Root for Root Vegetables

I watched a college basketball game this past week – the University of New Mexico Lobos vs. New Mexico State Aggies.  These are the two biggest universities in the state and so there is naturally a rivalry.  I live in Albuquerque and attended UNM, so I naturally root for the Lobos and usually boo at the Aggies.  Why boo?  Why dislike a school, a team, a group of people just because they aren’t the school that I went to?   It’s almost as if disliking the Aggies is ingrained in the Lobos and vice versa for no other reason than “they aren’t us.”  And somehow this is acceptable for sporting events as we choose a team to root for, which means we are choosing a team to root against.

Yet I think we carry this mentality into other aspects of our lives too – the idea that if we like one thing, we can’t possibly like another just because it isn’t the first thing.  For example, most people like potatoes – fried, scalloped, baked, chips, whatever form they can get.  If you ask someone, “do you like potatoes?” you will probably get an enthusiastic nod.  However, if you ask people “do you like turnips?”  You will probably get a raised eyebrow followed by a wrinkling of the nose as if they just smelled something like hot trash.  And then if you ask, “have you ever tried turnips?”  You might get a mixed response: some will say no and some will say they were forced to eat them as children but haven’t had them in a long time, while others might say they attempted to make them but couldn’t quite figure out how to cook them.

Turnip Fries

It’s this first group that I can’t quite figure out – how can they dislike something they have never tried? How did the turnip become so wildly unpopular in their minds?  For the people who have bad childhood memories associated with root vegetables, I understand why they wouldn’t want to give them another chance. My mother is in this group.  She says she had to eat turnips as a child and that they were bitter.  As she described this, she looked as if that bitterness was still on her tastebuds. 

I have not experienced the bitter turnip sensation, so I am a fan of the turnip and root vegetables in general.  To me, the turnip is an excellent substitute for the potato.  I have made mashed turnips just like I would if I were making mashed potatoes; boil the turnips, drain the water, add chicken broth,  some butter, salt, and pepper.  Voila!  Mashed turnips!  The husband said that he couldn’t tell the

difference between the turnip and the potato.  I’ve also made Turnip Fries in the oven by cutting up the turnip to look like fries, drizzling with olive oil, and sprinkling with paprika and salt.  These are delicious with a burger! 

Roasted Chicken and Rutabaga

After my impromptu survey about turnips, I decided to ask people about the rutabaga. Most people asked, “What’s that?” and looked at me like I had made up the word.  The rutabaga is a root vegetable just like the turnip.  It seems to have  a wilder taste to it – kind of like venison is to beef – similar but different.  Instead of white “meat” like the turnip, the rutabaga is more yellow.  I made Roasted Chicken and Rutabaga for my first taste of this root vegetable.  While I really like the turnip, the rutabaga didn’t impress me nearly as much.  The recipe called for many spices, black olives, and yet the rutabaga could not be tamed.  It still tasted a bit wild, maybe this was the bitterness my mother had referred to.  However, I ate it anyway and I hope to try it again.  Maybe I will make rutabaga fries the next time.

Both the turnip and the rutabaga are part of the mustard (crucifer) family along with cabbage, cauliflower, and the radish.  So why are these vegetables in the same family more widely accepted?  How did the turnip and the rutabaga fall from popularity?  I don’t know the answer to these questions, but just as I will continue to root for the Lobos I will continue to root for root vegetables (and try to boo less for the Aggies.)

Frittatas, Omelets, and Quiche - oh my!

Frittatas, and Omelets, and Quiche – oh my!  I’ve been able to eat eggs for almost four years now, so I’ve branched out from scrambled eggs and have experimented with the Frittata, Omelet, and Quiche.  Before I could eat eggs, I put them all egg dishes in the same category of “don’t eat!”  However, now that I can eat them, I’ve noticed that there are some subtle differences. But those differences are so subtle that I thought I would write what I think they are and then follow up with a bit of research. 

