered on the counter, for at least 30 minutes. At this point you can stick the bowl in the fridge and it will keep for a couple of days.
After the dough has rested, heat a big dry skillet, preferably cast iron, on the stove over medium high heat. I use cast iron because the tortillas are cooked dry, and the dough doesn't stick to the cast iron. You can probably also use a non-stick skillet. I'd avoid aluminum because the tortillas might cook onto it.
Take out the dough and use your hands to shape it into a 1 inch thick oblong squareish shape - i.e. a rectangle (Check the pictures). Cut into 10 to 12 even sized pieces. If you want bigger tortillas go for 10, if not, you know, do 12. The choice is yours. Make each piece into a small ball and roll it out with a rolling pin (or a clean wine bottle), making them as thin as possible. If you are careful, you will get nice round circles, if you aren't careful you'll have amoeba looking tortillas. I like the variety of making both. This dough is really forgiving, so if you mess any part of this up you can just reball it and roll it out again. Keep in mind that there isn't any leavening agent, so it's not like you're going to slaughter the yeast by not being caring enough.
Take a rolled out piece of dough and carefully lay it out in your hot skillet. Cook for about 40 seconds on the first side and 30 seconds on the second side. You want to get little brown spots, but you don't want to burn it. (Again check the pictures) The tortilla will have bubbles puff up. This is normal, just press them down with a spatula.
The process of cooking the tortillas takes about 20 minutes, but you can cut that time in half by using two skillets. The tortillas will keep for a few days if wrapped well in foil or tupperware. Just reheat in the microwave covered with a wet paper towel. The tortillas freeze well, so once you get the hang of the recipe, double it up and you'll have enough for a couple of weeks.
Ploughshares
I've been reading Crane's The Red Badge of Courage and a line from the end got me thinking on the discussion from yesterday. It goes: "So it came to pass that as he trudged from the place of blood and wrath, his soul changed. He came from hot-ploughshares to prospects of clover tranquilly and it was as if hot-ploughshares were not. Scars faded as flowers."
The ploughshares bit is obviously referring to the bible (Isaiah 2:4), but the part that struck me is, "Scars faded as flowers". It gives me hope. Hope that the pandemic in Africa will be properly combated as the scars of white-black interaction's history fades.
Mushy, right?
Treat ‘em like Cows…
Check out this NY Times article.
I think this is an outstanding approach towards public health, although it is a little scary that humans demonstrate such herd-like behavior. It's kind of a win-win with the Ghanaians washing their hands more and these über-corporations getting some well-needed positive P.R. If we know people are cows, why not treat them as such?
I'm impressed that Dr. Curtis was able to use the corporate machine so well. It isn't often that activists can get past their derision for "the system" in order to manipulate and take advantage of it.
The Artist Arts: Reinventing the Wheel Without Letting On
As I write music, I've struggled in finding good subject matter. The more arts and literature I encounter, the more I realize that I'm not going to come up with an original story or idea. Keeping that in mind, I've come to the conclusion that the goal of a modern artist is to make new the old. Knowing that the story you want to tell has been told before forces you to focus on how to uniquely interpret it, how to put it in a new light.
Take, for instance, some of the recent movie adaptations of Shakespeare's plays which have come out in the past decade or so. The DiCaprio/Danes Romeo + Juliet from 1996 takes the original Shakespearean text but sets it in modern times. This is a somewhat standard interpretation of the play now, but visually the movie is interesting, and generally, it is a decent retelling of the story (Although I'm not convinced the actors fully understood what they were saying at times).
One adaptation that I really like is 10 Things I Hate About You. The movie forgoes the text of The Taming of the Shrew completely, just taking the raw story and setting it in present day Seattle. This allows the writers to do with it what they will, to make it their own. Obviously that kind of leeway could end pretty poorly, but in the end, the movie works. It has fun characters and feels kind of idyllic (maybe a bit dated now), but it sits on firm foundation because, you know, Shakespeare knew what he was doing.
I bring up the two Shakespeare movies because those are two simple ways to make new the old. One is a modern staging; the other is a new interpretation. They work, but lately I've been looking for different approaches to telling a story.
Regina Spektor has written some interesting songs by taking mythological/biblical stories and placing herself into them. This is a cool approach because it brings to life these stories which are a bit old and have a bit of dust on them. Take a listen to the songs Samson and Oedipus from her early CD Songs. I like her vocal approach, but what really gets me is the way she brings genuine emotion to stories which are thousands of years old. She changes the storyline a bit, but in retelling the stories, she is bringing them back to life. In other words, she is making good, new art out of old forms and ideas. How sweet is that?
