Photography and Techniques of Cuisine
I'll be Live Blogging Top Chef Texas, episode 2 tonight at 10pm Eastern time. First time trying to Live Blog, so there may be technical difficulties. There will definitely be spoilers, so if you have it DVRed, or if you're in a different time zone, then you may want to check in later. Comments welcome! … [Read more...]
Christey and I live an hour from Walt Disney World in Orlando. When fall hits, one of the biggest draws for locals and tourists alike is the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. Epcot normally is a destination at any time of year for foodies with the World Showcase international pavilions -- food, beer, and wine from Japan to Norway, Mexico to France. Add in 29 kiosks nestled in between the … [Read more...]
One of the most magical techniques in cooking is the emulsion. An emulsion is the creation of a semi-stable suspension between oil and water which may be fairly loose, like a vinaigrette, or a thicker consistency, like Bearnaise. The mayonnaise may be the thickest in the group, and one of the trickiest to master -- I make mayo and aioli often, and I still … [Read more...]
Sliders are such a fun meal to cook. They're currently a gourmet food truck catch-all, and for good reason. Modern sliders pack a wide range of flavors and cuisines in a quick, hand-held package. You have protein, carb/starch, and sauce, so the sky is the limit when it comes to combinations. A couple months ago, I picked up some ground lamb at the store. I wanted gyros, but not gyros -- a play … [Read more...]
Christey's birthday was last Monday, and one of her favorite meals is my Dad's pork schnitzel, with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. Dad was born and lived his pre-teen years in Germany, and I don't know where he picked up his schnitzel recipe, but I think you almost have to be German to fully pull this recipe off. I've asked him several times about the mushroom gravy, and he's always been … [Read more...]
I could start this entry with a history of gourmet food trucks -- the evolution from hot dogs to haute dishes. The truth is, however, that there are already a ton of blog posts and even FoodTV/Cooking channel shows about food trucks. I'll start with a confession instead. When I was beginning to get serious about cooking, I was finding myself daydreaming about a common fantasy -- owning my own … [Read more...]
Week 2 of Lent, and grilled portobello sandwiches have become a favorite lunch. It's simple, nutritious, and gives a nice umami/meatiness to the day. The no land-meat, no dairy has been surprisingly tough. We knew going in that it would take a serious commitment, but we didn't realize how much we would think about food constantly. Like corn, a … [Read more...]
We're a week into Lent and Christey and I have been giving up land animals (seafood is okay) and dairy. We've allowed ourselves eggs as well. So far, we've been doing pretty well. It's certainly made us think about our food a lot more. I'm finding the challenge to be strong, and in some cases fairly limiting, but it's been … [Read more...]
After discussing the major desire to have cream and butter and how almost everything is cooked in butter, and how hard it is to find food that hasn't been soaked in dairy some way or another, with a few friends, some offered alternatives. One was that you can use Earth Balance butter substitute and that Ghiradellie chocolate chips were dairy-free! That means I can still enjoy cookies!!!! I … [Read more...]
Lent, Day 1. I don't normally eat breakfast (I have a vice of Dr Pepper). For lunch, on the very first day of Lent, we decided to drop the one-restaurant-a-week rule. Given the rest of our Lenten vows are pretty strict, we decided that even with allowing restaurants, we'd still be sacrificing a lot trying to find no-meat-no-dairy on the menu. But, we did sushi for lunch. And some … [Read more...]
This is the time of year for Mardi Gras and Carnival. For many sects of Christianity, the day or days before Ash Wednesday are times of fun and celebration before the start of Lent, and the celebrations generate the buzz. However, Lent is the stimulus for the festivities. Lent itself is a time of asceticism and self sacrifice. Forty-six days of self sacrifice this year, if you follow the … [Read more...]
Foodbuzz and CharBroil were kind enough to send us CharBroil's "The Big Easy" Oil-less Infrared Turkey Fryer in advance of Thanksgiving, along with a Flip Video HD camera to record our cooking experiences. Since we're in the middle of the Project Food Blog's video411 contest, I'd like to point out that this entry isn't our contest entry (that would be over here: … [Read more...]
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