Category: minutiae

I know I haven’t talked about her in a while, so just to let you all know, I still can’t stand Sandra Lee. Ugh. Her latest show, “Comfort Food II” made me want to vomit.

On to lighter subjects. I’m not sure if I mentioned that the Semi-Homemade thread on Television Without Pity was expanded into a whole forum, but it was. It’s pretty rare for a show that isn’t and was never recapped to get its own forum. The only other ones in recent history were Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Friends, and those have both been taken back down to a single thread.

Food Network personalities have been doing a bunch of appearances lately. InnerCanuck went to an Alton Brown book signing where Sandra Lee was mentioned briefly, to amusing results. Another member, thelifestylist (who trademarked that title a long time ago, and has been in a bunch of legal proceedings over Sandra’s appropriation of it), went to an event of Sandra’s at St. Anthony’s Hospital in Oklahoma City, where, amazingly, they had asked her to make low-fat and heart-healthy dishes… ooooookay. Anyway, read her descriptions of the event here, here, and here.

So, I haven’t actually made this soup yet, but I know it’s good. Ryan makes it sometimes. It is the soup I was talking about here. It looks pretty easy. I should make it. We were talking about how it’d probably be good with a garnish of the roasted cauliflower, as well.

I was talking to Lydia last night and we decided that since there’s a song on the soundtrack called “Katamari on the Rocks,” that there should be a drink called that, too. (It’s the main theme song, in case you didn’t know. “Don’t worry, do your best! Waaa! Nanana nanana nana nanana nanana nana! Picnic kibun feel so good!” Etc.) It would be kind of a presentation drink, because there’d have to be a good deal of planning to make it. Different colored, possibly different flavored icecubes, made and then sort of melted into each other and refrozen to make kind of a ball. We talked about alcohol icecubes, but those wouldn’t freeze totally solid. Maybe that would help, I don’t know. Possibly some bright green liquor to symbolize the Dashing Prince, I guess that would be midori, but that’s terribly sweet, so we’d have to cut it with something. I don’t know. The melting ice cubes would muck up the color eventually. Hm. Work in progress.

(I may be editing this post a little later depending on whether I got those lyrics right. “Katamari” might be “Don’t worry”, but I don’t have the actual album, so I can’t check.) (Checked the lyrics- it IS “Don’t worry,” surprisingly enough!)

Potato-Leek Soup

Pass the Polenta

3 tablespoons butter

4 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced

4 russet potatoes, peeled

6 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh herbs for garnish

Use the white and light green parts of the leeks only. Peel the pototoes and cut into bite-sized chunks. Melt the butter in a heavy pan over low heat and cook the potatoes and leeks a few minutes until fragrant. Add the chicken broth, bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes until potatos are tender. Remove the bay leaf, take off heat, and puree with a stick blender. Add the cream, but do not boil. Thin with water if needed, and garnish with freshly chopped parsley, tarragon or chervil.

Okay, a post where I have to think a little, not just mindless copying from a cookbook. Hm.

Lydia came over on Sunday. We went to Left Bank, a lovely little French restaurant. We each ordered the soup and split an order of fondue and mussels with fries. The fondue was quite good. The soup was all right, but not exactly what I expected. We were so full by the time the mussels came that we had to get a doggie bag. I was a little worried about eating mussels the day after they were cooked, but they were fine. I ate them cold because I didn’t want them to get rubbery with reheating. I froze the broth, just in case I need something to augment a seafood dish in the future. I think we could have gotten just the fondue and the mussels and have been fine. Or we’d have had room for dessert- Lydia was interested in panna cotta, but we were too ful.

I was supposed to go to a TWoP meeting on Saturday, but I got extremely lost in the city and didn’t end up making it. We were going to meet at a bar in the Haight, but I screwed up the directions hardcore, and ended up driving through Twin Peaks (which looked vaguely familiar as a place I’ve gotten to while getting lost in the past) and eventually wound up at the Stonestown Galleria. At that point, I called Jon and told him I was coming over. LAME.

Last night was D&D, woo. Oh, I never wrote about what we did last week. Well, the Piran Sedestal was testing our wizard, Merreck, for entrance into the group. The test they decided to use was to have us all go back to the astral plane and move the planetoid either back to the material plane or to a pocket plane. We met up and fought a bunch of mindflayers- Mynnyd got mindblasted and couldn’t move for the entire fight, but Cooper killed two of them (and almost got his brain sucked out in the process) and Merreck disintigrated one. I don’t remember how the fourth one died. Once we got to the spheroid, we ran into a gelugon (ice devil) who scared the crap out of everyone except Mynnyd (look! I made a will save!), and they all ran off with brown trousers, leaving Mynnyd to deal with the devil, a hellcat, and an imp. Possibly something else, too. I almost killed the imp as it was running away (I think I hit it for thirteen points twice [it healed in between]), killed the hellcat, and decided it would be prudent to leave the devil when I got down to six hit points. Luckily, Mynnyd has a ring of elemental resistance to cold, which absorbs fifteen points of damage per round, which was useful because this guy liked to use cone of cold a lot. I mean, if I had that sort of power at will, I’d probably use it a lot, too.) I forget what else we killed. Random minions, I think. The devil was very interested in removing an infernal torture device from the planetoid and taking it back to hell with him. (This is the device, that, coincidentally, was used to kill all of Mynnyd’s clan members back in the day.) After another confrontation, we decided to talk with the devil. Which takes us to this week’s session.

