Phoodski, an Adventure in Food

Staging, Meatcutting and Big Unholy Gobs of Butter

2011-12-28T14:35:00.000-07:00

“And if you don’t know, now you know.”

-Notorious BIG

“If we're not supposed to eat animals, how come they're made out of meat?”

-Tom Synder

Hello, kind readers. Or reader (hi Mom). I know it’s been awhile. I’ve been taking a bit of a sabbatical from school on account of a fun few months of trips for work and play. I’m not too concerned about the pace of my schooling as I already have one kind of worthless degree (BA, English) so the way I see it, there’s no need to rush through my other just-for-fun pursuit! I’m currently three-quarters of the way done with my Skills of Meatcutting class, but thought I should catch you up on what I’ve been up to since my last post.

Not wanting to let my culinary skills atrophy while out of school for a bit, I did do a stage (fancy French word for apprenticeship) at a great bistro in Boulder for about a month in August. It was a blast. I would have continued to happily work there for free except that after the expense of the gas to get to Boulder plus the $14 for parking, it was in actuality costing me to work there.

The Restaurant (not its real name, in case you haven’t figured that out yet), a popular local eatery on Pearl St. in the farm-to-table style with a wildly popular craft cocktail program, is generally pretty busy. During my stage, I did prep work and sometimes worked the pantry station (salads, hot/cold apps and desserts) or the wood-fired oven (wood-fired specialties as well as a small counter) during service. The head chef is a really nice guy from the East Coast. The executive chef is quirky and somewhat demanding guy, but generally quite amiable. The staff consists of mostly over-educated gentlemen in their early twenties with kind of worthless degrees like mine in things like anthropology and philosophy, all having a little fun in the kitchen while waiting out the bad economy. All of these folks were extremely gracious and generous with their time. This is not the cases with all kitchens so for that I was very grateful.

Here are some kitchen/life lessons from my stage:

Lesson #1: The smartest restaurateurs are even smarter than their patrons.

The Restaurant did very well managing food costs, even making a profit on food in some cases. This is an impressive feat as most restaurants make money on alcohol and are lucky to break even on food costs. There were smart food strategies everywhere in this place – nothing went to waste. And in the farm-to-table world, the season dictates the food. This is sounds all tree-huggy and nice but it also means you’re not paying mondo bucks for blueberries in January to be shipped from Brazil. And in August, the earth is ripe with beautiful fruits and veggies… all ready to be made into a $9 salad.

I was fascinated by what people ordered. Mike and I eat out a fair amount and I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we’re not shy when it comes ordering what we want. (I have been known to order a dish again during the same meal if it was super duper tasty.) To us, dining out is always a treat and there is always something to celebrate, whether it’s an anniversary, a good day at the office or a Tuesday. Plus, the concept of a restaurant is still mind blowing to me. You can have whatever you want from this list! Then someone will make it for you and bring it to you! And then they will clean up so you don’t have to! Amazing!

As the tickets would spit out of the little machine, there appeared to be a pattern. I thought people would go nuts for the fava bean appetizer because (1) fava beans are super delicious, (2) fava beans have a short season and (3) fava beans are a huge pain in the ass to make. But to my surprise only about 10% of people ordered that very tasty fava bean dish. Want to know what people ordered?

Tomato and mozzarella salad. You know the kind... tomatoes, mozz, croutons, done. The kind you have all summer at your house with the tomatoes that come out of your garden (or your friend’s) like weeds. Granted, the mozzarella was imported, the croutons were house-made (more on this later), but the tomatoes were local, cheap and plentiful. Now, all that being said, it was a damn good salad but there was probably some profit being made at $9 a pop.

The other big seller? Beets! Boulderites love their beet salad and I mean LOVE. Again, I’m not knocking the beet salad because it too was a tremendously tasty dish but we sold an incredible amount of it. Roasted red and golden beets with a garnish of raw shaved yellow beets, a little blue cheese and hazelnuts. We went through tubs and tubs of beets. I’ll admit, I can understand ordering this as beets can be messy to roast at home.

Funny side story: one night, the farmers that supply The Restaurant’s beets came in to sample the salad and split one salad among the four of them, which amounted to about a bite apiece. I guess if you’re a beet farmer you get pretty damn sick of them.

In any case, the sheer volume of the beets we went through probably meant there was a nice little profit of each one.

The other sociology lesson I learned? Meat and cheese plates. Once someone orders a meat and cheese plate, it’s like chum in the water. Meat and cheese plate orders start pouring in like people have never eaten meat and cheese on bread before! Yet if no one ordered the starter meat and cheese plate, you wouldn’t see a ticket for one all night.

Meat and cheese plates are kind of a chore because while there’s not much cooking involved, there are a million ingredients from a million different places in your tiny station. Three cuts of 2 ounces of cheese each. Fresh berries. Olives. Local honey that is impossibly sticky and gets everywhere except the plate that it’s supposed to be on. Toasted bread from the grill. Thin slices of meat plus a hunk of cooked to order sausage. Suffice to say, if you were at The Restaurant during August and ordered the meat and cheese plate, I hated you for a moment. Just a moment, though.

Lesson #2: Executive chefin’ ain’t easy.

By all means, being the Executive Chef of a well-known and loved restaurant is a glamorous job. You get to pose for the publicity shots, get interviewed by the press and schmooze with the patrons. You’re creating dishes and tasting food but you’re by no means slinging steaks behind a hot grill all night long or cleaning out the grease traps. I learned that it although it seems like a coveted job. at the end of the day, it can be tough, too. Every plate of food that comes out of that kitchen has your name on it and it’s up to you to make sure it lives up to your standards. That means educating your staff and being tough on them when you need to. In many ways, executive chefing is just another management job—you have to train your staff well enough and trust them to executive everything perfectly even though you would rather just do it yourself. It’s a skill, and a difficult one at that… one that I’m learning to appreciate as I get further into both my kitchen and professional career.

Ultimately, I had to give the Executive Chef props because even though he had a nice- sized ego, he had the goods to back it up. He got his hands dirty when he needed to. He was always willing to offer sage advice to a stage even in the midst of a busy service. He was never the most popular guy in the kitchen but he kept us on our toes and improved the quality of everything that came out. It turns out that managing the kitchen is half managing the food and half managing the staff, which means you can’t be everyone’s buddy but you can be one hell of a boss. Part of the fun of working in a kitchen is the camaraderie and ribbing that comes with the territory. I think for some people, having to do without that part would be the hardest part of being Executive Chef. But I guess that’s the price you pay for having your name at the bottom of the menu.

Lesson #3: Eating out is hazardous to your waistline.

Folks, you know this. But I’m going to put it out there just to remind you, especially since the New Year is just around the corner and some of you are starting new diets. Yes, restaurant food is delicious because of the awesome high quality ingredients and skilled chefery that goes on back there. But it is also awesome because of the copious amounts of fat that go into it. Fat is flavor. Fat is delicious. Most of us don’t have the stomach to put as much fat in the food we prepare for ourselves (unless you’ve been to my house for dinner – just a warning) but in a restaurant kitchen it’s all game. Butter, butter everywhere. Huge, thick, unholy gobs of it. Crème fraiche, duck fat, you name it. It’s all in there. And you love it. Just don’t walk away thinking you had a healthy meal just because it had vegetables in it.

Remember those house-made croutons from the tomato salad? They were just jagged pieces of ciabatta (the soft center, not the crust) deep fried to a golden brown and salted. I swear to you, this may have been the most delicious thing I ever ate at The Restaurant. I still dream about it. I will have to keep it in my dreams because I cannot continue my life as a size 8 if I keep eating fried bread all the time.

Lesson #4: People pay attention to a chef’s coat.

With the advent of celebrity chefs, putting on a chef’s coat makes you an instant star. Even if you stink at cooking (and naturally, some do). For most people in the kitchen, it’s just a way to keep grease and other hot stuff from scalding your skin. My favorite story to illustrate this point happened one Wednesday before dinner service. Chef sent me to the Boulder Farmer’s Market (a fascinating display of everything that is both right and wrong with Boulder all in one place, but that’s an entirely separate story) to get two boxes of peaches as we were almost out. Our peach farmer had a booth at the market and it was just a few blocks away.

I hopped in the Fit and drove over to the market. I parked illegally in the parking lot of the gun store at Chef’s advice since it was super close to the peach farm’s booth. I quickly found the peach farm’s booth, perused a few of the peaches, got my boxes and left. I felt like every person in the market stared at me like I had two heads. Shit, was my fly down? Do I have beet juice on my forehead or something? (PS - it looks like blood).

It freaked me out a bit but then I got to thinking about it. If I was at a farmer’s market, I’d want to know what restaurant the chef was from, too. Inadvertently, this is how the greatest restaurant PR stunt of time was conceived. If I ever have a restaurant someday, you better bet your ass I’ll be walking around in my branded chef’s jacket, lovingly squeezing tomatoes and sniffing corn on the cob for a few minutes drumming up business before dinner.

All in all, I had a great time staging. I learned a TON. And it’s fun getting to know folks… everyone who works in a kitchen has a different and usually pretty interesting life story about how they got there.

Next up, meatcutting… new post on how that’s going soon.

Working From Home Has Its Perks

2011-02-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Like being able to make blueberry pancakes for my breakfast while listening to a conference call. Yum.

Liquid Diets are No Fun

2011-02-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Today is my fourth day of liquid/soft foods following my wisdom teeth extraction last Tuesday, which went surprisingly well. For the first few days, I subsisted primarily on avocado smoothies, which tasted like the best thing I'd ever eaten. I'd like to extend Whole Foods Cherry Creek a special shout out for their wide variety of pureed soups... black bean, lobster bisque, cream of mushroom, butternut, tomato chipotle. Special thanks to our immersion blender as well for turning everything into a delightful slurpable consistency!

The bright side is that I've also rediscovered applesauce, chocolate pudding and yogurt. Oh, and completely lump-less mashed potatoes, fully loaded with crazy amounts of whole milk and butter.

Mashed potatoes a la FIL.

Solid foods I miss the most? Breakfast sandwiches, roast chicken and pasta! Hopefully it will only be a few more days before I'm happily overindulging in these foods again...

Taking a Break

2011-01-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

Forgive me, faithful readers... but I've been taking a bit of a break from blogging. I'm in the middle of a big batch of work and personal travel (DC, Vegas, DC, Playa del Carmen, DC, Miami, DC) so I've been slowing down this winter semester. I'm not taking a Saturday kitchen class (boo!) this term, but I am taking a Menu and Cost Controls classroom class - more on that in future posts. It's definitely not as fun as being in a kitchen class, but it will be good to get it out of the way.

Don't worry though - I'll be back in the kitchen come February in a big way with Introduction to Baking and Pastry. Denver area friends, hope your waistlines are ready!

Principles of Beverage Service or BARTENDING IS AWESOME

2010-11-10T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am the last barman poet

I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make

Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake
The sex on the beach, the schnapps made from peach
The velvet hammer, the Alabama slammer
I make things with juice and froth
The pink squirrel, the three-toed sloth
I make drinks so sweet and snazzy
The iced tea, the kamakazi
The orgasm, the death spasm
The Singapore sling, the dingaling
America, you've just been devoted to every flavor I got
But if you want to got loaded
Why don't you just order a shot?
Bar is open!

--Brian Flanagan (artfully played by Tom Cruise before he was a weirdo), Cocktail, 1988

I don't know why I was surprised to discover this, but making drinks is much more fun than making stock.

When we showed up to our first day of Beverage Service class, not only was there a lack of foul-smelling animal parts, but there was hot coffee. Freshly brewed! It was the beginning of a glorious day.

