By Somer
I was having some issues earlier with my homemade vanilla extract that temporarily lead me to believe that I had mucked up the entire project and had not only wasted two perfectly good vanilla beans, but also perfectly good rum. It just wasn’t getting that dark color we usually know vanilla extracts to have. It looked like tea, and that wasn’t what I had expected. Luckily, the internet is rich with the information that I needed and I discovered that, for this virgin batch, it is perfectly normal for the color to be light. Just to be safe, I added two more vanilla beans to my bottle, ($6 from the World Market) and waited the full 8 weeks before I started using my extract. It still is very light and when I smell it the predominant smell is still rum (of the memories of high school that come flooding in from that scent) but it is a usable product.
I wanted to give it a first try in a dish where I could tell if it had a vanilla taste to it or if I was just using tinted rum: French Toast. I always add a swill of vanilla extract to my egg wash for French Toast for a little extra flavor. I was very happy when I served this breakfast and it tasted exactly as it always does. Needless to say, I was feeling very pleased with myself that I had whipped up a HUGE batch of homemade vanilla extract for a fraction of the price of the store-bought stuff. You really ought to try this out. I give it my stamp of approval (like that means anything).
On a little admin note, please forgive me if my posts are few and far between. My family and I are relocating from the Seattle area to the Philadelphia area at the end of August. Right now we are eating out a lot and grubbing in order to clean out the pantry and freezer. There are no exciting meals coming out of my kitchen right now because we are focused on getting all of our belongings packed up so that they can be loaded on a truck and driven across the country, safely I hope. However, we will be staying with my mother temporarily (when we moved to the Seattle area from West Virginia, we got our apartment over the internet without first seeing it. We had to because we didn’t know a soul out here and it was a mistake because our first place was in a scary scary area). My mom is a big fan of cooking and looks forward to the possibility of my helping her in the kitchen. My posts will kick back up once we arrive and even more so when we are able to secure a place of our own.
By Somer
I’ve been reading/hearing a lot lately of the celebrity chef. I think that this term is becoming an inaccurate blanket term that covers people who don’t necessarily belong under that category. With Food Network gathering more and more watchers and other networks such as Bravo, Oxygen and the Travel Channel adding chef shows of one sort or another to their roster, the American public is taking much more interest in the foodie culture.
I, myself, have been a fan of the Food Network since I was a teenager. It used to be that I would watch simply because I loved to watch people cook. My first favorite show on food network was The Two Fat Ladies. This is an old school Food Network show that hasn’t been on the air for years now, but I adored these two British ladies and their quirky personalities as well as the succulent dishes they prepared. I also loved how they traveled in a motorcycle and side car. They were awesome.
Also, in the old days, I used to watch Emeril before he got really really huge on TV and got all annoying with his catch phrases. I’d like to meet that guy in a completely mellow environment. I bet he’s cool. He reminds me a little of my grandfather. I bet he’s a little crass, but a great guy all the same. My mother and step-father worship the man’s cooking, and my mother is probably one of the most infuriatingly picky eaters ever, so that says a lot.
Rachel Ray….I hesitate to talk about her. I’m not a fan, ok? To be fair, I can understand why she is a celebrity cook. She has a gimmick that is a great idea for weeknight meals. She also seems to have a fantastic work ethic, which is needed in her business to achieve notoriety. She’s like nails on a chalkboard, though. Her personality is so abrasive and overboard, and I realize that might be part of why she is so famous, but I can’t sit and watch one of her shows all the way through. One thing I will say about her, though, she actually looks like she eats the food she is hocking on her show. Some of these celebrity chef-ladies are rail thin but are trying to sell you recipes of cakes, cookies, pies, cocktails, and other fattening dishes and it really bothers me because you can exercise all you want and you won’t get THAT thin by eating those kinds of foods. Not even a little bit.
