Omaha Food Blogger Posts

Day 99

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:32:38 +0000

What was packed: clementine, carrot, Dove dark chocolate candy, Bugels, cheese quesadilla, money for milk

What was left: nothing!

She bought white milk… phew!

Day 98

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:31:51 +0000

What was packed: Bugles, carrot, clementine, Pork stir fry with broccoli, carrots, and sliced almonds, money for milk

What was left: Nothing!

She bought chocolate milk

Day 97

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:18:31 +0000

What was packed: Local 1% milk, PB&Raspberry Jelly, clementine, dried cranberries, carrot, Au-gratin potato chips, Dove dark chocolate candy

What was left: Nothing –I think I am finally starting to get the hang of this

Pear Tart and Panna Cotta

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:13:00 +0000

I'm just making a quick post to update with some photos of my most recent dessert platings. My baking production class has become quite time consuming, and with a bar mitzvah at work last weekend and a stage at the Grey Plume this weekend, I have had time only to work and watch an hour of television before I go to bed. I'm hopeful that this week will provide some respite from that schedule. I'll only be spending 9 hours at school today!

Last week, my desserts were featured once again at the Sage Bistro. I made a pear and almond tart and a coconut-mango panna cotta. In the end, I did come to love both desserts but it took time for them to grow on me. I was initially excited about them, but last Monday I was disappointed with the caramel sauce and the pastry cream filling. I tweaked them the next day, but it wasn't until I was plating them on Thursday evening that I really adored the tarts. I finally finally finally mastered the tart shells with a new trick (top secret). The panna cotta, once it set up, was just beautiful (if you ask me). I love the clean lines and the tuile top. It looks like it belongs at a black tie event. I am satisfied.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Blood Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:13:46 +0000

The theme for this week is frosting. I wanted to make a frosting I’ve never made before but I wasn’t sure what that frosting would be. I was inspired when I opened up the refrigerator and saw the blood oranges I had picked up at the grocery store last weekend. Do blood oranges remind anyone else of Dexter or is it just me?

While reading internet news and such this morning I discovered it was National Chocolate Cake day… who knew? Seriously though, who comes up with these “national” food days. While the recipe I am sharing today isn’t a chocolate cake, you could use this frosting to decorate your favorite chocolate cake and celebrate this holiday.

Blood oranges really don’t differ in flavor than your traditional navel orange, but they do have a beautiful bloody red inside. When making the frosting try to use the juice from oranges that have the reddest insides in order to get that pretty pale pink color. These would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, a bridal shower, or baby shower for a little girl. You get a delicate pink colored frosting without the need for red food coloring. Plus the frosting tastes delicious!

BLOOD ORANGE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons blood orange zest (zest from 2 oranges)
5 tablespoons blood orange juice (juice from 1 1/2 oranges)

In a stand mixer beat butter and cream cheese on high for about 5 minutes until complete combined and fluffy. Turn mixer down to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar, being careful to make sure the sugar doesn’t fling out of the bowl.

As the sugar becomes more incorporated turn the speed up to medium high. Add in the vanilla extract, zest, and blood orange juice. Beat on high until fluffy. If the frosting isn’t stiff enough for your liking add more powdered sugar. But make sure to turn your mixer down to low otherwise you will be wearing powdered sugar.

Pipe onto your favorite cake or cupcakes. I used a 1M tip and generously swirled the frosting onto gluten free chocolate cupcakes.

What is your favorite frosting? I think my favorite frosting I made was a dulce de leche buttercream for a friend’s birthday cake. Yum!

Day 96

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:18:05 +0000

What was packed: PB&Nutella, clementine, string cheese, red grapes, pickles, money for milk

not shown: I made her a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie. It was the 100th day of school!

What was left: NOTHING!!

She bought chocolate milk

Day 95

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:17:33 +0000

What was packed: Local 1% milk, red grapes, Ritz crackers, carrot, clementine, mozzarella, salami, and pickles

What was left: NOTHING! She really likes eating meat/cheese and crackers for lunch

Day 94

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:17:05 +0000

What was packed: Local 1% milk, unsweetened apple sauce, blueberries, tortellini with broccoli & carrots and a light homemade Alfredo sauce

What was left: NOTHING!

White Chocolate Puppy Chow

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:25:27 +0000

Week 3 baking theme was white chocolate. While brainstorming what I was going to make I kept thinking about one of my favorite cookies, white chocolate macadamia nut, but that seemed so obvious. Plus I already have that recipe posted. So after some more brainstorming I decided I would make puppy chow using white chocolate chips instead of regular semi-sweet chocolate chips. In my excitement of knowing I was going to fulfill the week 3 challenge I totally forgot about the whole “baking” thing. There’s no baking involved with puppy chow. Duh! I didn’t figure this out until after the puppy chow was made. Well I’m not going to waste this recipe.

The white puppy chow made a perfect backdrop for some of the red, white, and pink Valentine’s Day M&M’s, so I *had* to add some to the mix Whip up a quick batch for the love of your life!

WHITE CHOCOLATE PUPPY CHOW
9 cups Corn Chex cereal
1 cup white chocolate chips
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 package Valentine’s Day themed M&M’s (optional)

In a microwave safe bowl put white chocolate chips and peanut butter together. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir to combine. If mixture isn’t creamy microwave in 30 second intervals until everything is smooth.

Measure the 9 cups of cereal in a large mixing bowl. Pour the white chocolate and peanut butter mixture over the cereal. Carefully stir to coat all the cereal evenly.

In a large ziplock bag pour in the cereal mixture. Dump in the 3 cups of powdered sugar. Zip the bag closed and give it a shake to coat all the cereal with the powdered sugar. Pour into a large serving bowl and gently stir in the M&M’s.

Day 93

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:16:39 +0000

What was packed: PB& Raspberry Jelly, carrot, All-Bran Multigrain crackers, string cheese, clementine, and money for milk

What was left: nothing

She bought strawberry milk *shudder*

Year of the Dragon

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:49:19 +0000

Week 2 cooking challenge was Chinese food and I made chicken spring rolls to go along with a chicken stir-fry. If you don’t have a lot of time to make dinner, stir fries are the perfect solution because they cook up so fast. I used pancit canton noodles that I found at Asian Market, and they cooked up in about four minutes.

We enjoyed our stir fry and spring rolls with a Luckybuddha Beer. For a beer bottle, I think this guy takes top prize for being the cutest beer bottle I’ve seen. It was a light crisp beer, very drinkable.

Today many people across Asia (or with Asian roots) are celebrating Year of the Dragon. If you didn’t know today is the Chinese (lunar) New Year. One thing I love about other cuisines is the tradition and/or superstitions attached to certain foods. For example, don’t break up your noodles when you cook this dish because long noodles symbolize longevity, a long life. I can’t think of any symbolism attached to foods typically eaten on the standard American diet (correct me if I’m wrong).

CHICKEN STIR-FRY WITH GREEN BEANS

2 Tablespoons canned black beans
oil, for cooking
1 lb chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
4 spring onions (scallions), chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 large red pepper, sliced thinly
4 ounces fresh green beans, cut into short pieces
2 Tablespoons water
1 package pancit canton noodles (found at the Asian Market)
2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/2 c chicken stock

Rinse black beans. Drain and roughly chop.

Heat wok until very hot, add 2 T oil, swirl around to coat sides. Stir-Fry the chicken in batches, until brown. Remove from wok and set aside.

Reheat wok until very hot, add 1 T oil and stir fry peppers and green beans for 1 minute. Add garlic, onions, black beans, and sugar cook for 1 min. Sprinkle with 2 T water, cover and steam for 2 minutes.

Gently separate the noodles and add to the wok with the chicken, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and chicken stock toss to combine everything. Cook, covered for about 3-4 minutes until the noodles soften. Stir.

Do you have a dish you eat on a special occasion that holds symbolism?

Day 92

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:16:05 +0000

What was packed: Local 1 % milk, low fat cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, carrot, Ritz crackers, Pink Lady apple

What was left: A little cottage cheese

Chicken Spring Rolls

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:50:23 +0000

I love Chinese food, and while we live quite close to a handful of Chinese restaurants (Yelp shows 25+ in a five mile radius from my house) sometimes it is more fun to make your own Chinese food at home. This week’s 52 week cooking challenge theme was Chinese food and I made a full Chinese dinner.

I am a sucker for egg rolls, you can buy those thick doughy egg roll wrappers at your local supermarket, usually found in the produce section, to wrap your own at home. I’m not knocking them because I’ve used them tons of times to make some delicious egg rolls. BUT if you want to make the real deal egg rolls (or spring rolls) you need to use a thin wrapper. These are found in the freezer section of your local Asian Market.

If you live in, around, or near Omaha you MUST go check out Asian Market (on N 76 ST between Dodge and Cass). Most of the ethnic groceries stores in town are small and crammed with lots of food with labels you can’t read. Well Asian Market is your small ethnic grocery store on STEROIDS. It is HUGE! Here is a link to Omaha World Herald article written about the store.

