Cookstory: January 1, 2013

I have an idea. I have no idea if it's going to work. But I've always thought that a blog would be a good place to work something like this out. 

I'm interested in a sort of food blog, but not one where I share recipes (at least not regularly) or take gorgeous pictures of the food I make, or otherwise try to show my prowess as a chef or baker. Rather, I wanted to journal the food I make every day, talk about who it was consumed (and by whom), and what was working for me, both from a gastronomic and from an emotional place. The idea is: If I step up to the stovetop, if I'm making anything more complicated than, say, tea or a bowl of cereal, I'm going to talk about its preparation. 

I'm not sure yet exactly how this will work, or what conversational threads/digressions will hold this all together. But let's see what happens with this notion. If anyone happens to read this and has feedback, I'd be very interested to hear their thoughts.




January 1, 2013

Morning 

Irish Oatmeal (or Steel-Cut Oats). My first time stepping up to the stove in 2013. It was going to be just regular oatmeal—something I could knock out in order to get back to watching the Tournament of Roses Parade—but Laura expressed an interest in steel-cut. I prepared it for Piper, Laura, and myself, but I also made a small bowl for Susannah, who needed to at least try it. The label on the container said you can make it with water or milk, and I always opt for the richer taste of milk. In this case, I was trying to be mindful of the calorie count, so I opted for 2 cups of water and 2 cups of milk. Which sort of irked Laura, who was hoping to have it prepared with just water. I over-salted a bit., but this didn't seem to bother Laura, who scarfed it down. Piper announced that she really liked it but wasn't hungry enough for a full bowl. Zuzu said she "didn't really like it." I finished off both of their bowls. I mean, I'm the dad, right?

Afternoon 

Grilled Cheese Sandwich. For Zuzu. It was basic, no tricks: multigrain bread, usual brand of American cheese (Horizon Organic). Overheated the skillet slightly, resulting in one side of the sandwich getting a little too browned for Susannah's taste. Thus I resorted to my usual trick: I toasted the second side less and then served it to her with the less-toasted side up. She ate almost all of it, and I finished the crusts as we watched the Northwestern Wildcats play in the Gator Bowl.

Grilled Turkey and Cheese Sandwich. Laura's standby lunch for the last couple of years, it seems like. I used her special "healthy" bread (a Brownberry brand, darker brown like a whole wheat, but with other stuff in it), spread with mayonnaise and honey mustard. Just one slice, cut in half. A slice of Jarlsberg light cheese also broken in half, with each half on each side of the slice. Two pieces of deli-style turkey, folded over. Assembled and grilled (in the same skillet with and at the same time as the grilled cheese). Post-grilling, it's microwaved for exactly 18 seconds, which provides just the right meltiness for the Jarlsberg. (Jarlsberg does not melt as quickly/well as the American cheese.)

Chocolate Almond Biscotti.  I wanted to make something I'd never made on New Year's Day, and I'd been promising Laura since forever that I'd try to replicate her favorite brand of biscotti (Irene's) at home. (Irene's is $6 a box at Whole Foods; this was an economical decision.) I found the recipe on the Internet after I couldn't locate a recipe Laura found for me months ago. This one was much simpler than the lost recipe. What the two have in common is the use of only egg whites—an important aspect of the biscotti for Laura.

Of course, first time out, I made a huge mistake (a "tradition" as old as any other New Year's day tradition of mine). which I realized only as I was rolling out the dough for the first bake: I had left out the sugar. Having used the last of my eggs, as well as any remaining time before I had to start dinner, I took a chance and put the dough back in the bowl, poured the 1-1/4 cups of sugar over it, and then went about working the sugar into the dough. I had little hope this would work, but after a few minutes, the dough worked itself out, getting sticky the way the recipe said it would. Rolled out a second time into two cylinders on the cookie sheet, I pushed them flat with the heel of my hand and baked them. I had to pick up Piper from a playdate, so I had Laura remove it from the oven.

By the time I got back, it was time to get into dinner, so the rest of this recipe wasn't finished until after dinner was prepared. By that time, the two biscotti loaves had completely cooled. I cut them into proper cookies, laid them out on the second cookie sheet, and baked them for another 30 minutes. (The recipe said to only go another 15 minutes, but when I checked after 15, the centers of the individual biscotti pieces were still too cake-y, so I kept going.) Laura, Piper, Grace, and I tried them, and everyone approved: a fine first effort. Different from Irene's biscotti—more fudgy, and probably sweeter too. (Note: cut back 1/4 cup on the sugar next time.) But overall, a success.

Evening 

Hoppin John. Our traditional New Year's meal for many years now (back from before we were married). While I was cooking it, my brother Ian texted me, saying his girlfriend needed the recipe too, so I emailed it to her from the iPod. It was comforting to know that the same recipe was being made somewhere in Texas at the same time.

Everything went right with this recipe this year. (A good omen?) (Or maybe a bad omen?) I love the yellow onion in it. I used canned black-eyed peas that I'd picked up a couple of weeks ago, to ensure that there would still be some left. I've used frozen peas in previous years, but I prefer canned, which somehow stand up to the long cooking time and don't get too mushy. I remembered to get the rice done early. I discovered too late that I was out of ground allspice, and I didn't have the energy or time to bother grinding up allspice berries in the spice grinder, so instead I substituted Chinese five-spice. I know, I know: it's not the same thing. I thought it would be an interesting option. (I was right. A small chance to take, as it's only 1/8 teaspoon anyway.) As usual, it took a helluva lot longer to cook off the liquid, but I allowed for that this time. Also remembered to salt and pepper to taste—a step I had forgotten the previous two years when I made this same meal on the same night.

I was very happy with the end product, when properly dressed with the condiments (scallions, fresh diced tomatoes, shredded sharp cheddar, and sour cream). Can't wait for the leftovers on this one. Every time I make this, I wonder why I don't make it more often over the course of the year. Even got Piper and Zuzu to try it. Piper liked it; Zuzu was diplomatic.

Collard Greens. More New Year tradition. I used the Deborah Madison vegetarian cookbook to take care of this one, using elements from two different recipes, incoporating brown butter from one for flavor, and hot pepper sauce from another for .. well, for heat. Madison says that collards can withstand a lot of salt, and I took her at her word. Uh ... these collards couldn't handle that much salt. But it was tasty nonetheless; the pepper sauce actually helped to cut against the oversalting.

Corn Bread Muffins. Dr. Oetker's mix. I like this so much, I haven't bothered making cornbread from scratch for years. Everyone in the family loves these muffins. Susannah had a wonderful time licking the bowl and spatula. Grace didn't understand why Zuzu doesn't like the finished muffins as much if she liked the batter so much; has she really forgotten how much better any batter is than its finished baked product? l mean, that's universal, right? One other note: substituted milk for the water in this recipe too, like in the oatmeal that started the day. Bringin' it all around, baby.

That was a lot of cooking for a first day, which makes me very happy, but which meant that I didn't get as much writing, reading, or NU work done. Cue "There's Always Tomorrow" from your favorite Rankin/Bass animated Christmas story.