Alton Brown: I love to watch his show. There is pure entertainment going on in that show. There’s also a lot of learning to do on that show. HOWEVER, sometimes I find myself shouting at my television because Brown’s anal retentive tendencies go too far. Last night, for instance, he was doing a show on French toast. I make French toast for my family nearly every weekend. I have been doing so for about 5 years. I KNOW HOW TO MAKE FRENCH TOAST. And you know what? It’s not this horrible, long, drawn out process that requires me to be in my kitchen half the morning. Still, I love his show. I love the man. What can I say, I’ve got love for nerds.
Ina Garten: Her recipes are my favorite on the network. Her style and her tastes are right in line with my own and I really just love her. Because she is so laid back and proper, her show can be a little boring, but watching her prepare all of those beautiful dishes is almost worth the loss of a half hour from my life.
Paula Dean: She’s DEEP Southern. I’m BARELY Southern. Her food is way too rich for my blood and her personality is too loud for me. Look, I’m sure she’s a peach and a delight to be around, but I’ve known her type before. Here’s a tip: the next time she prepares a recipe on her show sent in by a fan, listen for the little jab she always includes. There’s never 100% priase coming from her, she always makes one little comment that implies that if she had created this recipe it would have been different and therefore better.
Bobby Flay: He’s an Iron Chef and he’s super duper rich. Why? The guy consistently uses the same 10 ingredients! Every chicken, meat, seafood, and pasta dish all have the same ingredients. I like his show Throwdown because he’s a good sport, but seriously. Branch out, dude!
Giada De Laurentiis: She’s very pretty and I’ve enjoyed a few of her Grandfather’s productions. I can’t honestly say anything bad about her. I feel bad that she was kind of strong-armed into making nothing but Italian food. After so many seasons, there are really only so many dishes you can make before it starts getting weird. Her food is always pretty, and while some of them turn me off (for my personal taste), I really think she has a good thing going on.
Sandra Lee: Some of her dishes are AWESOME. Seriously, she’s got a good thing going on. But, she’s one of those super skinny ladies I was talking about before. There’s no way that she eats the stuff she prepares. She sits in the kitchen and drinks cocktails all day…she has to! But she’s got a nice personality, she’s attractive, and she’s got a great and marketable gimmick.
If I left out any of the other famous Food Network people, it is because they all sort of start to look the same if you step back far enough. Food Network likes a lineup of wholesome, mostly white, gimmicky, older cooks. It works for them and at the end of the day they are still a television network that has to make money. I’d like to see more Latin cooks, and more African American (I like the Neely’s) cooks rocking the scene. If we’re to explore the foodie scene and Food Network wants to be one of our guides, we need a little more culture going on!
Now, I can’t mention celebrity chefs without talking about Anthony Bourdain. I’ve watched him since the beginning. I watched his show “A Cook’s Tour” on Food Network all those years ago. When he moved to the Travel Channel, at first I watched him every week for quite a few seasons. After watching him for so long, I think that it is inaccurate to refer to him as a celebrity “chef.” Yes, he was a chef and he has earned that title, but he is not really a celebrity for being a chef. If anything, he is a celebrity FOODIE. The man is actually foodie royalty. A chef? Not so much. If you’ve ever watched his show, you’ll notice that people who have worked with him in the past take great pleasure in ripping on his cooking skills. There was an episode where he went to Tuscany and horrified the locals with his cooking. Let’s not insult the real celebrity chefs and put Bourdain where he belongs. He’s a foodie. And he’s a fantastic foodie from whom we have much to learn. Eating for him is not so much a necessity as it is a pleasure. He has no fear of strange foods, he relishes in the possibilities of trying new things, and he makes his eating a full-on sensory experience. His personality stinks a little bit, he’s a snob to other American regions, and he won’t let go of his über-fandom of the Ramones. In his niche, that doesn’t matter. He’s a writer, world traveller, and foodie. He’s famous for these things.
Andrew Zimmern is the guy who would take the dare to eat the yellow snow cone when he was a kid. I like his show. I’ve hidden my face behind my throw pillow more than once during his show so as not to watch him eat something horrifying (such as raw camel meat). He also eats semi-normal things that I would like to try. He has a great personality and he rocks the bald guy look. He, too, is not really a celebrity for being a chef. He’s a food critic and, again, the guy who will stick anything in his face hole. What’s not to like about that? He’s our generations version of Mikey (don’t get that joke? He was the kid who would eat anything in the Life Cereal commercial and who apparently died eating pop rocks and soda..which of course was an urban legend).
