Tag: potato

Well, as Tele has previously posted, the other night we went to Kobe. I think its a fine little sushi bar, and I must say that while I was there I fell in love with Red Snapper. That's some awesome fish, I tell you what.

The problem, however, is as much as I love sushi, I can almost never eat enough of it. I can eat .. well.. quite a bit more than I logically should be able to eat, and I fear that it's my voracious appetite that will condemn me to a) not eat enough at a sushi bar, b) eat so much at a sushi bar that the itamae and I have to battle in hand to hand combat because they have nothing left in the restaurant to eat, or c) I've eaten so much sushi that the Pacific ocean is declared devoid of life. A good example, is what I had to eat today. I had the following to eat:

• 4 cups of coffee
• 1 cup of tea
• 5 bottles of water (16 oz)
• 4 sandwiches
• 1 cup cheese popcorn
• 2 truffles
• 1 pear
• 1 stuffed pork chop
• 1 baked potato
• 1 bowl of cinnamon apples
• 1 bowl of coffee icecream

At the sushi place, if I recall correctly, I had:

• 5 pc cucumber roll
• 5 pc philadelphia roll
• 4 hamachi (yellow tail)
• 2 red snapper
• 2 crab roll
• 3 cups green tea
• 1 16oz sake

and we went out for frozen yogurt afterwards, in which I had a 16oz plain with pomegranate seeds.

I think I have a tapeworm. He and I understand each other.

Apparently, using a raw potato as a sort of sponge can reduce the salt content in an oversalted dish. Just cut into quarters and let it soak up some of the sodium. And please, try not to salt overzealously. It's bad for your heart.

Tele was hard at work on his new job, we had little food in the house and I was left in charge of dinner. This is not a good thing, I make desserts not dinner. I decided to give it a go. First things first what ingredients do we have available? I found: eggs, potatoes, and a block of medium cheddar. Sounded like a frittata waiting to happen. So I checked out some frittata recipes. All of which had a miriad of ingredients that I did not have available. I found a recipe at Epicurious that I felt I could modify to fit my on hand ingredients. And so the frittata experiment began. FYI: a frittata is sort of a quiche without a crust.

Potato & Cheese Frittata

6 large eggs 1 to 1 1/2 cups cheddar 3/4 teaspoon salt (I used sea salt) 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 of a white onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided (well, bummer we are out of that too. I had to settle for vegtable oil) 1/2 lb boiling potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/4 inch chunks (I used 3 small russets)

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add in the cheddar, salt, and pepper.

Preheat broiler.

Cook onions & garlic in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a 10 inch heavy skillet (cast iron is preferable, but oven proof is necessary). Stir over medium heat for about 1 minute until golden. Using a slotted spatula or spoon transfer the onion & garlic to a small bowl.

Put the potatoes with 1 tablespoon olive oil into the skillet. Cook over medium/high heat for about 6 minutes or until they are tender.

Add to the potates in the skillet the final tablespoon of olive oil and the onions & garlic. Spread out evenly.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes, onions, & garlic. Cook over medium/high heat for approximately 3 minutes, lifting up the cooked egg around the edges to allow the uncooked egg flow underneath. Reduce the heat to medium and cover, cook for 5 minutes. (center will still be liquidy)

Uncover and transfer the entire pan to the oven. Broil 5 to 7 inches away from the heat for approximately 5 minutes. Frittata is finished when knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Be careful not to overcook or it will be a bit dry.

Slice into wedges and serve. Yield: 2-4 servings

The verdict: Everyone liked it lots. Yeah! I cooked an edible dinner. The boy and I ate ours with catsup, the Tele with some added pepper. If I can make this one, so can you. Do yourself a favor and try it some time. Let me know how your house likes it.

While doing a rush dinner, I decided to take some very basic cooking applications and try to come up with something fast and unique. Here's the cooking method and the result.

First, I sweated a mirepoix (carrots, celery, and onions chopped thin) in butter over low heat while I halved some chicken tenders and flattened them (with a plastic potato masher). After giving them a once-over in pepper, kosher salt, a crushed red pepper, and some garlic and onion powder, I spread them evenly around the skillet (where the onions had gone clear).

Since the tenders had been flattened, I was afraid to lose moisture, so I covered them and let each side cook on low for about seven minutes apiece (until white). Finally, I got out the bear of honey and spread a thin glaze across the tops of the chicken, raised the heat to high, and scorched the honey on both sides. It came out tasty, with a good balance between spicy and sweet; it was a little too spicy for LittleRoq (I actually used three crushed red peppers in my initial run) but can be toned down without losing much flavor.

The balance in this one is between red pepper and honey; it would also work well with a bit of smoky sweet paprika in the initial spice mix. I'll have to delve into honey-pepper-paprika more fully in future unrecipes.

Believe it or not, we at EU have a life similar to that of normal people. We learn, we laugh, we love, and we have thanksgiving dinner. As such, I have duly been appointed by the gods of thanksgiving cookery (hereafter known as injuns) to make sweet potatoes. I know what you bastards are all thinking, you're all thinking about how Teleolurian would look in a mini skirt. I mean, you're all thinking that potatoes are easy, you just boil, mash and marshmellow. Alas, this is the lazy american way of cooking. We practice the Zao Zo Zi Ha Ping Wong or the study of the eternal sunshine of the majestic yam.

