As a Rough draft grows and morph in to different projects it is always nice to see what needs to be done to finish it up. Right now the dates have to go, basic grammar and spelling checks because I was too sleep deprived to hammer the fine details. Lengthening and pictures of course. Still same rules as apply with these excerpts as the last set. They are all first draft and we have along way to go on them.

 

 

July 2nd – American Cuisine

American cuisine is more then the few chefs on television all the time. In fact even thinking they are representing American cuisine is like saying the trail blazers are great foot ball players only because they play a pro sport. Many may even see it as a joke on words like jumbo shrimps or common sense. Exploring my home country’s cuisine can maybe get a better view of your own home whether its another part of America or another country altogether.

Some of the basic points of this part of the book will be learning how ingredients made their way to each section of land. Distinguishing how the food was grown, sold, or brought in speaks to the way things were back in the era where such foods were new as well as how they were valued. For many of the older recipes certain things had to be done so that the food would be able to hold longer with less effort. Back in older eras such as the wild west or the pioneer rush eating food was a had to do action and not so much as something to be fussed over much. Flashy sauces and more costly ingredients making their way in to the dishes of the era were more found in the establishments popular in larger cities. Moving to the more rural areas such things may only be made rarely or bought in to save time while celebrating.

Respecting these people who in the untamed times of each section could make simple food taste so good should be revered as nowadays we may face different problems such as the loss of flavor and the increase of artificial chemicals. Time was not so liberally implanted as it took time for the families of the past to pickle and preserve everything they could while thinking up the recipes to get the most bang for their buck.

We all need to try and make the best food we can so we can live the best lives we can. This does not take an over abundance of food though which is something we must learn within our borders.

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Excerpt – Life, Love, and Cooking

This was originally a project that had started years ago because I wanted to show that one could make better food by better understanding it. How knowing some of the basics could build in to masterpieces on a plate, and no matter what we all need to eat. Typing this up is just the start of another step as instead of taking that project in full (about 129k words) it will be split in half for just about 62k in words.

Revising has to be done, word choice improved, pictures put in and a whole list of things that will in complete honesty may add up to absolutely nothing financially. That wasn’t why I did this project though, as I did it so that maybe someone out there in the real world. Someone who feels like they can’t do something will read it and even if they don’t agree on anything else find solace in the point that the world can be created by those willing to work for it and make it better. Enough waxing philosophically from the sixth month here is the last excerpt of this project.

June 26th- Meat loaf

This homey American dish has been recreated in almost every house with countless different flavorings. All meat loafs do have some things in common.

First is the use of ground meat whether its pork, turkey, chicken, beef or any other meat that can be ground. Lentils are even used as the base in a vegetarian option loaf.

Vegetables are often chopped in small chunks to give the loaf more texture when it is finished as well as a bit of extra color. The most common vegetables are the three belonging to the french mirepoix celery, carrot, onion.

Next is the glue that holds the entire thing together as it cooks. Eggs are one of the most popular items whether in yolks or whites separately or together are often used to bind everything together. For those who cant use all ground meat or those who want to cut the fat will often add bread crumbs in various forms. Sometimes old bread will be soaked in milk before being added to the ground beef.

Taking your meat in a bowl you would first add the vegetables and mix before finishing with the addition of your thickener and flavorings. Mixing until everything is amalgamated you would then shape it so it can fit in a high walled dish. Before setting it in the oven it can be wrapped in bacon to provide more flavor. As it cooks a large amount of fat will be left in the bottom of the dish with which you can make a gravy.

Meat loaf works well in thin slices for sandwiches while thicker slices can work for an entree all their own. It pairs well with hearty vegetables like scalloped potatoes.

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Excerpt – Life, Love, and Cooking

In my book  is also has some pages about some of the problems come from how food gets to us. Since I have started this writing project some light has been shed on this. It still has enough issue that it should still be here.

 

May 12th- Chocoholics beware

Used since the ancient empires chocolate has always hit a sweet spot to those who can afford it. Chocolate as we know it as a labor intensive product that takes whole cocoa beans roasting them down like coffee to be made in to a liquid and from the chocolate essence added with sugars, flavorings, and other items to form candies and desserts around the world. Can you think of a world with no chocolate at all?

