Food Hack: Pepper Antiseptic

Today I cut myself in the kitchen pretty badly.  I'm an extremely manly man of course.. so I barely felt it.. but I didn't want to get blood in the food or on myself.  Using a band aid while cooking is annoying so instead reach for the pepper shaker.  Pepper is a natural antiseptic, easily clots the wound, and you look pretty bad-ass putting pepper in your cuts (most important).


source:
http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/health_tips/Call_Dr_Pepper.php

Brussels Sprouts in Mustard Sauce

Crunchy, caramelized, savory, delicious.  These aren't your grandparent's brussels sprouts.  I met these tantalizing fellows one eventful night in Santa Monica at a restaurant named The Misfit.  I wanted to recreate this dish and take a walk down memory lane.  It is said that the olfactory sense triggers memory the strongest.  "Odor information is stored in long-term memory and has strong connections to emotional memory. This is possibly due to the olfactory system's close anatomical ties to thelimbic system and hippocampus, areas of the brain that have long been known to be involved in emotion and place memory, respectively."  To put it more eloquently, odors go "straight to the dome".  But what about taste?  "Olfaction, taste and trigeminal receptors (also called Chemesthesis) together contribute to flavor."  Since taste is so strongly tied to smell, I conclude, through the transitive property, that taste also must be closely tied to memory.  Oh and you didn't think I'd bring science into this...  This dish is so good I've actually come to crave Brussels Sprouts.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup water
• 2 to 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed of yellow or wilted leaves and halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Bring the water, butter, salt and Brussels sprouts to a boil in a Dutch oven or a large deep skillet. 
2. Cover and steam over medium-heat until the Brussels sprouts are brightly colored and just tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Remove the lid and continue to cook until the liquid evaporates, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Saute to intensify flavors, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Adjust seasonings, including pepper to taste, and serve.
4. Remove Brussels sprouts from pan. Add mustard to remaining liquid in pan. Stir and make sauce.
5. Pour over Brussels sprouts.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfaction

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/brussels-sprouts-with-dijon-mustard-recipe/index.html

Homemade Pasta with Tomato and Clam Sauce

It was the day before I started work and I decided I wanted a challenge to keep my mind off the pressure.  So I browsed through Marika's cookbook and came across a pasta with tomato and clam sauce.. perfect!  I've never worked with clams before so it'll definitely keep me on my toes.  But just for good measure I decided to try making my own pasta as well.  I know what you're thinking... "OMG what a BALLER!"  Yes, what a baller indeed.

I started off with the pasta
First making the dough from eggs, flour, and salt... Just go by how it feels.. if it sticks too much just keep adding flour.. if there's not enough dough, add an extra egg and go from there.  Anyways this is what I ended up with :O looks like dough to me!  Check out my new granite rolling pin :] Sugoi! Originally was one of the columns on the Vittoriano.

Be prepared for a huge mess... it looked like the pillsbury doughboy diarrheaed all over my kitchen by the end of it

I didn't have anything to slice up the dough, so I just used a pizza roller and cut it as thinly as possible

Set it aside to chill while you round up your clams

It's very important you have your favorite wooden spoon ready to beat them back in the pot when they start climbing out 

All the clams will open up and shout "Save us!"... and I'll look down and whisper "No."

But seriously.. don't let them out!  They're fairly crafty...

After they open up, you'll remove them from their shells and add them to your sauce.  Start boiling your pasta in salted water as you finish off the clam sauce.  Fresh pasta is either done or not, no "al dente" here.

And there you go.. 

This is the recipe I "based" my pasta off of

Serves 4 (or just me apparently)

You may also use cockles (clams well endowed cousins) as a appropriate substitute

Ingredients:

• 2 lb live small clams in the shell or 14 oz canned clams in brine, drained
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1.25lb canned chopped tomatoes
• 3 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
• 1lb spaghetti
• salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  Place clams in a bowl of cold water and rinse several times to remove grit or sand, then drain well.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the clams. Stir over high heat until the clams open up. Discard any that do not open (only eat the ones that try to escape).  Transfer the clams to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Reduce the clam juice left in the pan to almost nothing by boiling fast.  Add the garlic and fry until golden.  Pour in the tomatoes, bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes until reduced.  Stir in the clam mixture or canned clams and half the parsley and heat through.  Season to taste (I recommend red wine).
4. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente (unless you're a badass and made your own).  Drain well and turn into a warm serving dish.  Pour over the sauce and sprinkle with remaining chopped parsley.

