Vanessa Loves Star Trek

Ok, so Star Trek isn't food but I loved the flick, it's coming out on DVD...and ever since Alias, I have been a fan of J.J. Abrams.

I have been enjoying Star Trek since before it became a franchise but I am not as fanatical as other Trekkies. For instance, I've been told that my cousin has recreated the bridge of the Enterprise in one of the rooms of his house...now that's a man cave.

Anyway, in honor of movie-time, here's a homemade version of the popular Hurricane Popcorn that I can only seem to find in stores in Hawaii. Now you can make it at home.

Take:
1 bag popped microwave popcorn (or pop 1/4 c. of kernals on stovetop)
3 TBL melted butter
1-1/4 c. arare/kakimochi (bite-sized Japanese rice crackers)
1/4 c. furikake

Shake in a 2 qt. plastic bag or a large popcorn bowl with lid. Feel free to increase the amount of butter, it would be more in line with the original recipe. Besides, you have to compensate for all the butter that will stick to the bag/container, right?

Oh, and if you don't like rice crackers, you can sub in wasabi peas or peanuts.

So enjoy with your favorite movie, perhaps Star Trek...uh, tomorrow.

Leftover...Cookies?

You read correctly. Halloween was slow here in the new neighborhood. Danno and I had purchased a mega box of Reese's mini peanut butter cups, then we were given more miniatures "just in case."

I needed to figure out a way to save us from ourselves. We were eating the equivalent of 4 (or more) whole candy bars everyday. Those miniatures are really too easy to eat but our trash can full of wrappers can tell no lies.

We were invited to a dinner party tonight and my buddy asked me to make dessert. I have seen similar cookies with candy Kisses. Surely I could adapt it to work for peanut butter cups...these are two dozen peanut butter cup cookies. Basically I used a half recipe of Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough sans the chips (and I substituted the AP flour with whole wheat flour...hey, it makes me feel better about dessert). They were baked at 350*F in a mini muffin pan for 9-10 minutes. I removed them from the oven and pressed in a mini cup until it was enveloped by the cookie but not overwhelmed by it. They went back into the oven for 3-4 minutes.

I got excited and tried to take one out immediately. C'mon, you would have too. But they need to cool completely before they can be removed whole--think chewy chocolate chip cookie.

The furnace installation guys really liked them (they cooled enough just as they were leaving) as did the dinner party hosts and their friends. I'm hoping I won't have to wait until next Halloween in order to make these leftover cookies again.

Peking Thigh

My mother-in-law, Joan, made Peking duck while my mom was visiting. She had done it years ago and wanted to try again. It was delicious. We ate it too quickly for me to have taken a picture.

Then she got an idea to try it with turkey thigh. The dark meat of the turkey thigh was surprisingly similar in taste and texture to duck except that it was much leaner.

Peking duck traditionalists will miss the fowl lipids but the skin held all the goodness from the sauce. Also, the meat to skin ratio skewed in the opposite direction (if you've ever eaten duck, you know what I mean) so maybe this ends up being healthier.

Anyway, I don't know how to make this, I just wanted to tempt your tummies. She made the Mandarin pancakes too. Very handy lady. I stir fried the bok choy. Hey, I had to do something.

I do know that making the duck involved boiling it in a sweet, gingery sauce, then hanging it dry and drip, then roasting it. Apparently, turkey thighs are less messy and intense since Joan could dry it on a rack in the refrigerator instead of hanging it from the curtain rod in the shower.

The only problem was that the thigh is so much thicker than any part of a duck that the meat closest to the bone just tasted like moist turkey.

I'm sure she'll try it again. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Taking Stock in Making Stock

Ok, so this doesn't save you time and it may not save you any money unless you get the bones for free but it tastes phenomenal.

In culinary school, we made stock every day and every time we were supposed to skim off the fat and scum from the top as it simmered. I don't do that anymore, not with beef broth anyway. It's dark. It's brown. As long as it's rich and flavorful, 99% of people tasting the broth won't know that I didn't meticulously skimmed the scum...most of which gets filtered out by the strainer and cheesecloth anyway.

