Dharma Initiative Rations

photos: Insanely Great News, Lost-Media

A Dharma theme for Lost night? The Lost Label Project provides PDF's to make your very own Dharma snacks! The beer labels are especially relevant, considering the latest episode. Hurley would be proud!

Beat Box Baking

I am amused.

Beatbox Fame Game

Geek Cocktails: The Wow Starts Now

On Episode 12 of Windows Weekly, Brian Livingston reported on the pre-Vista launch luncheon at Cipriani's, where he dubbed their signature drink, the Bellini, the official Windows cocktail, or the Vista.ini. I was not at all familiar with the Bellini, but Food Geeks describes it as "an alcoholic beverage made with peach nectar and sparkling wine that is served as an aperitif" and provides a few alternative recipes. Brian described it as a "nice, feminine European drink" that he thoroughly enjoyed. If everyone hadn't been too busy for Lost night, I would have served Vista.inis in honor of geekdom.

The word on Windows Vista? It's nice, but no need to upgrade now. Wait until you buy a new PC.

Eleven City Diner 2.0

Just look at that motzoh ball!

All the talk of Eleven City Diner yesterday, combined with still feeling a little under the weather, meant that I had to pay a visit today. In the process, I gathered a bit more information. First, upon perusing their menu for orange juice (they have fresh squeezed, and it was marvelous) I noticed that they have a menu item named the 'Tom Waits 2am Breakfast 1987: 2 Eggs, 2 Flapjacks, 2 Bacon, 2 Sausage, House Potatoes." They also have a photo of Tom Waits up behind the bar. I asked about it while I was waiting for my orange juice, and while the guy behind the bar seemed slightly confused by my interest, he said that the owner had met Tom Waits at a diner around 2am and that's what he was eating. This officially makes Eleven City Diner the coolest diner ever. Just so you know.

I also noticed that I like their menu design. The Rx marks by the chicken soup are cute.

Upon closer inspection (they are now employing labels) the freezer contains chicken broth, not chicken stock (labeled Chicken Soup but it's broth). Still, quite handy, especially since the broth is very good. And their coffee supplier is Lavazza (although I'm pretty sure that it was previously Intelligentsia).

Die Skull Uhr finden Sie hier!

photo: Sonic Nonsense

By way of the Unfathomable Dr. Mongoose, it's a Goth Toaster! Thank you, thank you, Pirates of the Caribbean.

The skull clock finds you here? Sweet toast of mine? I have no idea, but I really want this toaster. It would go marvelously with the Porcelain Skull Plates by DL&Co.

I'm so HOT!

That was an homage to Paris, but I meant feverish. My boyfriend is sick with a cold that he has apparently shared. I knew something was up today when 1) I wasn't hungry and 2) I was finding the office unpleasantly sauna-like and no one else was complaining. I'm very rarely not hungry and I'm even more rarely hot. I almost gave myself heat exhaustion once because I was riding my bike around Chicago oblivious to the fact that it was over a 100°F outside (thankfully I was keen enough to realize that I shouldn't be feeling cold).


photo: Julia Steinberger, CitySearch

I still don't have much of an appetite, but I thought it would be a good time to post my favorite sources of get-well food. If I'm at work and not feeling so hot, I crave Bubbie's Chicken Soup with a huge matzoh ball at Eleven City Diner. As I live in the Second City, not the first, I'm not so familiar with what makes a good Jewish deli, but I imagine that Eleven City Diner fits the bill. The restaurant side is reminiscent of an old style diner, although a little more upscale and a good place for a comfortable business lunch. The deli side (the side I frequent) has a case filled with smoked salmon, deli meats, side salads and some of the best bagels I've had outside of my Baking and Pastry class. There's also a freezer case filled with homemade soup and homemade chicken stock! I haven't tried it yet, but I was very impressed that they sell homemade stock. Centerstage gives it a rave review and mentions that you can get phosphates and egg creams from a trained soda jerk, and that they have great Espresso drinks (they sell Intelligentsia) and desserts.


photo:planet99

If I'm at home, I often order tom yum soup with seafood, rice paper spring rolls and steamed rice from Thai Aroma (via GrubHub) or Thai Avenue. This is a meal I order on a regular basis, not just when I'm sick, but the spiciness of the tom yum soup is great for a cold and it's light but filling. I'm trying to perfect this meal at home, but my first attempt was less than stellar. When I've got it down, I'll post it here.