Frittata

My first step down the yellow egg yolk road was the Frittata.  I found a frittata recipe in a Cooking Light magazine and have made it a number of times.  The great thing about the recipe is that I can use it as a suggestion and then use the ingredients that I have.  I’ve used bacon, leftover Italian sausage, and smoked chicken apple sausage for the meat. I’ve used combinations of chopped fresh spinach, bell pepper, zucchini, and onion for the vegetables.  Sometimes I crush corn chips and add them to the mix for a crunchier texture.  The only ingredient that never changes is the egg!

To me the frittata is like an egg pancake in which the flavor can be manipulated by the other ingredients added to the egg mixture.  Dictionary.com refers to it as an Italian omelet that “resembles a large pancake containing vegetables, seasonings, and often ricotta, Parmesan, or other cheese.”¹ The key is that it is served open rather than folded.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) the word “frittata” first appeared in 1875 in a quote in the New York Times: “All except the most passionate or stupid appear to feel how necessary it is to keep within bounds and avoid reducing to experiment plan and theories, the end of which would be to make a frittata of Italian political affairs.”²  This refers to the idiom fare la frittata (to make a mess of something) rather than the food, but it shows how the egg dish can be a chaotic hodge podge rather than a thought out recipe.

Feeling spicy?  Add some chile powder or even some green chile.  Want it mild? Stick with salt and pepper.  The frittata is an excellent and flavorful way to handle leftovers that you just don’t know what to do with. Frittatas, and Omelets, and Quiche – oh my!

Omelet

Next, I sashayed down the yellow egg yolk road to the Omelet.  Keep in mind that I have never made an omelet.  There is something extremely intimidating about flipping the omelet and keeping the ingredients inside the fold.  To avoid the stress, I ordered “The Abney” at Weck’s.  According to their menu it has “diced bacon, fresh bell peppers, diced tomatoes, guacamole, cheddar and jack cheeses, with your choice of red and/or green chile.”  I, of course, chose green chile, but it was the guacamole that really stood out.  It transformed my healthy omelet into something delicious that I will definitely try again.

To me the omelet looks like an egg taco folded around healthy vegetables.  According to dictionary.com, the dish usually consists of “eggs beaten until frothy, often combined with other ingredients, as herbs, chopped ham, cheese, or jelly, and cooked until set.”³ According to the OED, the first time the word omellette appeared was in 1611 in a French & English Dictionary: “Omelette [v.r. Haumelotte, Homelette], an Omelet, or Pancake of egges.”⁴  However, the dish existed long before the word.  In 1561 the same egg dish was referred to as an “aumelete”. If a dish can exist for over 400 years and outlast its own name, it must be worthwhile.

Quiche

Salmon Gouda Quiche

Finally, I tiptoed down the yellow egg yolk road to the Quiche.  I always thought that quiche was a fancy dish meant for the rich and famous.  I am neither, but while vacationing in Ruidoso, I thought I would invoke my adventurous side and try it anyway.  My husband and I went to a cleverly named coffee shop called “SacredGrounds.”  I ordered the Green Chile Chicken Quiche and he ordered the Smoked Gouda Salmon Quiche.  They were both presented beautifully like pieces of egg pie next to fresh fruit and freshly baked cookies.   I think I may have built the idea of Quiche up too much because I found it to be rather bland.  The husband said that his was fantastic though, so I think this must be another case of my unsophisticated taste buds not rising to the occasion.  (The cookies, on the other hand, were to die for.  If I’m ever back in Ruidoso, I might have to stop for those alone.)

Green Chile Chicken Quiche

My amateur description of the Quiche wasn’t far off.  Dictionary.com refers to it as “a pielike dish consisting of unsweetened pastry shell filled with a custard and usually containing cheese and other ingredients as vegetables, seafood, or ham.”⁵ However, the OED refers to it as a “flan” and states that the first time the word appeared was in 1925 in the Indiana Evening Gazette: “Quiche Lorraine’ is one of the specialties of this department.”⁶  There is a bit more mystery surrounding the etymology of the word as it was most widely used in France; however, the word may have been derived from the German “kuchen” which was used in the early 1800’s.  Just like the Omelet, the Quiche has managed to exist beyond its own name and cross boarders outside of the yellow egg yolk road.