Giant in the Kitchen: Padron Peppers
My mom mail-ordered me some peppers because, well, she's a bit of a foodie, and so am I. (This is my mom and aunt's food business definitely unique and definitely worth checking out.) She ordered me Padron Peppers (Pimientos de Padrón for you bilingual types) from Tienda.com. These peppers are a standard Spanish tapa and are common in bars all over Spain. Mature Padrons are fairly hot peppers somewhat comparable to a jalapeño. When picked young though, and this is where things get fun, only about 1 in 8 are hot. The rest are really delicious and mild. This is a great snack for a group when you're waiting for dinner to be ready or if you're just throwing back a few. Most will have a tasty appetizer, but 1 or 2 people are going to be running to the sink to chug some water. This is fun. This is what eating should be.
Preparation:
Cooking these is dead simple. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and then toss in the peppers. You're just heating up the peppers and blistering the skin. When the peppers are hot and the skin is crispy, remove to a plate and season liberally with coarse sea salt. It should only take you about 3 minutes tops. Open a beer and you're ready to roll.
I used a non-stick skillet to reduce the amount of oil used, but that is purely optional.
I'm thinking about saving some seeds so that I can grow some Padrons in my closet garden, but I'm a little worried about cross pollination with my bell pepper plants. Anyone know more about this? I definitely don't want spicy bells.
Update: So I've been eating a ton of these and started mixing it up a bit. Try it on a cracker with some brie. It is very much delicious.
Giant in the Kitchen: Easy As Scratch Pizza
I've been making my pizza from scratch for about a year now. It's fun and easy to make with a group of people, and an easier sell than sushi with salami. It takes about 1.5 hours, but for me, most of that time is spent drinking beer while I wait for the dough to rise, so it goes pretty fast. If you're well organized, you can make the dough a day or two ahead of time, but it's easy enough that I tend to make it when I'm ready to use it. I've adapted the dough recipe from Myra Goodman's Food to Live By and Michael Smith's Chef at Home TV series. Pizza dough tends to be made with all refined white flour (read: unhealthy), but I always use some combination of white and whole wheat flours. Lately I've been using 2 ½ cups white flour, 1 cup whole wheat bread flour, and ½ a cup rolled oats. This is really just a basic bread recipe with a lot of yeast. Bread dough is often at the proportion of 4 cups of flour and whole grains to 1 ½ cups of water.
Here's what you'll need for the dough:
2 packets active dry yeast (5 teaspoons if you're using a jar of yeast)
3 tablespoons sugar or honey
1 ½ cups of lukewarm water
4 cups of flour (2 ½ cups white, 1 ½ cups other)
1.5 tablespoons salt
2 table spoons olive oil
¼ cup semolina flour or corn meal for dusting
A pizza stone is optional, but I recommend it if you want a real crusty bottom. I bought mine for 15 dollars at Bed Bath and Beyond, and it came with a pizza peel. It isn't a high quality stone, but it gets the job done. You can also use a preheated baking sheet or put the pizza directly on the oven rack. It doesn't really matter as long as your oven is really hot.
Making the dough: In a large measuring cup or small bowl, whisk together the 1 ½ cups of lukewarm water (over 100° F and less than 115° F if you're using an instant read thermometer, which I highly recommend) with the yeast and the sugar. Let this sit for 4 or 5 minutes until it starts to bubble. While the yeast is doing its thing, mix the 4 cups of flour and the salt in a large mixing bowl. When the yeast is frothy, gently pour it into the bowl of flour and add the olive oil. Stir this concoction with a wooden spoon until it is mixed together and is starting to look like sticky dough. At this point you want to knead it for about 5 minutes. (Check out this video if you don't know how to knead. She's a lot gentler than I am, but then again she probably has a better idea of what she's doing. Keep in mind that pizza dough isn't artisan bread, so it isn't really very delicate) Knead the dough in the bowl if you are limited on counter space, or use a floured countertop.
When the dough stops sticking to your hands and is easy to manage, you're done! Roll it into a ball and then place it back into the bowl. Coat it with a bit of olive oil and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Leave it to rise in a warm, draft free place for about an hour and a half. When the dough has been rising for about an hour, preheat your oven to 550. The hotter the better - pizza ovens are often around 7 or 8 hundred degrees.
When the dough is doubled in size, punch it down to get the air out of it and cut it in half. Pick up a half and roll it into a ball with your hands. Dust a pizza peel (or a cookie sheet) and place the ball onto it. Roll it out into a circle with a rolling pin or a washed wine bottle. It doesn't really matter if it is perfectly round, just make sure the dough has an even thickness. Tuck in the edges to make a crust (check the pictures). At this point, the pizza is your canvas. I've got a list of toppings below, but it is really up to you. Make it your own! Just be sure that the toppings that might burn, like fresh herbs or mushrooms, are under the toppings that like the heat (i.e. meats and cheeses).