The problem is that as time goes on the majority of chocolate is made from a system that puts cycle after cycle of products, but does not allow the land to recuperate after growing. Cycle after cycle of growing not only drops the quality and soon after the quantity of what they can make. Less chocolate is made and companies have to bid for the mass quantities at higher prices before sending it down to the consumer. After large corporations buy their fill next the smaller companies would buy what they could often at a higher price so multiple levels of business have to raise their prices to turn the same profits. Now nothing is set by a single provider and while there are multiple suppliers the second set will not make a great amount. Instead they will make a small set of artisan level chocolate with unique beans, processes, and flavors.

The reason many companies become unique is to find a reason they can effectively market to produce a higher profit then other companies who produce more en masse. Making it across the board for chocolate price hikes to the consumer as well as your restaurants, bakers, and family run businesses. It will take time until companies can be established where a steady flow of supplies can be made in a cycle that benefits both nature and man.

Something else that may fall in to this problem later again is the coffee bean and really any thing that has been in the same farming processes in a finite amount of land.

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Excerpt – Life, Love and Cooking

April 27th – Beef by numbers

Cooking cuts of beef to preferred doneness can seem rather scary to the uninitiated. Ending with an overcooked or vastly undercooked slab of meat can unnerve someone. When you ask how things should be cooked and get a half dozen different answers you need to learn the signs of difference which can come from one of two ways. First way it can be measured is by touch for as the protein cooks it gets tougher. Now there are some numbers you can check if you have a digital thermometer it will be the quickest way to get the temperature only do so when you feel you are just about done. Heat will continue to cook the meat so you want to aim just a few degrees lower then your target and let carryover heat finish the job. Take your reading from the top of the meat until you are comfortable with your skill. For the sear most look for on thicker steaks marks you will need to make them faster with a hotter grill. All numbers are in degrees of Fahrenheit

Blue – This is the rarest of all and you should remove it from the grill when it reaches 115 and the carry over should take it to 120.

Rare – Remove as it reaches 120 and let the residual heat push it to 125

Medium Rare- Remove at 125 and let residual heat push it to 130

Medium- Remove meat at 135 and let the residual finish it at 140

Medium Well- Remove at 145 and let residual heat bring it to 150

Well done – Remove at 155 and let residual heat finish it at 160

Brick – Cook to 165 and the finishing heat will bring it up to 170

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Excerpt – Life, love, and cooking

Enjoy!

March 10th – Bacon fat

Today’s society has brought a new font of knowledge on the topics of saturated fats. While looking back in the era of our grandparents cooking some of us may remember the old tin can or glass jar where the drippings of the breakfast bacon would go. As a fat it holds itself much to a use like butter, solid at room temperature.

Cook your bacon in the pan on medium heat making sure to drain the fat after every other batch. Before you get the third batch going take your wire mesh strainer and pour the fat from the pan in to the strainer with the can waiting underneath. The strainer will remove the extra shards of bacon still left in the fat.

Due to the amount of salt in the bacon you will have a lot of salt in the drippings. This was the reason why some people would have the can out because so much salt can act as a preservative. Even if this is the case I keep mine in the fridge so that way there is less chance of accidental spills. Even though it is technically a solid at room temperature that does not mean it is a rigid solid. It will be a little softer then room temperature butter if you need something to associate it to.

Collecting, straining, and storing fat aside what would be some things you would want to use it with. The answer stands anywhere you want a savory fat to be heated. It can be added to warm sauces, used in replacement for oil in sautes as well as stir fry’s.

Wash some potatoes and cut them in to rings a half inch thick dry them off before warming your bacon fat in a pan to medium heat. Drop your slices of potato in to the fat and let them cook until they get a good coloration before flipping. As soon as the second side is finished let dry on a paper towel before sprinkling with old bay seasoning for a tasty snack.

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Excerpt – Life, love, and cooking

So before we go in to the excerpt let me tell you something about this project. It originally started as something that someone read one page per day that would take them from the basics as I had learned them, skills and stories having that all build in to the end of the year. So things like basic sauce making, stocks and doughs in January while in December their would be actual full meal breakdowns.

The problem I found out with that is that makes a lot of writing. Starting off on the editing process I found out that everything ended up just under 125k words. For those who write the National Novel Writing Month has the goal of 50k so in short I wrote a lot for one book. After some thinking about what would be the best way to handle this I may have found an answer. If anyone would like to comment their two cents on it, I would appreciate it.