I think that perhaps there is a little too much emphasis being put on these people on television. I think that perhaps they are being placed high on pedestals that needn’t be there at all. As foodies, home cooks, chefs, caterers, and curious neophytes, we all have the right to be level with these people. Don’t be so quick to make idols of someone simply because they are on your television. You have a kitchen, be it a hot plate and a microwave or a tricked out $80,000 kitchen that you never use, and you are just as capable of creating culinary gold as any of these people on the television. Learn a little from them, if you like, but see them as a possibility of your future self.
By Somer
This is a hot weather dessert that reminds me so much of being a kid. I remember my mom making this all of the time in those hot, humid WV summers. I’m not sure where this recipe came from. I think it’s an old recipe, though. I’ve seen variations on it and it was either a recipe given on a Cool Whip tub or on the back of a Jell-o box. I’m sure nearly everybody who grew up in the States has had this dessert at maybe a picnic or at school. It’s a classic!
Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Crust
2 Cups pretzels, crushed
3 T sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
Combine. Pat into 9×12 pan. Bake 350 for 10 minutes. Cool.
Creamy Filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
9 oz cool whip.
Combine. Spread over cooled pretzel crust.
Gelatin Filling:
Two 3 oz packages strawberry gelatin
2 cups boiling water
Two 10 oz packages frozen strawberries, partially thawed
Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Add berries. Let mixture set 30 minutes.. Spread over second layer. Refrigerate several hours or overnight. Spread more cool whip on top before serving.
An interesting variation on this recipe that I have seen quite a lot is to use orange gelatin and canned mandarin oranges. I’d like to try that variation someday, but I really love the strawberry version as well. It’s creamy, sweet, tart, and salty with fantastic texture.
YUM!
By Somer
I meant to make braised lamb shanks for dinner tonight. I meant to blog about a dessert on here tonight. Alas, circumstances changed and my agenda has changed. We decided to go grab some fish n’ chips for dinner at a local place called Ivar’s. People around here talk about it like it’s the best place ever to get batter fried seafood and chowder. Since we love batter fried seafood and chowder, we decided that a gloomy and cold day like today would be a great time to try this place.
I’m taking a chance by posting this. It’s quite possible that a local will stomp my big toe after reading this.
This place was disappointing all around. We didn’t go to the original Ivar’s on Seattle’s waterfront, we went to a little fish shack in downtown Bothell, a suburb of Seattle. Actually, I’m giggling right now because I’m at their website and by the looks of it, it seems that the company would have you believe that it is a sit-down and elegant seafood restaurant. Umm, no. It’s not. We ate chowder from paper bowls, and ate our fried food from baskets lined with wax paper. Our drinks came in paper cups just like what you would expect from a fast food chain. That in and of itself would never bother me, but this place failed in the food department.
Their fries were ok. They tasted like a million other French fries I have eaten. Their regular fish was not so good. The breading was coarse and bland. The clam strips, the shrimp, were all covered in the same breading. I’ve had better come from my freezer.
The chowders were gross. I have nothing at all nice to say about those chowders. The Manhattan Clam Chowder (the red one) tasted like it came from a can. It had that cheap bouillon cube taste to it that was overwhelming and gross. Clam Chowder, I understand can be tricky, but if you plaster your restaurants and webpage with gloats of awards your restaurant has won, own up and put quality ingredients in your food. There’s just no excuse for cheap tasting soup.
The New England Clam Chowder (the white cream-based one) was weird. It was better than the Manhattan, but it was still not very good. The main taste in this soup was bacon. I want to taste the sweet briney taste of clams and I’m eating bacon-cream soup. That’s not right. This place is famous for it’s chowder and I hated it.