According to him, there’s a bunch of gith-yanki on their way to the planetoid to… actually, I don’t know what they want, whether it’s the machine or the land or what. The devil wants our help in defending the planetoid so he can get the machine and we can do whatever we want with the planetoid. Because it’s always a good idea to make deals with devils. We ended up agreeing to this after fighting a bunch of githyanki warriors, a githyanki sorcerer, and a red dragon. Helping out on the devil’s side were some kytons. They didn’t seem to do much damage, sadly. I don’t think we got any hits on the dragon, although I did hit its rider with a couple of arrows. The devil fared better with the dragon, because the devil is immune to fire, and the dragon will take double damage from cold if it fails its reflex save. So, ow.

Our DM, Jer, came up with a very intriguing proposition to rid Mynnyd of his belt of displacement (20% missed chance, and I love it). The devil offered him a chance to free the souls of his clan from the ninth level of hell in exchange for the belt. I don’t want to let it go! But I’m pretty sure Mynnyd would do it. After we get some rest (so that Merreck has spells once again- those go FAST in the astral plane), we’re going to test his ability to release these souls, and then Mynnyd (most likely, damn it) will give him the belt so the others will go free.

We still don’t know what this machine thing does, but Sagittarius feels okay with letting the devil have it. I’m really not sure why.

There’s a book signing with Alton Brown tonight at the Books Inc. in Palo Alto. I’d go, but it’s going to be packed. Plus, I already have my book signed. Don’t want to wait in that line.

I soaked and prepared a bunch of dried cannellini and garbanzo beans over the weekend. I’m planning on using them in soups or something. Garbanzo beans are really quite tasty. I was surprised- I’d never eaten them just plain before.

Double-Boiler Polenta

4 cups boiling water

1 tsp. salt

1 c medium-grind cornmeal

Bring about 2 inches of water to boil in bottom of double boiler; reduce to simmer and maintain throughout cooking process.

Into the top pan of the double boiler, set over the simmering water, add 4 cups boiling water. Add salt, then gradually sprinkle in the cornmeal, whisking constantly to avoid lump formation.

Cover and cook until polenta is very soft and smooth, 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring for several seconds every 10 to 15 minutes. (Once cooked, polenta can be covered and saved up to 4 hours and reheated; stir in a bit of water if necessary.)

Okay, that is a ridiculous recipe to type out. I don’t know why I felt compelled to copy the entire thing, instead of simply saying, you know, “Knead the dough for ten minutes.” I’m sure there’s a reason that Marcella Hazan wants you to do it that way. And she’d probably yell at me for kneading it without a specially formulated plan. I think there’s a much easier way to write this. Whatever. That was damn tasty focaccia. Next time, maybe add some garlic and rosemary. Yum.

Focaccia with Salt

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking

1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

2 cups lukewarm water

6 1/2 cups unbleached flour

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp salt

Extra olive oil for smearing the baking pan

A mixture of 1/4 cup olive oil and 2 Tbsp water

About a tablespoon of coarse sea salt

Dissolve the yeast by stirring it into 1/2 cup lukewarm water, and let it stand about 1o minutes.

Combine the yeast and 1 cup of flour in a bowl, mixing them thoroughly. Then add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon salt, 3/4 cup water, and half the remaining flour (2 3/4 cup). Mix thoroughly until the dough feels soft, but compact, and no longer sticks to the hands. Put in the remaining flour and 3/4 cup water, and mix thoroughly once again. When putting in the flour and water for the last time, hold back some of both and add only as much as you need to make the dough manageable, soft, but not too sticky. On a very damp, rainy, for example, you may need less water and more of the flour.

Take the dough out of the bowl, and slap it down very hard several times, until it is stretched out lengthwise. Reach for the far end of the dough, fold it a short distance toward you, push it away with the heel of your palm, flexing your wrist, fold it, and push it away again, gradually rolling it up and bringing it close to you. It will have a tapered, roll-like shape. Pick up the dough, holding it by one of the tapered ends, life it high above the counter, and slap it down hard again several times, stretching it out in a lengthwise direction. Reach for the far end, and repeat the kneading motion with the heel of your palm and your wrist, bringing it close to you once more. Work the dough in this manner for 10 minutes. At the end, pat it into a round shape.

