So in the middle of the first post, I realized that this should actually be the first post, to explain what is going on, and what this blog aims to do. I recognize that when it comes to keeping in touch with people, I am a terrible friend. I cannot reliably email/call/write people, but I hope you realize it is not because I don't love you. I've wanted to do a blog for that reason, but also because there's a bit more freedom/structure (if that makes sense) in terms of what you want to talk about and how you organize it. Lastly, I love sharing cooking, and I that is best done with a set up such as this where I can post some pictures and talk about my experiences.
So I suspect a big theme will be recipes and what I am cooking. There are a few favorite recipes that I make consistently, but otherwise, I just like to try new things. I like bold flavors and ingredients, and am very picky in terms of deciding if something is good enough to cook again, or if it was ok for one try, move on to the next.
Along with the theme of cooking, I am very much concerned about eating healthier and more locally. However, I am not perfect, and this is a constant journey. I try to educate myself about these things by listening to Podcasts and reading (currently I am about halfway through Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma), and then doing what I can to effect change in my own life at least. Which is hard when you are all of a sudden on a grad student salary again. However, as of right now, I am trying to make a commitment to go to the Weaver Street co-op, as well as take advantage of the farmer's market in the same area. Cooking from scratch in general will often save money, as will buying seasonally. So in that spirit, I am attempting to learn about and cook more seasonal meals, although I don't know what that will mean for the winter, since I don't have the materials or space to do much preservation/canning. I just ordered some seasonal cookbooks, so I look forward to trying some of those farmers market oriented recipes.
And as mentioned, I am once again a grad student, ahh! Going for a PhD means a lot of things, right now I am most concerned with the reading. So given that many of my friends are involved in archaeology/anthropology, I will probably post at least a few things on here relating to those sorts of issues.
Through all of this, I hope that any of you who actually spend the time to read and follow posts will comment often, and enjoy the food and random musings I try to offer.
Thanks!
~Ash
Saturday, July 31, 2010
A Gazpacho that Wasn't
So I started out thinking I was going to make a wonderful gazpacho, out of the CIA book I have - thanks Peter (it's gotta be a good recipe, right?) I've actually only had gazpacho once, about a month ago, when I was staying at the Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill, and it was an amuse bouche in a shooter. It was locally sourced, and absolutely delicious.
So I bought everything, and then tonight put on a podcast (Deconstructing Dinner, replaying Bucky McCaw, haha) and got ready to get down and dirty. That's when I finally got around to reading the recipe, and noticed that once you chop all the ingredients up, it is supposed to sit and marinate in the fridge overnight. Aye!! Guess gazpacho has to wait until tomorrow. However, I did obviously take the time to prepare the ingredients. I had to peel, seed, and chop the tomatoes, which was my first time doing so.
The easiest way to do this (courtesy of the CIA book again) is to make an X in the bottom with a knife and blanche them. This involves first putting the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for about 10-15 seconds, ad then immediately putting them in a bowl of ice water to "shock" them. This makes getting the skin off a hundred times easier, trust me. Then you just have to take the time to seed and chop them - I did a medium-small dice.
The rest of the ingredients involved are green pepper, cucumber, and garlic, which is then marinated in olive oil, red vinegar, and then salt and pepper added to taste. I went to the local food co-op (an extension of the Weaver Market in Southern Village, Chapel Hill) for my ingredients, but they didn't have a scale (all of the ingredients in the CIA book are listed as weights), so after doing my thing with the 5 plum tomatoes I bought, I have a feeling my ratios of veggies won't be right, but I'm crossing my fingers it will still turn out ok.
Here's what the finished mixture look like, before I covered it and put it in the fridge (and yes I did taste test it, as I am picky about red wine vinegar due to a cooking disaster a number of years ago):
That didn't leave me with many options for dinner, so I opted for Annie's Mac and Cheese. I also made a wedge salad, which I have become obsessed with as of late. It basically just involves buying a head of iceberg lettuce and chopping it into 8 lengthwise portions. I chopped my portions first, then chopped off the bottom portion. At restaurants they usually serve it with blue cheese dressing, and maybe some tomatoes and bacon as toppings.
