I've been working through a couple of food related essays. Which took me far longer than I expected. So I've been holding off on posting. No one really needs me to parrot what I've been reading.
S0 after a break, I'm back to cookbooks, again.
I've heard a number really have a go a cookbooks as porn. The "I'm dieing in front of the audience" scene from the beginning of the No Reservations episode in the land of the long white cloud is probably the best (hint, that's called go watch it. I'm not going to cite it here).
I've always enjoyed the quote. I always enjoy being able to get away with saying porn in polite conversation. My own epiphany on the topic though was very recent. I was browsing through one of the larger book warehouses when I entered the cooking section. Now I'm not suggesting that this was in any way representative of the number of books that are out there. But it was a lot. I was sort of embarrassed by the number of books that were there.
I don't begrudge anyone, if they have the means, to be able to publish their favorite collection of recipes in book format. If they can have marvelous glossy pictures. Tell wondrous and meaningful tales about the history of the dish to them. If they can make some cash out of it even better.
What I do realize is from the old cliche. I have, like apparently mostly everyone else, been picking up cook books and looking at the pretty pictures. Fantasizing about eating that particular dish. Only reading the details of the dish if I can pluck up the courage to ask for a dance.
Well no more. I'm turning over a new leaf. I will take time to read what the author has written about the dish. I will peruse some of the details about the recipe. My new found resolution is already paying dividends. While exercising my reading skills I found the recipe for the apple sauce that is served with the pork belly at Aria. At least all of the flavors are there. I'll find out the next time I roast some pork.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Cookbooks
I have lots of them. Not as many as I could have. I like to think that all of the books that we see in the background of a Nigella series are all cookbooks. So that at least doesn't make me feel like I've gone over board.
When I first started catering for myself full time in the bay area, I turned to a series of cook books put out by Family Circle. My Mother, in typical fashion, had determined that I needed something of a guide. So while packing for my return trip to California presented these to me. They are all the size of an A5 page, around 100 pages. I'm sure there is some professional publishing term for the format. They covered a specific topic. Included pictures to entice the cook to be.
I found them great. I'd throw one in my laptop bag in the morning. Whenever I left work. Which could be late. I'd just call by the local Safeway which was open 24 hours. Pick something out of the book. Buy what I need take it home and cook it. I'm still partial to the Beef and Bok Choy out of the Stir Fry titled book. I've pretty much listed the ingredients in the recipe title. A bit of garlic, soy sauce, dry sherry and sesame oil. Sesame oil! I should probably have a crack one time at favorite or essential ingredients in my cupboard. Sesame oil will be in either list.
These books were my staples while in California. Then continued back in Australia. I don't recall when I started acquiring cookbooks proper. Celebrity chefs and the like. But also the magazines. ABC Delicious (a total doddle since my favorite mother-in-law keeps buying my a subscription for my birthday) and Australian Table, now morphed into Good Food.
A few years back I found where having so many sources for recipes has its downside.
Each morning before the weekly shop. I'd spend hours trying to locate the meals that we'd have for the week. Pouring through the different sources. I'd try to be seasonal by sticking to the magazines that had been published for the current month. Tying this all together with a consolidated shopping list. I've even written up the specifications for a web based software application that would automate most of that process. While successful it ended up with a lot of time spent working on a menu. A somewhat restricted shopping regime. Especially going to farmers markets. If I hadn't put a plan together. Plus a refrigerator and cupboard full of spices, sauces and pastes that I'd only ever used once.
Listening to some of the debates from slow food, and 100 mile diet. The challenges that contestants in cooking competitions are put through. The discussions on what makes a French cuisine great. These activities all have one thing in common. In their original form everyone is just cooking with what they have to hand. The lauded French cuisine, we are always reminded, has come about because some poor peasant had to make a handful of intestines (or other equally appetizing protein) edible or starve. Only a hungry person would look at snails and ask how can I make this edible. A really hungry person would probably scoff them down. Someone who isn't hungry, but eats them anyway. Implies that the hungry person did an excellent job at making snails edible.
I still love my books. There is still information I can learn from them. To be inspired. One day I may clean my hands really well and finally unseal my copy of A Day at elBulli. But for now I'm trying to let what I see at the market lead me in the direction I'll go for the weekly menu. I look for what is on special. For what looks good.
