Thursday, January 31, 2008

Score: Gourmet:1, Hunger: 0.


Well, we're off to a good start. Nasi Goreng, the treat of 1941, was a success. With lots of skepticism, I made the recipe with a couple small substitutions. The ol' husband is allergic to shrimp, so I used frozen squid instead. If that sounds off-putting, think about it: similar texture, similar mild taste. Not quite as good, but not bad. I also mis-read the call for "Ketjap manis", with turns out is a soy-based sauce, but I got sweet chili sauce instead, so I just added some soy.
1941's score card:
The judges: Husband Charlie and Comrade Dave.
The Verdict: Charlie "that's a keeper".
Dave: "put it in the rotation".




Gourmet 1, Hunger 0.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Party like it's 1941


I've nailed down the issue of Gourmet I was talking about a couple posts ago. It's the January 2006 edition, and it chronicles Gourmet from 1941-2006. My original plan was to hit one recipe a week, but once I did the math I figured out that it would take me 5 years. Hmmm....the project doesn't seem so fun when it will take longer than your recently acquired Masters Degree to complete. However, having stated publicly (to all 5 of you) that I'm going to do it, I at least have to get started. I went to the store today to get ingredients for 1941's winner, Nasi Goreng, an Indonesian rice/chicken/shrimp stir fry. (If you've been to Holland, you may have had this as "rijsttafel"). One of the benefits of the Urban living is that you have easy access to stores that carry not only the ketjap manis, or sweet chili sauce, the recipe called for, you get to choose from 42 brands. The local Asian superstore overwhelmed me, but I think I picked a good one. I have to be honest, I'm not too optimistic about the best of 1941 judging from my quick scan through the recipe, but then again, it was a war year, so you take what you can get, right? I'm sure this was the height of cosmopolitan cooking at the time.
The rice needs to be cooked and cooled, so I'll be making this fine dish tomorrow. Stay tuned....

Monday, January 21, 2008

The Cincinnati 5-Way


Now, get your mind out of the gutter. In honor of the Patriot's continued march to perfection last Sunday, I wanted to make some chili and remembered a style I had read about that's seen around Southern Ohio- Cincinnati chili. The chili itself is a sweeter, spicier, beanless version, but the five way comes from the assembly: Start with thick spaghetti, ladle the chili over, add plain kidney beans, diced onion, and cheddar cheese. If you don't like any of the toppings, leave them out and be content with a 4 or 3-way experience (your loss). The recipe was from a great cookbook from Jane and Michael stern called "Square Meals". If you don't have the book but want the recipe, email for it. Or, if you're from Cincin, let me know if I did it right- it seems like this is one of the regional foods that people get pretty passionate about.

Of course, now that we're in the Super Bowl, it will have to be chowder next time. Sorry, Bengals.

Thanks, Ruth Reichl!

I think I've found my cookbook project. In an earlier post, I spoke of wanting to undertake a "Julie and Julia" type project- cooking my way through one whole cookbook. After eliminating a few and the aforementioned oxtail incident, I found a project that I think will be challenging and interesting. I keep old Gourmet magazines that are of special interest, and I recently found their 40th anniversary issue (published 2 years ago, I think?) It's a recipe from each year from 1941 to the present. Not only does it present a wide variety of food, I think it's fascinating to see how eating habits have changed over the years. Stay tuned for 1941. (Don't worry, it doesn't involve powdered milk and spam...)

Thursday, January 17, 2008

The 1950's dinner, minus the after-meal cigarette





Still looking for the cookbook for the "Julie and Julia" project, and a recent meal made me think I might go old school- maybe a 1950's era book. There's something really great about the era of martinis, rumaki, dress aprons... and baked potatoes. On a whim, I bought two cube steaks (you know, those ones that look like someone had run them over) and was trying to figure out what to do with them. The only book I had that had any sort of recipe was my 1960's era Betty Crocker, who suggested turning them into Stroganoff by sauteing onions and adding sour cream to the pan. Jacques Pepin's "Fast Food My Way" contributed a quick way of getting a good baked potato (6 min. in the microwave, 12 min. in a 450 oven), and with some sauteed broccoli, we were in Leave it to Beaver land in under 30 min.
Oh, that Betty! Look how sassy she looks circa 1986...

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Tired, desperate, really wanted cereal

When we were growing up, our Dad often used to fix us a little bowl of milk and cereal before bedtime. Pair that with a warm bath, and you've got the fixins of a good night's sleep. I can't remember what that feels like, but I did really want some cereal during a recent night up with my constantly-feeding baby, and the last bit I had was aged to softness.

I vaguely remembered reading that you could heat up cereal in the oven and thought "who the hell would ever do that instead of going to the store?" but, being too wiped out to drive and reluctant to transport said infant, I gave it a try. Wow. 10 minutes at 300 degrees (I think, don't hold me accountable for any messes) and it was like a fresh new batch. Just one of the little things that can sometimes mean a lot.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Snow days are the best days of the year

It finally happened. Not only did we get a snow day, they called it THE NIGHT BEFORE. The night before! Cocktails all around.