We visited the store on Sunday and boy were they busy. It was slightly overwhelming and over stimulating. There was so much stuff I’ve never seen. Such brightly colored labels and words I couldn’t read. I honestly didn’t know where to look. I’m excited to go back and give it another look-see. They have a full service meat counter, a giant lobster tank, a nice size produce section with fruits and vegetables you don’t typically find at regular grocery stores, and the longest wall of noodles I have ever seen. Who know there were so many different types of noodles? I didn’t check prices, but if you’re looking to buy rice in bulk you have many options at this store.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw this spiny fruit in the produce section. I thought I would have to leave the country or at least Nebraska to see this spiny monster. Do you know what it is? It is a durian fruit. It is just about the only thing that I’ve seen Andrew Zimmerman (from Bizarre Foods) get squeamish about. I’m actually very curious how it tastes. Any Omaha people want to try a durian?

The recipe I basically used for the egg rolls was from Steamy Kitchen (a former Nebraska girl!) These are her mother’s FAMOUS egg rolls. With a name like that how can you pass them up? I used thinly sliced chicken in my egg rolls and halved the recipe, I didn’t need 50 egg rolls laying around. Don’t be intimidated by the length of the directions. These really aren’t impossible to make.

Chicken Spring Rolls
ever so slightly adapted from Steamy Kitchen’s Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls

Tips for successful egg rolls: Keep the egg roll wrappers under a damp cloth when you aren’t using them. Also make sure you drain the liquid from the filling. Soggy egg rolls are not good! Don’t over stuff these bad boys! You only need a tablespoon or so of filling. Make sure you tuck in the sides and roll them tightly.

50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers (about 2 packages), defrosted unopened at room temperature for 45 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour) mixed with ¼ cup of cool water
Oil, for frying
FOR THE GROUND PORK (I used thinly sliced chicken breasts)
1 pound ground pork (2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced thinly)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE VEGETABLES
2 to 3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
½ head of cabbage (about 11 ounces) (I used Nappa cabbage)
3 carrots, shredded
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
10 fresh shiitake mushrooms (or dried black mushrooms soaked overnight), stems discarded (left out the mushrooms since I’m allergic)
3 scallions, sliced
1 tablespoon cooking oil (canola, vegetable, peanut)
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper

The easiest way to thinly slice the chicken breasts is to run them through your food processor with the slicing blade while they are still semi frozen. If you don’t have a food processor do your best with a super sharp knife while they are still semi frozen to slice them thinly.

Combine all your ingredients together for the pork or chicken and let marinate for 10 minutes. While the meat is doing its thing, thinly slice your cabbage with a knife or your food processor.

Heat your wok over high heat, swirl around your cooking oil to coat the pan. Stir fry your meat (in batches if necessary) until no longer pink for 3-4 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-high and either remove the meat or push to the side. Add a tiny bit more cooking oil, add garlic, cabbage, carrots, ginger, mushrooms, and scallions. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and black pepper. Remember to add in the meat if you took it out. Tossing to coat everything, stir fry for another minute.

Remove filling to a jelly roll pan, spreading out the filling so it can quickly cool. Elevate one end of the jelly roll pan so the liquid can drain from the filling. Cool for 15 minutes.

Dab off any excess juices or oil from the mixture and get ready to wrap.

Spread a heaping 1 tablespoon of filling near the bottom corner of the wrapper.

Lift the corner up over the filling and begin to roll. KEEP IT TIGHT!

Fold in the sides and keep rolling to the point. Remembering to KEEP IT TIGHT! Once you reach the top, dip your fingers in the cornstarch/water slurry and “glue” the corner down to seal the egg roll.

At this point you may place the egg rolls in a single layer on a jelly roll pan and freeze for later. Or you can fry them up right away (my vote!).

To fry, fill your wok with about 2 inches of frying oil. Using a thermometer heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Fry in batches, turning occasionally, frying until golden brown 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Drain of wire rack and allow to cool slightly before sinking your teeth in.

You may fry from frozen, frying for about 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Make sure you allow the oil to come back up to 350 degree F before adding more egg rolls.

What do you order from your favorite Chinese restaurant? I usually order Lo-Mein, but I pretty much like it all

Day 91

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:20:36 +0000

What was packed: dried apricots, carrot, string cheese, rice & black beans, money for milk

What was left: nothing!

she bought herself a chocolate milk

Day 90

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:54:37 +0000

I told Sasha she could pack her own lunch. This is what she packed: local 1% milk, apple, clementine, Goldfish crackers, carrot, cheese string, Kashi oat flakes & blueberry clusters cereal

What was left: NOTHING Sometimes you just feel like cereal for lunch!

Day 89

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:15:20 +0000

What was packed: local 1% milk, BIG carrot, cheese string, gold fish crackers, romaine salad with blueberries and feta

What was left: nothing!

Day 88

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:15:17 +0000

What was packed: local 1% milk, clementine, cheese string, carrot chips, pita chips, PB&Nutella on oat bread

What was left: milk & carrot chips -she prefers her carrots in giant form

Day 87

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:15:10 +0000

What was packed: local 1% milk, cheese string, carrot chips, clementine, PB&J on multigrain bread

What was left: the carrot chips

Day 86

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:10:45 +0000

What was packed: local 1% milk, baby carrots, dried cranberries, clementine, pita chips, cheese string

What was left: the cranberries – she ran out of time

Special Brownies

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:57:56 +0000

I recently mentioned that I am part of a 52 week cooking challenge. Well I joined a 52 week baking challenge too. So look for at least 2 new recipes each week! Hopefully this is the motivation I need to keep up with posting regularly.

These brownies are special. They are special because they have a very unique ingredient in them. I’m pretty sure in a blind taste test most people wouldn’t be able to tell you what that unique ingredient is. Is the anticipation killing you? Drumroll please………………… black beans! Yup, that’s right, there is a whole can of black beans in these delicious, chocolately, fudgey, brownies.

Picky eaters do not turn up your noses! These brownies taste just like regular ole brownies. No bean flavor what-so-ever! Generally speaking most of us who enjoy the standard American diet could use extra fiber in our day -why not get it in a brownie . An added bonus is that these bad boys are gluten free. There is NO flour, wheat, rice or otherwise in these brownies. Sometimes gluten free goodies can be a little sandy from the rice flours but this is not the case here. Have I convinced you to try them yet? Please do! They are so good!

While we were enjoying these as a family after dinner the other night, Penelope (age 4) said “Do you know what the secret ingredient is? BLACK BEANS!” If she hadn’t said anything no one would have known.

BLACK BEAN BROWNIES
from Meal Make Over Mom’s
One 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed very well
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used bittersweet chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat an 8 x 8-inch baking pan or dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

Place the black beans in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, baking powder, and salt and process until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing into 2-inch squares.

Are there any desserts you enjoy that have nontypical ingredients?

Day 85

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:05:43 +0000

sorry for such a blurry picture!

What was packed: local 1% milk, cheese string, clementine, black bean brownie, pita chips, turkey meatball and noodle soup

What was left: all the soup

She was very irritable when she got home from school today. I wonder if not eating enough for lunch contributed to that.

Day 84

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:05:13 +0000

What was packed: local 1% milk, carrot, cheese string, clementine, PB&J on multigrain bread

What was left: nothing!

Cuties (aka clementines are on sale so expect to see them in every lunch

Scotch Eggs

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:28:37 +0000

Happy 2012! I have some fun cooking goals this year and one of them includes sharing more recipes. To do this I signed up for a 52 week cooking (and baking) challenge so I will have at least two new recipes to share each week. As part of this challenge we are given a theme each week. The cooking theme was eggs and the baking theme was brownies.

I knew I wanted to make an egg recipe I’ve never tried before, go beyond scrambled eggs. I saw someone else in the challenge post a photo of Scotch eggs and I knew immediately this would be the perfect opportunity to try this odd egg. Are you familiar with scotch eggs? They are a (peeled) hard boiled egg covered in sausage then breaded and fried. They sounded delicious. A perfect breakfast food served hot with a steamy cup of coffee on a lazy weekend morning. Don’t you think?

Welllllll, apparently this is not the traditional way to eat these beauties. They are typically eaten cold (shudder) with a salad. Cold hard boiled eggs I can do, but cold sausage is another story. The best part of making these at home is that you can eat them hot with a steamy cup of coffee for breakfast, if you’d like (and I do like).

Since pork sausage is a little on the greasy side I opted to bake these instead of frying to save a few calories. If frying is your thing by all means fry away! I also was concerned about my hard boiled egg being too dry after baking it, so I did a soft boiled egg instead. It worked beautifully!

SCOTCH EGG
4 hard boiled for 10 minutes (or soft boiled for 6 minutes), peeled
1 lb. ground sausage (I used pork but you could use turkey if you’d like)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide sausage into four equal patties. Flatten patties and place egg in the center.