For beef stock, roasting the bones and adding a little tomato paste are key. If you don't, the results will be devastatingly bland. The caramelization of the bones gives it depth and flavor. The acid in the tomato helps to break down the collagen into gelatin which gives the stock richness.

They say the ratio is 5:1, bones to mirepoix (the French trifecta of 2 parts onion, 1 part carrot, 1 part celery). I know it's a lot of math--I approximate, it's a culinary art after all not a science. The amount of water you add is as much as is necessary to cover everything in the pot.

Roast bones in 450*F oven on sheet pan or cookie sheet until brown, turning occasionally for even roasting. When done, add to pot. Place chopped veggies on the same tray and put in oven to roast a bit, mix in 1-2 TBL tomato paste (I've used ketchup in a pinch). The liquid and steam from the veggies will actually help deglaze the pan. When done, add that to the pot and use a spatula to scrape the fond (nice brown bits of flavor) from the pan into pot. Cover completely with cold water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 6-24 hours.

I like to do this an hour before bedtime. Then I finish up the next morning before work or if I'm feeling daring (or "running behind"), that night after work (adding water if necessary so that water line does go below food line while I'm away). To finish, I get a large pot suspend a strainer lined with cheesecloth on the rim and scoop in the stock, bones into it.

The stock is amazingly rich and those bones hold a surprising amount of fat that will solidify on top as it cools. Use it for cooking or discard in trash after it's cool (don't pour it down the drain unless you like dealing with plumbing problems). 5 lbs. of bones yields about 3-4 quarts.

I used bones from pasture-raised beef. You can't find that on the shelves of the grocery store. That's why I did it. It makes the house smell yummy, too, but this task is not for everyone.

You Kraut Do It

It's easy. Shred some cabbage. For every 5 lbs. Sprinkle and mix in 3 TBL of salt in a large bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes and the salt will extract moisture from the cabbage making its own brine.

Transfer to a gallon container (pickling crock or food-safe plastic container), pressing down as you go. I used glass jar, covered it with cheesecloth and weighted it down. I used a smaller glass container filled with water. Others have used a large, clean rock (that's been sanitized by boiling).

Store in a cool, dry place (but not the fridge...it's a retarded fermenter, I mean, it slows fermentation). Every day or so, check on it and remove the scum from the top. It will be ready in 3-6 weeks. It's up to you and your tastes. Then you can put in fridge or can it. Although "fresh" kraut has an amazing number of live cultures, so if you can (or preserve) it then you basically kill all that good stuff. I bet you it would still be tons better than the stuff you buy in the store though.

Good luck. That's my first batch when it was a week old. It is now a week gone!

Kids Test Kitchen

This is my young friend, Zoe. Together we rolled out some home-made fettuccine, which literally means "little ribbons" in Italian. I guess maybe we made "fettuccina" since Zoe wanted extra long pasta.

I couldn't convince her to make them "regular" length because it was "super" pasta. There is something really awesome about teaching children how to cook. None of my culinary school buds had that much enthusiasm when learning how to make pasta and neither did my comrades-in-arms at Lucques.

Apparently Zoe's specialty is fruit salad. She preps with a butter knife so the salad usually consists of soft things like bananas, canned peaches, and sometimes grapes or berries. Once she made me a side of carrot sticks and chopped almonds...also cut with the butter knife. Now, that's some resolve.

After a long day's work, it's all you can do to pick up the phone to order delivery pizza for dinner. But once a week or every other week, think about making food with your kid(s). It's good for everyone! Just look at little sis, Neve, enjoying the fruits of our labor.

If they are under 10 y.o., some easy things you can do are pizza dough or bread, pasta, tossing a salad, mashing potatoes, or shaking heavy cream into butter. Email me if you need recipes or ideas!

Hey, at age 7, my cousin Jenny asked me if I wanted an "egg in a frame" for breakfast. 5 minutes later she delivered a plate with a fried egg embedded in a toast frame. There were no shells. It was one of the nicest breakfasts I've ever had...and she had to pull out her step-stool from the bathroom to do it.

Teach 'em young, you might be able to sleep in some mornings and maybe even get breakfast in bed. Wouldn't that be nice?