Don't get me wrong, I love being in the kitchen. But after a grueling four weeks of a particularly trying stocks class, those of us taking Beverage Service were ready for a break. Sadly, since we have a class during the Thanksgiving break, a few of our classmates aren't taking this one. They're missing out!

Beverage service is all about drinks, both alcoholic and non. We spent the morning addressing one of my most feared subjects: coffee. My dirty little secret is that I've always had an irrational fear of making coffee for some strange reason. The coffee maker intimidates me. Maybe it's all the fancy buttons. Or funny noises. Or strange discharges. I'm not sure, but Mike is constantly in charge of making coffee in our house. Until Saturday, coffee was my culinary kryptonite.

We learned about the history of coffee, how to make it and how to serve it. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought. It wasn't hard at all. We even made espressos and lattes and cappucinos! I celebrated later that night by coming home and... making coffee in our very own coffee maker.

But as fun as that was, it's not the most fun part of Beverage Service. Friends, meet the 42 alcoholic beverages that will be my closest friends over the next 4 weeks.

Bottoms up!

There are 10 separate fully stocked bars around this classroom, with 2 students to each bar. Each bar has everything you'd see at your neighborhood bar: 3 compartment sink, ice bin, well, beverage gun (!!) and Vita-Mix blender.

The bar is ready to go for an afternoon of fake drink making.

Before you get too excited, it's important to note that no real booze is used, just colored water. Otherwise this would be an exponentially expensive class and we'd all be passed out after drinking for a full day. The benefit to this is that it's remarkably easy to re-fill your empties. Out of vodka? Turn on the faucet and voila: more vodka! For non-clear liquors, we have a color key and set of food colorings to guide us, but you can also create a pretty reasonable facsimile by eye-balling it. It always makes me chuckle when you find a bottle on your bar that's just totally the wrong color - the likely end product of some 19-year-old who had no idea that rum is not supposed to look like chocolate syrup.

Out of liquor? No problem.

After stocking our bars, we took a nice break for lunch, which would be courtesy of the European Cuisine class. This was the group that was previously in Pastry and front of house, so this is their first actual meal service class. Let's just say we ate what was edible. Then we went to Jimmy John's and got sandwiches.

Once we returned to campus, we practiced making vermouth-based drinks (martinis, manhattans, etc.) as well as some cream-based drinks (grasshoppers, white russians, etc.) and tropical concoctions (mai tais, zombies, etc.) Once we got the hang of a particular set of drinks, Chef would blast some music and we'd race against the clock in a timed drill. This definitely beat breaking down fish carcasses!

Mai tai, anyone?

Once we all felt pretty comfortable with the drink recipes, we sampled some of the more obscure drinks with real alcohol (kept in a locked cabinet). Turns out, a Girl Scout Cookie (peppermint schnapps + dark cacao + cream) is pretty tasty. I don't think I could ever stomach more than one, but it might make a nice dessert alternative.

The best part? Clean up was a breeze. In the course of a kitchen class, you'll likely wash every pot, pan and utensil 2 or 3 times over. And in stocks, you have to not only wash the roasting pans, but apply industrial strength de-greaser and then bake them in the oven for 30 minutes. None of that stuff here. It took about 30 minutes to have everything clean and gleaming.

As I start memorizing my drinks for next weekend, I'm also making a music mix for class. I'm sure it will include the obligatory booze-related tunes (think classics like Snoop's "Gin & Juice" and AC/DC's "Have a Drink on Me"), but what else? I need your suggestions! Just remember that we're making drinks for speed so all songs need to have a pretty upbeat tempo. Your musical ideas welcome in the comments below. Until next time, cheers!

I Came, I Made Stock, I Conquered

2010-11-04T22:10:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday was it... my last day in Stocks, Sauces and Soups. First, we turned in our papers on herbs and spices. If you care to know more about cilantro and cinnamon, read mine. Disclaimer: all of our paper prompts ask us to talk about the food product in a cultural context, so I feel like I keep beating the same Vietnamese drum.

Cilantro: the paramount herb.

My final practical was in three parts: a 50-question multiple choice exam, a knife cuts practical and a sauce practical. After starting our usual stocks, we settled in for the multiple choice written exam. It was pretty straightforward; no one seemed too phased by it. Before lunch, half the class would do knife cuts while the other half of the class would do their sauce practical. I was lucky to do my knife cuts before lunch, mostly because it was the easier of the two and I would need time to make my dish for lunch service as well.

I learned in the last class that Chef C loves Vietnamese food. Somewhere in that conversation I told him that if he could get all the right ingredients, I'd make Vietnamese spring rolls for lunch service, half thinking that there's no way Requisition would have all the stuff.

Turns out I was wrong. He had everything I needed in the Req cart.

There was no backing out of this one. Why did I shoot myself in the foot, volunteering to make a labor-intensive lunch dish on a day when I would have a stressful practical exam? I'm an idiot.

We had 90 minutes to do a series of cuts--brunoise, macedoine, parmentier, julienne, batonnet, frite and rondelle. Plenty of time, by all accounts, but in my mind, I was stressing about the spring rolls. I had to make a mega big batch so there would be enough for our class and the pastry class, plus roll each one and get them fried. Since there is not a deep fryer in the Stocks kitchen, I would have to pan fry them, which takes a long time since you have to do it at low heat because the wrappers are so delicate. And they would have to be delicious! Or else all of my ancestors would roll in their graves! And all of Vietnam would collectively frown! There was clearly no room for failure here.

I probably spent about 35 minutes trying to focus on the task at hand and perfecting my cuts. The thing with having too much time (90 minutes is a lot of time for 7 cuts) is that you start second-guessing yourself and over-analyzing, which I probably did. The cube cuts (brunoise, macedoine, parmentier) are the toughest for me. I can get the size right, but I have a hard time getting that perfect cube. Next time you're making dinner, try making a perfect cube of carrot or potato that's 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8... its no easy task. In any case, after some degree of fretting over tiny pieces of carrot, I passed my knife cuts practical and went on to my lunch dish.

Brunoise: tiny, tiny vegetables.

I found a big hotel pan and cut carrots and onions in a brunoise for the filling. These, unlike the precious little cubes I made for my knife cuts practical, were a sloppy mess. I added them to a mixture of ground pork and beef (I don't like to use beef but we only had a small amount of pork) along with wood ear mushrooms and cellophane noodles (also called glass noodles or bean thread noodles). By now, my classmates were getting curious about what I was doing. Some were telling me it would be their first time trying a spring roll. The pressure was really on now... if they never eat a spring roll again, it will all be my fault!

I was cutting it close with time but was feeling better. It was time to get rolling. I prefer regular spring roll wrappers, which are crispier and heartier, but all Chef could get me was rice paper wrappers. You normally use them for summer rolls. They're not my favorite for spring rolls are they have a chewier consistency and don't fry up as well because of their water content. They are also notoriously fragile.

I called in some supports for the rolling. S, a day student who overslept one day and missed a critical Stocks class and had to repeat the class with us old folks, and A, one of my favorite classmates with a penchant for practical jokes. After giving them a demo and rolling a few with them, I went off to fry the first batch while they rolled. Neither had rolled spring rolls before, but results surprised me. S, who is Chinese, had decent but kind of loose rolls, but A, who is Mexican and isn't even old enough to drink legally, ROCKED at rolling spring rolls. He somehow managed to channel his inner Vietnamese grandmother. I was impressed.

After some fry assistance from Chef (there was no way that he was NOT going to have spring rolls for lunch so I think he just wanted to make sure everything was on track), I pulled one from the pan and sliced it in half to check doneness and let it cool so I could sample it in a few minutes. I went to check on S and A for the next batch and when I returned to the stove, Chef was happily munching on my sample spring roll. I took it to be a good sign.

We managed to get them all done in time for lunch service, although I can't say the same about the batch of potato croquettes Chef was also trying to simultaneously fry. They were not the best spring rolls I've ever made but certainly not the worst, especially considering the circumstances. While I was eating, I heard the Dean swing by and excitedly sample one. He liked it! He really liked it! The Dean didn't have any idea who made them, but I didn't care. Chef liked them, the Dean liked them and I didn't fail my motherland!

With two Victory Knife Cuts and Victory Spring Roll under my belt and a full tummy, I was ready to take on the final and most difficult practical: sauces. I was worried about this because despite my best intentions to practice them at home before class, I never got around to it.

The task was to make a hollandaise, demi-glace and veloute in 90 minutes. This is very doable, but can be tough when you have to clamor for stove space and equipment. Before lunch, while my group was tranquilly doing our knife cuts, the other group was in a state of sauce chaos... whisks and stocks and butter and portable stoves flying everywhere.

This is where I caught a lucky break. As my group was gathering our stuff, we realized that because pretty much everyone who had dropped the class had been in our group, there were only four of us doing the sauce practical. Four of us! That meant we would have plenty of clean tools, ingredients and most importantly, burner space. All of a sudden, the sauce practical became less stressful and more fun.

I did the hollandaise first since it was the hardest. You start with egg yolks and a splash of a vinegar/white wine/peppercorn/bay leaf/thyme reduction over a double boiler. Then you slowly whisk in clarified butter... a lot of butter. Once you get to the desired consistency, you add a squeeze of lemon juice and the tiniest pinch of cayenne pepper and voila: hollandaise. Hollandaise is like a high-maintenance ex-girlfriend: she demands all of your time and attention and then when it's over, you're left wondering why you even bothered. When I'm at home, I usually make perfectly good hollandaise in the blender without having to whisk my arm off.

After much whisking, my hollandaise was perfect. Light, pale yellow and smooth. Unfortunately, it was only perfect for about a minute before it turned into... scrambled eggs. There was no rescuing this one, so I scrapped Attempt #1 and started over. Hollandaise is all about managing the heat and whisking constantly. I definitely failed on the first part.

Having gotten familiar with my heat from my double boiler, I made a second attempt. This time it really was perfect. Chef was very pleased with my hollandaise and I breathed a sign of relief. I breezed through the demi-glace, which is just a reduction of veal stock (pre-made) and espagnole sauce (also pre-made), and the veloute, which is chicken stock (or any light stock) with a blond roux (also pre-made). These sauces were made significantly easier by the fact that the espagnole and roux were already made - we thought that we would have to be responsible for making those elements as well.

And just like that, we were done. As I was finishing my last sauce, one of the pastry students brought over a huge platter of cream puffs and chocolate frosted brownies. What a great way to celebrate!

Just baked brownies...yum.

I had a delicious, freshly made cream puff with pillowy whipped cream and warm chocolate sauce and I reveled in the fact that I had survived this day. Before coming to class that Saturday, I had had an exhausting week and was getting sick. I hadn't spent the time studying that I had wanted to so I had also felt really unprepared. I hadn't slept well because I was worried about my final. In short, going to class was the last thing I wanted to do that day.

But I took the day one baby step at a time. In that moment, with cream puff no doubt all over my face, I didn't feel tired or sick - I just felt elation. That's life for you.

And to top it off, after a great dinner and movie date with my favorite husband, I woke up on Sunday and passed my food sanitation test, which means I have also completed that class. A week early, too!

I think I've worked hard enough at this point to really enjoy my next class: Principles of Beverage Service, or "bartending" to most of you. Don't worry - we use colored water instead of liquor which is slightly disappointing but probably a good thing for an 11.5 hour class. I'll be seeing you next week from behind the bar!

Stocks, Sauces & Soups: Bones, Cartilage and Marrow, Oh My!

2010-10-27T15:13:00.002-06:00

You'll notice, faithful readers, that I've been a little quiet about my Stocks, Sauces & Soups class, which I am almost done with. I think I'm still trying to make heads or tails of it.