Wrap meat around the egg. Pressing to seal. Place sausage balls into a jumbo muffin tin.

Bake for 25 minutes. And enjoy hot or cold!

Fried version: Once the sausage is wrapped around the egg, roll the sausage ball in a beaten egg, then roll in breadcrumbs. Deep fry in hot oil for for 8-10 minutes, turning frequently.

What are your favorite egg recipes? I am a huge fan of frittatas! I usually make one frittata every weekend.

Day 83

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:00:23 +0000

What was packed: local 1% milk, banana, low fat cheese string, carrot, pita chips, 2 hard boiled eggs

What was left: nothing!

Do you make hard boiled eggs for lunch? Sasha loves them!

More Foibles in Plating

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:43:00 +0000

I have been forced lately to think about my personal aesthetic. In the past, I just buy or am gifted my style. I don't think much about it. For a while, I would follow fashion blogs and pull away ideas, but now I need to apply what little I know about design to what I know about food, and more specifically pastries, to present it in a visually pleasing manner. This is a challenge. I normally put on a plate as if there were TV-dinner compartments. One spot is for vegetables, one spot for meat and another for potatoes. Desserts go on small plates and are garnished with a large dollop of whipped cream. In many ways, I ascribe to the school of thought that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. That saying can get one into trouble. While true, if a book has a beautiful cover but not substance it will be cast aside. However, giving no thought to exterior presentation at all shows a laziness which is fine when serving dinner for your family or friends but is not acceptable when you expect someone to be impressed or better yet to lay down money for a good or service.

So I've been thinking about my personal style lately. After contemplating my wardrobe choices on a very very long road trip I have come to a few conclusions about myself. I like simplicity matched with a bit of flair. I own a large volume of plain T-shirts in various colors, mostly short-sleeved, and with differing neck-lines--boat, crew, v-neck--to name just a few. I wear three pairs of jeans: skinny, higher-waisted flairs and white jeans. I have one jacket, with a herringbone pattern, that I wear all the time along with this one pair of moccasins (brown) and subdued gladiator sandals. All boring, except for this one element: a pin. I got the pin at a clothing exchange with friends. It is completely singular and must be handmade. It is an old pocketwatch with the workings removed. In its place glued, tied and somehow or another way affixed is delicate drapings of chain mail, small rhinestone daisies and a large and somewhat gaudy plastic-pearl clip-on earring. I put a safety pin through the top of the brass pocket watch and it has hung galantly on my jacket for two years now. That is the perfect point of style for me. Minimal and simple and then there's this one piece of intrigue. I like scarves, funky sunglasses, I tuck my T-shirts into my pants to show of a belt. I have this one necklace that I bought in Spain for 6 euros in 2004. It's black with gold etchings of birds and flowers chiseled out of it. So what I want to learn and to refine is how to present a dessert that is delicious while being simple with just a touch of flair.

I am discovering there are as many ways to dress a plate as there are to dress a person. For instance, there's flashy with too much going on:

There's skill with a lack of a focal point:

There's trendy to a point of silliness:

What I want is minimalism with a point of interest:

The shape is nice, flattering. The goods are well made. Everything is great about this outfit. Her skirt is the obvious focal point, but it all shows off the person--her hair, her great body (jealous) and her cute face. There aren't these beautiful pieces distracting people from how lovely she is. Here is a reinterpretation of a lemon tart. We can't actually taste it, but the elements look well executed. The lemon curd is creamy and lump free, as does the meringue. The crumb layer appears to add some crunch. It's a basic tart presented in a different way. If only I could come up with something like this.

Last week, I made chocolate pots de creme. My instructor was insistent upon them being chocolate--not mocha flavored, not chocolate-hazelnut or chocolate peppermint. Plain but rich chocolate. The challenge is how to present it in a way that exhibits fine technique and good ingredients. I ended up using Tartine Bakery's recipe--no surprise there--which was rich and bitter and perfectly creamy.

I started with a quenelle of creme fraiche on the suggestion of the bakery student manager. I liked the plating below--looks like the last pedal left on a flower. However, no one agreed with me. I do really like the whipped and sweetened creme fraiche. It's something I hadn't tried before but worked nicely--it had that bit of sourness to give it one more piece of flavor.

At the suggestion and with the help of classmates and the TA, I flooded the top of the pots de creme with caramel creme anglaise. I then added a garnish of chocolate sauce. I learned that garnishes should be present only if they add something to the dessert--an idea I love but which can make plating trickier.

I came back from break with an idea for a triple chocolate pots de creme with a white chocolate creme anglaise and milk chocolate sauce. My instructor thought flooding the top with plain cold creme would be better along with some chocolate shavings. I'm not too crazy about the chocolate shavings because thinking of garnishes and desserts as a whole it's not much, however, the plate was just so white without the chocolate. I don't have a photo of the final dessert, but I'm pleased and hope that my efforts will come more easily in the future.

Day 82

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:50:18 +0000

What was packed: local 1% milk, orzo with sautéed mushrooms, string cheese, carrot, blueberries

What was left: some orzo. She said she ran out of time

Day 81

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:45:54 +0000

What was packed: unsweetened apple sauce, Ritz crackers, salami, provolone cheese, baby dill pickles, carrot, clementine, money to buy her milk

What was left: nothing!

She said she bought white milk not the sugar kind

Lessons in Plating

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:04:00 +0000

One great thing has happened that directly impacts this blog: I have an iPhone! Which means that I have a decent camera with me at all times, ready to document all my culinary adventures. And believe me, there have been a few this past week.

Right now, I'm enrolled in baking production class. It meets twice a week for like 10 hours--until the school's restaurant Sage Bistro closes on Monday and Tuesday--and we make the baguettes for the restaurant along with any desserts for catered events. The class meets at the same time as the Plated Desserts class, which essentially has students be the pastry chef for the bistro for the quarter. There happens to be only one student in that class this quarter, and she is responsible for producing four completely unique desserts each week. So alleviate her insanity, our instructor is having different students from my class fill in to help her each week. I got to go first, along with my friend Katie. Let me say, thank goodness I had Katie to bond with, freak out with and laugh with because it was a complete cluster.

We we responsible for two desserts: creme brulee (pretty easy really) and this thing called a tian (refer to the strawberry-orange dessert displayed above). I would be very happy to never make that dessert again.

The thing was Chef Mar's idea. She brought us a print out of the concept: cookie, marmalade, mousse, and packed with fruit. She said we could reinterpret it how we wanted. So we made a sable cookie, used some in-house marmalade, I made an orange-vanilla bavarian cream stabilized with gelatin, and then we chopped up a bunch of fruit. Monday morning before the restaurant opened, Chef Mar hated it. It was all wrong, she said. The fruit looked disgusting--it kind of did. Katie and I were clueless. I had no idea how to fix it. Finishing things is not my forte--Katie is much better at it than I, but we were both at a loss. Finally Chef Mar came over and showed us what to do, but not after an agonizing period during which time we flubbed around with the dessert. We got out of the kitchen after more than 12 hours of work without more than a 15-minute break then we turned around and came back the next day for more.

I had made a batch of the mousse on Monday to use Tuesday and Wednesday, except that by the time we left the kitchen at 10 p.m. or so the mousse was still a runny mess. I was paranoid that it wouldn't set and that there wouldn't be enough time to make another batch and set it so that it stood up on the plate long enough to travel from the kitchen to the dining room. The only way I got any sleep was to give it up. I thought, "There's nothing to be done now. I'll just arrive and remake it." But Tuesday, miracle of miracles, the mousse was solid enough to work--barely. Tuesday went much better. Katie and I both had a handle on what we were doing and what to expect, and we left planning to leave everything to the student managers on Wednesday and Thursday. That is until some of the Table Service students tried to eat our dummy dessert.

We had to make a false dessert to display to the restaurant's customers. The creme brulee was really, but the tian--not being shelf stable for hours--needed a stunt double. Katie made this perfect model out of Crisco and a little food coloring. It looked so realistic that the students got hungry and ate the creme brulee and started in on the mousse. The student manager caught them before they finished it, but they had effectually ruined the dessert. I got called in to remake the dessert for Thursday's service. What a week.

Deer Tenderloin

Lainey Seyler — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:18:00 +0000

I had four or five paragraphs written out about this deer tenderloin, but things just kept rambling on and on very amateurishly so I deleted it. There were all sorts of ponderings about life and blogging and eating and dating--trust me it was boring. Just look at the photos.

I cooked the deer, brought to me straight from the woods from my friend Dan, with a fennel and crushed bay leaf rub. I've used it before on pork tenderloin--quite tasty and not at all as weird as it sounds. Try it with this season's trappings.

Me Oh My, I Love Pie

Lainey Seyler — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:36:00 +0000

I'm usually a nut for pumpkin pie at Christmas and Thanksgiving, but I have lately been converted to the pecan variety. I've been making this pecan pie for work quite a bit lately to pretty rave reviews, but I hadn't tried it myself yet until last week. It is great. No surprise here, the recipe hails from Tartine Bakery's cookbook. Every recipe is a knockout. This one is great with the addition of whiskey and my substitution, orange zest. Tasting the batter before the bake, the whiskey is overpowering but ends up perfectly balanced.