First, young potatowan, we must select the right potatoes. The right potato has bright orange flesh with reddish skin. If you're not sure what color the flesh is by the look of the potato, go ahead and take a bite. No one will notice. I promise. If it is indeed orange. Congratulations! Place sweet potatoes into a vegetable bag (about 2 pounds worth). Some grocery stores have scales as to weigh the potatoes. The way these work is you sit on top of one, wait for a grocer to come around and scorn you, slap grocer with bag of potatoes and gauge his injuries. If he's still yelling at you (but slightly pissed off) then you do not in fact have enough potatoes. If he is unconscious, then you most likely have around 2 pounds. If he is dead, you probably want to take a few of the potatoes out, as you have too much. Also, you may want to stuff his lifeless corpse in the corn bin, otherwise by the time you get out of prison your potatoes will have gone bad and thanksgiving will have long been deemed an ancient tradition saluting the once proud indian tribes of North America. The next couple of things you'll need are Heavy whipping cream, bourbon, light brown sugar, sweet sassy molassy, and salt. For the whipping cream, you can visit your local farm and smack around a cow that weighs more than 500 pounds. Then milk. Also, you may want to pasteurize the milk. I'm not quite sure how to do that, but I'm sure it has something to do with Louis Pasteur III and some fairies. Everyone knows that you get Bourbon out of your loco hobos pocket, or your Uncle Henrys hand after he's long since passed out watching badminton. Or maybe it was football. Light brown sugar, well, I can't stop laughing about the whereabouts I was going to put here, so lets just say, you get it at the store. Sweet sassin molassin is a product of the sasquatch and is typically found around or near their dens. If you can't find a sasquatch den, you'll most likely have to omit this ingredient. (Edit: I've just learned you can buy this at the store too, ambiguously named "Molasses"). Oh, don't forget the salt. Since you're probably a homosapien you produce this wonderful seasoning.

To recap, the base ingredients for this dish are: * 1 3/4 to 2 pounds of sweet potatoes * 1/2 cup heavy cream * 1/4 cup bourbon whiskey * 3 tablespoons light brown sugar * 2 tablespoons molasses * 1/8 teaspoon salt

Now for the oh so wonderous topping of magical tastiness +2.

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (you can use black, white is just prettier)
• one pinch dried thyme (not a handful. a PINCH)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (not to be confused with peacocks)
• 5 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into eency weency cubes.

Now for the actual cookery/sorcery.

1. Preheat your oven/kiln/heating box/toaster oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place potatoes on a foil lined bakery sheet. (cookie sheet will do)
3. Bake until tender, and starting to ooze a syrup, also unicorns. This will take around an hour and 15 minutes, unless you live in Zimbabwe, in which case it will take 75 minutes. If you have mammoth potatoes (the ones that took over the earth there for a brief moment in 1992), then it may take a tad longer.
4. Remove from the oven and let sit until you can touch them without burning a whole in your pasty man flesh.
5. Cut a slit down each potato (not your wrist) and scoop the flesh into a large bowl. Be sure to cackle with glee otherwise the recipe will not come out right.
6. Add the cream, bourbon, brown sugar, molasses and salt, and use one of them new fangled mixing machines to beat the mixture until its as smooth as gator slaw in the springtime.
7. Pour into little casserole dish. Cover with foil so it doesnt go cold.

For the topping: 1. Mix all of the ingredients together thoroughly (except the butter!) in a small bowl. 2. Add the butter and work with your hands until a crumbly mass forms and calls you names. 3. spread evenly atop the potatoes, and bake until the top is nice and brown.

Serve! and hopefully people wont die!

(Note: nothing in here could kill anyone, except the sasquatch)

(Note #2: he wont hurt you because hes spending thanksgiving at my house)

(Note #3: I havent actually made this recipe. I just pulled it out of the nether regions of my brain because it sounds tastastic. I'll update with commentary on flavor later (subnote #1: After I stuff my gullet with turkey))

When one reflects on the banana as food, several key foods come to mind- banana bread, bananas foster, and the king of sundaes, the banana split. South of the United States, plantains are an important part of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Latin American fare. Whatever the origins, bananas and plantains are far too versatile to be ignored in the kitchen.

Cavendish No More?

Picture a banana in your head. More likely than not, that mental image is of the Cavendish banana, a cultivar bred for durability (and not particularly for taste). The Cavendish is a polyploid breed- it has extra chromosomes in its genetic makeup, making the plant more durable. However, the Cavendish will most likely not be the most common banana in the near future.

In the 1950's, the most common banana export was the Gros Michel; however, a banana-unfriendly fungus known as Panama disease wiped Big Mike off the map. A new strain of Panama disease, called tropical race four, has recently begun to attack the Cavendish cultivar. Since Panama disease is resistant to fungicides, the Cavendish may soon be replaced by a different type of banana in world trade.

Cooking with Plantains

The plantain is starchier and less sweet than your everyday banana, making it less suitable for raw eating (unless very ripe) and much more suitable for use in cooking.

If you've never done yourself the favor of trying Carribean cuisine, you'll be amazed at what can be done with a single ingredient. Plantains can be cooked at any stage of ripeness, and the difference in flavor between a fried green plantain and a fried ripe one is subtle and fantastic.

Preparation is very simple. Tostones are green plantains, cut into one-inch diagonal slices, and fried in oil until brown; then they are flattened and fried again. Without further addition, these are delectable; however, traditional Dominican tostones are topped with sour cream and red or black caviar. The Venezuelan version, called patacones, are treated more like tostadas and are covered with shredded meat, cheese, and chopped lettuce.

Maduros, on the other hand, are very ripe- so ripe that the skin of the plantain is brown to black- and the slices are fried once until golden brown. Traditionally, these are served plain.

You can also slice green plantains very thin and deep-fry them to make chips; I find these superior to potato chips (especially with a little lime juice and salt).