For now, Gilmore Girls is over, Veronica Mars is being DVR'ed, and a margarita at Fiesta Mexicana sounds divine. It comes with a lime in it—citrus is good for colds, right?

Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!

Photo Credit: Mathlete

Oh, it's adds a whole new meaning to the term "Wake and Bake!" Widely reported on the gadget blogs, and monumental enough to inspire an entire episode of CNET's Gadgettes, I present to you the Wake n' Bacon!

In the words of the creators, Matty Sallin, Daniel Bartolini and Hsiao-huh Hsu, here's how it works:

"A frozen strip of bacon is placed in Wake n' Bacon the night before. Because there is a 10 minute cooking time, the clock is set to go off 10 minutes before the desired waking time. Once the alarm goes off, the clock it sends a signal to a small speaker to generate the alarm sound. We hacked the clock so that the signal is re-routed by a microchip that in responds by sending a signal to a relay that throws the switch to power two halogen lamps that slow-cook the bacon in about 10 minutes."

Having been through a Sanitation class in culinary school, I can't imagine how this would ever be able to measure up to U.S. safety standards, but maybe they have that covered.

Spring Salad with Spicy Vinaigrette

Below is the recipe for the salad that I made with the gumbo. It was an experiment, and I had to fiddle with it for a couple of days after the Lost night dinner, but I think it turned out pretty well in the end. I don’t know that I’d really call it Cajun, but it made a tasty salad that I’d make again.

Spicy Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons Cider vinegar

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon spicy mustard

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

cayenne pepper, to taste

tabasco sauce, to taste

salt and pepper , to taste

4 ounces olive oil

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Spring Salad

1 bunch spring salad mix

1 orange, supreme

1/4 cup cranberries

1/2 cup pecans, toasted (or use the sweet/spicy pecans if available—both Trader Joe’s and Whole Food sell them)

1 small red pepper, roasted

goat cheese

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roullez!

New Orleans holds a special place in my heart. Before the storm, it was the one place that my boyfriend (a die-hard Chicagoan) and I both agreed on as a possible place to move to. Many people have assured me that if we had moved there we would’ve felt differently. “It’s too small, too poor, too dirty, too crime-filled, and much, much too hot.” And it is. But I love the heat—there’s a still a Southern heart in this Yankee urbanite facade—and I love that it’s so old. The crime is, I think, an over-sensationalized reality that requires awareness, but is perhaps a part of the city’s appeal. There’s a dark, sweaty, dangerous undercurrent to New Orleans, and something in that speaks to me.

Then there’s the food. I love Southern food in general, but I especially love New Orleans food. I never cared for raw oysters until I had them at Uglesich’s. I will never forget the delectable sample of Mr. B’s Shrimp and Grits that I had at the Tennesee Williams Festival. And there is absolutely nothing like an order of Beignets and a Cafe au Lait at Cafe du Monde at 5am, languishing in the predawn August humidity before heading off to bed.

So in a modest homage to the Crescent City I spent Fat Tuesday drinking imitation Hurricanes at Blue Bayou and then decided to make gumbo for Lost night on Ash Wednesday.

I’ve never made gumbo. In all honesty, I haven’t really even eaten much gumbo. But the New Orleans theme was somewhat last minute, and I wanted to keep things relatively simple: Gumbo, a Cajun-inspired salad, and Bananas Foster. So I did a little research (my favorite site: The Gumbo Pages) and came up with the following recipe:

Gumbo
Serves 6–8

1 pound andouille sausage, sliced, cut in half circles

1 tablespoon cajun seasoning

2 pounds chicken thighs, skin on (or skinless chicken breast, medium dice, can be used if desired)

4 ounces flour

4 ounces vegetable oil

1 onion, medium dice

2 stalks celery, medium dice

1 green bell peppers, medium dice

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bay leaf

2 quarts chicken stock

1/4 pound okra, sliced 1/2" thick

1 pound shrimp, peeled (reserve shells to make a stock if available)

1 package canned crab meat

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce, or to taste

fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, parsley)

2 cups long-grain white rice, cooked

sliced scallion tops red pepper curls for garnish

1. Simmer shrimp shells with 1 cup of the stock, along with some chopped onion and a couple of stalks of celery if desired. Skim and strain before adding to gumbo.
   