The recipe also calls for several kinds of sugar, as opposed to just corn syrup. It adds a lot of depth the pie, making it not just sweet sweet sweet--my usual complaint with pecan pies. I was careful to add extra salt here too if you're not using salt pecans. I just love salted nuts, it seems such a shame to miss the opportunity for salted and toasted pecans covered in caramel.

Pecan Pie: www.tartinebakery.com
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup, I've also used honey
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons whiskey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, unsalted
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups pecans
zest from one orange

One partially baked pie shell.

In a small saucepan, melt the sugar, maple syrup and corn syrup together with the salt. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat and pour in a mixing bowl. Let cool a minute then add the vanilla, whiskey and butter. Stir. Then add the beaten eggs. Stir to mix. Pour the pecan in the partially baked pie shell then pour the batter over the top. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees until the filling is just set.

Three Posts in One Week and an Awesome Tart

Lainey Seyler — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:53:00 +0000

I hosted dinner last night for friends in honor of a couple friends who are embarking on big journeys this week. One friend, Liz, is traveling to the brand new country of South Sudan tomorrow morning. She has "humanitarian" stamped into her passport. Incredible. And my friend Justin and his girlfriend Audrey are moving to Colorado on Thursday. Justin has never lived outside Omaha before, so this is sure to be a great adventure, one that should be marked off by a homey dinner with friends.

It's finally starting to get cold here, and with leftover turkey on my mind, I made two pot pies. One all mushrooms and one chicken. It actually took quite a bit of searching to come up with a meal plan. Justin is a vegetarian, so there couldn't be meat, but it's not exactly prime produce season and I didn't want to serve a bunch of sides. I leafed through what seemed like all my cookbooks (sometimes I can get obsessive), and finally found something on Nigel Slater's column about a mushroom shepherd's pie. It was an easy jump to pot pie (in theory). I have come to realize through my cakes final and my first year testing that I need a lot of work on finishing products. I start out strong, cover my bases with good technique, some expertise and quality ingredients. And then I've got to put the top on the pie, which it shall be noted was not in a pie shell, and I just throw it on. Of course it totally shrank in the oven. I may as well not have even topped it (the topless chicken pie turned out just fine).

I do this with everything I've come to realize. All projects. Writing a story; I get through the first draft and read through it and turn it in. I'll come back and give it some work, maybe. But by the end, I'm just doing the bare minimum. How do I motivate myself to put forth as much energy at the end as I do at the beginning when I'm absolutely slaving over coming up with the perfect lede for a story. Does anyone out there have any tips? One thing I can think of is practice. For example, if I'm well practiced at making petit fours, I can do them just as well after oh say 15 hours of work as I do after one hour. So there's something. But what about writing? If any of you have tips on that front, let me know!

I found three different kinds of mushrooms for the pot pie at Wohnler's: dried shiitake that I rehydrated, baby portobellos and oysters. Slater recommended pairing the mushrooms with a sliced leek, sauteing, deglazing with red wine and and lemon juice and adding vegetable stock before popping it in the oven. A couple heaping tablespoons of flour was plenty to thicken the stock to a stew inside the flaky pie crusts, and the pot pie turned out exactly how I had hoped: a sweet and woodsy hash with chunks of mushrooms. I treated the chicken pot pie in the same way, except added some extra celery and carrots that had been chilling in the freezer for a loooong time (yikes), almost as long as the chicken.

But the highlight of the meal was definitely dessert. I saw a recipe a for hazelnut-plum tart on Smitten Kitchen and made a mental note to make it as soon as there was time. (And I'll be making it again for work this week.) In absence of fresh plums, I used cranberries. It. was. incredible. The hazelnut butter crust was was crunchy with a bit of sweetness and just a hint of salt. The salt was the kicker. I love a salty dessert. And then there was the center. Creamy baked custard filled in the cracks around the tart little cranberries that just bled out juice under the heat of the oven. And to top it all was the rest of the hazelnut crumb crust and a little whipped cream (homemade, might I add). My good friend Dan has never ever eaten more than a polite bite of any desserts I have made (he doesn't like sweets) asked for a second slice--there wasn't any.

Mushroom Pot Pie:
Filling: by Nigel Slater
16 ounces assorted mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 leek, sliced
a couple tabs of butter and glugs of oil, enough to get all the mushrooms
2 heaping tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons red wine or marsala
1 1/4 cup vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper
fresh thyme
juice from half a lemon

Crust: from Tartine Bakery Cookbook yields two 9-inch pies
1 1/2 cups cold butter
16 ounces flour
1 cup ice cold water
1 teaspoon salt

I mix smaller batches of flaky crust by hand nowadays. I slice up the butter and add the flour and salt to it. Then I crumble up the butter with my fingers until they're about the size of peas, some smaller pieces some bigger. Then I add about half the water and stir with a wooden spoon. Then add only enough water until the dough comes together. I knead it a couple times, then wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for at least an hour before rolling. This recipe makes enough for two whole pies with the tops, if you conserve your leftover pieces.

For the filling, slice up all the vegetables. Heat the oil on medium in a stock pot. Saute the leeks and the heartier mushrooms like portobellos, then add the shiitakes and oysters and the like. Saute until the moisture is starting to leech out of the mushrooms. Add the flour and stir to coat. Deglaze with the wine and the lemon juice. Then add the stock. Season throughout cooking with salt and pepper. It should taste good before it goes into the shell. Pour into the shell, pinch the top closed, brush with an egg wash and bake at 350 degrees for an hour or until the crust is a nice golden brown.

Hazelnut Cranberry Tart: from Smitten Kitchen
Crust:
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted (this is a crucial step!)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
10 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup plus two tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup cream
1/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Toast the hazelnuts until they are light brown and nicely fragrant. Pulse in a food processor until coarsely ground. Combine with the butter, flour, salt and cinnamon, blending using your hands until the butter is the size of a pea. Use about two-thirds of the crumb mixture and press into the bottom of a tart pan or spring form. Bake at 350 degrees until "set," about 15 minutes. Let the crust cool a bit.

Add the cranberries and arrange on top of the crust. In a separate bowl, whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Carefully pour over the cranberries. Bake at 350 for 45 to 50 minutes or until the custard has set and the top has browned a little. If you gently shake the tart and the center is visibly quite jiggly keep baking. But if it seems more solid than liquid pull it out, it will continue to set while it cools.

Breaded Squash

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 13:06:00 +0000

And the beat goes on. It would have been a great idea to post this recipe before Thanksgiving, but I'm not exactly punctual. Up until last week, I was barely treading water. I have reclaimed my life, if only temporarily. If there's anything I've learned going to school the second time around, it's to soak up the free moments. I've got another two days off this week before winter classes start (International Breads, so excited), and I'm glad to spend a few minutes recording some recipes in this space.

I hosted another potluck probably three weeks ago now, and I found this easy fall recipe at Sprouted Kitchen, which is a vegetarian blog (some seafood I believe) with the absolute worst most disgusting photos you can ever imagine (sarcasm) and written by the ugliest meanest writer (lies, she's so gorgeous you want to hate her). The breaded squash turned out to be a real hit at the party though. There were a few pieces left at the end for me to nibble while cleaning up. I love winter squash. It's so hearty and bold. It's a vegetarian's best friend. I love that this dish is roasted--such a fall thing--with rosemary and thyme and a whole clove of garlic. I just love a kitchen that smells like rosemary and garlic. The rosemary comes straight out of the forest while that garlic is remotely offputting in a way that makes you want more--you know how you keep smelling that gym bag? This, my friends, is a winner.

Panko-breaded Butternut Squash:
1 butternut squash
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs, smashed up a bit more than how they come in the bag.
1 clove garlic with the bottom sliced off
several sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme
olive oil
salt and pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Peel and dice the squash into equally-sized portions. Place in baking pans.

In a separate bowl, combine the panko crumbs, which you will want to smash up a bit more than how they come in the bag so they really stick to the squash, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Drizzle the squash with olive oil and toss to coat. Season a bit with salt and pepper--not too much remembering the seasoning in the bread crumbs. Toss the bread crumb mixture in with the squash. Press the crumbs into the squash if necessary. Add the rosemary, thyme and garlic to the pan. Roast at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the squash is soft to the bite but not mushy.

The Ends of Cakes

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 18:14:00 +0000

It has officially been the longest since I have posted on this blog. More than a month. In fact, this is the second time I've attempted completing this particular post. I fell asleep the first time. (If even the writer is falling asleep, this is not a good sign.) Obviously I have been busy. I have finally made it to the end of a clusterf*** of a week-and-a-half that went something like this: two stories due, cakes final examination, out-of-town wedding that served as a nice break, three grueling days going through the first-year culinary tests , a 15-hour day at work, intense cleaning at school (I took on a deep fat fryer--gross) and some light-to-heavy drinking (whoops).