For one, this class is held is a tiny kitchen. We were pretty packed in our last kitchen, but the stocks kitchen makes that one look like the Tah Mahal. The stocks kitchen is rectangular and narrow, with a walk-in fridge and sink at one end, the dish pit at the other end and a wall of burners, ovens and steam kettles in between. There are also two man-sized freezers (yes, I checked, I can fit comfortably in one - don't ask) and perhaps the most fun toy of all: an industrial blast chiller. Hal will always be number one in my heart, but the blast chiller is giving him a run for his money.

The class is taught by Chef C, a jolly divorcee with grown children, sparkling eyes and Hungarian accent. He loves a good pun and most importantly, loves to eat. While Chef D from New World Cuisine of course loves food also, he sampled our creations very sparingly and I don't blame him -- you could probably easily consume 5,000 calories in the course of one 11 hour class. But Chef C loves to eat anything we make and does it with gusto. He talks about food ethereally and wishfully, like most people would talk about their dream sports car, a tropical vacation to Fiji or the afterlife. This is a good field to be in if you like food as much as Chef C does.

The class itself is not overly complicated. We basically just make a ton of stocks, sauces and soups. The stocks are used by the other classes throughout the week and the soups are used for our lunch. We were all a little curious about how lunch and dinner were going to work. During the last class, it was full production, meaning we were constantly making food. There was usually plenty to feed both our class and the concurrent dining room class (who of course, was not producing any food) with tons leftover. But with the other class taking pastry, how were we to survive on soups and pastries? It turns out that we're handling this situation much like a restaurant would handle family meal (this is the basic staff meal eaten before service begins; it usually utilizes leftovers). We make a couple of soups and the pastry class throws in some breads and a few quiches (these, I must note, are spectacular. I've never had quiche this good, but rumor has it, there are crazy amount of cream in them.). The pastry class also showers us with treats from the oven. In the past weeks, it's been donuts, bears claws, focaccia, pizzas, eclairs (they made me swoon and I don't even like eclairs), regular cream puffs, cream puffs shaped like swans swimming in a blue lake of sugar, pies, ice creams, biscuits and other things I've surely forgotten in my carb-induced coma. I've take a break from my regular P90X schedule to just do the cardio routine every day to keep myself from become a huge fatty.

I've also acquired a new kitchen toy for myself: a 15 quart stockpot. It's changed my life.

This is my stockpot. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

In any case, below are some valuable lessons I've learned while in this class:

Animal Products = Nasty
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy meat. I don't eat a ton of it anymore aside from the once-monthly or so rib binge. But making stock at home, which is always a lovely experience, is elevated quite a bit when you're making it in mass quantities. For instance, veal bones make the best beef stock... especially hip, knuckle and big marrow bones. They must be roasted in the oven, then put into a steam kettle and simmered gently for 6 to 8 hours. This is all fine and good until you're disassembling 30lb boxes of bones and roasting 3 or 4 pans full of the stuff.

One pan of roasting bones. These pans are HEAVY.

I forgot to mention that the stock needs to be skimmed regularly. There's nothing like a veal stock facial in the early morning hours!

About 40 gallons of veal stock in a steam kettle. The boquet garni in the middle is about the size of a grapefruit.

For one class, I was assigned fish stock. I trimmed gills and fins off of 3 large boxes of fish, with each fish being 3-4 feet long. They were a bit tricky to say the least and I almost immediately regretted the several cocktails I had consumed the night before (which was only about 8 hours prior to Fishapalooza).

The House Always Wins
These pastry treats are pretty tasty for the most part. There are usually more hits than misses. On cream puff day, after I complimented someone in the pastry class on how good they were, he mentioned one of his classmates has messed up, resulting in a curdled cream filling... ick. On the tray of about 20 cream puffs, mine was really good so I guess I won that particular round of Curdled Cream Puff Roulette. Overall, I've learned that eating pastry class projects are extremely high risk, but high reward... the Vegas of culinary school if you will. Even if you manage to score only the good pastries, stuffing your face will only result in an upset tummy.

Pie and ice cream break! Somewhere in the world, Tony Horton is crying.

Dogs Love Aforementioned Nasty Animal Products
I have tortured Franklin and George by making a few batches of beef and chicken stock at home. Especially for the long-simmering beef stock, the smell immobilizes them. They find a corner in the kitchen and sit there the entire time in a trance-like state. I usually stir a few tablespoons of the (unsalted) finished stock into their dry dog food for their trouble. This is why they like me better than Mike.

Canine zombies for stock.

You can't beat homemade stock if you have the time to make it. It has a better flavor and less salt than the store-bought version. It freezes well, too. I'm not a stock snob though, I use plenty of store-bought stock when I don't have the good stuff on hand.

Labeled and ready for freezing.

Tattoos Are Forever
More power to one of my favorite classmates, who went out a got a big ole tattoo of our chef's knife on his leg. In in a less-than-tactful comment, I asked him if he thought he should have waited until graduation to get the tattoo. He said for graduation he'd just get another one, maybe of a whisk. I have to say, I kind of love this guy for his balls-out approach to body art!

Now that's committment.

Until next time, I'm off to the library to work on my final paper on cilantro. I can't say I've ever done research on a herb before, but hey, there's a first time for everything.

Making the Most Out of Copious Amounts of Stock

2010-10-11T23:05:00.000-06:00

While updates on the first day of Stocks, Sauces & Soups are forthcoming, know that we are certainly making the most out of our recent stock windfall. Tonight's supper: chicken soup (made with chicken stock!), salad and a delightful Mothership Wit from New Belgium.

Like the dramatic effect of that steam? Thought so.

And last night's dinner: asparagus and pea risotto (with more chicken stock!). I'm pretty sure there's a reason why risotto calls for about a cup of white wine. It's because risotto takes so damn long, you need to able to drink the rest of the bottle otherwise you'll stave to death.

Starchy, creamy, cheesy goodness.

Day 4, or The Day I Finished My First Culinary School Class

2010-10-08T14:28:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday was our last day in New World Cuisine. It really flew by. Aside from our regular lunch and dinner service, we were slated to take both a final practical exam and a final written exam and turn in our final papers (read mine here if you're really curious). I opted to take the practical in the 9:00 am slot to get it over with.

The practical exam was seemingly straightforward: make one plated dish of grilled chicken breast, roasted potatoes and fried zucchini for evaluation by Chef in one hour. One hour is plenty of time to make one nice plate of simple food. But in an exam environment, under pressure, it becomes much harder. This is not unlike the real world where there are constraints on your time, equipment and resources.

There was no specific recipe you had to follow, but I didn't want to take any crazy risks and end up biting off more than I could chew. I started the potatoes first, since they would take the longest. I diced them, coated them in salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and olive oil, then threw them onto a sheet pan and into the oven. Then came prep for the chicken and zucchini. I cleaned and sliced the zucchini, prepped the breading, cleaned then seasoned the chicken breast (salt, pepper and herbs de provence). Then, waiting. I didn't want to start the chicken and zucchini more than 15 minutes out so they would be fresh. I took the opportunity to prep my veg for the carrot/red pepper soup I would be making for lunch service.

Once that was done, I went back to my practical. With the potatoes happily roasting, I marked my chicken on the grill and threw it into the oven to finish cooking. This was where I started to get nervous. With lunch service running at full speed, the ovens were packed and with the doors being opened and shut so many times, this would reduce the temperature inside. Did I leave my chicken enough time to cook all the way through?

After a few minutes of worrying with a comrade whose chicken was in the same oven, I moved onto breading the frying the zucchini. They turned out fine - it's hard to mess up a fried vegetable. The potatoes were looking good, so I pulled those out of the oven and tented them slightly with foil to keep them warm.

Then back to the chicken. I pulled it out, tested it for doneness by pushing on the flesh. It seemed done to me, but with no extra piece of chicken to cut in half, I couldn't be entirely sure. I plated the whole dish and waited my turn for the Chef. As he tasted my food, I watched anxiously.

He sampled the potatoes. They were really good, he said. And I concurred... I've made a lot of roasted potatoes in my life but these were exceptionally tasty. Crunchy on the outside, but pillowy and fluffy on the inside with just a hint of heat from the red pepper flakes. Phew.

He sampled the zucchini. Good, he declared. I wasn't particularly surprised. All fried vegetables are pretty adequate if they're not over or undercooked.

Then came the moment of truth. The chicken. He cut into it. It was fully cooked and juicy. Major relief, especially since my classmate who I shared the oven with ended up serving Chef undercooked chicken, which is a serious no-no. Chef's only complaint about the chicken? Too much lavender. Turns out, I had neglected to shake up the container of herbs de provence, so my chicken ended up a little lavender-heavy. I was just relieved that the damn thing was cooked all the way through!

Despite being docked .7 of a point (out of 15 points total) for the herbs de provence debacle, I was still pretty happy with how I did. I was mostly thrilled to have it over with. I was a little jealous though of my partner D, who was taking the afternoon slot for the practical. While I was doing my test, he was butchering a massive 4 foot long salmon for lunch. I wish I had a picture of this - it was an amazing feat - but I was too busy prepping for my chicken dish. Doing stuff like this is definitely an advantage of culinary school. I'd never attempt to break down a salmon of that size at home, just for fun, especially since it yielded 30-40 servings of fish.

Happy to be done with the hard part of my exam, I strolled through my soup for lunch service. It's one of my favorite soups of all time and I think several of you have probably had it at Chez Pomorski at some point in time. I had this soup for the first time in the dead of winter at J. Half's and it was so good I had to re-create it at home. I keep my version a little thicker than Ann Cashion's original version, but the flavor is largely the same. Roast carrots, red peppers and onions, combine with chicken stock and puree. Finish with cream and butter. Garnish with brunoised red peppers if you're fancy. I've also garnished with a crab/red pepper mixture as well, which is also tasty. The best part about the soup? Getting to use the commercial immersion blender. Don't get me wrong, my immersion blender at home is great, but is easy to handle and feels kind of like an electric toothbrush. The commercial version is bigger, heavier and much more powerful. I had a moment of hesitation right before I hit the "on" button, with visions of the blender backfiring like a shotgun and me flying across the kitchen, spraying carrot puree everywhere like in a Quentin Tarantino movie. As it turns out, it was fine. Just use both hands!

After lunch, we took our written exam, which was 50 multiple choice and T/F questions. The best part? It was on one of these:

It's been a long time, old friend.

I don't know about you, but it's been a long time since I've taken a Scantron test. It was nice to see that they haven't changed at all!

There weren't too many surprises on the test and I had studied enough, so it wasn't too much of a challenge. In fact, the biggest challenge was scrambling up enough #2 pencils for everyone. No one mentioned that we'd be taking Scantron tests so none of us had pencils on us.

In any case, after the written test, we started preparing for dinner service. D and I worked on a South Carolina style braised pork butt. Normally, this takes hours doing it "low and slow" but we managed to get it done in just over 2 hours in Hal. The sauce (more of a mop, really) was a combo of apple cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, spices and... fish sauce.

That's right, the secret ingredient is South Carolina barbecue is Asian fish sauce, the same stuff generations of my Vietnamese family have being using since the dawn of time. Tell all your friends.

The other fun culinary secret I learned that day was regarding hot wings. I'm not a huge wings person (sorry, Rich) but I'll have them occasionally. Hell, I even did media for a boat show that had a wing eating contest earlier this year.

This is the solitary wing I ate at the Wing-A-Thon. It was actually pretty good.

As it turns out, the secret to the basic hot wing is not as complicated as I thought: deep fry wings, then coat in a mixture of equal portions of melted butter and Frank's RedHot Sauce. The moral of the story? Stay away from wings if you're looking to stay low cal!

But the real treat of our last dinner service came as the kitchen crew gathered to eat once all the plates were out. Also on the menu: ceviche, huge NY strip steaks and a bevy of delicious mushrooms.