Here's the tradition of snow day:













oh yeah! An easy doz of the hot d-nuts.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Go make yourself a dang quesadilla!


Inspired by the TGIFriday's menu I looked at to write yesterday's column, I took that expensive, over-salted steak from the fancy Boston restaurant and made it into quesadillas. It was good, but don't go buying yourself an expensive, over-salted steak to recreate the results....

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Maybe I should have had the Parmesan Encrusted Silician Quesdillas

One of the benefits of the urban life is the opportunity to go to really nice restaurants. I went last night with the man, to a place that shall remain nameless but is well known in Boston. Here's the summary:
Drinks: 10.
Apps: Clams Casino: 10
Entree: Steaks: 5 good steak, salt shaker must have fallen into pan in kitchen
Service: 2, but who's fault it is is unsure

The salads came with the apps. The entrees came when I was still eating salad. The entrees came out of the kitchen 10 min. previous to that and had been sitting at the wait station during that time and so were lukewarm. Wine glass cleared before empty.

This, in the scheme of things, is not a bad problem to have. I realize that. But if you're paying hard earn scratch (and a good amount of it) for dinner, is it too much to ask to have service considerably better than your local TGIFridays? Who, I would guess, sends those fried green beans out before the Alfredo-crusted-cajun-blue cheese steak tip with crab entree.

Any thoughts?

(want to know which restaurant?)

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

You can get a good look at a T-Bone...

I read "Julie and Julia" last year, and was thinking about undertaking a similar project. For those unfamiliar, the basic concept is taking a cookbook and making every single thing in it. I'm not ready for Julia Childs, but I was considering the book "Bones" by Jennifer McLagan. It's pretty fascinating if you grew up around hunters and are not afraid of some serious meat. Hard core stuff, like pigs feet and calves liver, but that's what made it an interesting challenge. I wasn't planning on cooking from it every day ( I don't need to get the Gout), but maybe once a week would work. I'm here to tell you though, one recipe and I'm not sure this is the book I want to use. I tried to make an Oxtail stew, and yes, oxtail is just what you think it is. I imagined a super rich, beefy broth for cheap that I could later serve to friends and have them swooning at the delicious dish. "What is it?" they'd say. "I must have the recipe! Oxtail? You don't say!"

What I got was 2 days of prep and cooking producing a 1/2 cup of fatty, stringy beef.

Maybe I went wrong somewhere, but I think I'll look for another cookbook to conquer. Any suggestions?

p.s: Our title comes from last night's viewing of "Tommy Boy"- if you don't recognize how it ties into the theme, get the full quote here.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Why leave the house?

Today we start a new feature. Based on the trend (for better or worse) or making your home so great you never want to go out for anything (video games, netflix, etc.), we introduce: MYO Mondays. "MYO" is a term our mother would throw out when she was sick of cooking (and probably sick of us). We would ask "what's for dinner?", we'd get "It's MYO night".

Make Your Own, in case you haven't caught on, is an exploration of trying to recreate at home something you usually just go out and buy. This is not only trendy, but Homespun Urban: when you lived in a place where you couldn't go out and buy it at the corner bodega, you had to MYO. Now that you're urban fabulous, you can still impress yourself and friends with your skills. (And if you've seen "I Am Legend", you know that you just might need these skills in the future. In case you're immune from the zombies. Never mind. Go see it.)

Our first project: Pancakes.

I know you probably don't go and buy pancakes by the pound at the deli, but be honest: how many of us have that mix box in the cupboard? Mark Bittman says it best in his How to Cook Everything: "Americans must have been seriously isolated from the kitchen to ever let pancake mix get a foothold in the market, for it's ridiculously easy to make." (He says something like that- I'm quoting from memory.) He's right though: I made it this weekend, and here's the effort it took me:
1. melt butter in microwave.
2. put flour in bowl.
3. add baking powder, salt and egg.
4. mix with milk.
5. make pancakes.

I didn't time it, but my estimate was about 2 min., start to finish. Were they better than Bisquick? Maybe, maybe not. Was it just as easy? Yes. And now if you keep staples in your kitchen, you'll never have to run out in a snowstorm for that familiar yellow box. Sorry, General Mills. And don't get me started on that "shake and pour" stuff.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

2008- Homespun is the new Urban!

Well, we're back.


It's been a long time, but we have two good reasons, and here they are:


Emily's Reason:
Kate's Reason:


We'd like to welcome to the Homespun Urban family little Campbell, born to Kate on Nov. 10th, and little Master of Music degree, born to Emily at the end of December. Aren't they cute?

And now back to the Homespun Living. Our pledge for 2008: more blog! more blog! To our 6 readers (including our Mom), we know you'll be pleased.