Sunday, October 24, 2010

Terrified.

Yesterday I made batter for caneles (can-eh-lay. alternate spelling: canneles.).

They are a French pastry with a dark brown, crispy, caramelized crust, and a custard-like interior.

Traditionally they are made in copper molds coated with food-grade beeswax.

Copper molds and beeswax!!!
Am I out of my mind???

I do not have copper molds (available for around $20.00 a piece - for one 1 1/2 inch mold) or beeswax (because I don't know any local honey farmers) so I am using mini muffin tins and clarified butter.

And praying.

A lot.

The batter is simple - simmered milk,butter, and vanilla combined with flour, sugar, eggs, and rum. Then it has to sit for at least twenty-four hours.

Then you have to cook them at all these varying temps for like two hours, and hope you can get them out of the molds and they're actually edible.

I keep reading comments like, "On my fifth batch, I got results I was satisfied with."

I'm freaking out.
Why am I doing this?

...Because they sound delicious.

I've been obsessing about them ever since I found out about their existence four days ago, and apparently I've decided to take the plunge. I'll let you know what happens.

Monday, October 11, 2010

anecdote.

I have always loved brussels sprouts.

The first time I tried them - I would've been about seven years old - I loved them so much that I attempted to shove a whole one into my tiny mouth and eat it all at once. The resulting gagging fit was enough to convince my mother that what she'd heard her whole life was true - all children hate brussels sprouts.

And why shouldn't they?

And what was she thinking giving such vile vegetables to her child?

Remorseful, she never made brussels sprouts again. I had to wait until I could buy and make my own food before I ever tasted another.

[end scene]

So sad!!!!

I probably have 20 different brussels sprouts recipes in my collection. I've one recipe that calls for a brown sugar butter sauce that is amazingly delicious, and know a great (if work-intensive) technique for a warm salad that involves separating the leaves of the heads.

We were turned on to a new technique recently:

Grilled Brussels Sprouts

Have you ever??

The recipe called for skewering the heads before throwing them on the grill, but it didn't take long to determine that this was a dangerous and difficult approach that would most likely end with the skewering of ourselves. So we just halved them and used my metal cooling rack as a guard against any of the sprouts falling into the fire.

I tossed them with olive oil [as directed], then added a splash of serrano-infused vodka I happen to have (I'm preserving the chiles from my garden), and some salt and pepper, and put them over the hot coals for about five minutes per side. After I took them off the heat I tossed them with some crushed red pepper flakes and some blue cheese crumbles.

Delicious!!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Important Note.

I've been down for most of a week with food poisoning resulting from a cup of clam chowder purchased from Cafe 251 located at 251 N. Illinois Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. I ate there for lunch on Tuesday, missed work Wednesday and Thursday, attempted to go back Friday, but only lasted until noon.

I am now aware that at least six people from my company alone have gotten sick from eating at that establishment in the less than two years since we have been at this location.

If you are in the area and the idea should arise, DO NOT EAT THERE.

I will be contacting the Board of Health.

... So, after sleeping for the majority of what remained of Friday, and sleeping until 11:00 AM or so yesterday, I attempted a grocery shopping trip. It went reasonably well, though I did take a nap afterwards, and I actually ended up cooking last night.

And eating!
A lot!

I made Indian-spiced pork chops. :-)

I got the recipe from a suburb addition of our local paper, which regularly provides five easy week-night recipes. This week's were from a recently updated edition of a 1972 cookbook titled "The Rodale Whole Foods Cookbook."

Here's what it says to do:

(serves four)

2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 boneless pork chops (5 oz each)
4 tsp vegetable oil

It says to mix all the spices together, pat the mix on both sides of the pork chops, then brush them with the oil and stick them under a pre-heated broiled for 3 minutes per side.

The garam masala I have is already in an oil-based paste form, so I just added a couple of tsp of oil to the whole mix and smeared it on 3 bone-in chops. There's only two of us, after all.

I cooked as suggested, flipping and adjusting cooking time slightly until the part near the bone measured 140 Fahrenheit.

No pics, unfortunately.
Sorry. I'm better, but not THAT better. :-/

Anyway, this was delicious. Despite what newspaper reviewer Joanie Fuson says. (And I quote: "The flavor was a bit overbearing for the kids. Consider cutting the rub ingredients in half.")

What the hell, lady? Maybe you should just teach your kids to use their taste buds. I know we're in Indiana, but you could at least pretend to have a cultural palette. If this had been any more mild, it would've just been salted pork chops. It had a lovely flavor - unique and very fragrant. If your kids don't like it, make them try it some other time.

I served it with baked sweet potatoes, Indian whole milk yogurt, and spicy cilantro relish. We had galub jamun for dessert. And coffee! I hadn't had coffee since Tuesday morning!

Tonight is either spaghetti squash or risotto, depending on what I feel up to doing.

(I actually got hungry around lunchtime today! I had asian soup!)

... and I promise to update you on how we came across all of these Indian ingredients in the first place. But seriously, DO NOT EAT AT CAFE 251.