This week. I'm planning on slow roasting a leg of lamb. With the traditional selection of roasted vegetables. Follow up on Monday with some braised pork chops. Tuesday Lamb with a chickpea salad. A firm family favorite. Plus I get some extra Turkish Bread. Wed isn't my concern. Thursday I've got the theater. So a couple of steaks on the BBQ are the order. But I'm still thinking of something interesting with the sides. Broccoli and Zuchinni are both in season at the moment. I've got time. I've also got a lot of cookbooks.
When I first started catering for myself full time in the bay area, I turned to a series of cook books put out by Family Circle. My Mother, in typical fashion, had determined that I needed something of a guide. So while packing for my return trip to California presented these to me. They are all the size of an A5 page, around 100 pages. I'm sure there is some professional publishing term for the format. They covered a specific topic. Included pictures to entice the cook to be.
I found them great. I'd throw one in my laptop bag in the morning. Whenever I left work. Which could be late. I'd just call by the local Safeway which was open 24 hours. Pick something out of the book. Buy what I need take it home and cook it. I'm still partial to the Beef and Bok Choy out of the Stir Fry titled book. I've pretty much listed the ingredients in the recipe title. A bit of garlic, soy sauce, dry sherry and sesame oil. Sesame oil! I should probably have a crack one time at favorite or essential ingredients in my cupboard. Sesame oil will be in either list.
These books were my staples while in California. Then continued back in Australia. I don't recall when I started acquiring cookbooks proper. Celebrity chefs and the like. But also the magazines. ABC Delicious (a total doddle since my favorite mother-in-law keeps buying my a subscription for my birthday) and Australian Table, now morphed into Good Food.
A few years back I found where having so many sources for recipes has its downside.
Each morning before the weekly shop. I'd spend hours trying to locate the meals that we'd have for the week. Pouring through the different sources. I'd try to be seasonal by sticking to the magazines that had been published for the current month. Tying this all together with a consolidated shopping list. I've even written up the specifications for a web based software application that would automate most of that process. While successful it ended up with a lot of time spent working on a menu. A somewhat restricted shopping regime. Especially going to farmers markets. If I hadn't put a plan together. Plus a refrigerator and cupboard full of spices, sauces and pastes that I'd only ever used once.
Listening to some of the debates from slow food, and 100 mile diet. The challenges that contestants in cooking competitions are put through. The discussions on what makes a French cuisine great. These activities all have one thing in common. In their original form everyone is just cooking with what they have to hand. The lauded French cuisine, we are always reminded, has come about because some poor peasant had to make a handful of intestines (or other equally appetizing protein) edible or starve. Only a hungry person would look at snails and ask how can I make this edible. A really hungry person would probably scoff them down. Someone who isn't hungry, but eats them anyway. Implies that the hungry person did an excellent job at making snails edible.
I still love my books. There is still information I can learn from them. To be inspired. One day I may clean my hands really well and finally unseal my copy of A Day at elBulli. But for now I'm trying to let what I see at the market lead me in the direction I'll go for the weekly menu. I look for what is on special. For what looks good.
This week. I'm planning on slow roasting a leg of lamb. With the traditional selection of roasted vegetables. Follow up on Monday with some braised pork chops. Tuesday Lamb with a chickpea salad. A firm family favorite. Plus I get some extra Turkish Bread. Wed isn't my concern. Thursday I've got the theater. So a couple of steaks on the BBQ are the order. But I'm still thinking of something interesting with the sides. Broccoli and Zuchinni are both in season at the moment. I've got time. I've also got a lot of cookbooks.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Perfect Day - dinner
Absolutely not even slightly close. Way too many contenders.
Braised lamb shanks with mashed potato.
My alchemy dish. You don't taste this at the beginning. I tried tasting it at the beginning once. So completely revolting. Two hours slow braising later. Incredible.
BBQ Baby back ribs, shoe-string fries, baked beans and coleslaw.
Was introduced to baby-back ribs during my American sojurn. There isn't a ribs culture here in Australia. Check any butchers. The ribs get cut in half. So they don't sit properly in the BBQ. If I order in advance I can get these magnificent fred flintstone sized racks. Beautiful. I make do the best I can. I subscribe to the, remove the membrane, dry rub, slow cook for several hours, then baste in the last hour with a bbq sauce made with the same set of spices in the rub.