Tom Collins

Ingredients:

• 2 fl. oz. gin
• 1 fl. oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. simple syrup
• Ice cubes
• Soda water
• Lemon slice, garnish

Put the gin, lemon juice, and sugar syrup in a tall glass, three-quarters filled with ice cubes, and top off with soda water.  Stir, decorate the glass with a slice of lemon, and a stirrer.

Simple Syrup:
To make simple syrup combine 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved.  Store remaining in a jar for later.  Or if you want to be awesome, you can roll a skewer in sugar and let it sit in your syrup for a couple days and make some rock candy.

Everyone knows vodka, rum, and tequila.. but what about gin?  It's time to show gin a little respect; after all, the gin martini is undoubtedly the predecessor to our current flood of mixed drinks.  Gin's simplicity to illegally manufacture led to its rise in popularity during the prohibition.  You think Gin cares about prohibition? Gin is a badass, Gin doesn't care.

Fun Fact: 
Vodka is derived from potatoes, rum from sugar cane, tequila from agave, and gin from juniper berries

Food Hack: Prevent Onion Crying

When you're as macho as me, you have an image you need to protect.  As manly as I may be, my tear ducts are little girls when they are sprayed with poisonous onion juices (Fig. 1.0).

Fig. 1.0 Gas from the onion turning a manly man into a crying girl (may also cause menstruation) 

Here is the secret of how to spare your eyes and manhood: 

When onion cells are cut open, sulfenic acid is released and combines with an enzyme from the onion, creating an airborne gas.  When the gas (literally considered teargas) enters your eyes, it stimulates your optical sensory neurons, causing extreme irritation. There is a gland in the base of the onion that, when cut into, releases this teargas.  If you cut out this cone shaped gland in the bottom then you will be spared most of the unpleasant gas.  So cut out a cone, with the base of the cone being the root, and the tip of the cone being about 1/3 the height of the onion.  If you don't want to waste this part of the onion I suggest finding a small child to chop it up for you.

I have also noticed that while wearing contact lenses, the onion's powers are considerably weakened.  Perhaps contacts serve as some sort of onion-kryptonite.  If you don't wear contacts, I recommend that you try reading in the dark or playing video games too close to your TV screen.

Carbonara

This is my first attempt at recreating a dish from Europe.  I tried Carbonara for the first time in Marika's restaurant in Rome.  It's not too difficult and takes less than an hour to make.  I recommend using the best quality ingredients you can find.  Since the dish is so simple, the ingredients are the difference between mediocre and amazing.  The Carbonara came out perfectly (of course nothing beats the original) :]  Something I intend to whip up whenever I get Rome-sick.  


This one time, I was in Germany and I had a pig pee all over me.  I was a child and it was terrible.  I'm sure it was just an accident, but sometimes I secretly think that this pig had some deep-rooted animosity towards me.  So as reprisal, I add this dish to my grease-covered Recipe Book of Revenge, between "the baconizer" and "piggies in a blanket" (with the blankets also made out of piggies).


Yields: 4-6 Servings


Ingredients:

• 1 pound dry spaghetti
• 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ounces pancetta, cubed
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 handful fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Directions:

Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain the pasta well, reserving 1/2 cup of the starchy cooking water to use in the sauce if you wish.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the pancetta and saute for about 3 minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered. Toss the garlic into the fat and saute for less than 1 minute to soften.

Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a mixing bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen.) Thin out the sauce with a bit of the reserved pasta water, until it reaches desired consistency. Season the carbonara with several turns of freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt. Mound the spaghetti carbonara into warm serving bowls and garnish with chopped parsley. Pass more cheese around the table.

