Super Bowl Weekend
February 1st, 2008
Hey, you over there, put down the Lays and jar of onion dip. Yeah you. I know it’s Super Bowl weekend, and the football fan in me knows that such an event allows, nay demands, a certain type of food. We call it Football Food. But you can make your own. And it will be better — much better — and more bacony.
Simply Recipes has an authoritative round-up on Super Bowl recipes featuring everything from classics (potato skins, hot wings, various and sundry dips) to the truly frightening. Okay, so I was honestly curious about the Beer Cheese Cupcakes with Bacon Cheddar Frosting — if that’s not a manly dessert, what is? — but then I saw the “beer” in question: Budweiser Select. What’s a sell-respecting beer drinking to do? Guiness cupcakes, of course.
Penance…
With all of the talk of bacon around here lately, I thought I’d throw a crumb to our vegetarian friends. 101 Cookbooks has posted a delicious-looking recipe for Carmelized Tofu. Go forth, yea veggies, and eat soy.
Balsamic Glazed Almonds
Coconut and Lime has a delicious-looking recipe for Balsamic Glazed Almonds. Haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but honestly if you glazed cardboard with balsamic I’d happily eat it.
Pretzel Praline
Just in time for the holidays, Ideas in Food is featuring a delicious-looking, easy to make Pretzel Praline recipe. Anything that combines sweet, salty, and yeasty cannot possibly be bad.
Balsamic Onions and Goat Cheese Quesadilla
I discovered Meghan’s blog, Tales of a Culinary Novice, through a comment she left here recently, and she’s got some super swanky recipes up. One in particular caught my eye while I was there: Balsamic Onions and Goat Cheese Quesadillas. Mmm. I’m going to go make a few of these right now.
Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette
November 27th, 2007
Home-made vinaigrettes are a great way to add a lot of flavor to a dish without a lot of cost or a lot of fat. Here, roasted shallots give the vinaigrette a great balance of sweetness and earthiness, and provide body. Although a white wine or even sherry vinegar would be a more classic choice here, the rice vinegar allows the complexity of the shallot to shine.
I paired the vinaigrette with mizuna and pear, but it would go well with a variety of salads (spinach and apple, endive and walnuts, etc) or any number of entrees (pork medallions, roasted new potatoes).
Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette with a mizuna and D’anjou pear salad
Michelada
November 22nd, 2007
Michelada
Michelada
- Juice from half a lime
- Coarse salt
- A dash Tabasco
- A dash Worcestershire Sauce
- Ice
- Negro Modelo
Rim a highball glass or tumbler with lime and salt. Squeeze lime into the bottom of the glass, then add Tabasco and Worcestershire; mix. Fill glass with ice. Carefully pour in beer — it’ll want to foam over. Enjoy, topping off the beer as necessary.
Persimmon Jerk Chicken
November 16th, 2007
One of the fun and challenging things about belonging to a CSA or produce delivery service is finding ways to use ingredients you might not have picked out on your own. Having received Fuyu persimmons for a fourth straight week and growing tired of eating them out of hand, I resolved to find a savory application for the persimmon’s unique taste.
Cursory research online revealed little besides persimmon pudding in terms of cooking applications. Undaunted, I pushed ahead.
I suspected the tropical flavors of persimmon would pair well with a traditional Jamaican jerk sauce, so I set out to do some testing. Halving and broiling the persimmons revealed complex flavors of mango, apple, roasted squash, and spice.
Roasted Persimmons
Potato Bacon Soup
November 1st, 2007
The problem with most potato soups, really, is one of texture. Some are watery. Some are gloppy. Most are gritty or grainy. After some experimenting, I’ve developed a potato soup technique that produces a silky, sumptuous soup that’s still plenty hearty. The key is adding your potatoes in two installments. The first gets blended to form the base of the soup and give it body, while the second is added later and cooked until perfectly tender — no more overcooked potatoes. The result is a pleasant contrast in textures — the smooth soup, firm chunks of potato, crisps bacon bits.
Potato Bacon Soup
- 1 lb bacon, diced
- 2 pounds potatoes, mixed Russet and Yukon Gold, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled and cubed
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 1 quart Vegetable stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup cream, half-and-half, or whole milk
- Heat a skillet and fry the bacon until crispy; fish out the bacon and pour the delicious, delicious bacon fat into your finest soup pot
- Sweat the onion and garlic over medium heat until they just start to pick up some color. At this point your kitchen will smell like bacon and garlic and onions, and you’ll be tempted to stick your head into the pot and begin gorging; resist this temptation.
- Add the peeled potatoes and veggie stock and simmer for 30 minutes
- Using your favorite stick-blender (or food processor, counter-top blender, potato masher, or sharp stick), blend the soup until it’s smooth and creamy. The soup should be smooth and rich but not gloppy or pasty; adjust thickness with more vegetable stock as necessary.
- Add in the unpeeled potatoes and bay leaves and simmer on low until potatoes are fork-tender, about a half hour
- Fish out the bay leaves, check your seasoning (you did remember salt and pepper, didn’t you?), and add the dairy product of your choice
- Serve with aforementioned bacon and chives