   
2. Brown sausage. Set aside. Drain oil if needed.
   
   
3. Season the chicken with cajun seasoning, salt and pepper. Sear until well browned, and finish in a 350 degree oven. Set aside. Strain oil into a clean pan.
   
   
4. Add 8 oz. vegetable oil. Over medium heat, add 8 oz. flour while stirring with a whisk to make a roux. Cook the roux very slowly over medium heat, stirring often, until it becomes a copper-brown color, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.
   
   
5. Add the onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaf and the remaining salt and pepper mix. Cook for 5 minutes.
   
   
6. Add the stock, seasonings, chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed.
   
   
7. Add the okra and strained shrimp stock (if made) and simmer another 30 minutes.
   
   
8. Add shrimp, crab, cayenne, worchestershire and herbs 10 minutes before serving.
   
   
9. Serve over rice. Garnish with chopped scallion tops and red pepper curls (if you’re feeling fancy).

Because Neil Always Says It Best

From Neil Gaiman's journal:

"Happy Year of the Pig, to all of us.

Pigs, I learned as a boy, reading books, especially young pigs, are loveable, brave, noble and intelligent animals who have adventures.

I hope this year you get to be brave and noble and intelligent. But mostly I hope you get to have adventures."

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Photo by Ben Nunez.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Despite having spent the past 6 years living in a neighborhood with a large Asian population, I know very little about Chinese New Year. A close friend of mine, Chao, is Chinese, and if he weren't currently in Hong Kong, I would grill him for information for this post.

According to Wikipedia, "Chinese New Year, known in Chinese as the 'Spring Festival' or the 'Lunar New Year,' is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. The festival proper begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival." The Lunar New Year dates from 2600 BC, when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

I know that many Asian cultures celebrate some version of Chinese New Year. My neighborhood is primarily Vietnamese and Thai, but they have they're own smaller parade (the big parade is in Chinatown).

I had Dim Sum in Chinatown with Chao about a week ago (Shui Wah is Chao's pick for Dim Sum), and we paid a brief visit to a local grocery store before we left the neighborhood. It was filled with red decorations and gold statues that are the traditional lucky symbols of the celebration.

Food, of course, is integral to Chinese New Year, and specific dishes are eaten to bring luck, wealth and happiness. The traditions seem to vary, but Wikipedia lists the following:

• Fish: Usually eaten on the eve of Chinese New Year. The pronunciation of fish makes it a homophone for "more than enough," or "extra."
• Nian gao: Popular in eastern China (Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai) because its pronunciation is a homophone for "a more prosperous year."
• Dumplings (Jiaozi): Eaten traditionally in northern China because the preparation is similar to packaging luck inside the dumpling, which is later eaten.
• Candy: To ensure the consumer a "sweet" year.
• Kwatji/Sunflower, Pumpkin or Melon Seeds: To some, these ensure happiness in the New Year
• Turnip/Taro cakes: I don't know what these symbolize, but they're my favorite!
  

Geek Treats

Forget Cantu and his flavored edible papers—an iPhone cake is true geek food. And I love that Engadget held a cake contest. If they do it again, I'm in!

As for Cantu, I'm both fascinated and exasperated by the whole physics food trend. The fact that he sites his inspiration as "USB cables and personal computers" gives my nerdy little heart warm fuzzies, but I'm simultaneously rolling my eyes. Maybe it's because Moto is here in Chicago, but I feel that the whole concept of printing a picture of a food on a little piece of paper that tastes like the food has now been overdone. It's cute, and it was interesting when it was new, but I find it frustrating when the gimmicks win out. "We thought it would be a pure-traditional vs. way-modern matchup, but Morimoto did end up pulling out some liquid nitrogen himself." Okay, but why should he have to?