Medium rare Rib-eye, side order of asparagus.
Can never beat a steak. Of course if I can go and hit a steak house like the Breakfast Creek or Morton's even better. With Morton's I'll get a dry martini to start and horse raddish on the side. Breakfast Creek dropped a notch to me when they stopped serving Guinness on tap.
Twice cooked pork belly
In our anti-fat obsessed culture this is a no-no. But this is a yes-yes. Best that I've had was at a degustation dinner at Aria Sydney. The fat was amazing. I just wanted to keep eating it. The skin was so crisp. The contrast of textures...
Beef Wellington, roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts
The pivotal Christmas lunch. Mum went all out. Serving a multi-course lunch. I've done roasts for lunch on the 25th. But these days I've got air-conditioning, and do the turkey on the BBQ. I've started making wellingtons myself these days. Its my bachelor evening dinner. I've diverged from Mum's traditional recipe. I've taken a shine to Gordon Ramsay's interpretation. I fully suspect that its got to do with the mushrooms and hot english mustard that goes into the mix.
Beef Strogonoff with egg noodles
Childhood comfort food classic. Beef, mushrooms and mustard. Am I seeing a theme here? Although I know the egg noodles in their little nests were also a big hit.
Spaghetti Bolognese
Started with an alchemy gist, nice to end with it. The mix of beef and pork mince, onion, celery, carrot, tomato, beef stock, herbs. Eat it straight-away, great. Leave it an hour or more, amazing. I'd like to leave it a couple of days one time. Just to let it get even better. Never been able to leave it that long.
My mouth would be happy around any of these. My realization is that except for the pork belly I cook all of them. The belly is only a matter of time. I've got some Bangalow pork belly downstairs in the freezer...
Braised lamb shanks with mashed potato.
My alchemy dish. You don't taste this at the beginning. I tried tasting it at the beginning once. So completely revolting. Two hours slow braising later. Incredible.
BBQ Baby back ribs, shoe-string fries, baked beans and coleslaw.
Was introduced to baby-back ribs during my American sojurn. There isn't a ribs culture here in Australia. Check any butchers. The ribs get cut in half. So they don't sit properly in the BBQ. If I order in advance I can get these magnificent fred flintstone sized racks. Beautiful. I make do the best I can. I subscribe to the, remove the membrane, dry rub, slow cook for several hours, then baste in the last hour with a bbq sauce made with the same set of spices in the rub.
Medium rare Rib-eye, side order of asparagus.
Can never beat a steak. Of course if I can go and hit a steak house like the Breakfast Creek or Morton's even better. With Morton's I'll get a dry martini to start and horse raddish on the side. Breakfast Creek dropped a notch to me when they stopped serving Guinness on tap.
Twice cooked pork belly
In our anti-fat obsessed culture this is a no-no. But this is a yes-yes. Best that I've had was at a degustation dinner at Aria Sydney. The fat was amazing. I just wanted to keep eating it. The skin was so crisp. The contrast of textures...
Beef Wellington, roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts
The pivotal Christmas lunch. Mum went all out. Serving a multi-course lunch. I've done roasts for lunch on the 25th. But these days I've got air-conditioning, and do the turkey on the BBQ. I've started making wellingtons myself these days. Its my bachelor evening dinner. I've diverged from Mum's traditional recipe. I've taken a shine to Gordon Ramsay's interpretation. I fully suspect that its got to do with the mushrooms and hot english mustard that goes into the mix.
Beef Strogonoff with egg noodles
Childhood comfort food classic. Beef, mushrooms and mustard. Am I seeing a theme here? Although I know the egg noodles in their little nests were also a big hit.
Spaghetti Bolognese
Started with an alchemy gist, nice to end with it. The mix of beef and pork mince, onion, celery, carrot, tomato, beef stock, herbs. Eat it straight-away, great. Leave it an hour or more, amazing. I'd like to leave it a couple of days one time. Just to let it get even better. Never been able to leave it that long.
My mouth would be happy around any of these. My realization is that except for the pork belly I cook all of them. The belly is only a matter of time. I've got some Bangalow pork belly downstairs in the freezer...