Recipes stolen from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/spaghetti-alla-carbonara-recipe/index.html

Europe: The Food Tour

My month long adventure in Europe has come to an end.  But that doesn't mean I can't still enjoy the same delicious food!  I'm on a quest to replicate all my favorite cuisines.  If anything, this trip has given me a new perspective on cooking.  Here are some of my favorites (in chronological order):

 London, England

This meal was taken from Google's London office.  My friend from Google and I toured the office and got to enjoy this amazing food.

Valley of the Somme, France

This was my first espresso of the trip.  Instant addiction.  Many more to come!

Paris, France

I don't think this is French food.. but it was still delicious.

Paris, France

Who wants to room with me tonight?? muahaha

Paris, France

Escargot

Paris, France

Lunch

Paris, France

Chocolate. Purchased in no less than 15 pieces ;)  

Paris, France

Cappuccino (an espresso with milk for the coffee noobs)

Paris, France

Jam Crepe with Campari.. just Campari  >.<

Paris, France

Moroccan Food

Fountainebleau, France

Baguette Sandwich.  The bread is so good...

Beaujolais Region, France

French Onion Soup

French Riviera, France

Frog legs.  I wasn't really sure what to expect with these kickers.  

Tasted like a chewier version of chicken.  Not bad at all.. just don't choke on their little bones.

Monaco

Spicy olive oil.  One of the few spicy foods I found in Europe.  

There could be no better combination.

Monaco

The best risotto I've had.  Melted in my mouth.

Pisa, Italy

That was considered one slice of pizza  :O  Fonzies are Italian cheetos

Pisa, Italy

Of course Gelato

Florence, Italy

Paninis waiting to be eaten :D As soon as you order, they are thrown into a panini press and then on their way to your belly.  In Italy, most places you had to order your food at the cash register, then bring your receipt over to the deli for your food.

Florence, Italy

Cappuccino art.  It's about  €5 cheaper to order your coffee standing, opposed to sitting down to drink it

Florence, Italy

They kicked me out for getting too much drool on their glass

Florence, Italy

I'm not big on sweets, but how can you say no to this?

Roma, Italy

Eggplant Lasagna

Roma, Italy 

Breakfast in Rome

Roma, Italy

Lunch in Rome

For dinner, I was treated to Marika's restaurant.  The restaurant is stunning; the enchanting ambiance is only surpassed by the mouth-watering food.  The restaurant is actually an historic building that used to be where Caesar ate every meal... okay.. I don't know if that last part is true.. but if the food back then was as good as it is today, then I can guarantee it.  "When in Rome, eat at Ristorante Arturo all'Antica Aurelia"

Roma, Italy

Ristorante Arturo all'Antica Aurelia

Roma, Italy

Carbonara

A spaghetti cooked with olive oil, pepper, and pancetta.
The picture is actually not blurry at all.. the food itself was blurry after the wine we drank... 
it's science, just trust me on this

Roma, Italy

Spaghetti with marinara and cheese filled pizza

Roma, Italy

Italian potato chips

Roma, Italy

Filet Mignon with capers.. last-meal worthy

Venice, Italy

Fungus Pizza

Tyrol, Austria

Went to a fishing restaurant in Austria. 

For €9, I was given the fishing supplies to catch my meal, had my fish cleaned, and prepared for me.  I named him Henry and Henry was delectable.. 

Munich, Germany

Goulash

Munich, Germany

Pork Knuckle

Mit sauerkraut und a yellow ball of fun stuff (still not sure what it was)

Leichtenstein

This meal was sadly the most expensive meal I ate on the trip.  22 Francs for something that could have came from McDonalds lol... Every expensive meal I eat, I think back and say "Well at least it wasn't as bad as my 'chicken schnitzel sandwich' in Leichenstein"  But seriously, if you travel to Switzerland, be prepared for skyrocketed prices.. Even starbucks charged me 9 Francs for a medium coffee.  Francs are roughly equivalent to USD.

Swiss Alps, Switzerland

So expensive.. but sooo good

Swiss Alps, Switzerland

The best coffee I had all trip

Heidelberg, Germany

The local brew

Edam, Netherlands

All different types of Gouda

This store was a Gouda and clogs store.  They used the shavings from the clogs to smoke the Gouda... synergy

London, England

Back in England... Look at that bread!

Here's a map of the route I took (numbers indicate the number of nights I spent there):