That said, I'm planning on commissioning a cake that incorporates edible photos for a food photography exhibit, so how hypocritical am I? I'll post more on the cake concept as it develops.

I'm Baaaaack!

If a blog is resurrected in the blogosphere and there is nobody around to read it, does it make any impact?

No, but that's okay.

After a long hiatus and some pretty significant life changes, I am returning to this blog. Shortly after I finished my internship, the restaurant that my boyfriend had worked at for 10 years burned down. Since he was earning the bread while I was learning to make it, I decided to return to professional life.

I've been a graphic designer for over 10 years. I enjoy it, but I was finding the world of cubicles less than fulfilling. Thus the temporary foray into the culinary world. If I were 10 years younger (I'll be 34 in less than a month) or significantly less in debt, I would probably spend some more time working in restaurants. The amount I learned during my very short internship was phenomenal. But it would take me a long time to earn any real money—or perhaps I should say the amount of money to support the lifestyle that I am now accustomed to—so it's just not going to be practical.

So what's a girl to do? For the time being, I'm working at a tiny little design firm in the South Loop of Chicago and I'm actually quite happy with it. The work itself is not much more exciting than what I was doing previously, but I have a lot more responsibility and autonomy, and the atmosphere fits my personality much more than a stereotypical office. My boss plays industrial music all day (that's a good thing), and I'm able to listen to podcasts (or whatever else, but it's generally podcasts) on my own iPod while I work, and that makes me very, very happy.

I plan to feed my culinary longings with this blog, and perhaps my own podcast sometime in the future. I'm not sure yet exactly what I want this blog to be—recipes of course, but maybe some food history, some geeky coverage of physics food, gadgets, restaurants? Since I currently have no readership, it's pretty much all about me, but hopefully that will change and the blog will evolve with feedback. Right now, it's all about the doing and I'll just see where it goes.

Internship: Day 21, 12/14/05

My last day, and many of the staff told me how much they had enjoyed working with me, which was really great. The lunch crew was sad, and gave me big hugs. I’m really sad that I’m leaving, but I spoke with D before I left and he said that they’re definitely going to be restructuring things and should have a permanent position for me early next year. They also invited me to their Christmas party, so I’ll be seeing everybody again on Sunday, which is nice. I also talked to D about what he meant by improving my initiative, and he said that I just need to be a little more assertive about jumping in and doing things without direction, and about volunteering for new projects that I’m interested in. He said that if I come to work there permanently, they’ll definitely push me to do that. I can see where he’s coming from—my personality is definitely on the timid side, especially when I feel that I don’t totally know what I’m doing. But he pointed out that the way you learn is by screwing things up, and that I should be willing to take risks. Point well taken.

I’m really happy with how far I’ve come, during my internship as well as during my first year of school. In one year, I’ve gone pretty much from 0—basic cooking skills, nothing special—to potentially having a job at one of the top restaurants in the city. I feel like I’ve got a very, very long way to go to get where I want to be, but I feel that I’m off to a decent start.

Working at Quake has been a great experience. I really hope that they hire me on, as I feel that I would really be able to continue to grow there.

Internship: Day 20, 12/12/05

A relatively uneventful day. Lunch was fairly busy, and we had a lot of prep to do. We experimented with the new scallop dish which none of us for thrilled with—we all thought it needed some adjusting. I got my final evaluation back from D, and it was mostly good. In both my midterm and this evaluation, though, he indicated that I could use more initiative in the kitchen. I’m not sure what that means, so I’ll have to talk to him about it on Wednesday—my last day!

Internship: Day 18, 12/05/05

This was such a fun day! We needed to do a lot of morning prep work because they’d been extremely busy over the weekend, so things started out hectic, but L, the hostess, brought in cookies and that made everyone a little happier. Lunch was back to busy, but we had a good time anyway, joking around during the slower parts. There are some new appetizers on the menu, so T and I spent some time learning to plate those.