Options are either release it as one massive book or in two portions. If It gets split in to two portions it won’t be over the year obviously, but it will be easier to handle I would think. Also, I will have one excerpt from each month of the book on this blog. So twelve different excerpts to let you see how it is so far. One down eleven to go and with this, ten to go.

February 20th –A million starbucks yet

Knowing how popular coffee is in this country; tea has suffered the fate of falling in its shadow. Consisting of so many different flavors from all around the world some exist for taste while some take double duty for a sleeping aid or a caffeinated drink of choice. Since the amount any times is lower then your coffee or soda you can get a small boost without worrying about the crash.

At any house absolutely anywhere one good pot of tea just needs a couple pieces of information and some water. The info you will want will be how much you are steeping, what temp the water needs to be at for best flavor as well, as well how long.

For one 8 ounce cup of tea start with 1.5 tsp of whatever leaves you need except in the case of green and black which can be dropped to 1 tsp. Green is often sold in powders so you will need less of it. Reason is of how much surface area with the powder versus regular leaves. Black tea is often very strong so start off with one tsp just to see if you like that.

Green and white teas are good when steeped at 175 for between two to four minutes. Oolong and black go twenty degrees higher for 3 to 4 minutes. Herbals do best just under boiling at 205 for 5 minutes. Of course other teas are out there and they will have special preparation such as Chai for example. Learn how to maximize the flavor and invite your friends for a cup and a game. When making iced teas double the amount of leaves or powder.

You can have a tea pot, however you do not need one for good tea. If you want one there are many models and styles to choose from. Extra care needs to be taken though as with iron teapots you do not want to over heat a pot to blacken the paint or leave your leaves inside it for a period has that may invite rust or a loss of finish.

 

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Excerpt – Life, Love and Cooking

Here is something from one of the book projects I currently have in the starting round of editing. Something for every day of the year going over kitchen wisdom, recipes, tips, tricks and my own experiences working in various kitchens.

January 5th– Ratios vs. recipes (quick pie crust)

Things do not need to be difficult to be good. Some times I will crack a cook book to find a recipe with too many ingredients, and many of which serving no purpose to the final dish. Pie crust is an ingredient that is a great example of this. Dozens of possible combinations between fats, flours, and flavorings may make things confusing. You will need a pastry cutter for this. Otherwise a pie crust is always within a three step countdown. Ratios you will find to be much more useful then complicated recipes. I will try to give ratios whenever possible in the future.

So three parts all purpose flour with two parts fat either shortening or butter and one part ice cold water. Pinch some salt in with the flour and give it a light stir with the hand. So which fat do you use? Shortening would be useful if you’re new to the crust game for the simple fact that it will not melt as easily so you have more time. Butter will bring better flavor and richer texture just realize that you will need to chill the butter even freezing it may be suggested. If you want to go halvsies on the fats I have found that will give you the best of both worlds.

Put your fat in the flour and using your pastry knife cut the fat in to the flour. This will take some time if you’re not used to it that’s ok. Now how much you cut it to depends on what you are using it for if you need a flaky crust such as the top cover to a double crust pie then you want to cut the fat to the size of frozen peas. Cutting to rice size fat granules will create a mealy crust. Reason for this is that when you roll the dough the fat flattens and the larger size lends itself to creating layers while the mealy crust will be structurally sound. Next add the water do so slowly stopping at the last tenth before kneading together if it seems a little dry then continue with the last tenth until amalgamated. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge to chill before rolling out to whatever you need.

3 parts all purpose flour 2 parts cold fat 1 part ice cold water 1/8 tsp salt for 8 oz of dough.

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The year we had. What will be next.

The holidays are coming and we have had a year.  Here are some of the events just from my own memory.

Lost a roommate and an apartment due to my roommate turning into a financial irresponsible stoner.

Lost my job due to my job not being able to pay on time.

Practice my writing more then in recent memory.

Brother got in a hit and run.

Siblings tried acid for the first time provoking to a bad trip.

Got a better job to fund a new apartment.

Got a newer car after my sister had scrapped my old one in spite.

My family had overreacted to a medical crisis of my sister.

I had to work through a cellulitis incident that made my legs in to a pair of bumpy water balloons for a couple months.

Got more then forty different certifications on alison.com

Got to play in a MTG Grand Prix.

Got started on a text based computer game.

Got started on a free card game and nearly done with all the rough sketches.

