Omelet du Damaage?

This will be a short one. It has to do with something I learned today. If you're trying to learn how to flip an omelet "chef" style (in the air) then always start with twice the amount of eggs you want to eat. Today I started with a two egg omelet and ended with a one egg omelet. The stove top devoured the other half. A little practice never hurts before trying to impress your company. The problem is, I've been practicing for awhile and still lose a lot of eggs to the trash. I hear practicing with tortillas works pretty well.

So I can't flip an omelet... Well at least I can de-bone a chicken.

Convert “Healthy” to “Good Tasting”

My sister in law works as a nurse for the elderly.  She cooks meals for my mother in law every week.  If you taste one of these meals, unless you’re 80, you’ll find them quite bland.  But don’t be fooled, she is a good cook.  Her recipes just need some slight modifications in my humble opinion.  That’s the case for a lot of health conscious people.  I’ll bet every one of us has at least one recipe book called “Healthy Eating” or “Cooking for Health” or something of the sort.  One I have on my shelf is called “Joan Lunden’s Healthy Cooking”.  Like my SIL, Joan’s recipes just need some slight modification to make them tasty…probably not as healthy as Joan’s but tasty.  You can see a meatloaf recipe below complete with my modifications.  The premise is basic.  Ground turkey (I hate that crap!) is substituted with a mix of ground beef, pork, and lamb.  Skim milk (I hate that crap!) is substituted with heavy cream.  Egg whites (WTH?) are substituted with a whole egg (go figure).  What results is one of the best recipes for meatloaf recipes ever.  Don’t thank me, thank Joan Lunden.  Remember, unless you’re baking, there’s no reason to leave ingredients you hate in a recipe...or ingredients you love out of one.

Beurre Manie…It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

Ever hear this? “Mom, where’s the gravy?” Especially around the holidays with servings of mashed potatoes, is there any excuse to NOT serve gravy? Well actually there is and it’s usually the fact that you were working against the clock and the gravy would have been to thin to serve anyway. Still, what’s the point of a mashed potato volcano without the gravy?


Here’s a little trick (I assume the French invented it but would probably not approve of it's use anymore); buerre manie (pronounced burr man yay…you can add a bit of snootiness if you want) which translates roughly as “hand butter”. Every one has thickened a sauce, soup or stew using flour or Wondra. But that method leaves the gravy tasting of raw flour. Maybe the volcano maker won’t notice but the other family and guests will. Beurre manie is a simple concoction of equal parts by weight of butter and flour. Notice I said by “weight”. I’m not an expert but why I believe this method works so well is that the flour has time to absorb the butter and the heat from your hands while making it helps. Just put the flour and butter into a bowl and get your hands in there and mix it. After a good mix, the buerre manie should be pliable enough to roll into small balls (about ½ the size of a ping pong ball). These beurre manie balls can be refrigerated or frozen in a sealed container and brought out in an emergency; like when your husband is carving the turkey and you have 5 minutes to make a gravy out of the drippings. Drop one or two into your drippings or stock and boil away quickly. The beurre manie dissolves and thickens the sauce like magic.


One more thing…kids love making it. They love to get their hands dirty and form the little balls. Just make sure their hands aren’t dirty before. LOL It’s a great family project for a rainy afternoon and if they mess it up, who cares? Start the fun over again. Isn't it worth a stick of butter to see them have so much fun?

Spin Class for the Poor

OK, so you don’t have to be poor to follow this advice.  Maybe you just don’t have room on the shelf for another kitchen gadget?  The gadget I’m talking about is a salad spinner.  If you don’t know what one is, it’s a spinner to get the water off your lettuce after you wash it.  And yes, even bagged lettuce needs to be washed unless you enjoy salmonella and e. coli.  On that pleasant thought…  A salad spinner works great and keeps your salads crisp and fresh…no standing water on the bottom of the bowl.  It also works great with herbs like parsley and cilantro when you’ve washed it and need to chop it dry. 

The problem is, a salad spinner is about the size of a large cooking pot.  Simple solution…use a pillow case.  Go out and buy yourself a pillow case that will be dedicated to kitchen greens only.  Please don’t take the pillowcase from the guestroom and use that.  You can buy specialized bags from gourmet markets too but a simple white pillowcase will do the same thing.  Put your lettuce, parsley, cilantro, whatever inside then step out your back door and swing that thing around.  The greens will come out like they just…well…went through a salad spinner.  When you’re finished, turn it inside out and let it dry.  Then fold it up and put it in a drawer for next time.  When you need to wash it, do it in the sink with dishwashing liquid, not the washing machine.  Try it and enjoy your better tasting salads!