I have emerged somewhat unscathed. I passed my exams and assumedly my cakes final, the output of which you can see in these photos. I look at the cakes up close and cringe a little. They look so sloppy--look at that broken ladyfinger below. I swear none of the other ladyfingers broke. And that chocolate cake doesn't look polished at all. It's supposed to have these smooth finished sides. But, they did taste delicious.

For a project, our cakes instructor gave each of the students an artist to design two cakes and 20 petit fours for. I drew Maria Martinez, who is an American Indian pottery artist known for developing this amazing black on black technique. She is credited with being the artist to bring American Indian art to museums and collectors.

I really lucked out with her because she is from New Mexico, an area with a distinct culinary tradition. I developed my cakes around the flavors of the Southwest. Note: Do not attempt these at home. It took me six hours, including quite a bit of actual running, to finish on time. The pink cake has a corn meal sponge bottom followed by a layer of lemon curd mousse, a sunflower seed baked meringue (which was awesome), then a prickly pear mouse and surrounded by ladyfingers. The chocolate cake had a chocolate sponge base, then chocolate-cinnamon-cayenne pepper mousse and a brown-sugar bavarian cream with another sunflower meringue and topped with chocolate-cinnamon-cayenne ganache and chocolate feather cutouts. The petit fours have a lemon sponge with sage-flavored pastry cream filling, a poured fondant top and royal icing piping.

I enjoyed playing around with the Southwest theme and thought everything turned out alright, aside from the fact that I think the cakes are the equivalent of a third graders coloring book instead of a professional but whatever.

I really grew to adore mousse even more in this class. I hadn't realized how easy it can be to attempt, although I feel a long way from perfecting it. During my later examinations, I was chided for mixing the chocolate with the whipped cream when the chocolate was too warm, which causes the cream to break. But if the chocolate is too cool it seizes up and hardens mid-blending. It's such a subtle art this pastry, and I am not a subtle person.

Almost Thai Green Curry

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:12:00 +0000

I have no photo to share, and whenever I don't have a photo I assume that no one will read what goes along. Truth is, I'm probably right--not that my writing is something to slow down your day for. I haven't been snapping photos, but I have been cooking. A couple weeks ago I made a vegetable curry stew for friends. It was so good, I saved the leftovers and ate them all, which is something I never do. I don't ever eat leftovers, aside from soup. But this curry, this curry could not be thrown away. It came from Nigel Slater's Tender: Volume 1, a most beautiful tome that I haven't even read through despite the pictures, the useful information and the riveting prose (listen to this: "the dusty 'old as time itself' taste of ground turmeric" I could never come up with that). This curry was the closest I have ever come to replicating the green curry I would order almost nightly from Phee Lek, my Thai grandma. When I was teaching and eating in Thailand, she was the cook at the restaurant on the compound of my apartment complex. Was teeny tiny, not even five feet tall and a sweet sort of wily. She ran this tiny little restaurant that had five or six tables and a large television that played a lot of MTV, her daughter's favorite. She spoke hardly any English, which was perfect because I spoke hardly any Thai. We communicated with action and pointing.

After getting sick of rice for every meal, I tried ordering vegetables without it. Complete with hand motions I said the English equivalent of "No want rice. Vegetables. Big big vegetables." With some trial and error, I received before me a platter of the sauteed tomatoes, baby corn, eggplant, onions, peppers and several kinds of mushrooms--it was a veritable cornucopia--all doused in delicious MSG. She also taught me how to properly pronounce green curry with chicken in Thai, quite a feat considering the intonation. I don't order it much any more--too much disappointment--but I have requested green curry at a restaurant downtown and the waiter was very impressed. The curry was my other standby in Thailand. Lek made it with Japanese eggplant and pumpkin, if they were available. I ordered the smokey curry with a spice level of one and slurped down the stew sweetened with coconut milk with only a little rice.

This dish doesn't have the complications of making a curry paste beforehand out of God knows how many herbs, spices and aromatics, but it still has that depth that makes you wonder, what is in here? I went to the Asian Market, a relatively new store, to find real lemongrass, which made such a difference. I always want to substitute lemons for lemongrass but it's not quite right, not earthy enough or something. I didn't even realize how close I would come to Pee Lek's green curry, but with the inclusion of squash or pumpkin--it's nearly there.

Pumpkin-chickpea Curry: from Tender by Nigel Slater, serves 6

1 15-ounce can chickpeas or 1/2 cup dry chickpeas, soaked overnight

1 large onion, diced

1 teaspoon canola oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 thumb-size piece ginger, minced

3 stalks lemongrass

2 teaspoons ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

dash of cayenne pepper (to taste)

1/2 small pumpkin (about 8 ounces), cubed

250 mL vegetable or chicken stock

400 mL coconut milk

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

2 cups rice, cooked

Mince the garlic and the ginger together. Saute the onion until it's translucent. Add the minced garlic and ginger. Stir in the spices. Add the pumpkin, chickpeas and vegetable stock as well as the lemongrass with its tough outer leaves removed. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the pumpkin has softened a bit and the chickpeas have split. Thicken with cream, season to taste. In a separate pan, saute the mustard seeds until they spit, add to the curry. Serve over rice.

Hummingbird Cake

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 12:58:00 +0000

I know I swore I hated cakes, but I'm learning some aren't so bad. Every Thursday I go to my class devoted entirely to the subject. All I eat all day Thursdays is cakes. Everyone in the class makes a different cake, and I try them all. Sometimes I can't stop, especially on mousse day. I was dipping my fork in everything chocolate, caramel and fruit-flavored. This hummingbird cake, the one pictured above, was part of the classic American cakes day. It was so easy and such a showstopper. The Southern favorite reminded me of carrot cake, really moist and sweet. The batter has crushed pineapple, bananas and pecans in it.

Below is the Heaven and Hell cake, which apparently goes for like $100 at the Mansion, a fancy hotel-restaurant in Dallas. It's certainly a Texas-style cake: six layers with peanut-butter mouse in between each and covered with chocolate ganache. The cake cleverly features alternating layers of angel food and devil's food cake. Decadent and ridiculous--that's Texas for you. I much prefer the simpler, homier hummingbird.

Hummingbird Cake:
110 grams pecans, chopped and toasted
420 grams flour
400 grams sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 eggs, beaten
180 mL canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
227 grams crushed pineapple, undrained
2 cups mashed bananas (3 to 4 bananas)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
57 grams butter, room temperature
227 grams cream cheese, room temperature
454 grams powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
55 grams pecans, chopped and toasted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Makes two nine-inch rounds. Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, oil, vanilla, pineapple, bananas and pecans. Combine ingredients being careful not to overmix. Divide the batter evenly and bake 25 to 30 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the cake cleanly. Let cool before frosting.

For the frosting, cream the butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy. Sift the powdered sugar and add to the butter gradually. Add the vanilla and beat until smooth. Stir in the pecans by hand. Ice the cake.

Zuccotto, Dessert of the Gods

Lainey Seyler — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 15:52:00 +0000

Just when I'm ready to write off all things cake, cup and otherwise, something comes along that completely changes my mind. This time it is a cake called zuccotto. It's Italian, as all good things are, and it is divine.

The cake is constructed, something I love about pastries. It's layers pieced into layers; in the way a good tart has a crust, a filling and a garnish, this cake has a crust filling and more filling. I made the cake for a school presentation--because I had time and desire to make more cake last week (I was so over them until this moment). Look at my kitchen. It's a complete mess; I don't even want to talk about it. I had signed up for the cake on a whim from a list of 18 choices. When I did a quick look online about the cake I saw "semifreddo Italian confection" and I wanted to scream at Chef Mar, "You assigned a freaking ice cream cake?!" I was thinking of the quick Italian ice cream that doesn't need a machine to aerate it, but I was blessedly wrong. Semifreddo in this case refers to mousse.

Mousse has been my new sweet obsession since Sylvain Leroy visited the Institute. I made chocolate-raspberry-lime flavored mousse and plain vanilla for my pastries final, mixed berry for a catering order at work and a chocolate mousse pie with candied pecans and caramel sauce for the deli. This is a new incarnation that tops all the previous efforts, thanks, in no small part, to the inclusion of amaretto liqueur, which improves all baked good, if you ask me.

The cake starts with a pound cake base lining any sort of bowl. I followed Giada dii Laurentis' recipe, which recommended store-bought pound cake making the zuccotto that much simpler. I questioned things pretty whole-heartedly at this point. Martha Stewart's Real Simple makes the cake look so easy and beautiful, but you know the cake in the photograph could very easily be glued together with actual glue. Mine would not have glue and could feasibly fall apart once I turned it out. I had nothing to do though but continue on. I soaked the pound cake in amaretto liqueur and then lined the inside with a concoction of whipped cream, sugar, almond extract and ground almonds leaving a large well to be filled with the food of the gods, chocolate mousse. I closed the cake with more pound cake and refrigerated it overnight.