Topping Ideas
- Bases
- Olive oil
- Jarred or homemade tomato sauce
- Likewise pesto
- Canned diced tomatoes
- Veggies
- Sliced bell peppers,
- Sliced mushrooms
- Fresh baby spinach
- Diced garlic
- Dried Oregano
- Kalamata olives
- Fresh herbs like basil, sage, or parsley
- Sliced onion
- Meats
- Prosciutto
- Pepperoni
- Deli Ham
- Canadian Bacon
- Browned Bacon
- Pancetta
- Browned Sausage
- Shredded cooked chicken breast
- Cheeses (really whatever you have around, but atleast one melty cheese like Mozzarella or Provolone)
- Mozzarella
- Feta
- Parmesan
- Manchego
- Provolone
Top your pizza and carefully slide it onto the hot stone. Bake it for 6 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown. Pull it out and you have pizza. Eat it right away and burn your mouth, or let it cool for a few minutes while you start the next pizza. Either way, it will taste good.
Giant in the Kitchen: Crispy Corn Salad
Well, it's corn season. Nice SWEET corn...
Yeah, so we drove into the country to go blueberry picking on the 4th, but the farmers turned us away because the blueberries weren't quite ready to be picked. As we were driving back, we saw a farm stand and picked up some sweet corn.
The thing is, it isn't really sweet corn unless it's Midwest sweet corn. (By the bye, there's nothing quite like sweet corn from the Midwest. I've gotten sick from eating too many ears of Missouri sweet corn at one sitting, but I keep going back to it. It's way too delicious.) I knew I wouldn't REALLY be satisfied just eating it off of the cob, so I decided to cut off the kernels and make a salad out of it. The thing is, I didn't really want to cook the corn too much. What's the point of eating fresh corn if it's lost that great raw crunchy texture?
For the salad, I shucked 4 ears of corn and then cut off the kernels. I then microwaved the corn for 90 seconds. This didn't cook the corn so much as get it hot enough not to be raw. While it was nuking, I sliced up a few jarred, roasted red peppers and cut some fresh basil from one of my window plants. I let the corn rest for another 90 seconds so that it wouldn't wilt the basil completely. As it was resting, I seasoned it with a dash of cayenne pepper, a pinch of salt, and a ton of black pepper. The seasoning gave it a bit of kick, but mostly made it taste like salted and peppered corn on the cob. Once it had cooled a bit, I tore the basil leaves and mixed them into the corn with the red peppers.
Not only is this a tasty little salad, but it looks damn pretty.
Fat America
It's CalorieLab's annual state obesity ranking. Basically, about 26 percent of people in America are not just overweight, but obese. Does this seem weird? 1 in 4 people are obese? I almost don't believe it. I picture the people in my life, and none of them appear particularly fat to me. Sure, we all might have a pound or two to lose but 1 in 4 obese? Hardly.
That's the crux of it though, isn't it? I don't see people as obese and I imagine that the same holds true for most people. Our perception of fat must have changed in recent years. Look at family photos from the 70's and 80's. Hell, everyone in my aunt Mary's wedding photo looks hungry by today's standards. They all look ridiculously thin, but for them that was normal.
We've come to accept fat as normal, and so we're surprised when Tim Russert dies at 58. Sure, he was a typical looking guy, but typical doesn't mean healthy anymore.
The moral? Don't be typical.
What I had for Dinner
I don't want this site to be another blog about "what I had for dinner". That whole vein seems rather silly ‘cause, in the long run, who really cares? However, I do have broader ideas about food that I think are important to share.
Eating local food is important for me. It is a priority, more so than eating organically. I prefer to eat organic, but it is cost prohibitive for a poor artist. Eating locally, if well planned, is very affordable. I want to touch on this further, probably Thursday when I talk about blueberry picking.
There seems to be a bourgeoning segment of the organic consumer which eats organic on an instinctual level. They know it's better for them and they can afford it, so they buy it, but they really put very little thought into what it is to eat healthy. I've lately been trying to think beyond organic. I want to figure out a personal approach (or even philosophy) towards food. I know that I want to eat locally whenever possible, I feel healthier when I do, but why is that? I don't think that it is psychosomatic. Obviously it is fresher, but that is a superficial answer. I think the real reason is that when I eat local food, I am eating seasonally. I can't buy local watermelon in March.
Everything elemental in life comes in cycles. Tides, tree leaves, trendy jean designs - all of it is cyclical by nature. Historically humans ate whatever was readily available. They probably didn't understand nutrition like we do, but I can't think of a food that was around 150 years ago which is bad for you. Hell, I'd take lard over Crisco any day.
So how do we eat seasonally? I don't think it should be a strict thing. I'm going to grow lettuce in my closet in the non-summer seasons. But generally, eating seasonally means going heavy on produce in the spring/summer/autumn months, and heavy on meat, cheese and bread in the winter. Only in recent years have we been able to get great apples from New Zealand in February. This might be a nice treat occasionally, but the environmental cost should keep it an occasional treat for anyone with a conscious.
Like I said, I don't want this site to be another blog about "what I had for dinner", but seriously, check out my dinner. It was totally seasonal. 3 plums, 20 red cherries and ½ of a honeydew melon. How awesome is that? Hydrating, delicious, and no cooking on a 90 degree day. You can't do better than that.