Say hello to my little friends.

Someone must have bribed Requisitions today or something, because we feasted like kings. The mushrooms were gorgeous chanterelle and lobster mushrooms. These usually retail around $20 a pound at your local Whole Foods, so I imagine my delight when my classmate who was in charge of them asked me to cook them for her. A quick saute in butter and oil, with salt and pepper at the end and they were perfect. It made me long for the mushroom mezze at Zaytinya in DC, one of my favorite dishes there.

This last meal had a fitting celebratory tone to it, as we all survived our first class intact. I can't say that the front of the house class was so jubilant, as their last service to a packed house was apparently abysmal, with some tables walking out. Since I was in the kitchen, I didn't witness the debacle first-hand, but word has it that one server had a total break-down and her classmates refused to help her. This struck me as strange and the total opposite of our class, which had really embraced teamwork. Like in a real restaurant kitchen, if someone was in the weeds, there was someone available to lend a hand. The fact that the front of the house folks left this girl flailing made me grateful for my classmates, and all of our hard work together in our first collective class.

My classmates and I will likely stay together as a group for the next two classes, but once the next trimester starts, it's anybody's guess. It's been fun getting to know everyone, learning their stories and working with their quirks. It's an eclectic group, ranging in age from 23 to 57. We have professionals, unemployed people, short order cooks, line cooks, first-time students and grandparents. They make me laugh, drive me crazy and lend me good advice, all at one time. I'd like to think my hodgepodge of classmates teach me a lot of things I can't learn from the instructors. When I finished my undergrad degree, everyone I went to school with was pretty much the same: white middle-class kids raised in Catholic families from "outside of Philly" (read: New Jersey). Now I'm getting a whole different kind of education, and it's been great.

So with one class down (you have a permission to celebrate the A+ I ended up getting in this class!), I'll start the whole process again tomorrow morning with Stocks, Sauces & Soups. I'm looking forward to this one, as the leaves are turning color and the days are getting chillier here in Denver. If you have any favorite soups, let me know and I'll make sure to note any fun tips and tricks for you in my upcoming class!

Getting Ready

2010-10-07T15:28:00.000-06:00

Since last Saturday was my final day of New World Cuisine (post on that day shortly), I thought I'd get in the mood for my next class, Stocks, Sauces & Soups, with a big batch of chicken stock. One of the perks of working from home is the ability to make stock all day. I love the way chicken stock makes the house smell. I like to make the stock the day before I use it so that I can skim the fat solids the next day after its been refrigerated. Mmmm.

You never regret making stock.

Day 3, or The Day I Finally Cut Myself

2010-10-05T11:45:00.000-06:00

Our third class came way too quickly. You could tell everyone was feeling it as we filed into the kitchen quietly and with huge cups of coffee. I think the adrenaline that fueled us for the first two classes was wearing down. We started by reviewing our knife cuts, something I know I need to refine. Chopping veggies for dinner at home is one thing, but if you're chopping veggies for someone who is paying big bucks for it, it's a whole other story. It takes a lot of practice to make perfect little squares of food. I practiced quite a bit last week for the clam chowder as all of the potatoes, celery and onions had to be cut in brunoise, which is a cube that is 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch. It's small. And predictably, it took forever but it was beautiful in the soup.

All in all, the knife cuts are pretty straightforward being mostly cubes or sticks in varying sizes. But there is one knife cut that strikes fear the in heart of every culinary student: the tourne. A tourne is a seven-sided football shape that is very pretty and very French. It's also a very big pain in the ass.

This is a potato tourne. Stupid Frenchies.

After our knife cuts review, we had a lecture on regional cuisine, which was really quite interesting. We learned about the food history of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Louisiana and Southern regions. We also learned about the mother sauces. They're called mother (or sometimes "grand") sauces because they are the base for all good sauces. You can also remember them easily by thinking of our friend Elizabeth, who has made some unfortunate choices in her life. The mnemonic device for the mother sauces is BETHVD (Bechamel, Espagnole, Tomato, Holladaise, Veloute, Demi glace). You can thank me later.

Then it was onto lunch service as usual. For this lunch, I was on starch duty, making regular mashed potatoes as well as a sweet potato puree. Normally, for a sweet potato puree, I would roast the sweet potatoes before pureeing but being short on time, I unfortunately had to boil them.

So much starch, so little time.

As a result, I had to peel a whole lot of those sweet potatoes and managed to put a big gash in my left thumb in my haste with the vegetable peeler. Not good. It hurt a lot more than I thought it would, actually. It also bled a lot more than I thought. In fact, it wouldn't stop. After a few minutes though, I managed to slap a big band aid and finger cot on it and go about my merry way. I was saddened that my first culinary school injury was courtesy of a lowly sweet potato and not something glamorous, like breaking down a whole hog or something.

In any case, I managed to move past my pain and complete both sides for lunch service. Today, I wasn't serving lunch, so I took a seat in the dining room along with some fellow students and other random undergrads who the Chefs found wandering around on campus, starved and hungover.

Entrance to the dining room.

Sitting the dining room for service is like running 15 miles at full speed and then coming to an abrupt halt. All of a sudden, you take off your apron and hat, leave the chaos of the kitchen and enter a totally civilized world, complete with iced tea, wine sampling and soft music. We are known for guzzling that iced tea - usually the first cold and delicious beverage we've gotten a chance to drink in hours.

After lunch, we get a nice break. We generally head outside, where we've found a stretch of ledge that is shady and cool. The smokers will chain smoke a few cigarettes while we commiserate over the morning's service and tell funny stories.

The break wall with my fellow compatriots.

Our lunch break today was dominated by one story: an incident earlier in the day where a classmate got in some deep doo-doo for trying to deep fry a cucumber. Unfortunately, this poor guy (now dubbed Cucumber Boy) will never, ever live this down. In case you're curious, here's his explanation for what happened. CB was in charge of the fried vegetables for lunch. He went into the walk-in and grabbed a couple of zucchinis. Once he started slicing into them, he realized that they were actually cucumbers. CB claims that since he had already started slicing them (and honestly, every fried item we cook tastes pretty much the same) he figured he'd move forward with it.

This reminds me of something Chef told us during our first class. He said "If you feel like you're about to do something stupid, please let me know immediately." I guess CB didn't heed that warning.

Good words to live by, in culinary school, and life.

Day 2, or The Day of Shuck and Awe

2010-09-20T15:59:00.000-06:00

Today was my second Saturday at culinary school and by all accounts, it was an improved day. The food was better, we were more efficient and most definitely less stressed. As with last Saturday, we completed two services: a plated lunch service and a buffet style dinner service. But unlike the last class, today would have an unintended theme.

CLAMS.

I love clams. In fact, linguine clams is one of my favorite pasta dishes of all time. Aside from canned or jarred clams, I've never prepared clams outside of a clam bake/crab boil style meal (except for the epic Crab Boil on the Roofdeck of the Summer of 2009, as some of you will recall). And this was all fine and good for my lunch service dish, New England Clam Chowder, as it called for canned clams. But my dinner service dish was clams casino, which calls for fresh clams. Clams casino is decidedly old school, something you'd be hard pressed to find on a modern menu, especially outside of New England.

I should pause here to note that clams casino was not my first choice of menu item to prepare. Having originally selected pork ribs only to learn that they had been spoken for and that most everything else had been taken, it was down to clams casino or french fries. It turns out it was a serendipidous but ultimately better choice as pork ribs violate my Get the Most Out of Your Overpriced Culinary Education Rule which dictates that one must choose the most challenging menu item to prepare, whether it be something one does not eat often, prefer to eat or have a certain comfort level in preparing. Pork ribs are certainly something I eat often, prefer to eat and have a comfort level in preparing... and preparing often. If you don't believe me, you can check my kitchen, which at all times is stocked with a supply of special pork rib dry rub in case of pork rib emergencies. And yes, pork rib emergencies can and do happen.

If I tell you what's in it, I will have to kill you.

In any case, it turns out the topping for clams casino (green/yellow/red peppers, shallots, white wine, butter, garlic and Parmesan cheese) is fairly straightforward. This mixture goes on top of the clam meat which is then broiled on the half shell. Except that clams don't, of course, arrive in your kitchen on the half shell. They actually arrive in a big, heavy, sandy bag. Of 100.

100 clams is kind of a lot of clams.

Having never shucked a clam before, this gave me some hesistation. I will also admit that I had a flashback to an episode of last season's Top Chef where a professional chef competing on an Emmy-winning television competition could not open 15 clams and caused her team to lose a food prep relay. I also know, maybe from hours of sitting at the bar at Johnny's Half Shell, (known to many affectionately as J. Half's) that clams are much harder to shuck than oysters. Not that that matters for me anyway since I've never shucked an oyster. On top of that, I learned that Johnson and Wales does not stock those wonderfully protective looking chain mail gloves that you wear on your left hand, Michael Jackson style. You know, the ones they wear at J. Half's and Old Ebbitt's and pretty much any respectable shellfish house east of the Mississippi. The ones that keep you from slicing open your palm, even if you are a shucking professional.

Needless to say, I had fear in my bones. I know you shouldn't let the clams see you sweat but I couldn't help it. After getting a lesson on clam shucking by Chef (including how to identify a clam knife from an oyster knife, a seemingly insignificant but actually very important distinction) I gave it go. Basically, you start by nestling the clam in a dishtowel in your left hand (that's right, a DISHTOWEL, because that is exactly like a chain mail glove in it's powers of protection, not that I'm bitter or anything, Mr. Johnson and Wales Guy in Charge of Supplies.) Then you place your knife in the hinge of the clam and apply a lot of pressure in a sawing motion until you're able to finagle the tip of your knife into the clam itself and then around its perimeter.

Sounds pretty easy huh?

It's not.

Clams do not want to be open. And frankly, I don't blame them for not going down without a fight. But, as with many things in life, the second one was easier than the first and the third one was easier than the second one and so on until my partner D and I had shucked all 100 clams. As Chef said "you must prove that you are smarter than a mollusk." I hope I did.

As a result, my hands and arms hurt like hell, but I loved every minute of it. And Sarah, for a pharmacy student you really don't have a whole lot of OTC meds in your medicine cabinet (by the way, you're now down one ibuprofen and a few jello shots now, kthxluvyoubye).

At the end of the day, there is something fundamentally satisfying about taking something that was previously intimidating to you and mastering it. Learning for the sake of learning, if you will. By all accounts, we learned a ton of more useful things in class today, like knife cuts and how to prevent foodborne illnesses. But what made today important to me was confirmation that no matter where you are in life, you have to do things that are hard, scare yourself a bit, declare victory and move on to the next challenge. Who thought it would take a clam to lead me to that realization?

Day 1, or The Day I Wondered What I Got Myself Into

2010-09-17T15:52:00.001-06:00

My first day of culinary school was a blur. I was so nervous the night before, I barely got any sleep. Would I be okay at cooking? Would I seriously hurt myself? Will the other students like me? Will I figure out how to use my locker lock? Would Chef yell at me?

It's been more than ten years since I've had a first day of school, but all of those familiar nerves came right back to me. As a result, when Mike dropped me off at Johnson and Wales at a quarter to seven in the morning, I was already exhausted.

After everyone arrived, we had a short orientation session since it was our first day. This was mostly speeches by school administrators and the librarian, who was the most informative by far. They have cookbooks in the library. Thousands! That you can check out! Cool!

Then the real work began. We split up into two classes, Essential of Dining Room (basically, front of the house training) and New World Cuisine. Luckily, I'm taking New World Cuisine first this semester with Chef B, the charismatic department chair and JWU alum from North Carolina with an English degree from UNC and a taste for barbeque. After some introductions and quick tutorial on how everything works, Chef gave us a menu for lunch and we were off. That's it. No coddling, no easy first day, just lunch service.