Delicious Conclusion

Frittatas, and Omelets, and Quiche – oh my!  Who knew that my journey down the yellow egg yolk road would be as exciting as the the yellow brick road!  While ingredients of the dishes are all very similar, the tastes can vary which is dependent on how the dish was prepared.  The Omelet, a simple folded over egg, originated in France and is the oldest and therefore, the brains - the Scarecrow- of the egg dishes.  Because of the mysterious origin of the Quiche, it is hard to say whether it or the Frittata was created first.  It takes courage “to make a mess of something” even if it is in an egg pancake and still be edible, so I think the Italian Frittata serves as the courage – the not so Cowardly Lion of the dishes.  That leaves the Quiche as the heart – the Tin Man – the dish that people put on a pedestal, admire, and then devour maybe because of the mystery that prevails it.

Frittatas, and Omelets, and Quiche – oh my!  My only question? Where does the Strata fit in?

References

1.       frittata. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frittata

2.       frittata, n. (2014). OED Online. Oxford University Press.

3.       omelet. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/omelet

4.       omelette, n. (2014) OED Online. Oxford University Press.

5.       quiche. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved November 21, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quiche

6.       quiche, n.2. (2014). OED Online. Oxford University Press.

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The Truth about Tacos at Zacateca's

I am not a vegetarian.  I tried to be in high school, but it didn’t last long.  Because I was allergic to milk, eggs, and potatoes, I was an unwilling vegan who somehow managed to survive on rice, beans, and granola bars.  After dizzy spells and losing too much weight, I abandoned the idea of vegetarianism.  Not that it isn’t a worthy cause; it just isn’t for me.

So, it was a complete surprise to my husband and maybe myself when I ordered the Vegetarian Tacos at Zacateca’s Tacos &Tequila.  To be fair this was my second choice.  I really wanted to order the Puerco Al Pastor which are pork tacos with orange chile pineapple.  Before I ordered I decided to ask the waiter how spicy they were and he grinned, “Those are actually the spiciest thing we have on the menu.”  On our last visit to the restaurant, the husband ordered the Chicken Tinga tacos and sacrificed many taste buds to his dedication in finishing every last delicious yet extremely spicy morsel.  And this is why I replied to the waiter with, “Vegetarian Tacos it is then!”

But sometimes things happen for a reason.  When the tacos arrived, they were arranged beautifully on a plate – four tacos in what I call taco holders.  Corn tortillas held yellow corn, snow peas, zucchini, and peppers all sautéed in the most amazing butter sauce I may have ever tasted and then topped with something called Cotija cheese and, my favorite, avocado.  Whoever thinks that vegetables are boring needs to try these tacos!  The vegetables themselves had a fresh summer sweetness about them that was accented by the salty, flavorful butter sauce, and pronounced by the cheese.  I had never heard of Cotija cheese until this outing, but it seems like a Mexican version of the Italian Parmesan. It has the same consistency, but the flavor is bolder, maybe saltier.  It may now be my favorite kind of cheese.

Because there were four tacos, the husband and I decided to share.  In exchange for one prized Vegetarian Taco, he gave me one Cochinita de Pibil taco, which are pork tacos braised in banana leaves and chile.  I had ordered these on our previous visit and already knew that they would be fantastic.  What was surprising was that the husband (who says that he pretended vegetables didn’t exist until we started dating) inhaled the vegetarian taco and demanded that we exchange another.  Yes, demanded.  I thought it was so funny that he valued vegetables over pork in this instance, that I exchanged another without any argument. 

The truth is that the vegetarian tacos are so good that I wanted to share, wanted him to enjoy them as much as I did.  So, thank you Zacateca’s Tacos & Tequila for encouraging us to eat our vegetables and to share.  And thank you for making an excellent margarita too!

Chicken and Waffles: A Golden Dream

I’ve tried fried chicken and I’ve tried waffles.  Not even my weird allergies could keep me from these two staples.  Sure, I was probably allergic to them when I ate them, but I lived to eat them again and, yes, even again.  But I had never tried Chicken and Waffles together on the same plate at the same meal.  I think I first saw this unique combination on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives and was captivated by how beautiful the presentation was and how even through the TV screen my mouth was watering.