I couldn't find blue cheese at Weaver's (I wonder what's involved with making this that there doesn't appear to be an organic brand?), so I opted for Parmesan Ranch instead. And I customized it to my own tastes and ingredients, so I did roasted sunflower seeds, walnuts, dried cranberries, and watercress (missing from the pic) that I bought for a future recipe. And oh, there's goat cheese there too - it's a to die for dill and garlic flavored fresh goat cheese from Black River Farmstead in Durham. On a side note, I think the smell is spreading across my fridge, good thing I love garlic. I also bought some bread specifically to make croutons with, so in the future there will be croutons as well.
It's not the prettiest picture, as my attempt to artfully "dress" the iceburg turned into a big slather, but hey, it's the taste that counts. And that's a gin and tonic with some added grenadine, cuz I'm just like that. Drinking whilst cooking makes everything more fun, duh.
Anyways, that's the end of my cooking operation for the day. Since I used up all of my gazpacho ingredients, I think I am going to venture out the co-op again, this time on my bike, to buy tomato and cucumber to use as a garnish when the gazpacho is actually done.
So I bought everything, and then tonight put on a podcast (Deconstructing Dinner, replaying Bucky McCaw, haha) and got ready to get down and dirty. That's when I finally got around to reading the recipe, and noticed that once you chop all the ingredients up, it is supposed to sit and marinate in the fridge overnight. Aye!! Guess gazpacho has to wait until tomorrow. However, I did obviously take the time to prepare the ingredients. I had to peel, seed, and chop the tomatoes, which was my first time doing so.
The easiest way to do this (courtesy of the CIA book again) is to make an X in the bottom with a knife and blanche them. This involves first putting the tomatoes in a pot of boiling water for about 10-15 seconds, ad then immediately putting them in a bowl of ice water to "shock" them. This makes getting the skin off a hundred times easier, trust me. Then you just have to take the time to seed and chop them - I did a medium-small dice.
The rest of the ingredients involved are green pepper, cucumber, and garlic, which is then marinated in olive oil, red vinegar, and then salt and pepper added to taste. I went to the local food co-op (an extension of the Weaver Market in Southern Village, Chapel Hill) for my ingredients, but they didn't have a scale (all of the ingredients in the CIA book are listed as weights), so after doing my thing with the 5 plum tomatoes I bought, I have a feeling my ratios of veggies won't be right, but I'm crossing my fingers it will still turn out ok.
Here's what the finished mixture look like, before I covered it and put it in the fridge (and yes I did taste test it, as I am picky about red wine vinegar due to a cooking disaster a number of years ago):
That didn't leave me with many options for dinner, so I opted for Annie's Mac and Cheese. I also made a wedge salad, which I have become obsessed with as of late. It basically just involves buying a head of iceberg lettuce and chopping it into 8 lengthwise portions. I chopped my portions first, then chopped off the bottom portion. At restaurants they usually serve it with blue cheese dressing, and maybe some tomatoes and bacon as toppings.
I couldn't find blue cheese at Weaver's (I wonder what's involved with making this that there doesn't appear to be an organic brand?), so I opted for Parmesan Ranch instead. And I customized it to my own tastes and ingredients, so I did roasted sunflower seeds, walnuts, dried cranberries, and watercress (missing from the pic) that I bought for a future recipe. And oh, there's goat cheese there too - it's a to die for dill and garlic flavored fresh goat cheese from Black River Farmstead in Durham. On a side note, I think the smell is spreading across my fridge, good thing I love garlic. I also bought some bread specifically to make croutons with, so in the future there will be croutons as well.
It's not the prettiest picture, as my attempt to artfully "dress" the iceburg turned into a big slather, but hey, it's the taste that counts. And that's a gin and tonic with some added grenadine, cuz I'm just like that. Drinking whilst cooking makes everything more fun, duh.
Anyways, that's the end of my cooking operation for the day. Since I used up all of my gazpacho ingredients, I think I am going to venture out the co-op again, this time on my bike, to buy tomato and cucumber to use as a garnish when the gazpacho is actually done.
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