After service, I made up a batch of the butternut squash soup, and it turned out wonderfully—I was very happy. I also helped Z, the new intern, pick the confit pig and form the appetizer patties. We listened to Christmas music while we worked, and everybody was in a good mood. It was also refreshing to actually be showing somebody else how to do something!

Internship: Day 17, 12/01/05

The first day of December, and it was lovely to watch the snow fall outside the big picture window in the front of the restaurant. I don’t usually work on Thursdays as I have to work evenings at the Chopping Block, but I wanted to make up for my lost hours on Monday. The snow seemed to put the lunch crew in a festive mood, and they teamed up with the pastry kitchen to make pancakes. T topped them with a mixture of bananas and apples sautéed with butter and cinnamon. A wonderful way to start the day!

Lunch was busier than it has been, and we had a bit of a rush. I handled the bulk of it by myself and T was downstairs working on soup, and I feel that I didn’t do half bad. When things slowed down, we worked on peeling and cutting salsify into a brunois for soup garnish. I left earlier than usual to head to work at the Chopping Block.

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Salsify [SAL-sih-fee] This root vegetable is also known as oyster plant because its taste resembles a delicately flavored oyster. The parsnip-shaped salsify can reach up to 12 inches in length and 2 ½ inches in diameter. The most commonly found salsify has a white-fleshed root with grayish skin, though there are varieties with a pale golden skin, as well as one with a black skin (also called sorzonera). Though salsify is more popular in Europe than in the United States, it can be found here from June through February, usually in Spanish, Italian, and Greek markets. Choose well-formed roots that are heavy for their size and not too gnarled. Refrigerate, wrapped in a plastic bag, up to a week. Salsify is generally eaten plain as a vegetable, or used in savory pies and soups.

Definition compliments of the New Food Lover’s Companion.

Internship: Day 15, 11/21/05

Not much to report—this was the slowest service I’ve worked, I guess because it’s Thanksgiving week. We did some routine prep work during service. I got to try a new dish: grilled California sturgeon with orange glazed ham hock, knefla (flour dumplings), brussel sprout leaves, and crispy garlic. It was really, really good. Either I’ve never had sturgeon before or this was particularly good. There wasn’t much going on after service so I left earlier than usual, happy to head off towards the holiday

Internship: Day 16, 11/30/05

I missed my usual Monday due to travel delays in Ohio, but returned this Wednesday much refreshed from the holidays. Lunch was still pretty slow, so I spent some time at the grill station grilling bread on over the huge wood fire grill, and then on the sauté station learning to make and plate the bouillabaisse. T and I also experimented with the sweetbreads to perfect the cooking technique—apparently they’ve been somewhat undercooked. The sweetbreads are sautéed with jerusalem artichokes, pickled pearl onions, and herbed remoulade. It was only the second time I’ve ever tried sweetbreads—the first time was at Lola Bistro in Cleveland, OH, and I thought they tasted like liver, which I hate. I liked this dish much better.

After service, I prepped the butternut squash soup: butternut squash, carrots, onion, celery, apple cider, brown sugar, and butter. I put it on a burner up in the pastry kitchen, and got to taste fresh batches of eggnog and buttermilk ice cream while I was at it. Delicious!

Before leaving for the day, I drained the new batch of sweetbreads and set them up to be pressed under a weight to release the liquid.

Internship: Day 14, 11/16/05

Lunch was relatively slow so we did a lot of prep work for the evening service. I helped M, who works sauté, make buckwheat crepes for a private party happening that night. They use regular sauté pans instead of nonstick, so it was a little more difficult, but it worked. I love the buckwheat crepes. When I came in for dinner, long before staging, I had the buckwheat crepe dish. It’d different now (served as a gratin), but then it was filled with vegetables and a cream sauce. The vegetables were cooked but still perfectly crisp—it was fabulous.

After service, I filled the crepes with an in-house smoked salmon (so good!), red onions, a dill crème fraiche, and rolled them burrito-style. I also made up a batch of the Star Anise Marinade before I took off for the day.