That is a sure sign that I had to experience it for myself.   Albuquerque the Magazine has boasted in the past that Nexus Brewery has the best Chicken and Waffles in the city, so naturally this is  where I gravitated.  The husband and I were extremely dedicated on our quest for this decadent dish.  We typed in the address in the husband’s phone and proceeded to follow its faulty directions through construction, away from the direct freeway and through windy side streets, back to the direct freeway away from the frontage road and directly past our destination.  Even though we were hungry and frustrated, we pressed on around many more blocks to put ourselves in the right direction for the frontage road and Chicken and Waffles.

Once inside Nexus, we were immediately handed menus.  It didn’t take us long to find what we wanted, but were a bit disappointed to discover it would take 20 minutes to fry the chicken.  But we had come this far and we weren’t about to let 20 minutes get in the way.  And it was well worth the wait.

The waiter brought out our plates with two huge pieces of golden fried chicken and a steaming waffle that looked as thick as a piece of cake.  It was served with a little tub of maple syrup and when the waiter asked if we wanted hot sauce to go with it I raised a skeptical eyebrow, but the husband said, “Yes, please!” in excitement.

And the taste?  I don’t think any description I can come up with will do it justice, but I will try.  The fried chicken tasted just like it looked – crispy, golden (if something can taste golden) with a slight hint of pepper.  The waffle was sweet, just like cake minus the frosting - a sweet fluffy pillow and when the maple syrup was dumped over the top, the pillow transformed into a dream.  And the combination of the fried chicken and waffle?   It was a golden dream that I can’t even put into words.  This is something you will have to experience for yourself.

Mozzarella On Purpose

My Mother-in-Law read my post, “Mozzarella – Just Because” and decided that I needed to try fresh
mozzarella and tomatoes.  As part of my birthday present, she brought me those very things – fresh mozzarella and tomatoes on the vine .  This time I had mozzarella on purpose and not just because.  She was right!  I did need try them.

I sampled a slice of tomato with a slice of mozzarella on the top and carefully tasted it.  The texture wasn’t at all like the fried cheese stick – not rubbery, but rather smooth and cool.  It was fresh and refreshing.  The taste was subtle, but not boring. 

I decided to serve them for the husband and me along with leftovers from the Pick Your Patty Porch Party.  I placed the plate next to a big bowl of Peppered Vegetable Salad that my mom made.  It had a mixture of cauliflower, bell peppers, and my favorite – olives, and was dripping with a delicious, peppery vinaigrette dressing.  I was suddenly inspired and grabbed an olive out of the bowl and with a bit of dressing dripping from its sides I put it on top of a mozzarella tomato stack and popped it in my mouth.  And then the flavors exploded!  Adding a tangy and peppery flavored olive made the mozzarella seem even creamier, the tomato even fresher.  It’s interesting how mixing food can make the original so much stronger.  The same goes for family.  Thank you to my mother-in-law and my mom for making such wonderful food and inspiring me to try new things.

The next night I was inspired to prepare a  Caprese Salad to accompany the many leftovers from the Pick
Your Patty Porch Patty.  Honestly, with so many leftovers I was lazy in cooking.  I really didn't follow a recipe.  Instead, I alternated tomato and mozzarella slices and fanned them out on a plate.  Then I sprinkled olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried basil over them and then add spring mix salad for a somewhat healthy side dish.  Not only was it a beautiful presentation, but it was delicious too.

Pick your Patty Porch Party

Many birthdays ago I decided that it would be great fun to have a Party where all of the food started with a “P”.  I dreamt uP an entire theme where guests could Pick their Patty: hamburger, turkey, Pork, chicken – basically a cook out with a twist. When work was comPleted on our brand new Porch/Patio, the husband and I thought it was the Perfect oPPortunity to have a Party and it just haPPened to coincide with my birthday.  And what did I want for my birthday?  A Pick your Patty Porch Party!

Of course, having so many choices of Patties was unrealistic (and costly!) so the husband and I decided to offer hamburger and turkey Patties for burgers.  We also grilled Peaches marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, cinnamon, and PePPer.  The sweet and tangy flavor revived the turkey burgers from tasting too healthy.

