Cheap Meats

The cheapest cuts of beef and pork are usually the ones that are easiest to cook, albeit take the longest. Stew them!

You probably wouldn't want to eat a small bowl of stewed beef as a snack, but then again, you aren't me.

Topped with a touch of sour cream.

All you have to do is bring some stock to a boil with the tough, cheap chunks of meat included. Then, reduce to a simmer. An hour or two later you'll come back and the meat will still look like jerky and you'll say to yourself "man, will this ever work?". Come back two hours after that. Oh yes, the most succulent melty meat you've ever had.

-R

kimchi

Pshhh looks just like David Leb's...but with a crappier picture!
ferment my friends!

The Spread:

Doing some worldly food stalking I cam across a kimchi recipe on David Lebovitz and it's actually much easier than I thought! Once you get your economy-sized korean chili paste and chili power, you're good to go (outside of the likes of K-town, it's go big or go home).

I followed the recipe here: except I didn't use a glass jar, which I WOULD do. Canning jars are pretty cheap...like a dollar or two, so no excuses! Mine didn't ferment like I wanted it to, but it smells and looks like a pretty batch, so no complaints! Best things about kimchi: you can put it on legions of rice, make yummy beef dishes with the broth, hooray! (Go questing for a heart-warming recipe made with meat, veggies, tofu: it's kimchi jigae)

What you'll need:

1 large Napa cabbage (2 pounds, 1kg)
2 tablespoons coarse salt (do not use fine table salt)

1/3 cup (80ml) white rice vinegar
3 tablespoons Korean chili pepper paste (gochujang)
1 tablespoon very-finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons coarse Korean chili powder (gokchu garu)
1/2 tablespoon very-finely minced fresh ginger
4 scallions, sliced in 2-inch (5cm) batons, including the green part

1 glass jar (a quart will be fine)

get these in K-Town, or regular old Chinese markets sell some of this stuff.

The Recipe.

S.

Whole Wheat Quick Bread

OK, I gave up. After living wheat free for three days, all I wanted was warm bread, with soft butter slathered all over, topped with honey or apple butter or.... SHIT I WANT IT NOW!

The solution? Quick Bread! AKA Soda Bread AKA Irish Soda Bread AKA WHATEVER I DON'T CARE I want wheat!

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup reg ol' flour

1 cup and a bit more buttermilk

salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

mix the dry ingredients together. make a hole in the center. add buttermilk. mix but do not overmix! form into a ball and place on a buttered baking sheet. make a deep cross with a knife on top of the bread plus prick a few extra spots. put it in a very hot oven (400? my oven dial doesnt have numbers WTF) for 5-10 minutes and then a medium hot oven (325?) for 10-15. the top will brown a bit and if you tap the bread with the knife, it should sound hollow. seriously, the easiest thing ever. seriously, best idea ever.

apparently, according to an article I just read about the origins of breads like these, this is pretty traditional irish table bread ... having eggs in the dough, raisins, currants, caraway, whatever, is really rare, not to mention costs a lot to the rural family, so find comfort in the fact that if you make this, you are really staying true to the people of the land!

this bread for me, is best served right out of the oven, hot, slathered with anything mentioned above. I can't even count how many times I made it this semester, but it was certainly a staple, and very cost-worthy. I decided to make it about an hour ago, and now I sit here having made it and eaten it, and written a blog about it.

satisfied.

-R

My Dream Come True

-R

baygullz

Finit! I'll say that the barley flavor is salvaged by eating these with goat cheese and jam, something that matches the earthy flavor.
boiling in the malt-ese water
making cute bagels is harder than it looks
awww
aye! kneading why do you torture me!?
being uncharacteristically meticulous
The Troops

SO, I've been trying to bond with le book: Bread Alone. but it is INTENSE involving various types of thermometers and flours. I tried to start simple with our quotidien bagel pleasure yet it was more difficult than expected.

I think some of my bread fails are with yeast/ the amount of time it takes to rise. Also, I would not boil the bagels in malt syrup (the end up tasting like beer wort) and use all white flour (since it's white whole wheat anyways). Still I think bread baking is one of those things you have to do a million times before it's fabulous...there's still time! I WILL make bagels once again.

S.

Those Other Grains!

Chickpea, tomato, and barley soup from http://www.buffchickpea.com .....

Wheat wheat wheat. It's in EVERYTHING, but what makes it so much more special than other grains? Agriculture. Ah.

In this spirit, I am attempting to live for awhile on ALL sorts of grains/legumes, wheat included, but given no more a chance than the rest!

In the past two days, four alternates have become the basis of a meal. Here they are, in descending order of awesomeness:

1. Barley. At 1.19 a package, you really can't beat barley. It's chewy, like pasta, has A TON of your daily fiber needs, and tastes awesome. Actuallly awesome. Not "I'm pretending like this tastes good when I know I would rather be eating pizza" awesome. I just finished a bowl. My favorite way to serve it: Cooked in chicken stock until soft, with a spoonfull or two of greek yogurt stirred in to make a creamy bowl of grains. Top with a drizzle of olive oil!

2. Chickpeas: not just for dips! My second favorite. Try them WARMED! So good in a thick, spicy tomato sauce, and a pinch of allspice (my new favorite spice, BTW).

3. Steel Cut Oats. A breakfast staple in the British Isles, it IS worth it to take the extra time to cook whole oats. They have a little bite, and are crazy good for you. Awesome cooked in whole milk drizzled with honey. Keeps you full for hours.

4. Green Lentils: My least favorite, especially considering the tastes of the ones above, but still worth a mention. To me, they are a bit dry, and the flavor isn't anything to crave. You can't beat the nutritional value, though. I've got a bag around, so I will try and make them work. I actually prefer the red lentils, which become slop (why most don't appreciate them), but make good chili and stews!

More on this to come...

-R

Semolina bread

Perfect! Freshly baked with Bonne Maman wild fruit jam, butter, and a little fruit.
They so crusty and lovely! Cornmeal on the pan really adds a touch.
First rise: coated in oil.
Oh the travails of kneading and mixing flour!
Semolina flour is delightful.
This recipe was a little less intense than those of Daniel Leader's Bread Alone as in it didn't require scales and three kinds of thermometers. ayee! Once again, I quote from the Silver Palate cookbook. Yum! 

I was inspired by all of the Gloucester Italian semolina bread usage..and thought: yes I can!

 

I'll post the recipe shortly

S.