That’s Not What Your Cardamom Said Last Night!

Cardamom…the forgotten spice? If you dig far enough into your pantry you’ll probably find an old spice bottle or tin full of cardamom and wonder, “Did I ever use this stuff?” Let me share a few things with you. First, that bottle or tin probably needs to be thrown out. If you open it and smell it and it smells like dust, it’s gone. That whole fresh spice thing is another blog though. Second, it is used frequently in Indian foods. Third, it’s expensive! (about $12 a bottle for ground cardamom) I haven’t done a complete investigation but cardamom rates right up there with Saffron as far as cost. Not to worry. I’m talking about if you walk into Safeway or Lucky’s it’s expensive. If you search a bit for an Indian or Asian market near you, you’ll find it’s much more affordable. If you travel through Dubai by any chance…pick it up there. If at all possible, buy it whole and grind it yourself. I prefer “green cardamom” to the regular brown cardamom. I think it has more aroma and flavor. You can find recipes that include this exotic spice here. It can be used in pod form with cinnamon sticks and saffron for a nice aromatic rice or it can be used in ground form to make a nice, spicy pulao (Indian rice). Whether you’re making fresh bread, curry, lamb or chicken, if you’re tired of the same old-same old try using cardamom in your next meal.  Try grinding it (1T cardamom, 2T cumin, 1/2t cinnamon, 1/2t nutmeg and maybe one star anise) for a good pulao spiced rice.

This just in…cardamom at Whole Foods is $42 per pound.  Don’t worry, you won’t need a pound and that’s a pretty good price.  But, I just found it at Peet’s Coffee (of all places) for $6.95 a bottle.  Also a good price.  And the comparison with saffron?  Whole Foods: Cardamom = $42 lb., Saffron = $15,000 lb.  Yes that's 15 with three zeros.

Welcome! Bienvenue! Karibu! Benvenuti! Huanying! Bienvenido!...

So what inspired me to start this blog?  Well perhaps the idea was spawned while I was cleaning out my parent’s pantry the other day.  Do you think condensed milk “best used before 2004” is still good?  Or maybe I decided to do it while watching Season 8 of Hell’s Kitchen (only the best reality show on television).  But actually, as I think about it, I really got the idea when I found some incredible bargains on foodstuffs in a store you would never imagine looking in for food.  More on that later.  In fact, it’s a blog.

I’ve always believed that you can work at, write about and generally share knowledge with others about anything you have a passion for.  I have a passion for food, fine dining, and cooking.  It runs in the family.  My dad cooked every now and then.  I cook on a regular basis.  And now my son is studying at the California Culinary Academy (Le Cordon Bleu) in San Francisco.  His mom is a great chef too.  I’ll see if I can talk either of them into writing a few blogs.  In fact, I’d welcome any of you who would like to be guest bloggers.  Just ask.  I plan on writing about twice a week to start.

So what will I write about?  Well this blog will not consist of lengthy stories but rather be short snippets of information; short enough so that you can read it in spite of your hectic schedule.  I’ll still try to interject an occasional amusing anecdote or personal horror story.  I hope to have readers from all over the world so I’ll try to stay as international as possible.  How could I leave pilau or roasted goat out of my blog?  How could I omit our London trip to Gordon Ramsay’s Boxwood Cafe?  Besides, tips about cooking are universal right?

Am I an expert chef?  No way but I have learned enough and practices enough to believe I can be informative and entertaining.  I graduated from French Culinary Skills I, II and III but you’ll hear more common sense info from me than French cooking skills.  As a preview, here are some of the titles of written or soon to be written blogs: “That’s what your Cardamom said last night”, “Beurre Manier…It’s not just for breakfast anymore”, “Spin class for the poor”, “How Pilau?” …and many more.

I have three more important things to tell you. 1) I need to you follow me on this blog so please, please, please if you read it, take a second to click on the “Follow Me” link.  It will help establish this blog’s readership. You can follow publicly or privately.  2) I’m not doing this to make money but I want to disclose that I will do some product placement when appropriate.  I will only promote products/stores that I truly believe in.  It’s invisible to you and helps me only if you click and purchase.  3) I am committed to raising money for my friends who remain in Kenya doing the most difficult jobs in the world; working with orphans.  If you donate to keep me writing, they will also benefit.  See their links at the bottom of my page.

Well there it is.  The start of a beautiful thing?  We’ll see…