Friday, June 18, 2010
Perfect Day
I've been thinking about my perfect food day.
My challenge sent me back to reading A Cooks Tour, by Anthony Bourdain. I don't recall if I've read it before. Most of the book works in with his first television series, so its pretty familiar to me. But greatly enjoyable none the less. Mr Bourdain always enjoys talking about his favorite Chefs game of last meal. Last I heard was that his was bone marrow.
I don't like to be so morbid. I like the thought though of a perfect day of eating. Which is where my problem starts.
Breakfast is a doddle. Bacon and Eggs.
Although I can be more specific than that. A Gunshop Cafe bacon and eggs breakfast circa 2005. Two poached eggs, bacon, roasted tomato, toasted turkish bread and pesto. With a side order of mushrooms. They switched over to herbed hollandaise and sourdough a few years ago. Can't go out for a full breakfast anymore without comparing it to that plate.
Lunch, a little more complicated. It would be a choice between.
Fresh bread, butter, a mature cheddar cheese a perfectly ripe tomato, salt and pepper. I remember the first one. Which is probably why its so fond a memory. I recall my Grandmother making one for me. Just a little bit of an emotional link there. I'll take variations. Toasted cheese sandwich with tomato soup.
I could go with a New York Deli Sandwich. Pastrami on Rye with caramelized onions and provolone. The 100 building cafe at Oracle HQ used to serve them. They were great. Especially when teamed up with a bag of Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Kettle Chips.
Third choice, Rainbow Sushi. Though I suspect it could be for a wasabi hit.
Dinner, I'm toast. I need to think some more.
My challenge sent me back to reading A Cooks Tour, by Anthony Bourdain. I don't recall if I've read it before. Most of the book works in with his first television series, so its pretty familiar to me. But greatly enjoyable none the less. Mr Bourdain always enjoys talking about his favorite Chefs game of last meal. Last I heard was that his was bone marrow.
I don't like to be so morbid. I like the thought though of a perfect day of eating. Which is where my problem starts.
Breakfast is a doddle. Bacon and Eggs.
Although I can be more specific than that. A Gunshop Cafe bacon and eggs breakfast circa 2005. Two poached eggs, bacon, roasted tomato, toasted turkish bread and pesto. With a side order of mushrooms. They switched over to herbed hollandaise and sourdough a few years ago. Can't go out for a full breakfast anymore without comparing it to that plate.
Lunch, a little more complicated. It would be a choice between.
Fresh bread, butter, a mature cheddar cheese a perfectly ripe tomato, salt and pepper. I remember the first one. Which is probably why its so fond a memory. I recall my Grandmother making one for me. Just a little bit of an emotional link there. I'll take variations. Toasted cheese sandwich with tomato soup.
I could go with a New York Deli Sandwich. Pastrami on Rye with caramelized onions and provolone. The 100 building cafe at Oracle HQ used to serve them. They were great. Especially when teamed up with a bag of Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Kettle Chips.
Third choice, Rainbow Sushi. Though I suspect it could be for a wasabi hit.
Dinner, I'm toast. I need to think some more.
Monday, June 14, 2010
The begining
I always thought I could cook.
I was reminded before this request that it wasn't really the case. The family and I went back to spend a weekend in San Francisco. A significant chunk of the mothers day weekend with a former colleague. We are still significantly appreciative of having the opportunity too. Anyways. While preparing dinner my friend lamented not knowing that so many foodies were on our team all those years ago. As another of our colleagues has also come out of the larder as well.
When I think about it now, I realise that while I was working with these people was around the time I was just beginning on this culinary path.
There were two events that hammered home that the ability to make pikelets didn't equate to matching my Mother's skills in the kitchen.
The first was dinner one night with my most excellent friend who I'll call #5. We were working together and sharing an apartment (with my dear friend, wittier designation pending) in the bay area. She'd eaten. We hadn't. So we resolved to have mince for dinner. So that is what we had. mince. Beef mince, probably not even lean mince since fat didn't matter as much in those days, fried and put on a plate. No seasonings, no vegetables, nothing. It was edible, but pretty ordinary.