The cake flipped out of the bowl in a snap and looked nearly as good as the Martha Stewart version (except for the visible uneven distribution of amaretto syrup in the pound cake). But the real life flavor of the cake was just perfection. The cake was soft with an aroma of almond and cherries, the whipped cream with almond was light and crunch and then the mousse, the mousse was light and fudgy. Just the absolute perfect combination. I won't speak badly of cakes for at least another week.

Zuccotto: Giada dii Laurentis (with some help from me)
1 loaf store-bought pound cake
2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur
4 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup almond, ground
1 teaspoon almond extract
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels

The proportions here depend on how large your bowl is. I used a fairly big on and had to increase the amount of chocolate mousse filling (what a shame). You can buy or make the pound cake for the shell. Slice the cake and arrange along the bottom of the bowl. Whip two cups of the heavy whipping cream with sugar and almond extract until stiff peaks. Fold in the almonds. Spread the cream across the pound cake, leaving a well in the middle. Whip the remaining cream until medium-stiff peaks. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Combine the chocolate and whipped cream, being sure that the chocolate is just barely warm to the touch, not too hot or the whipped cream will melt and it won't be good at all. Fill the rest of the bowl with the chocolate mousse. Cover with the rest of the pound cake, wrap and refrigerate until the mousse has set. Turn out, slice and enjoy.

Cupcakes and a Broken Dream

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:44:00 +0000

Having a cupcake stand at the Old Market Farmer's Market was a lot like the KoolAid stand my sister and I set up in front of our house when we were six and three years old except more expensive. It was fun and silly and we ate more product than we sold.

Back in March when I hated my job, I signed up to sell cupcakes weekly at the farmer's market. Now I love that same job and I hate all things cake. I had this fantasy of my sister and me frolicking around the Old Market in sundresses selling cutesy little cupcakes with fancy garnishes, flavors like French lavender, apricot and Meyer lemon. We would be the most popular vendors at the market. Men would cluster at our table, vying for our phone numbers. Reality, my friends, is cold and cruel.

They called me Tuesday of last week to see if I could work the market. I said yes without even thinking about the logistics of my weekend. Fridays I wake up at 4 a.m. to bake something I like to make (bread) and work for 10-plus hours on my feet the entire time. That leaves the rest of Friday to make 200-some cupcakes and interview three people for a story due Monday. Stupid. Just stupid. I don't function well on not enough sleep. I get mean and dramatic and I have big meltdowns.

After work and emergency errands, I got started on the cupcakes around 4 p.m. I made a large batch of orange-chiffon and burned one tray. Calmly, I threw them out and kept going--really keeping my cool. My sister joined me at 5:30 or so and got going on the sign (see top photo of the classy sign to go with the "classy" Husker tent we were extremely happy to have). The sign, so cute, but never to be used again. She worked on the sign for four hours. She was happy. She was singing, talking aloud "Oh I just love this. It's so creative. I just love making things like this. Lalala." She cut out letters and ironed them to the banner while watching episodes of Sex and the City. Meanwhile, I labored away in a hell of my own making. Cupcakes are messy. And for a messy person such as myself, things get out of control quickly. There's runny batter and sticky icing, flour everywhere. I would gaze into the oven after each batch, hoping that they would rise to the perfect level, ballooning over the rim of the cupcake liners. But the cake-making was a cinch compared to the icing.

Buttercream, real buttercream, is a hot whipped meringue that you let cool and then add butter until it forms a fully emulsified, creamy and airy, delicious frosting. The key here would be letting the meringue cool. Patience is not something I can boast about personally. In the end, it took half an hour or so of whipping on near maximum velocity in the mixer until I could add the butter. This was after two failed attempts. It was 10 p.m. or so, my sister was nearly done with the sign and I was totally ready to give up. It seemed like a better idea to call the market people and tell them I couldn't do it. Or better, just not show up. I could sleep in until 10 p.m. on a Saturday, at which point the market would be nearly over, and life would be beautiful and cupcake free. Instead, I took a shower. In the shower, I was so tired that I couldn't stand anymore, so I sat down and took a bath. I thought about giving up a little more. One more attempt at buttercream, I thought, one more attempt.

I sent my sister to the store for more butter and eggs. I hated just a little to tear her away from the happy world of sign-making into the den of cupcakery, but also, I wanted to scream at her. I told her we should give up. She was so cheery in her response "No, this is great." Her sweetness doesn't belong with the cupcakes. I called my mom. We had a pep talk, I got a new plan and called Allison to pick up cream cheese and powdered sugar at the store. "I'm baaaack," she answered in a sing-song voice. There's nothing worse than happiness when all you want to do is throw a pastry bag of whipped cream at the wall (which I had earlier that day at work). But it worked. Allison filled the peach cupcakes with mousse while I made cream cheese icing, just enough for the peach and orange-chiffon cupcakes. And this time, I made the buttercream right. I was in bed in time for four hours of sleep for the second night in a row.

Even after the cupcakes were made, our farmer's market dreams did not come true. We did not wear sundresses and only a few young men visited our tent but only because they happen to be good friends. We froze our asses off when Seattle weather descended upon Omaha, Neb., in September. Hardly anyone came to the market; the balloon man who usually has a line 10 deep was pacing around quite bored. I actually will give myself a little credit for not crying on the spot. I didn't care anymore about selling the cupcakes to make back all the money I had spent on supplies and a portion scoop ($18!). At least the cupcakes were over and I never have to make them again. And the sign really was quite cute

Tortilla Soup

Lainey Seyler — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:09:00 +0000

Some weeks life feels a little like a no-hit winner. It's long. Nothing really good is happening. Thankfully someone makes a mistake and you get on base with a ball and you steal your way to home plate.

I chipped a tooth at work this week. Big time. I looked like a hillbilly when I opened my mouth. I bumped into a cart I was pushing when it bumped into the sink in the meat kitchen. My right front tooth just crumbled in my mouth, painlessly but dramatically nonetheless. In the basement bathroom, I cried, sobbed actually, and for three straight hours, any extended thought spent on my tooth and my now inability to ever get a date ever again led to more and more tears. It wasn't until lunch that I pulled it together and not until 2 p.m. that I got official word that workman's comp was going to cover it. One of my co-workers hugged me and said "Don't worry baby, you still sexy." Something I needed to hear, though I'm not sure I really believe I'm sexy at all (I'll take the compliment).

I got my tooth filled the next morning and things are fine, though no dates to speak of--I will forever blame the tooth. I've been babying my mouth ever since. Avoiding apples and carrots, even gingerly biting into crackers with my left front tooth instead of the right. Soup seemed about right for the occasion. So I dusted off my Dutch oven for the first time in months and made a tortilla soup.

I don't just search for any recipes online. There are a lot of bunk tips on the interwebs. Mark Bittman plus anything food is a worthy search, and this time proved to be no error. I didn't even have all the ingredients--avocado would have been a plus, but my fresh chili pepper (straight from the garden) worked just fine. The garden is wilting a little, so I plucked all the ripe black cherry tomatoes I could and plopped them in with an onion and some garlic. I added about a tablespoon of chili powder plus my very spicy pepper (serrano? habanero? not sure). The soup, once blended with roasted chicken added, was comforting in a way only soup can be with a little fire to finish.

Tortilla Soup: inspired by Mark Bittman
6 flour tortillas
1/2 cup canola oil
1 large onion, small dice
3 garlic cloves, sliced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 serrano pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
6 cups chicken stock
6 ounces shredded chicken
juice from one lime (or lemon)
avocado and Mexican cheese to garnish

Heat up the oil and then fry the tortillas. Remove from pan. I tried this but my tortillas were about one year old and started to smell sour and break apart in the pot so I tossed them. Chips will work fine. With the remaining oil, saute the onion for a couple minutes then the garlic, which cooks faster and should be added second. Once the aromatics have softened, add the tomatoes, the pepper and the chili powder. Saute for five minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree the soup. Put back in the pot and add the chicken. Simmer for five minutes until chicken is warm. Add juice and serve garnished with avocado and/or cheese.

Bacon Lettuce Tomato Sandwich

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:15:00 +0000

I've been eating a lot of BLTs lately with tomatoes from my garden and a honey-mustard mayonnaise I made two months ago and forgot about.

My tomatoes have been a smashing success this year. The large red heirlooms (variety forgotten) are plump and juicy, but the little black cherry tomatoes are the showstopper. These guys are the best tomatoes I have ever eaten in my entire life. Every time. When people come over to my house, I make them sample the tomatoes. "Try it, just try it," I goad on. They all agree--quite good. The little orbs are so pretty: they're red, green and purple. But inside, oh inside, they just burst open in your mouth with sour juice and seeds.

The BLT has so much potential, and without good tomatoes you may as well skip it. But I am just rationing out this mayo liberally on all pieces of toast. I have eaten BLTs probably at least twice a week since the beginning of August. There's so much crunch and juice going on that the creamy mayo is just the icing on the cake, so to speak.