As Promised, our guests rose to the occasion quite creatively and brought a range of dishes that all startedwith a “P”.  We had Pork and Beans, Potato ChiPs, PePPered Vegetable Salad, Pasta Salad, Pickles, and PoP and Peach tea to drink. And for dessert we had Pudding Cake and Party Cake (aka birthday cake).  All of the food was amazing!  The Pick your Patty Porch Party was the Perfect way to celebrate our new porch and my birthday.

Thank you to all the PeoPle who not only Put uP with my Peculiar (and sometimes Pedestrian) Plans, but also ParticiPate in them.  I love you all!  I Pontificated on the Everything Starts with “ P” theme for a long time before it became a reality.  I’m not sure if I’ll be able to toP it.

Mozzarella Sticks Just Because

When thinking about writing this post, I realized that I didn’t even know how to spell “mozzarella”.  I had to

look it up!  Then I realized that I really don’t know how to spell the names of most of cheeses.  Gorgonzola? Parmesan? (I can spell “American,” “Pepper Jack,” and even “Swiss,” so I’m not a complete lost cause!) Give me a break.  I’ve been allergic to cheese most of my life and have never had a reason to learn how to spell, pronounce, or understand any of its variations.  In restaurants, I ask politely, “Can I get that without cheese?”  If the answer is “no,” I order something else and move on.

The husband and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings this week (another first for me) and the waitress brought us a basket of Mozzarella Sticks.  We told her that we didn’t order them, but she put them on our table anyway and said “There’s no charge.” We were so surprised that I think we both asked “Why?”  When I realized how rude that sounded, I followed up with “Just because?”  She smiled and shrugged as she said “Just because.”

If it weren’t for “just because,” I never would have tried a cheese stick.  I’m glad that I tried it, but my overall reaction is simply confusion.  The outer fried part of the cheese stick tastes like your typical fried anything.  It reminded me of fried zucchini – that crunchy Italian seasoned bread crumb exterior – that makes you not care what’s in the middle.  I’m glad that the exterior made me not care.  Mozzarella doesn’t really taste like anything to me, so I don’t dislike it.  How can one hate the taste of nothing?  Especially if that nothing is coated in yummy bread crumbs and then deep fat fried?  No wonder Fair food is so popular.  If we could fry air, I’m sure that we would.  That might be preferable to a rubbery, chewy glob – I’m not sure.

But this confusion could stem from a lack of sophistication on my part.  Perhaps because my taste buds have never known the taste of cheese until recently, I simply don’t understand or perhaps my mind needs time to catch up with my taste buds to process it.  The sad thing is that when the waitress first said, “mozzarella,” I thought of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.  They are always talking about homemade mozzarella and how divine it is.  The cast is shown eating and savoring it like it is a delicacy.  Sophistication aside, this makes me think that there must be something to it.  And so I won’t write it off yet. Maybe I just need to try it in a different way, a way that is not mass produced and deep fat fried.

                                           

Bangers and Mash

The husband is a huge fan of Bangers and Mash.  If we go to an Irish Pub, I don’t even have to ask what he is ordering.  Because he orders this dish whenever he has the opportunity, I consider him somewhat of an expert.  (In fact, he should probably be the one writing this post.)

Even though the husband loves this dish and adores St. Patrick’s Day, we decided to avoid the crowds and craziness the holiday can bring and stayed in to concoct our own version of Bangers and Mash.  We both have a bit of Irish blood in the veins and hoped that we could channel some of our ancestry into our culinary experiment.  I can’t speak for the husband or his expert taste buds, but I wasn’t disappointed.

We found a recipe for Bangers of Mash, but didn’t follow it exactly.  (It’s rare that I actually follow a recipe!) Keep in mind that I used my own recipe for the mashed potatoes and for the gravy I substituted half water and half beef broth and didn't use any type of browning sauce.