Kitchen 125, stocked with lots of fun equipment.

Here's how it works: Chef B writes out a menu of 3-4 appetizers, 1 soup, 1 salad, 3-4 entrees and 3-4 side dishes. Everyone selects a dish and prepares it so that it is ready for "service" (basically, the window of time when your food should be ready to serve to your diners) at a certain time.

Sample menu for lunch service.

Once the food is ready and service begins, 6 of the 17 or so students stay behind to serve the food while the others head to the dining room to act as restaurant patrons. In the dining room, there are servers from the concurrent class on front of the house service who are the restaurant staff.

I selected beef tenderloin as my dish. I don't eat much beef these days and I'm not really that proficient at cooking it, especially to the varying levels of doneness, so I thought beef would be the way to go. I will spare you the details, especially since much of it was a blur, but long story short, my partner D and I got it done. The beef was tasty and Chef said that our sauce was "not bad." That's a pretty high compliment in my world.

The other fun part about making the beef? Getting to use Hal, our fancy Rational combination oven (often referred to as a "combi oven"). Hal does everything. For one, he's computerized so he talks to you, letting you know temperatures but also if he is dirty and where he needs to be cleaned. Hal can bake, roast, steam, blanch, poach... you name it. He also cooks meats to temperature and cleans himself, and not just by burning everything to a crisp like the self-cleaning setting on your home oven, but with an actual water wash cycle. I wouldn't be surprised if Hal could also pair wines with your food, mow your lawn and clean your gutters for you. He also retails at the bargain price of $40,000.

Hal is the best oven in the whole wide world.

After breaking for lunch to eat what we made and a quick lecture, we went straight into dinner service. I picked an appetizer for dinner - the humble meatball. Considering that I make a mean meatball on a fairly regular basis, this was not a terribly challenging selection.

Everyone loves a meatball.

However, as I learned quickly, there are not enough dishes for each person to have their own individual dish and if you're a little slow with the dry erase marker or had to make a pit stop, there might not be much left by the time you get up to the menu board. In any case, I made my batch of meatballs without fanfare. I thought they were quite tasty, if I do say so myself. And I saw Chef actually eat one, so that's a good sign. (I noticed he only tastes and consumes when absolutely necessary, which makes sense when you teach cooking school 6 days a week.)

My fellow culinary students, working hard and looking slightly perplexed.

I stayed in the kitchen for dinner as part of the service group, which was quite the education in plating, serving and food temperature. There was time to eat afterwards, but I really wasn't hungry after gorging myself at lunch. Plus after preparing and smelling food for nearly 10 hours, your appetite wanes a bit. After about an hour of cleaning the kitchen, top to bottom, we were done. It was 6:30 pm and I had survived my first day and two services without injuring myself and while managing to have a good time. Hooray! Now I'll have 6 days to recover until my next day of school...

I'm All For Gardening

2010-08-25T14:04:00.000-06:00

I think that having a garden is like having a boat: it's much better to have a friend with one instead of having one yourself (also, everything posted on this blog is my personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of my employer). All the fun, none of the work. So thank you, Mr. Josh Shusko, for providing us with a bounty of veggies and herbs. A shout out also goes out to Ms. Lisa Shusko, who I understand occasionally walks through said garden to get to the car.

The beginnings of a lovely caponata with Shusko-grown eggplants.

Pizza topped with Shusko-grown green peppers.

Bottling Whiskey is Hard or The Day I Learned How to Use a Heat Gun

2010-08-05T18:37:00.000-06:00

Moving to a new city is a great adventure. There are no shortage of things to see and do in Denver and I love discovering all of the hidden gems the city has to offer. One of them has to be Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, distilled right here in town.

Stranahan's is made from 100% malted barley, most of which is grown here in Colorado. It's cut with water from Eldorado Canyon just south of Boulder, where the water starts as rain/snow east of the Continental Divide. It them passes through an 8,000 feet deep aquifer where it comes up through a layer of sandstone up to the surface in Eldorado Springs, creating a natural filtering system.

I know your probably thinking "wow, that's beautiful!" Pretty much everything in Colorado is.

You might be thinking "is that a National Park?" To which I would answer "pretty much everything in Colorado is."

In any case, since Stranahan's is small batch whiskey, they don't employ enough staff to bottle each batch. That's where volunteers come in and submit themselves to manual labor for an afternoon. As you can imagine, the rooms smells delightfully like whiskey, not unlike my old office in DC.

Here's how it works: someone fills the bottles six at a time, then the bottles are corked. Then, the label is placed on the bottle and the metal cap is placed on top. Next is the hardest part of the whole process.

SHRINK WRAPPING.

At this time, I would like to extend a special thanks to my sister Sarah for choosing the hardest job on the line for us to do. It's harder than it looks, folks.

I would even venture to say that shrink wrapping is not a science, but an art. After about a dozen failed attempts, I finally found a groove. Notice how the photos are blurry. That's because we're going THAT FAST.

Fast forward through 2,900 bottles. Sarah or I likely shrank wrapped more than half of them. Once shrink wrapped, the neck tag is placed on the the bottle before it is boxed. My arms and wrists were sore the next day.

What do you do once you've completed the bottling of Batch 59? Why, you drink the remaining unfiltered whiskey out of a bucket of course.

Ah, tasty and refreshing.

Behold, the finished product. Batch 59 is has an "earthy tone with hints of spice and subtle hints of fruits both dark and light."

If you happen to pick up a bottle, just know that it was likely lovingly shrink wrapped by one of the Pham girls. Here's how to find a bottle of Stranahan's near you. Salud!

And, We're Back!

2010-08-03T11:21:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time.

A really long time.

Much has happened since our last Phoodski post, circa 2008. Mike and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary, Barack Obama was elected President, our niece Madeline was born and we both got new jobs.

Here's Miss Madeline, celebrating her first birthday. In true style, she did so with a chocolate cupcake larger than she is.

Oh, and we moved to Denver.

That's right, after more than 10 years in Washington, DC, we packed our bags and headed out West. Out of the blue, Mike heard of a great job opportunity out here. Knowing we didn't want to live in DC forever, it didn't take long for us to jump on it. The transition was surprisingly easy, thanks to the help of some very magical cross-country professional movers. While our stuff was en route to the Rockies, we took the chance to take a very fun road trip to our new home. Turns out that to get to Denver from DC, you just have to get on I-70 and go west for about 1,600 miles through 7 states. We took turns driving. We also learned that Franklin has a bit of a lead paw, so he doesn't get to drive anymore.

We saw lots of interesting things along the way: prairie dog sculptures, Presidential museums, middle Americans. Somewhere in Indiana, we stopped at a place called Boot City with a huge bright yellow cow in front of it. We took off our Sperry's and each purchased a pair of cowboy boots. Ah, the East-Coast-to-Mountain-West symbolism.

The older sales gentleman at Boot City was very helpful. This being a rather rural part of Indiana, he asked Mike what he would be wearing his boots for, surely anticipating an answer of "ropin'" or "ranchin.'" After Mike stopped looking dumbfounded, he answered "uh, you know, casual wear." Because "for going to bars and playing pool" is probably not a useful answer.

In any case, we arrived in Denver at the very end of March, just in time for an April full of warm days, hail, snow and rain (not in that order and sometimes all in the same day). We settled in our new house in Park Hill that has a lawn (!), a porch (!!) and a backyard (!!!), all things us city slickers have never had. Mike is enjoying his new job and joys of bike commuting (another activity one would dare not attempt in DC for fear of your life) while I work remotely while looking for a local job.

Which brings me to the impetus for the re-launch of Phoodski. Aside from the fact that we've been eating better, cooking more, actually exercising (I didn't want to say "exercising more" because the truth of the matter is, in DC "exercising" = "happy hours"), I will be starting culinary school at nearby Johnson and Wales University this September. No, I will not be quitting my day job. No, I do not want to enter the culinary industry full time (mostly because I enjoy paying my bills). Yes, I will be accruing additional student debt. Yes, I will likely work part time in food at some point. But most importantly, yes, I will be fulfilling a lifelong dream that I thought would never happen. I even gave away all of my Michael Ruhlman books on becoming a chef since I thought culinary school wasn't a realistic possibility for me.

But, you never know what life holds for you. We moved to Denver on a whim and without knowing it at the time, into a house about a mile away from one of the top culinary schools in the nation with classes available for weekend warriors like myself. At first I felt silly about the whole idea of going to school essentially just for fun, but I've since then embraced the adventure I'm about to start. Thanks Maty, for reminding me that you have a graduate degree in Irish Literature, which is probably the least helpful degree to you as a lobbyist, but was surely one hell of a great experience.

Phoodski will still highlight our personal culinary adventures eating in and eating out, but will now also be a place where all of you will go to classes with me and share in my cooking successes and I'm sure numerous, failures. It's scary to go back to school when you're almost 30, no matter what the subject matter, but I'm grateful that everything's fallen into place to allow me to do it. For those of you living within 60 miles of us, thanks in advance for all of the bad cooking projects you might have to choke down. And to our friends and family scattered around the country, thanks for following the blog and for your love, support and laughter.

8.05.08 - Scallops and Summer Veg

2008-08-05T19:56:00.000-06:00

Ok, ok, so it's been a long while. Phoodski has been collecting a bit of dust while we've been out enjoying the summer. But that's not to say we haven't been eating! As we try to get caught up, we'll also post previous meals. Sometimes it's nice to mix things up a bit. ;)

While Mike was out with the boys, I decided to have a little feast for myself and Franklin and George. I was hoping they would help, but Franklin seemed a little preoccupied with Animal Planet. Oh well.

On the menu tonight: seared scallops along with two very special sides: fresh corn with garden grown onions along with garden grown green and wax beans. These veg (grown from seed, mind you) came from Aunt Irene and Uncle Walter's house. Yum!

4.23.08 - Cooking for the Pack

2008-04-24T11:10:00.000-06:00

First, a note for you local readers: Yesterday, I noticed a new sign had gone up in an empty storefront on my walk to work.

Behold, a new cupcake bakery, right on Dupont Circle, dangerously close to and on the walk to and from home and work. Sadly, they're not opening until summer, so I'll have to fight the lines at Georgetown Cupcake until then (still haven't had one yet). Now that DC's finally on the NYC cupcake bandwagon, I can think of a ton of other trends our fair city should copy... noodle houses, street food, late-night eating, real French bakeries...

And stay tuned for the unveiling of the best cupcake-related birthday gift ever! Everyone knows I'm more of a cake gal, but cupcakes are a close, miniature second.

Now, on to the food!

Mike's in L.A. this week doing his government contractin' thing, so it's just me, George, Franklin and our adopted furry friend for a few days, Bodhi Boyle.

I feel a little bit like I live with a dog pack. And I have to admit, I'm slightly afraid they'll figure out that they outnumber me and stage some sort of canine coup. In any case, I made them each a bowl of dog food and a lovely portion of mac 'n cheese (a guilty Mike's-out-of-town pleasure) for myself. And no, not the high-falutin' homemade pasta and cheese sauce kind, but the Kraft variety. Yum.

4.20.08 - Sunday Vegetarian Feast

2008-04-24T10:47:00.000-06:00

We decided to atone for our meaty sins by having a veggie dinner on Sunday. We started with the most amazing and rather simple salad of butter lettuce (on sale this week at Giant!) and radishes with a lemon-dill vinaigrette.

Then we had a Moroccan cous cous dish with roasted vegetables. Step one: roast butternut squash, carrots, zucchini and onions on a sheet pan in the oven.

Step two: add spices and cous cous. That's it!

For dessert, Mike made some honey-poached pears a la Jacques Pepin (one of my favs!) which we had warm with vanilla ice cream. Apparently, you can also rent Jacques' condo in Playa del Carmen if you're looking for a vacay.