They also provided little plastic tubs of tartar sauce and ketchup with our meals; little pre-sealed Ivar’s condiments. The problem with these is that the tubs were only filled maybe 1/3 to 1/2 full. That’s a lot of plastic waste coming from a native restaurant of a city that considers itself progressive in environmental consciousness. And no, there was no recycling offered. Between my toddler and I, we used 3 tubs of ketchup and 1 tub of tartar sauce (I was sharing with my son and couldn’t use malt vinegar like I wanted)….that’s a lot of plastic going to a landfill and that was just us. I’m disappointed.
There were ants crawling around on the table top. That, to me, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I expect ants when I am eating on the ground in a park, but not in a restaurant.
The prices were a little high considering what we were eating. We were actually sitting in a booth in the back of a restaurant and the door to the kitchen was open and I could look right in. It was a bunch of deep fryers and freezers. It actually kind of reminded me of the kitchen in the back of the Krusty Krab on the show Spongebob Squarepants (I’ve got a toddler, people. Nickelodeon is very familiar to me!). Also, the “combo dinners” didn’t come with drinks. That’s ridiculous! And the drinks ended up being quite pricey! I am just so annoyed with this place. I could have gotten better tasting deep fried fish at a cheaper price from Captain D’s or Long John Silvers (that’s the comment that’s going to get me killed).
Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve had Fish N’ Chips made by a person from the UK. Those people KNOW how to batter and fry cod, ladies and gentlemen. I just really didn’t like this place, and that disappoints me because up until tonight I have absolutely loved all of the tiny food joints Seattle has to offer. Sorry, Ivar’s and Seattlites. It was NOT good.
By Somer
One thing that I miss about living back in the South East is that you can’t buy green tomatoes in the grocery stores here in Washington state. I don’t know why I expected to be able to do so out here, but it’s been painful. Actually, most people who enjoy the loveliness of green tomatoes in the South East grow their own tomatoes and are able to harvest them before they ripen.
I know that a lot of people who have never had a fried green tomato may not “get” why they are so loved. Listen, green tomatoes are PERFECT for frying. Their flesh is firm, they are a little bitter (but it turns into sweetness in the frying process), and they are addictive. You know how jalapeño poppers are a little sweet? How a green jalapeño can have a bit of a bitter undertone, but after deep frying them they turn a little sweet? Same thing here.
Now in case the thought of eating a fried green tomato weren’t “local” enough for you, I’m going to share with you how my family makes sandwiches out of these fried green tomatoes. It’s weird and it’s so very, very southern. I love it.
At the grocery store last week, my husband runs up to me and shoves a bag of partially green tomatoes in my face and informs me that I was going to be making fried green tomato sandwiches for him the next day. I was a little hesitant because almost all of these tomatoes were more red than green and that they might turn to mush in the frying process. I decided to give it a try.
I was pleasantly surprised when I sliced the tomatoes and saw that the flesh was mostly green and firm and would take to frying perfectly.
Some people might be tempted to get a little fancy with the breading, but I’m telling you right now that simple is better.
Simply dust the slices in flour, salt and pepper. Nothing more. Now melt 1 Tblsp. of butter in a shallow skillet and add 1 Tblsp. vegetable oil. When heated, place the tomato slices in the skillet and fry on both sides until golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.
For the rest of the sandwich, thinly slice a simple yellow onion and fry some bologna.
That’s right. There’s fried bologna on this sandwich. It’s something that every kid I knew ate as children. Fried bologna is a childhood memory! Don’t judge it before you at least try it. (I hate people who refuse to at least try something.)
This is all you need to assemble a Fried Green Tomato Sandwich. Tomatoes, onions, fried bologna, and Miracle Whip (mayonnaise is too rich for this).
This is another down home kind of dish for which I have so much affinity. This is a dish born of limited resources and it still breathes that sense of humilty. Give it a try and enjoy!
I am Somer Canon: Shiftless lay-about, blog enthusiast, and more importantly, food lover. This blog will share my favorite recipes, cooking techniques, adventures in eating, and just about any subject pertaining to cooking and eating.