We started with the mashed potatoes by cutting the potatoes into cubes and boiling them in water just like my mom taught me to do all those years ago making Thanksgiving dinner.   Of course, back then I was allergic to potatoes and couldn’t taste the progress of the dish.  It’s always been a mystery how I got to be in charge of making the mashed potatoes when I had no idea how they turned out.  All of that practice paid off though.  We used chicken broth instead of milk, which added a bit of a savory, salty flavor.  We splurged and used real butter though and I think this is the key to smooth mashed potatoes.  I’ve never used real butter in mashed potatoes before and so they had never come out quite so smooth before.  They even tasted smooth.

While the potatoes were cooking, we grilled Sweet Italian Sausages in a skillet.  I wish that I could have found English Sausages, but they were not in any of the stores that I went to.  I think the Italian Sausages were a good substitute, but according to the husband and expert Bangers and Mash orderer, they were a bit spicier and sweeter than English Sausages.  I don’t believe I have ever tried an English Sausage, so I wouldn’t know the difference.  Maybe next year I can find the right ingredient.

Although, in my opinion, the type of sausage wasn’t crucial to the dish.  We made a Brown Butter Onion

Gravy that added just enough salt and savory to the already delicious mashed potatoes.  The gravy was so surprisingly delicious that I honestly forgot about the sausage. Of course, the was also made out of butter, so I guess it shouldn’t have been so surprising. This was also my first attempt at a butter based gravy – rich, creamy, and smooth.

If there is a moral to this culinary experiment, it would have to be that butter creates a smooth delicious flavor whether in mashed potatoes or in gravy.  While the dish was relatively easy to make, I think I will reserve that delicious smooth richness (and all of those fat grams from sausage and butter) for St. Patrick’s Day.

To be continued next year with English Sausage….

The Case of the White Velvet Cake

I can never do anything the easy way.  Buy a cake from the bakery?  While I love them, where is the challenge in that? Buy a cake mix from the store?  Oh no, that would be too easy.  Instead, for the husband’s birthday, I decided to make him a “White Velvet Cake” from scratch.  I showed him the picture of the cake next to the recipe before I started baking and he agreed whole heartedly in favor of this being his birthday cake.

No pressure, right?  Keep in mind that I’m still learning to use ingredients like butter, eggs, and white chocolate, especially in baked goods.  Butter is a completely different consistency than butter-flavored Crisco.  It has to be slightly melted and softened before it can be added to the flour mixture of the cake batter.  Oh, how I miss Crisco!  You could just dump it right in the bowl without any preparation.  If only they would make a soy free version!  And then there are the eggs – the saving grace for any cake – they help the cake rise and give it a moist fluffiness that no substitute can quite create.  I’m glad that I’m no longer allergic to these simple miracles, so that I can experiment with cake making.  Finally, the white chocolate, which is another ingredient I’ve grown to love.  For the cake, it had to be melted, slightly cooled, and then slowly added to the batter.  This was a challenge because it couldn’t get too hard in the cooling stage or it wouldn’t mix with the batter.  Somehow the timing worked out though.

I only came across one real snag when mixing the ingredients: I realized that I didn’t have any sour cream. I never buy sour cream because I typically still buy groceries that are dairy free unless there is something special I’m planning to make as in the case of the White Velvet Cake.  Somehow I forgot, so when I came upon the line in the recipe to add it to the batter, I panicked.  Should I skip it altogether?  Is there a substitute that might work?  I had some applesauce, but would that make it taste like apples?  All of these questions quickly raced through my head before I decided to Google “sour cream substitutes” and discovered that yogurt is the best substitute.  Too bad I didn’t have any of that either.  I also found that buttermilk and butter could be used.  And no, I didn’t have any buttermilk, but I normally substitute almond milk mixed with apple cider vinegar for this ingredient, so I thought I would give it a try.  Unfortunately, I forgot to melt/soften the butter and it didn’t mix well with the liquid.  My husband gave it his best shot as I mixed the other ingredients, but it was not meant to be.  So…I ended up using most of the liquid and some of the butter that mixed in just so the cake wouldn’t be too dry.  At this point I wished that I had bought that cake mix at the store!