4.18.08 - Charcuterie

2008-04-24T10:35:00.000-06:00

There's nothing better than a no-cook meal on the roof, which is quickly becoming our primary dining room. After a productive day of cleaning, we opted for a plate of cheese, prosciutto, bresaola and a white wine salami from Trader Joe's generously drizzled with olive oil. There's really nothing better than cured meats, unless you're Oliver, a neighbor's adorable dog who was tortured by the wafting aroma. It all goes back to how having opposable thumbs really gives you a leg up in this world.

4.12.08 - Pancakes and Pizza

2008-04-13T21:48:00.000-06:00

Saturdays are usually big cooking days for us. We generally go out on Friday nights since it's Date Night. But Saturdays are great for sleeping in, cooking and golfing (not necessarily in that order). It's been while since pancakes with TJ's life-altering blueberry maple syrup made an appearance in apartment 503, so we thought it would be nice to have some for breakfast (well, lunch, technically but who's counting).

And since pizza season is almost over, we thought we'd say goodbye with 2 thin crust half-cheese and half-mushroom pies. In case you're wondering, pizza season coincides with the cold weather months since you have to heat a ridiculously hot pizza stone in a 450 degree oven, which usually heats your living space to 450 degrees as well.

The best part about Saturday dinner? It was warm enough to have on the roof deck as the sun set. With a bottle of chardonnay, of course.

4.10.08 - Spring Rolls Over Vermicelli Noodles

2008-04-13T21:41:00.000-06:00

Since we had a little filling leftover from the wontons, spring rolls seemed in order. Wonton filling is ground chicken or tukey + onions + carrots. Add cellophane noodles and wood ear mushrooms (sometimes called cloud ear as well) and you have spring roll filling. I'll occasionally add potatoes to the filling if the mood strikes me. Jicama is also a great addition if you have it handy.

4.9.08 - Fennel Salad

2008-04-13T21:25:00.000-06:00

Our mandoline is one of our favorite kitchen gadgets. No, not this kind of mandoline:

We're talking about this kind of mandoline:

While using a mandoline is usually horrifying because the blade is very sharp and very close to your fingers, it's the only way to slice paper-thin fennel for fennel salad. Yes, the mandoline comes with a guard, but it doesn't really work. Plus, what's cooking without a little danger? In fact, this fennel salad is all about danger since you have to employ some knifework for the orange slices as well.

The aforementioned salad includes sliced fennel, asparagus, Parmesan cheese and orange slices. Top it off with a orange vinaigrette and you have one of my favorite salads of all time. And somehow, when I order it at restaurants, it doesn't taste quite as good since I didn't have to go through putting my fingertips in the line of fire. Luckily, we're only a few miles from GW Hospital in case anything happens.

4.7.08 - Wonton Soup

2008-04-13T21:13:00.000-06:00

Happy 2214th birthday to the wonton! Apparently, wontons emerged in 206 BC. We had a dinner that was around before Jesus! Holy wonton, Batman!

Still feeling slightly sick, I knew wonton soup would bring me to the path of recovery (and it did). Even though wonton soup is of Chinese origin, my mom always made her special version, brimming with carrots and baby bok choy. It takes awhile to make each little dumpling, but it's worth the time investment. When I was younger, I'd always have a few break open because of poor craftsmanship, but I'm happy to report that my years of wonton-making now result in completely intact wontons!

4.6.08 - Coconut Madeleines

2008-04-13T21:03:00.000-06:00

I've been sitting on these madeleine pans for many moons now (thanks, Lucy!) and haven't had a chance to use them yet. Now that I have, I think they'll find themselves in heavy rotation. The joy of madeleines is that they're essentially little cakes. (The cake is the most superior of desserts, in my humble opinion.) These madeleines were amazing warm out of the oven... slightly crispy on the outside but soft and pound cake-y on the inside. There's even a Polish connection to them: some say that they were named after Madeleine Paulmier, an 18th century cook of Stanislaw Leszczynski, who was king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Tell me this man doesn't look like a dude who hearts his madeleines:

Nice leopard-print cape, BTW.

4.6.08 - Pasta with Chicken and Watercress

2008-04-13T20:59:00.000-06:00

Pasta is one of the best Sunday night suppers. Misha made this really delicious but simple pasta dish with watercress and chicken. It was really tasty, even if he sometimes doubts his culinary talents. :)

4.2.08 - Lemongrass Chicken, Rice, Green Beans

2008-04-13T20:51:00.000-06:00

The math is quite simple, really:

Lemongrass +

Chicken =

Yummy!

4.1.08 - Salad and a Turkey Sandwich

2008-04-13T20:42:00.000-06:00

Sometimes we eat fun and exotic things, but when one of us is recovering from a deathly illness, a salad and a turkey sandwich is the best meal ever.

You'll note that the bread is even toasted. We like to live on the edge.

3.31.08 - Roast!

2008-04-13T20:24:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if there's anything we can write about pot roast that we haven't written already. It's delicious. It's hearty. It's quintessentially beefy (see photo above). This particular roast was done in the crock pot, which I'm pretty sure drove the dogs crazy all day since beefy smells filled the apartment. It pays to be human, boys! The opposable thumbs are also pretty convenient.

3.28.08 - Eggplant Parmesan

2008-03-30T19:59:00.000-06:00

What's not to love about bubbling mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce and breadcrumbs? Oh yeah, and there's also eggplant.

3.30.08 - Potato and Leek Soup

2008-03-30T19:58:00.000-06:00

It was cold today (boo!). When it is cold we tend to eat heartier food (yay!). We were at the store and saw some leeks, which are at least as fun to eat as they are to say (leek!, leek!, leek!, etc.). Also, Christine was feeling under the weather so soup fit the bill.

Potato leek (leek!) soup is really easy to make. You basically just sweat the leeks for a little while, throw in some potatoes and vegetable stock, simmer, and then, uh, immersion blend.

I learned something about myself today. I learned that I love the immersion blender.

The result (after you add a little milk) is a velvety, creamy, essence of potato and leek, which has a very mild onion flavor. Great food for when it is cold.

We also picked up a loaf of challah for dipping purposes, which inevitably led to Christine and I yelling "holla!" back and forth to each other during the preparation, eating, and cleaning up process.

And for Christine's dessert? 240 milligrams of pseudoephedrine!

3.24.08 - Tilapia

2008-03-30T19:28:00.000-06:00

"Seriously, why is this so good?"

"I don't know."

So it goes. It was an entirely honest question. Tilapia is "the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fishes from the tilapine cichlid tribe," according to Wikipedia. That doesn't explain it...

Perhaps it was the preparation. We did this one up "Uncle Eddie" style, based on my dear great uncle's recipe for Lake Erie perch (which is also delicious). You can't get Lake Erie perch in DC, but you can get tilapia, and a white fish is a white fish (whiteys...).

The asparagus and corn was also wonderful, but the fish stole (swam away with?) the show.

Oh, and here is Uncle Eddie.

3.25.08 - Pork Chops and Roasted Fennel

2008-03-30T19:26:00.000-06:00

Still reeling from the utter delciousness of last week's pork chops, we decided to give them another run, this time with a honey-mustard glaze. They went very nicely with some roasted fennel. Fennel, apparently, can reduce inflammation and to help prevent cancer. Woot woot for that! I have to admit that I'm a tad obsessed with fennel, especially in salad form with some argula, oranges and pecorino. If you've never had a fennel salad, you must try it. Don't be turned off by fennel's reputation as licorice-y or annise-y. It's much milder than you think. It has a great crunch and a very unique flavor. It's also a great excuse to use that mandoline that's been taking up space in your cupboard.

If you're a true fennel aficianado, there's also fennel-flavored toothpaste. I'm not so sure about that.

3.22.08 - Pappardele

2008-03-30T19:14:00.000-06:00

Pappardelle is the pasta we have when we want to class it up a little bit but not so much that we cannot go from no food to dinner in 15 minutes. This particular offering was prepared "bachelor style." Boil water. Add pasta. Strain pasta. Add pasta sauce (alas, from a bottle). Eat.

"Mike and Christine!! You guys are at the cutting edge of culinary innovation!! What type of bottled pasta sauce do you use??" If we had a dollar for every time we heard this we would have zero dollars. The answer is usually "whatever is on sale, as long as it is not Prego or Ragu." We are currently rolling with Francesco Rinaldi, entirely because the cap says "Made by Italians." Not in Italy mind you, but by Italians. That = hilarious.

3.21.08 - Chicken Caesar Salad

2008-03-30T19:11:00.000-06:00

Chicken Caesar salad, albeit quite unremarkable, is an immensely satisfying dinner if (1) you just walked 18 holes of golf and (2) are dying of starvation. Add a crisp white wine and you have dinner in 15 minutes. Take that, Rachel Ray!

3.19.08 - Pork Chops

2008-03-30T19:03:00.000-06:00

Pork. The third white meat, coming in right behind Chicken and me.

Pork can be dry (sort of like that second white meat's humor). To keep them moist, Christne put these little guys in a plastic baggie with garlic, soy sauce, honey, and olive oil. The on to the Griddler. They were juicy, and delicious with just a hint of sweetness. We cheated a little bit with the rice (the San Francisco treat!), but the wilted spinach is legit, as are the sauteed onions.

Also, I hear that you shold always use bone-in pork chops. The meat by the bone is the tastiest, and the bones can keep your poorly behaved dogs distracted for 10 or 15 minutes.

3.18.08 - Pasta Carbonara

2008-03-30T19:01:00.000-06:00

The origins of pasta carbonara are unclear. "Carbonara" is derived from the Italian word for charcoal. Luckily, there isn't any actual charcoal in this dish (not tasty). Some say it's because the little pieces of pancetta (very tasty) look like charcoal. Others say it's because it was originally made over a charcoal grill. I say it's because we made it at Hunter's place and the inside of his oven looks similar to a charcoal grill. In any case, add a hearty Caesar salad and we were ready to pass out at Hunter's place after eating it.

3.17.08 - Beef Stew

2008-03-30T18:53:00.000-06:00

Ah, beef stew. We have beef stew quite a bit. Why might you ask?

1. It is shockingly delicious.
2. It is super easy to make. Cut up things. Put things in a pot. Stir things. Eat things.
3. It makes for incredible leftovers. Stew, like chili, is better the next day. That, combined with the fact that we make 48 gallons every time means leftover heaven.

Amazingly, there are no hits for the Google searches "beef stew is the best food in history," or "I would happily drown in beef stew." That is, until now. :)

3.16.08 - St. Patty's Day Cupcakes

2008-03-30T18:50:00.000-06:00

We're all about celebrating holidays in our way. St. Patrick's Day is no exception. Instead of drinking green beer and dressing up like this guy, we opted for vanilla-lime cupcakes instead. Magically delicious!

3.10.08 - Chicken with Asparagus and Cashews

2008-03-30T14:39:00.000-06:00

This dinner tasted like Spring, which happens to be the season we desperately want to arrive in full. It was pretty simple too. Chicken thighs, asparagus, and cashews, stir-fried and over rice.

People love asparagus. Whole Foods has this to say: "The fleshy green spears of asparagus are both succulent and tender and have been considered a delicacy since ancient times." If we replaced "green spears of asparagus" with something else in that description we would have to start guaranteeing that all the food pictured on this blog was at least 18 years old...

3.09.08 - Appple Boubron Ribs

2008-03-30T14:20:00.000-06:00

Seriously, what are spare ribs? According to Merriam-Webster, they are a cut of pork ribs separated from the bacon strip. Separated from bacon! Those poor, poor ribs! I can sympathize, since I am inconsolable when I am separated from bacon.