Got started on a youtube channel.

 

I didn’t get to my goals. But the good things about goals is that they don’t have an expiration date unless you put one on.  So you all enjoy, and I will see if we can get something more done.

 

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Thoughts after an accident

Warning: This post is going to touch on some serious subjects.

So while I am working on all this writing, the business plans, future investments, the card game and everything it usually calls about on some major concentration. As anyone can tell by my pas posting I have not been able to get a lot done in the recent time.

It’s just I was thinking after my brother got in a wreck which he is thankfully ok from. After watching him lose his car, something that meant so much to him as being able to be free be taken away because of someone’s negligence just makes me think, and I need to vent a little.

My sister and I have a lot of bad blood between us, but its a least to the point of polite conversation. Now, during many of the years my parents often imbibed and my father was not the kindest man when things would set him up. Obviously, all the details are not needed. There were three kids and the times that someone didn’t stop it there was a couple of additions of bruises. Except my sister and I tried everything to keep our brother out of the cross hairs. Now, with pops out of prison, and mom’s memory it almost feels like my sister and I are two last soldiers in a forgotten war.

My mother’s memory was lost of those moments after her stroke. Pops would say he does not remember and my brother does not want to talk about the events he went through, the ones we couldn’t stop. My knee was twisted almost out of the socket, my jaw smacked, my ribs bruised multiple times, my shoulder blade nearly shattered just from family incidents.

It just sucks that my brother after we made it through so much after the three of us kids made it so far against everything and when my brother made it, and gets his car only to have someone wreck it and run out of their car to escape. The guy after hitting my brother so hard he slid across the width of a four lane street being spun out thought not to see if he was okay, but run. Run out of the SUV to get away from my brother, and luckily the car took the hit in the back seat drivers side. No one else was in the car except the door was bent in so far it wouldn’t open. If it was the front seat then the force would have bent the door half way through the drivers seat.

He loved to have that freedom of just going somewhere without having to ask someone. What scares me the most is when he got so mad I could almost see the reflection I had when I was so much younger. He is a different person though and I can only hope that he is not like me because I kept all my anger in when I was younger. Only time will tell and that’s what sucks. Maybe I am just over empathizing, I hope he isn’t dealing with it the way I used too

Thanks, for letting me vent.

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Speaking of Food – Sauces

Haven’t done a food post for a while so with the holidays in a few months are some sauces you can use to brush up your meals so to speak. The sauce is a lot like the wing man in a fully composed meal. It should not compete with the other elements of the dish, but work with them to bring out their very best. So here are some sauces defined.

Pomodoro – One can look at this is as the basic tomato sauce. Fresh picked tomatoes with very little extra seasoning cooked down to a sauce consistency. Tomato puree can add thickening power if you find through the simmering process that it just is not the texture you wish.

Marinara – Usually seasoned with onion as well as more herbs and garlic then a pomodoro sauce would be.  Due to the additions of other flavors stirring to keep  any possible items  from sticking to the bottom of the pot  may be critical. Finding a a good bodied red wine can add a flavor boost near the end of the simmering process.

Arrabiata – This is known as the angry sauce due to the amount of chili pepper in it. It is made from a tomato base like the marinara and the spice should be calculated carefully as I have found acidic elements – such as the tomatoes in the base make the heat of the peppers a little more pronounced. When simmering try to keep the heat on the pot on the lower side of simmer (medium low on most stoves) Simmering sauces to high after the inclusion of spices may add unwanted bitterness or a metallic flavor to your sauce

Gastrique – A sauce comprised of vinegar, sugar and seasonings under low heat. With the holidays coming up a cranberry gastrique is often a nice way to bring a fresher cranberry sauce to the table. The biggest thing to be careful of is let everything come together slowly as if you leave it for a moment on high heat after it has just absorbed all the sugar then you could burn it.

Compound butter – A forgotten sauce for some reason it can be made and frozen and holds very well in the freezer. It really is butter plus (x). You can mix some apple sauce and honey in it and do a sweeter one. Mix herbs and lemon and use that for grilling or roasting. It is so easy to make you just take what you want to mix  add it to cold butter and let it warm to room temp before mixing it thoroughly.

Stock is also something that yo ushould make and usually is good with whatever is left over from a roast. It is in a lot of different sauces and can add body to just about everything that has to be simmered.

 

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