Long story short: the cake looked beautiful and golden in the pans until I removed them from the pans (and yes, I did grease and flour them).  Parts of the cake stuck, which made frosting the cake a little more difficult as cake mixed in with the icing.  But the frosting  actually made the cake.  Without the icing on top of the cake, it wouldn’t have been worth eating.  I made a White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting as the original recipe recommended.  It was delicious and made me change my negative thoughts toward cream cheese frosting.  Add white chocolate and it is a masterpiece!

The cake itself was dry and didn’t really taste much different than a dry white or even yellow cake.  Where was the white chocolate taste when I went to all of that effort adding it to the batter?  Maybe the lack of sour cream messed up the consistency?  (I looked at comments on Pinterest and noticed that other people complained of the dryness too and I’m pretty sure they didn’t make up a sour cream substitute!) 

The case of the cake will continue as I search for better recipes that are moist and fluffy.  Maybe I should keep it simple and stick to white or yellow cake recipes.  No, you’re right; that would be too easy.

 

Yes, Beer

Beer.  When I hear that word, I picture an unkempt man sitting on the couch wearing a white t-shirt, jeans riddled with holes, one hand patting his protruding belly, the other holding a can of Budweiser.  The mere word alerts all of my senses.  It causes my nostrils to swell with the sweet stank of rotting bread, my ears hear the pop of the can being opened and then a refreshing “whoosh” as the bubbles settle, and my eyes envision a sickly yellow liquid, a yellow that looks as if the liquid has already been digested.  As you can probably tell, I don’t like beer.  I never have and probably never will.  Yet I do enjoy trying new things, so when I was asked to a beer pairing dinner, I said “yes”.  And in my head I said “beer?”  Yes, beer.

Not knowing anything about a beer pairing dinner or more specifically this beer pairing dinner, I arrived with my husband at the hotel in casual jeans and a button up shirt.  The event had a “speakeasy” theme, so we walked around the back, past the rotting trash in the dumpsters, to the back door where a man was waiting for us to deliver the secret password.  Of course, the husband forgot the password, but the man let us in anyway.  We walked down what felt to be a very long, dark hallway lined with hotel staff that stared at us.  One of them called out at the husband, “Are you a cop?”   Everyone laughed.  I can’t imagine how nerve-racking a real speakeasy must have been.

We joined a friend when we finally got through the long hallway and we found seats at a table with three other couples, all of whom were dressed up far more than we were.  Before dinner was served, the owner of the brewing company gave a speech, one of the hotel staff gave a speech, the owner of an art gallery sponsoring the event gave a speech, and then the chef gave a speech.  By the time they were all finished, I think we were all starving and I felt that I needed a drink – even if it was beer.

Course 1: Pilsner paired with fried avocado and salted sardines.  Our friend said, “It looks like a Corona.”  She took a sip and said, “Tastes like a Corona.”  I usually can’t get past the smell of beer, so have never really tasted it before.  I took a little sip.  It wasn’t bad – a little sweet, with a bitter aftertaste.  If it wasn’t for the aftertaste, it wouldn’t have been bad.  A pilsner is supposedly a light beer, but it didn’t taste light to me, so I worried what was to come.  Fried avocado tastes like an interesting culinary experiment that may have been the result of an accident.  Maybe the avocado fell into a bowl of bread crumbs and somehow ended up in the fryer?  It had a crunchy outer shell, but the avocado was practically cream in the middle.  The husband said, “This could have been fried anything.  Can’t really taste the avocado.”  This was true; however, the salty sardines overpowered the avocado any way.  I braced myself for the salty little fish, but it actually wasn’t bad.  It had a less salty sauce sprinkled around the plate and honestly made the pilsner more bearable.

Course 2: Amber Ale paired with Blue Cheese on Toast.  This was a complicated beer.  It tasted as if it couldn’t decide if it was sweet or bitter.  Even though it was disgusting, I kept sipping it to try and figure out what it tasted like.  The blue cheese on toast was equally disgusting and didn’t help the taste of the beer.  Rotting moldy cheese does not help the flavor of fermented hops.