What to do? Slather them in homemade BBQ sauce and eat them of course. Yes, Christine made homemade BBQ sauce. It involved bourbon,and was very tasty.

3.08.08 - Pasta primavera

2008-03-24T20:20:00.000-06:00

Some things will always remain a mystery, won't they? How could something be shaped like one thing yet be something completely different? Such is the mystery of orzo, which is shaped like rice but is actually pasta. Crazy!

Add veggies and homemade polpetti (little meatballs) and you have pasta primavera.

3.08.08 - Grilled Caesar salad, chicken and potatoes

2008-03-24T20:02:00.000-06:00

I can't take credit for the grilled Caesar salad idea. I have to give props for the sorely missed Galileo's Grill for this one. I actually enjoyed giving Roberto Donna 5 bucks for a perfectly succulent heart of romaine drizzled in some sort of magic Caesar dressing and lovingly tossed with some Parmesan cheese. Galileo's is closed for renovations until later this year, but in the meanwhile, we're grillin' up our own Caesar, dammit! It's the perfect combo of flavors and textures.

Speaking of Caesar salad, in writing this post, I had an inkling that some fool, likely under the advisement of his public relations agency, tried to set the World Record for Largest Caesar Salad. Sadly, I was correct. And that's why I don't work at an agency anymore.

The salad was a tough act to follow, but grilled chicken and roasted potatoes were up to the task.

3.03.08 - Tofu Pork Pillows

2008-03-24T19:42:00.000-06:00

Me: Man, I am hungry.

Christine: How about some tofu pork pillows!?

Me: Uh...

When we were flipping through the Martin Yan cookbook (the man is an Asian cooking P.I.M.P.) this is not what I had in mind. This guy (also polish, and the World's strongest man thank you very much) has never eaten a tofu pork pillow. Pillows mean sleep (sweet, sweet sleep), not something to eat. However, I like pork, I like pillows, and yes, I like tofu, so what the hell.

They were sort of like little pork meatballs, except with tofu in them. To be honest, they were really, really good. They were not heavy like meatballs can be (pillows are not heavy), and they had a meaty but delicate flavor. Manly these ain't, but tasty.

3.02.08 - Chicken and zucchini over rice, clafouti

2008-03-24T19:18:00.000-06:00

Stir-fry chicken with some zucchini and server over jasmine rice. Delicious and simple. This dish, however, is not the star of this meal.

Enter the pear clafouti (cla-foo-TEE). It's not only delicious but fun to say. All together now: Cla-fou-ti. Plus, it has 4 out of 5 vowels in it.

It's a classic Ina Garten recipe, so you know it's good. A clafouti is a French dessert, using fruit, that has a custard-like consistency. It's usually made using cherries, but Ina, being the true genius that she is, uses pears. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cup of coffee and you'll be dessert heaven.

3.01.08 - Pancakes

2008-03-24T18:49:00.001-06:00

These. Pancakes. Are. The. Best.

You've seen before on this blog. You will continue to see them on this blog. If I could eat these pancakes every day, I would.

The recipe seemed innocent enough. A fairly easy one, at that. But it churns out delectable, fluffy and perfect pancakes every time. Add some of Trader Joe's blueberry maple syrup (which will someday not be sold since TJ's stock rotates frequently... someone please take me drinking that day) and you'll have the best breakfast known to man.

I clipped this recipe from one month's Bon Appetit and it was well used for several breakfasts. Then, one fateful Sunday morning, I awoke will a smile upon my face, anticipating the pancakey deliciousness that was to come. Then I realized that the little clipping with my beloved recipe was nowhere to be found, likely because my recipe book is a hot tranny mess (isn't everyone's?):

I wasn't immediately concerned since Bon Appetit has all of their print recipes online. Except. For. The. Pancake. Recipe.

NOOOOOO!

Months elapse. I slowly sink into a state of depression. I avoid most breakfast foods since the pain hurts too much. Then one day, the little scrap of magazine clipping with the crusted on pancake batter magically appears and all is right in the world. I do believe a rainbow appeared in the sky at that very moment.

The recipe below is for (1) my dear Maeve, who I promised this recipe to about a thousand years ago and (2) the rest of you who are ready for a life-altering experience.

Buttermilk Pancakes
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 generous pinches of ground nutmeg (fresh - this is critical!)
1 cup buttermilk (you can sub regular milk if you don't have buttermilk handy)
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Whisk milk, egg and vanilla in another bowl to blend. Stir milk mixture into dry ingredients just until blended (some lumps will remain). Fold in melted butter.

Heat griddle or 2 heavy large nonstick skillets over medium heat; brush lightly with additional melted butter. Working in batches, pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto griddle. Cook pancakes until bottoms are brown and bubbles form on top, about 2 minutes. Turn pancakes over and cook until bottoms are brown, about 1 minute. Serve warm with large amounts of maple syrup.

If you're making a double batch, you can keep the pancakes warm in a 200 degree oven.

2.24.08 - Chicken soup, salad and some horrible illness

2008-03-24T18:29:00.000-06:00

In our house, having chicken soup means one thing: some kind of ailment. In this case, Mike was the victim and the illness remains unknown, except that it left him near death for 3 days and a two-week cough... the gift that gives on giving. In any case, I'd like to think the chicken soup made him feel better. He followed it with a NyQuil shooter for dessert. NyQuil, if you've never been with Mike when he's been sick, is one of his favorite OTCs of all time. I think Dennis Leary said it best (although without the profanity, mom!):

"I love NyQuil. Man, I love it! I love it. I love it. I love it. It's the best thing shit ever invented. Isn't it, huh? I love the name alone. NyQuil - Capitol N, small Y, big fucking Q! I love that fucking Q, don't you!? What a great advertising idea! Put a huge fucking Q on the box. They'll get high and stare at it. "The Q is talking to me! The Q is talking to me!"

2.18.08 - Cha Gio (Vietnamese spring rolls)

2008-03-24T18:11:00.000-06:00

Spring rolls are the ultimate Vietnamese comfort food. Since making cha gio requires a decent amount of effort, having them for dinner in Pham household was always kind of a big deal. Now every time we visit my parents, my mom makes a ridiculous amount of them because she knows (1) I love them and (2) Mike can eat dozens of them. We make them ourselves sometimes using mom's recipe, which I don't know if I can ever bring myself to write down. About 10 years ago, I recall Mom writing down the recipe for a friend, and it just wasn't the same somehow. Every Vietnamese family has their own version with their own secret ingredients that get passed down through the generations that is fiercely guarded. And everyone will tell you that their mom's version is the best (believe me, my mom's version is the best).

Care to make your own version of Mama Pham's cha gio? I'll happily come over and cook with you or if you're really nice, send a cooked batch your way, but I can't give you the recipe... it just doesn't exist in written form. And don't forget the rice noodles and nuoc cham!

2.17.08 - Fun with chocolate, salmon and lentils (again, not together)

2008-03-24T17:59:00.000-06:00

Tonight's dinner was another instance of us having a fairly healthy dinner (salmon with lentils and mashed potatoes) in order for us to rationalize a big ass dessert.

Since we both have quite the sweet tooth, we thought spending a day coating things in chocolate might be time well spent. I have to say that we were right.

Behold, the "before" picture:

Ta-da... the "after" picture... although these didn't last terribly long. Hey, it's fruit, so it's healthy.

2.10.08 - Seared Tuna and Guacamole (not together)

2008-03-17T17:34:00.000-06:00

2.7.08 - Coq a Vin

2008-03-17T17:33:00.000-06:00

2.4.08 - Ceasar Salad and Veggie Soup

2008-03-17T17:31:00.000-06:00

1.27.08 - Chicken and Green Beans

2008-03-17T17:29:00.000-06:00

1.24.08 - Chicken and Corn a la Trader Joe's

2008-03-17T17:28:00.000-06:00

1.23.08 - Chili

2008-03-17T17:26:00.000-06:00

1.21.08 - BBQ Pulled Pork

2008-03-17T17:25:00.000-06:00

1.15.08 - Beef Stew

2008-03-17T17:24:00.001-06:00

1.15.08 - Roasted Chicken

2008-03-17T17:23:00.000-06:00

1.13.08 - Wonton Soup

2008-03-17T17:21:00.000-06:00

1.10.08 - Chili, Flan, and Chocolate Cake

2008-03-17T17:17:00.000-06:00

1.7.08 - Corn Chowder

2008-03-09T18:56:00.000-06:00

We ate this up on the roof deck. It was awesome!

1.6.08 - Salmon and Roasted Potatoes

2008-03-09T18:53:00.000-06:00

1.3.08 - Miso Soup and Chicken Fried Rice

2008-03-09T18:49:00.000-06:00

1.2.08 - Grilled Pork and Zucchini

2008-03-09T18:46:00.000-06:00

1.1.08 - Lemon Chicken and Green Beans

2008-03-09T18:37:00.000-06:00

12.5.07 - Pizza

2008-03-09T18:34:00.000-06:00

12.4.07 - Chicken and Roasted Corn

2008-03-09T18:31:00.000-06:00

We really like this...

11.20.07 - Pizza

2008-03-09T18:29:00.001-06:00

11.17.07 - Roasted Pork and Mashed Turnips

2008-03-09T18:27:00.000-06:00

11.16.07 - Chicken and Roasted Corn

2008-03-09T18:22:00.001-06:00

A special thanks to Trader Joe's for tonight's meal...

11.11.07 - Burgers!

2008-03-09T18:20:00.000-06:00

11.5.07 - Fruit Salad and Beef Stew

2008-03-09T18:16:00.000-06:00

No, not together....

11.4.07 - Spring Rolls

2008-03-09T18:14:00.000-06:00

10.29.07 - Lemongrass Beef

2008-03-09T18:11:00.000-06:00

10.27.07 – Pumpkin Seeds (and Jack-O-Lanterns)

2007-10-31T21:33:00.000-06:00

The pumpkin can be a smelly gourd, at least when you are scraping out its innards with a butter knife. We know two other things about our large orange friend. It is an excellent vessel for carving, and it is not at all worth it to save the innards for pie purposes (seeds are another story).So we opened a bottle of wine (noting says autumn in the east quite like Sonoma Valley!) and opted for a pumpkin carving contest. Shockingly, we received inspiration from the two (jobless) mooches in our house and decided that the carving theme was the doggle.

I was feeling pretty good when I completed my doggle, having taken some additional inspiration from modernist/pre-Nintendo video game graphics.

I saw what Christine was planning and thought that there was no way she could pull it off, which she then of course did. The result, honest to God, looks like George (one of our doggles, in particular the sleepy one). Suffice to say, I got blown out of the water, but you be the judge.

Here's the pumpkin:

And here's the furry muse:

Also, we roasted the seeds, which was a gooey experience, thereby making this food-blog relevant (ha!). They are tasty.

10.25.07 - Beef Stew

2007-10-31T21:29:00.000-06:00

When writing about stew in October it is difficult to improve upon the hallowed words of Thomas Jefferson:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one couple to dissolve the hunger pangs which have connected them with a chilly and famished disposition and to assume among the powers of the earth, the full and sleepy station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Mario Batali Dutch Oven.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of beefy, potatoey, carrot, pea, and red wine-filled goodness.

Thank you, and may God bless America.

10.24.07 - Artichoke Ravioli

2007-10-31T21:27:00.000-06:00

We can not with any honesty claim that we made the ravioli pictured below. However, we have made ravioli before (also artichokes), so there. These particular dough-hugs were purchased from the local Trader Joes (as was the sauce). Green beans are our constantly reoccurring theme. The entire meal took about 15 minutes to prepare, from beginning to end, which is really nice on a Wednesday.