(The preceding 2 steps may be carried out in the food processor, but the hand method, aside from the physical satisfactions it provides, produces a focaccia with better texture.)

Smear the middle of the baking sheet (about 18 by 14 inches) with about 2 tablespoons olive oil, put the kneaded, rounded dough on it, cover it with a damp cloth, and leave to rise for about 1 1/2 hours.

When the indicated rising time has elapsed, stretch out the dough in the baking pan, spreading it toward the edges so that it covers the entire pan to a depth of about 1/4-inch. Cover with a damp towel and let the dough rise for 45 minutes.

At least 30 minutes before you are ready to bake, put the baking stone in the oven and preheat oven to 450.

When the second rising time for the dough has elapsed, keeping the fingers of your hand stiff, poke the dough all over, making many little hollows with your fingertips. Beat the mixture of oil and water with a small whisk or fork until you have obtained a fairly homogenous emulsion, then pour it slowly over the dough, using a brush to spread it all the way out to the edges of the pan. You will find that the liquid will pool in the hollows made by your fingertips. Sprinkle the coarse sea salt evenly over the dough. Place the pan on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Check the focaccia after 15 minutes. If you find it is cooking faster on one side that another, turn the pan accordingly. Bake for another 7 to 8 minutes. Lift the focaccia out of the pan with spatulas, and transfer it to a cooling rack.

Serve focaccia warm or at room temperature that same day. It is preferable not to keep it longer, but if you must, it is better to freeze than refrigerate. Reheat in a very hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes.

So, as you may have read in the comments below, Trader Joe’s has indeed gotten rid of the Muir Glen Fire-Roasted Tomatoes, even though they were, like, the best thing at that store. I may exaggerate, but damn, I’m going to miss them. Enough to blog twice about them, apparently. Wahhh! [/tantrum]

I’ve got some foccacia dough a-rising and the oven’s heating up for roasting cauliflower. I’m eating some of Ryan’s very excellent potato-leek soup. I would really like this recipe. It’s quite lovely, and good to eat cold or hot.

You know, I’ve got to say, kneading by hand is kind of theraputic. Clears the head and whatnot. However, there are other times when you want dough done, so yay for the Kitchenaid.

Watched Point Pleasant last night. Wow, that was teh s uck. I’m going to watch the other half of the pilot tonight, but it’s going to have to be spectacular in order to overcome the crap that was the first half. I’m certain, though, that I’m not going to be adding it to my season passes. Not even sure I’ll read the TWoP recaps. That’s baaaaad.

Now that the crapweasel Jonathan has been booted off The Amazing Race, I’m going to be able to start watching it again. He made it so unpleasant that I couldn’t watch. That’s baaaaad.

Jer got the Katamari Damacy soundtrack. I’ve been listening to it in the car. It makes me happy to be alive.

Man, that’s some awesome soup.

Here’s my mini-review of the cooking show “Seasonings with Dede Wilson.”

The episode I watched was “A Dinner for Martin Luther King Day.” It had some pretty decent looking southern food on it. Dede wasn’t actually doing the cooking- Joyce White, her guest, was. There were also two other women on the program- someone to talk about wine, and someone to talk about decorating. Now, I understand that the title of “the next Martha Stewart” is very appealing, but don’t make your show too busy.

My main problem was that the amounts of things weren’t given. The guest, Joyce, made an orange buttermilk pie that looked pretty tasty, but I have no idea at the amounts of the ingredients. If I paused the show, it looked three egg yolks… maybe. I’m guessing that was a cup of sugar? That was really annoying. The website for the show only has selected recipes. Damn it, I just want to make that pie.

(Yeah, this is a post from the Television Without Pity forums that I wrote earlier today. I was hoping someone would respond with a link to the recipe. No luck so far.)

Hey all. Feeling all better now. Yay! I haven’t really been cooking, though. On Saturday night I was over at Jon and Ryan’s, and Sunday and Monday I was in Mountain View. Oh, and I guess Tuesday, too, since D&D is tonight. We haven’t played in, like, a month. I’ve been reading cookbooks, does that count?

Ooh, I have something to add. I’m bringing the spicy bean dip tonight to D&D (which reminds me, I need to leave early so I can stop by a store and get tortilla chips), and WOW is that awesome to make with a Kitchenaid. It blends the cream cheese so well! And I used the Cuisinart to shred the cheese. That also was very cool, using one of the disc attachments. Except now I have things to wash. Eh, whatever.

I didn’t have sour cream, so I used plain yogurt. I tried it, it doesn’t taste weird. Oh, crap, I didn’t put in quite a teaspoon of cayenne, now that I look at the recipe. This is why I should never try to do things by memory.