The mayo first appeared in this meal back in June (but not written about until July, just so can get a feel for how long I let things sit in my fridge). If you haven't ever made mayonnaise, it is something that just must be done. I can't tell you how much better it is than Hellman's or gawdawful Miracle Whip, which has this jello-like consistency. (I know people love it, but no thanks here.) It's so soft and creamy. My mom raised me to be afraid of the fat and cholesterol content, but dang mayo is totally worth it for a tablespoon a couple times a week.

Honey Mustard Mayonnaise:
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vinegar, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, plus more to taste
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon honey

I started this by making the basic mayonaise out of James Peterson's Sauces in which I whisked the yolks, mustards and vinegar together. Then slowly poured a combination of both oils into the yolks, whisking constantly. The mayonaise will thicken up quite a bit. Just go until the oil is completely incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Add the honey and a bit more vinegar. Taste and adjust mustard, salt, pepper, honey and vinegar to taste. You'll want to have the vinegar to water down the dressing a bit so it's easier to pour. Toss the mayo with the fruit and vegetables and plate the salads.

All-day Croissants

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:33:00 +0000

It's a bit unbelievable that I am able to make bread. Shocking really. Patience is a trait everyone who knows me well teases me about not having. When I was in high school, my parents told me I wouldn't make a good social worker because I wasn't patient. I would expect people to change on my schedule, and they wouldn't. My friend Katy once gave me a "patience" candle. Maybe one of those aromatherapy things, or possibly a sales gimmick--either one.

Yeast bread is one of those things that comes absolutely on its own time. And maybe that's why it has taken me so long--with so many trials and errors--to get it. It involves precision, attention to detail, (another thing NOT on my list of strengths) and waiting. But I think I like it because it's such a challenge. Plus, wow, the payoff is pretty great.

I made croissants for the first time when I got back from Thailand. It was this phase I went through, cooking everything I had never tried before. At the time, I only had a part-time job then and had just spent six months in Thailand without a kitchen. The apartment I was living in there had like one pan and someone gave me a rice cooker, which was completely ridiculous since I could go downstairs and buy plain rice for like 20 cents. Back in Omaha, I had my mom's newly remodeled kitchen and an endless supply of free food waiting for me to experiment with. I can recall making croissants, French baguettes (which turned out horribly), squash risotto and a pork roulade. The croissants, I recall, were incredible. A fluke I'm sure. I hadn't made them again since probably because they are definitely something worth buying over making.

It takes hours, half a day to finish. Whereas one can buy a perfectly crafted chocolate croissant at the Bread Oven in Dundee for probably $2. Well worth it. Not that I think my time was wasted making croissants five years ago or a couple weeks ago for that matter. Au contraire. It's illogical to think that I would spend six-plus hours on anything that had incredible potential to be a bust based on my lack of skill. I do possess the tools now to make something that in this case turned out incredibly tasty, light, flaky everything croissant-like yet very lopsided and burned on the bottom. I couldn't even eat all the croissants I made. I gave more than half of them away to happy recipients: friends and neighbors. These were filled with not quite enough almond frangipane cream and strawberry jam (if it's even possible to overdo this not-too-sweet almond filling).

The process in making something like a yeasted croissant is not difficult, but it is so impractical and food is above all things practical. It's essential to life, yet here I am go taking all day to make something that did turn out quite delicious. It's essential to me in another way. To me, cooking is good for the soul. It's essential to me to spend a quiet afternoon listening to Cat Stevens while crafting a not-quite-perfect but soft and flaky pastry.

Almond Cream: from Tartine Bakery Cookbook
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup almond meal (ground of nuts of any sort really)
2 tablespoons flour

Cream the butter and the sugar in a mixer. Add the egg, mix, and then add the vanilla. Add both the almond meal and the flour at the same time, mixing until smooth. Set aside.

Laminated Brioche: (for other ideas with laminated brioche go here)

600 grams flour

15 grams salt

65 grams sugar

250 grams butter

30 grams yeast

50 grams water

6 eggs

Make sure all the ingredients are cold. Mix all ingredients except butter in a KitchenAid or similar mixer with the dough hook until you can pinch a piece of dough, pull it away and have it stretch but not break (that is full gluten development). Add the butter a tablespoon at a time while still mixing. Ferment until doubled in size. Move on to the lamination step.

Lamination:

400 grams dough

80 grams butter

Roll dough out into a rectangle. Beat the butter with a rolling pin until it is thinner and more pliable. Place the butter on half the dough and then fold the top half down over it. Roll it out. Fold it three times, roll it out. Fold it three times again and roll it out, resting the dough in between folds, possibly in the fridge to keep the butter cool.

To form croissants, roll out laminated dough into a large sheet about one-fourth an inch thick. Cut into triangles. Spread the almond cream and/or a fruit jam or compote of any sort along the full length of the triangle. Starting at the flat end of the triangle and moving toward the point, roll the dough. Let the dough ferment again for another hour or so. Brush with an egg wash and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown on the outside and flaky.

Pastries Final

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:49:00 +0000

Chef Mar's practical exams have a way of exhausting a person. Our Monday pastries final was four straight hours of intense concentration combined with running around the bakery in order to finish everything on time. It was a complete cluster.

We worked in groups to come up with a menu to start up our own pastry shop with the aim of making the offerings well rounded and along a theme. I love a them. Talking with Janelle and Gianni, we decided on comfort food of the Southern variety, and I went straight for the Georgia peaches (which I unfortunately burned), key limes and banana creams. The challenge was that we had to present a spectrum of skills learned in pastries fundamentals, while still finishing quality work on time. We could only use the same dough twice (tops) and we had to have three breakfast pastries.

My additions to the "pastry shop" were chocolate pavlovas (baked meringes) with a chocolate-lime-raspberry mousse, banana cream savarins (yeasted sweet dough) with vanilla bavarian cream and caramel sauce, a sweet potato-onion-bacon quiche (if that's not comfort food ...) and a laminated brioche filled with pecan frangipane and peach compote, except without the scorched peaches. The brioche was by far my favorite. It was so flaky and buttery--a heart-attack roll. They turned out enormous in the oven after the dough rose and the butter steamed out from between the pockets in which it was cushioned. The mousse and bavarian cream too were just devinely light. I stole home a deli container of the vanilla but didn't grab the chocolate before it found its way into the trash during cleanup.

I abhor meringues (see below), and my pavlovas turned out more like sugared cardboard than marshmallowy pillows. The quiche was a near disaster saved only by my partners. When I went to pull my dough out of the cooler, it had turned olive green over the weekend. Obviously inedible. Janelle had extra pate brisee dough, which was perfect, but all Gianni had was sweet tart dough for her creme fraiche pie. I used it anyway, hoping the instructors wouldn't eat from that quiche (they didn't!). My partners made beautiful rugelach, soft panna cotta, scones, sandwich cookies and a couple pies to round out our "display," which was totally overshadowed by the group who made a replica French bakery out of a cardboard box and Hobby Lobby supplies. It was somewhat ridiculous and totally made my group look like goons because we didn't even bring a cake stand or platter on which to display items in our fake bakery.

The final went from 8:30 a.m. until half past noon, after which point it took us all three or four hours to come down from the mind**** of the exam, which was great because that's how long it took Chef Mar to grade our pastries. The bakery was a complete disaster zone--one person had left a puddle of chocolate ganache on the counter in a rush to turn her pastries in on time. I cleaned every single sheet pan by hand, which was 20 to 30. The trash cans were spilling over. At least no one had injured themselves. We were all so exhausted in the end that we just sat around a table in the bistro laughing, laughing, laughing at nothing and everything at once. I came out of the class with an A, a point of great pride. I am extremely satisfied with a B in Chef Mar courses, so to get an A was a great feeling.

Puddle of ganache:

Chocolate Pavlovas: (if you like that sort of thing)
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 300. In the bowl of a standing mixer, pour the egg whites and mix starting on low and slowly moving up to high. As the eggs begin to foam and set up to soft peaks, add the sugar slowly. Once white have reached hard (stiff) peak stage but are still glossy stir in the vinegar. Once incorporated, add the cornstarch and cocoa powder and stir to incorporate. Portion into rounds on a baking sheet with parchment paper and form a well in the middle of the round to fill with whipped cream or mousse. Bake at 300 for an hour to an hour and half. Remove from oven when the pavlovas have just started to dry out--they will dry out more once they're out of the oven.

Chocolate Mousse with Raspberry and Lime:
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3 ounces butter
1 tablespoon raspberry jam
juice from one lime
8 ounces heavy whipping cream

On a double boiler, melt the chocolate with the butter, jam and juice. Once melted and smooth, start whipping the cream until it is medium stiff peaks (not completely stiff). Make sure the chocolate is still melted but isn't super hot and stir the whipped cream into the chocolate. Refrigerate until cool. Fill pavlovas and top with fresh fruit.