While desperately seeking some witty remark about ravioli on this newfangled internet machine (“Your search – “ravioli quotes” – did not match any documents”) we came across a ravioli-research paper by one Chris White at Eckstein Middle School, who writes of the fine pasta that “I have found that traditions eventually go extinct if they are not practiced annually.” Oh dear. Fear not, young Mr. White, for the next time we make ravioli we will do so by hand.

Also, regarding the green beans:

Christine: You forgot to mention the green beans.

Mike: I'm sorry. You run out of things to say about green beans.

10.23.07 - Spare Ribs in Bourbon Sauce

2007-10-31T21:24:00.000-06:00

We decided to top our previous artery-clogging attempts with this meal (our blood was feeling a little too free flowing so we needed to throw down some road blocks). Thus, we present you, bourbon-basted pork ribs with loaded baked potatoes. Extra cheese, please!

A little gruesome? Yes. Tasty? You betcha.

10.22.07 - Thai Pork

2007-10-31T21:23:00.000-06:00

10.21.07 - Stir Fry

2007-10-31T21:20:00.000-06:00

To combat our previous indiscretions with unnamed pork chops, we threw together this stir fry with a veggie medley along with some tofu and snow crab meat (on sale at the market!)

10.18.07 - Pork with Figs, Cheesy Grits and Lima Beans

2007-10-31T21:12:00.000-06:00

This dinner was an artery-clogging delight! Take big fat pork chops, throw them on the grill (Griddler in our case) with some fresh figs and voila, a hearty portion of porcine goodness. Apparently figs are no new kid on the culinary block, either. While their claim to fame has been more recent, it turns out that figs dating back 11,400 years were discovered near the ancient town of Jericho.

Put the chops and the figs next to some cheesy grits and lima beans and you're in food coma heaven. We'll call it a test run for Turkey Day. After all, a runner doesn't take a jog around the block one day and run a marathon the next does he?

10.10.07 - Butternut Squash Soup

2007-10-31T21:08:00.000-06:00

In another ode to autumn, here's one of the quickest and tastiest ways to utilize the undervalued gourd that is the butternut squash: soup! BSS will not only make use of your handy dandy immersion blender, but tastes like fall on a spoon. Yum.

BSS also got a shout out in the news today. A local DC restaurant offered all local taxi drivers a free serving of BSS as a thank you for their work.

10.9.07 - Double Chocolate Cookies

2007-10-31T20:59:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that we're big on sweets. Tonight proved to be no exception as we filled the apartment with the intoxicating scent of melting chocolate to make these double chocolate cookies. Above is the "before" picture of the cookies (still warm).

Here is the "after" picture. Elapsed time: 4 to 6 seconds.

10.8.07 - Rockfish and Veg

2007-10-31T20:53:00.001-06:00

This is actually the supper we intended to have the night before. We planned on having the charcuterie as an appetizer, but by the time we scarfed down all of the meat, we were stuffed!

Tonight we had some sauteed rockfish, which spawns locally in the Maryland, Delaware and Virgina areas, along with veggies and Yukon mashed potatoes. Yukons are our preferred mashing potatoes since they are naturally buttery and light.

10.07.07 - Charcuterie

2007-10-31T20:46:00.000-06:00

We were feeling like a meaty snack for supper, so we picked up some Prosciutto di Parma, saucisson and a big loaf of bread. Easy dinner!

9.24.07 - Pasta

2007-10-31T20:45:00.001-06:00

9.23.07 - Pork Fajitas

2007-10-31T20:41:00.000-06:00

It was Tex-Mex night in the Pomorski family! Ole!

We opted for pork this time around, along with a tasty salsa verde of tomatillos and cilantro. Coincidentally, this was our first experience cooking with tomatillos. Tomatillos are similar to green tomatoes and come in a papery husk that must be removed before eating. Tomatillos were originally cultivated in Mexico by the Aztecs. They have a very unique tangy and tart flavor.

Apparently, fajitas have a long history as well. In the late 1930s, Mexican ranch workers in West Texas would be given the less desirable parts of a butchered cow to take home as part of their salary, usually a skirt steak. The word ‘fajita’ comes from the Spanish word ‘faja’ which manes ‘belt’ or ‘girdle.’ Muy delicioso!

9.21.07 - Chicken Soup

2007-10-31T20:38:00.000-06:00

Because I have the best husband in the world, he lovingly made me a huge pot of chicken soup while I was sick. After a big bowl of soup and a few Mexican amoxicillas, I was good to go!

9.20.07 - Lemon Chicken

2007-10-31T20:32:00.001-06:00

9.19.07 - Chicken and Dumplings

2007-10-31T20:28:00.000-06:00

Chicken and dumplings is one of the best foods known to man. Take some chicken, carrots, celery and simmer with made-from-scratch dumplings. Contrary to popular belief, dumplings are incredibly easy to make. And our new dutch oven which is completely badass, happens to have little nubs on the inside of the lid that helps distribute the condensation evenly while your food cooks, ensuring perfectly steamed dumplings. Genius!

9.18.07 - Pizza

2007-10-31T20:26:00.000-06:00

How good is warm, homemade blistery pizza? And now that it’s getting chilly, making pizza means the oven heats the whole apartment!

9.15.07 - Pancakes, pancakes and more pancakes!

2007-10-31T20:22:00.000-06:00

Our Griddler really makes cooking pancakes a joy. The only problem this time around is that I couldn’t find our beloved go-to pancake recipe. It really makes us sad. :( These were pretty tasty but they don't have the same pancakey magic. We’ll have to keep searching around for the original recipe.

9.8.07 - Roasted Butternut Squash Tortellini

2007-09-09T17:06:00.000-06:00

It is fall! (sort of). Fall means squash, and squash means butternut squash.

It was Saturday night and we had an early tee time the next morning, so we decided to stay in and cook. We sort of went all out on this one. Cut up and roast aforementioned squash. Puree in food processor along with ricotta, olive oil, and various other sundries. You have now produced filling.

Wonton wrappers make excellent tortellini filling...wrappers. I guess they are appropriately named. All you have to do is spoon some of the filling into the middle, get two sides wet, and fold over into a triangle. The idiotic wonton wrappers that we bought were rectangular but not square, which created a challenge, but I am happy to report that not one opened during cooking. Nts!

The sauce? Pretty much a stick and a half of butter. Oh sure, there were other ingredients too, but for all intents and purposes, you butter this pasta and then eat it. We wanted to make it a little more healthy, so we decided to grate half a pound of cheese on each plate. Oh well, we were exercising the next day.

It was like the coming fall (season, not tragedy) on a fork.

9.5.07 - Tuna Tartare and Chicken Cilantro Meatballs

2007-09-09T16:58:00.000-06:00

Is there anything better than raw fish? Rather, is there anything better than raw tuna, diced with avacado, lime zest, lime juice, soy sauce, and a hint of Tabasco? The answer of course is no, although meatloaf does come close (read on, dear reader(s)).

Tuna tartare is like $400 every time you see it on a menu. I don't really understand why. Yes, you have to purchase the absolute best tuna you can find (about 3/4 of a pound), which ran us about $10 at the Asian Market. Other than that though, you need exactly one lime, one avacado, and random stuff that is laying around the house anyway. Both Christine and I stuffed ourselves with the tartare and I had the leftovers the next day. It is also extremely easy to make. You cut a bunch of stuff up and throw it into a bowl. I did this dish, for godsake.

Christine has had a recipe for cilantro chicken meatballs laying around for a while, and we had our hands on some ground chicken and super fresh cilantro, so we gave those a try as well. It was an excellent call. The nice thing about meatballs is that they don't always have to be "on top of spaghetti all covered with cheese," and no sneezing has to (or did) occur.

9.4.07 - Stuffed Peppers

2007-09-09T16:53:00.000-06:00

What's better than a fresh, end of summer red (and yellow) pepper? That same pepper stuffed with rice, ground chicken, and various vegetables and spices. The pepper is like a little wee cup, oozing forth with fillingy goodness. One note about stuffed peppers. They look small. Cute even. You think, hell, I am hungry! I could probably eat three or four of those. Well my friend, you would be mistaken. These are some dense with filling peppers. And you can eat the pepper, which is like being able to eat the bowl, which is awesome.

9.3.07 - Short Ribs

2007-09-09T16:43:00.000-06:00

There are many reasons why I asked Christine to marry me. Near the top of the list is the fact that she knows how to convert an electric stove in a tiny apartment into a barbecue smoker. Also, we didn't burn down the building. As you can tell from the top picture, the smoking had its intended effect. The meat quite literally fell from the bone.

You may be asking yourself, what is a short rib? Is it a rib under 5'9" (5'4" for females)? No. Short ribs, our good friends at Hormel tell us, refer to a small piece that has been trimmed from the main portion of a rib when the rib cage is trimmed into smaller cuts. Tasty. We had these particular ribs over rice (always recommended) with some sweetened-with-brown-sugar carrots.

Oh, and Christine made the barbecue sauce also. It is hardly even fair.

8.31.07 - Meatloaf

2007-09-09T16:36:00.000-06:00

Did you know that meatloaf is a staple in traditional Vietnamese cooking? Actually, that is a complete fabrication.

Meatloaf. A log of ground beef, spices, and in this recipe, oatmeal for some extra texture (which went swimmingly). Appetizing while on the pan prior to baking? Not at all. Appetizing in the tummy? Absolutely. It saddens us that the number one hit on Google for meatloaf is the fat singer, and not the phat meat-log, but we will console ourselves with lots of leftovers for several days...

Also, peas and potatoes. It is pretty much a rule that when you have meatloaf you have potatoes and peas. But these weren't any ordinary peas. These were fresh, English peas. How can you tell your peas are fresh and English? Bad teeth and a dry sense of humor, and a little forward with the sexual innuendo (groan...)

8.29.07 - Roast!

2007-08-31T12:08:00.000-06:00

The single greatest thing about the weather getting colder is pot roast. The weather hasn't gotten much colder, but we wanted some pot roast anyway. Fortunately, we have a pot and were able to procure a roast, along with carrots, onions, etc. Brown the meat, through everything in the pot with a little Bordeaux (a little for the roast, a little for us, a little for the roast, a little for us), lid the pot, and put in the oven. Proceed to complete thank you notes (better a wee tad bit tardy than never), and eat. Awesome.

8.27.07 - Chicken Ceasar Salad and Strawberry Pie

2007-08-31T12:02:00.000-06:00

Not a very long time ago, we wrote a post about chicken ceasar salad, and said that it was something we often craved. Here is the evidence. This time we used breaded chicken, but other than that just about everything is the same. Hey, if you find something you like, why not?

As you can see, there was also a dessert in the works this evening. Christine found a recipe for a strawberry pie, and we found some excellent looking strawberries at the Asian market, so a sweet treat was borne. To make the crust, beat 9 graham crackers to a bloody pulp (note: if the graham crackers begin to bleed, seek out other graham crackers). Bake. The filling is pretty much pureed strawberries and whipped up heavy cream folded together. The only devastating thing about this is that you are supposed to leave it in the freezer for four hours. Well, we can tell you without any hesitation that is completely unnecessary, if you know what I'm saying...

8.27.2007 - Turkey on Brioche

2007-08-31T11:55:00.000-06:00

We were going to go hiking and have a picnic at Great Falls National Park, but the weatherman was extremely uncooperative so we had to opt out. However, not being able to have a picnic in the great outdoors does not at all mean that we couldn't have picnic food. Picnic food here is defined as roasted turkey and provolone on brioche with a little Dijon mustard and pickles (although I opted out of the pickles).

Brioche is possibly the greatest bread ever baked. These folks describe it as being one step removed from a pastry, and who doesn't love pastries? The only thing about lunch that was a tad bit tricky was the size of the bun. Much squeezing was necessary. :)