Course 3: La Roja paired with African Barbecue Chicken Skewer.  If the Amber Ale was complicated, La Roja should be in therapy.  I only took one sip to know that this beer was a deeper more complicated version of the Amber Ale.  I didn’t taste it any more than that.  The African Barbecue sauce was very good – spicy with a strong vinegary taste, so powerful that I wish I had more chicken meat and less chicken gristle to sop it up.  I noticed everyone at our table ate all of the chicken very quickly and the glasses of the deep red La Roja remained untouched.  The waiter eventually came by to remove the full glass as we could only have two glasses of alcohol per person at one time.  Everyone gave these glasses up without a fight.

Course 4: Café con Leche paired with Braised Beef Short Ribs.  This was the course that everyone was anxious to sample.  A coffee and milk beer?  Really?  The beer itself was a stout, a rich, deep brown color that reminded me of chocolate.  I was skeptical about a beer that claimed to have flavors that I normally enjoy, so I sipped carefully.  It wasn’t bad.  It did have coffee and milk undertones, but it was still beer.  It still had a bitter aftertaste.  The ribs had excellent flavor, reminiscent of the beer they were braised in, but without the bitter aftertaste.  They complimented the beer nicely.  Unfortunately, I again had more fat than meat on my plate. It was the end of the meal and I just didn’t want any more beer. I noticed that most people drank this beer though, so it must have been a sweet end to the meal even if there was no dessert.

Yes, beer.  I tried it, but next time I think I will say no thank you to a beer pairing dinner.  Now a wine pairing dinner, that’s another story!

Life and a Box of Chocolates

Forest Gump said that “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”   I always thought that was so simple, yet so true.  While I understood the philosophical nature of the statement, I never really understood the surface of it.  As a child I remember being so in awe of what I considered a fancy box of chocolates.  Sure, they were probably from Walgreens, wrapped in white paper with a gold bow painted on the top, but I thought the entire box was beautiful, each chocolate a mystery waiting to be solved.  Unfortunately, I was forbidden to solve any of those mysteries, forbidden to taste any of what I imagined to be gooey centers…until now!

Sure, most chocolates have soy lecithin in them as a preservative, but now that the milk allergy is gone, I feel a little splurging is necessary, especially at Christmas time.  I can finally solve some of those mysteries I’ve always been curious about.  My first chocolate did come out of a box just like I described above.  It was delicious: dark chocolate on the outside and a gooey caramel filling.  Yum.  I was at work, so I didn’t have time to savor or to think of a proper description, but “yum” seems to do the job.  I also tried one with a coconut filling that was so good that I had to try another one, so I picked a big square.  Maybe I got a bit greedy picking the biggest chocolate in the box, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was terrible!  It had what I think was toffee in the center.  It was so hard that I couldn’t even bite through it!  I ended up sucking all the chocolate off the top and then throwing the rest in the trash can. Now I completely understand the “you never know what you’re gonna get” part of the quote.  I really had no idea that some of the chocolates might actually be unpleasant (at least to my taste buds).

My husband brought home another box of Belgian chocolates that was wrapped in gold paper with a sheer fabric bow on the top.  It was really wrapped like a present!  When I finally tore through the paper, there was more wrapping and plastic covering on the inside.  I was surprised to find a paper guide to the chocolates inside.  This completely went against the quote!  There was a picture of the chocolate and a description of what the chocolate was.  Sure, this took a little bite out of the mystery, but created another one altogether.  I read the descriptions and then tried to decide which one I wanted to taste.  The mystery came in when I tried to decide if it actually tasted like the description.  The first one I chose was described as “dark chocolate with a cherry center” with a picture of a small round, dark chocolate.  Once I found the chocolate meeting this description, I pulled it out of the box and sunk my teeth in.  I searched for the cherry, but didn’t find one.  I was a bit disappointed, but I didn’t give up!  I chose another one that claimed it was “white chocolate with a creamy lemon filling.”  This description didn’t disappoint!  It was exactly that, but I was surprised at how lemony the filling actually was.  Delicious!

The moral of the story?  Even if you think know what you’re “gonna get,” you might actually get something entirely different, maybe better, maybe worse.  And so, the quote still holds true.  Whether you have a description or an idea of what you think the outcome is going to be, “Life is like a box of chocolates.”