The second was when my girlfriend (now wife) came to visit. I decided to show off my culinary capability by attempting to reproduce some open sandwiches my Mother had made in the last weeks before I left for the bay area. Basically thick bread, toasted, rubbed down with garlic. Add some tomato, salami, top with cheese then back under the grill. G was very polite. But they were NOT the sandwiches my mother made.
I was reminded before this request that it wasn't really the case. The family and I went back to spend a weekend in San Francisco. A significant chunk of the mothers day weekend with a former colleague. We are still significantly appreciative of having the opportunity too. Anyways. While preparing dinner my friend lamented not knowing that so many foodies were on our team all those years ago. As another of our colleagues has also come out of the larder as well.
When I think about it now, I realise that while I was working with these people was around the time I was just beginning on this culinary path.
There were two events that hammered home that the ability to make pikelets didn't equate to matching my Mother's skills in the kitchen.
The first was dinner one night with my most excellent friend who I'll call #5. We were working together and sharing an apartment (with my dear friend, wittier designation pending) in the bay area. She'd eaten. We hadn't. So we resolved to have mince for dinner. So that is what we had. mince. Beef mince, probably not even lean mince since fat didn't matter as much in those days, fried and put on a plate. No seasonings, no vegetables, nothing. It was edible, but pretty ordinary.
The second was when my girlfriend (now wife) came to visit. I decided to show off my culinary capability by attempting to reproduce some open sandwiches my Mother had made in the last weeks before I left for the bay area. Basically thick bread, toasted, rubbed down with garlic. Add some tomato, salami, top with cheese then back under the grill. G was very polite. But they were NOT the sandwiches my mother made.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Why do I cook
A dear friend last night challenged me last night to help her rediscover her joy of cooking. I've since spent my idle hours thinking this challenge over. Running the gauntlet of why I cook, why I eat, how I spend my time in the kitchen has changed over the years. So I'm taking the step of capturing these thoughts.
I'll start with a couple of basic premises as to where I think I am now.
I live to eat.
Since the before the birth of my daughter Boo. I've taken physical exercise a lot more seriously. To the point I've engaged in multiple weeks of consuming under my resting metabolic rate of calories. With the bulk of the nutrition coming from Protein. Just enough carbohydrates and fat for the body to function. While researching this eating approach it comes clear that there are people who only eat because they know they have to. I am NOT one of those people.
Cooking is creative and even meditative
My day job is creative. I get to build technology for others to use. The technology I've always built has always been on the bleeding edge. There are no prior examples to work of. Which means that it can be frustrating trying to make the laws of physics bend in ways that weren't planned. This situation has stepped up several notches over the last couple of years. Where my team and I have been trying to do this with what is still Beta software.
The ability to come home at the end of the day. Create a dinner out of raw ingredients is really and instant form of gratification. There is also the element of taking the basic cooking skills. Dicing an onion, stirring the pot, frying a piece of meat. It all conforms to a set of rules that aren't going to change because the butcher was having an off day when he carved up the cow, using his 6" knife rather than the 7" knife.
I'll leave it to two reasons for now. Time will tell whether these two are right.
I'll start with a couple of basic premises as to where I think I am now.
I live to eat.
Since the before the birth of my daughter Boo. I've taken physical exercise a lot more seriously. To the point I've engaged in multiple weeks of consuming under my resting metabolic rate of calories. With the bulk of the nutrition coming from Protein. Just enough carbohydrates and fat for the body to function. While researching this eating approach it comes clear that there are people who only eat because they know they have to. I am NOT one of those people.
Cooking is creative and even meditative
My day job is creative. I get to build technology for others to use. The technology I've always built has always been on the bleeding edge. There are no prior examples to work of. Which means that it can be frustrating trying to make the laws of physics bend in ways that weren't planned. This situation has stepped up several notches over the last couple of years. Where my team and I have been trying to do this with what is still Beta software.
The ability to come home at the end of the day. Create a dinner out of raw ingredients is really and instant form of gratification. There is also the element of taking the basic cooking skills. Dicing an onion, stirring the pot, frying a piece of meat. It all conforms to a set of rules that aren't going to change because the butcher was having an off day when he carved up the cow, using his 6" knife rather than the 7" knife.
I'll leave it to two reasons for now. Time will tell whether these two are right.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)