Replica bakery:

Eggplant Hors d'oeuvres

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:21:00 +0000

Wednesday was one of the most beautiful days of my life not so much as a day but as a recognition of my contentedness, of life's overall beauty. It was the day of the pastry demonstration, when my eyes were opened to the paradox of mousse; it being both deeply complex and incredibly simple. I went home feeling elated about the prospects of baking for a living and not so much for a living but for life. The weather was just perfection. The high, if you can believe it, on August 10 was 75 degrees. Seventy-five! I spent what seems like the entire month of July sequestered in air-conditioned buildings and now the air is thin enough that I can enjoy an afternoon on my screened in porch, sitting in my writing chair. I am sitting in it right now, in fact.

In total exuberance of life, which was only a little squashed by the reality of waking up before the sun in order to live my "baking life," I made a dinner for one. It was bruschetta with tomatoes, chives and basil from the garden, and sauteed eggplant. I had bought little Japanese and heirloom varieties from the Rhizosphere farm folks on Sunday at the market and by Wednesday they were already soggy (that orange globe in the first photo, by the way, is an eggplant). I had let them go too long! So I cooked them all, which turned into what could have been hors d'oeuvres for 10. Nevermind, it was delicious. I ate them on my porch, trying not to drip tomato juice on my legs.

Eggplant Bruschetta: from Tender Vol. 1 by Nigel Slater

2 eggplants

6 tablespoons olive oil

zest and juice from one lemon

small bunch basil leaves

small bunch chives

salt and pepper

triscuits or French bread if you've planned ahead

Slice the eggplants into coins. Salt the eggplant in a strainer, let set for 30 minutes. Water starts to leach out of the eggplants after a period. Rinse and dry the eggplant. Saute on medium high heat until tender. Meanwhile blend the oil, lemon juice, herbs and salt and pepper to make a dressing. Toss the finished eggplant in the dressing. Serve on crackers. Good with tomato bruschetta.

Getting Fancy with Chef Sylvain Leroy

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:20:00 +0000

I just finished eating the most beautiful, most delicate desserts of my life. The Institute for Culinary Arts had a visiting chef in to demonstrate some fancy schmancy chocolate a local purveyor is carrying. Chef Sylvain Leroy, who visited the institute, works for the Paris Gourmet and travels some doing these demonstrations, mixing up the mousse that is the lightness of lightness and showing us the proper way to temper chocolate and how to make the best ganache. I am inspired. Mousse and Bavarian creams are things I have not been fond of. It's the gelatin. When used improperly, it is chunky and granular, but now I see that the gelatin allows the mousse to retain its effervescence.

It was a bit exciting to see Chef Leroy (named one of the best 10 pastry chefs in the country by Dessert Professionals magazine!) masterfully play with chocolate, meringues and purees. I struggle so much, making a complete mess of my station in class and at work. In the two-hour demo, he made three desserts whose names are actually quite meaningless to me until described: first was an exotic coconut and mango verrine, followed by a royale blueberry cremeux and finished with a douceur. Right. What are those?

The verrine was pineapple compote base with a coconut mousse filling and topped with mango gelee. Incredibly light and tropical. It tasted so much like Thailand to me. They were a little obsessed with those bubble teas when I lived there and the pineapple compote was a bit akin to a bubble tea, except delicious, whereas those tapioca balls are completely disgusting. But it had the best parts of the creaminess of those drinks.

The blueberry cremeux involved quite a bit of chocolate. He made a chocolate ganache, mixing hot heavy cream and pureed blueberries over chocolate morsels until they emulsified "like mayonaise" as he explained. He had a lavender streusel dough already chilled and ready to go, adding a delicate crunch to the chocolate. He then topped the dessert with glazed blueberries that were just in the absolute peak of ripeness.

The best dessert, however, was the mystery douceur. Let me say this: white chocolate mousse. He mixed the white chocolate with plain Greek yogurt (brilliant), which added just a tiny bit of tang to what can be an oversweet ingredient. The douceur had the same streusel topping and he added some glazed strawberries.

He closed the session with a demonstration in tempering chocolate. As much as baking and pastry is a delicate science, chocolate work is one more step beyond. He explained that the chocolate must be heated to this temperature and the cooled to this temp but not below and so on. My friend Ashley and I were sort of joking and chatting with him in the front row and he asked one of us to volunteer. We looked at each other and I sensed that she maybe wasn't quite convinced, though I'm sure she would have done it. But I just stood up and walked right up there to have him teach me how to make these lace-like chocolate fans. He poured out the melted chocolate on the counter and spread it thin with a spatula. After it cooled and dried a little, he used a bench scraper to quickly pinch and fold the chocolate into strips that then curled into a fan. I was so nervous to try that I couldn't even look up to see how many people were watching the demo. There were about 15 or so students plus pastry chefs from the casinos and some higher end restaurants in town. Fortunately, Ashley grabbed a photo before I screwed anything up or sat down. My heart was just beating beating beating. There I was about to make a fool of myself with chocolate, but it was, of course, fine. He gave me a few tips, and I got to see the chocolate up close. Tips from one of the best pastry chefs in the country. That's a once in a lifetime.

Below are photos from the demo and a few explanations.

Chef Leroy garnishing the tropical verrine with a feullettine, this delicious cookie that is a combination of chocolate, wafers and hazelnut butter. Die.

The blueberry cremeux.

Blueberry cremeux up close

More up close. So pretty.

Gone.

Strawberry-white chocolate goodness.

Tropical mousse

Working with chocolate.

Keeping a safe distance.

Ashley stealing the leftover white-chocolate mousse.

Christine, Melissa, Chef Leroy, myself and Ashley from my pastries class.

Salad of Fennel, Zucchini and Good Humor

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:29:00 +0000

I kept busy all week, distracting myself from the missing friends and lovers. Wednesday I had dinner with a friend and drank on the back porch, Thursday was the taco ride, Friday was crab and karaoke, Saturday was rock climbing and sushi and Sunday I cook. Rather, I assembled cold salads.

I made two jars of pickles a few weeks ago and they are already gone (one I sent with Amanda as a parting gift), so that was definitely in order. I have been craving those pickles for nine or 10 months now. Best I've ever had. I've also started my spree of nonstop caprese salads. As tomatoes are nearly inedible outside of July, August and September, I have to overstimulate my taste buds while I can. The garden I am sharing with the downstairs neighbor is a panoply of produce. The tomatoes are behaving on the heavy-duty cages and the cucumber is training up toward the clothes line, there are enough strawberries to please my neighbors greedy three-year-old and the lawn care folks take caution to mow around the zucchinis.

Home-grown zucchinis are my new favorite. I like them smaller than they come in the store, nearly babies, with the blossom still attached, which I've been stuffing with soft cheese and sauteing. The little ones are crisper but delicate and light. That mush they get at the store does nothing for vegetables. Then there's this salad I saw on 101 Cookbooks. One with fennel and zucchini, arugula and pine nuts and then sprinkled with parmesan cheese, lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper. Just the thing to assemble while listening to This American Life and feeling just a teeny bit sorry for myself until I heard about a man who was tortured for protesting in Egypt. It's OK to be emotionally nostalgic, but I should always remember hold onto my grip on reality. I made my new roommate try the fennel alone and in the salad. It is sort of strange by itself and sort of awesome with parmesan cheese and lemon juice. Alone it's too much like licorice but with salty creamy sour flavors it's light and aromatic. Much better than celery. The pine nuts were so buttery. All these lovely Mediterranean ingredients just as the day's light began to fade. I could eat a salad like that every day.

Sunday spent with casual cooking at home was such a nice way to ground the week. I really felt so joyous today making breakfast pastries at school. I was just singing my own personal karaoke ("Landslide" by Stevie Nicks if you must know). I was thinking about writing this weekend. Do I even like it? Am I even good at it? But hanging out with my friends Sean and Phil, we were talking about what we would do if we won the lottery. Sure there's travel and not worry about money (which is certainly false--mo' money mo' problems right?), but I would do exactly what I'm doing right now, except I would write more. I would create more space in my life for writing and reflection and who gives a damn if it's not good (well, I do at some point), but quality is not necessarily the point. Peace and happiness is.

Summer Savarins

Lainey Seyler — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:41:00 +0000

My camera broke. Actually, I broke it. I carelessly put a water bottle in my purse along with everything else important (social security card) and it leaked all over everything, thus no camera, which is sad because I promised myself to take my camera to class more just last week for the express purpose of blogging. But it's also sad because time is a goon. My roommate moved last week and a few days later this fellow I've been seeing and liking quite a bit also moved. Pictures are one way of freezing a moment. I've been feeling a bit nostalgic lately, just letting the summer and previous few years steep in my mind.

But thinking about things too much inevitably leads to personal existential crises, mostly in the form of "what the hell am I doing with my life?!" So I freaked out about that for a few days, wondering why everyone was always leaving and I've always staying, I suddenly wanted to be the one leaving. Moving can be such a great adventure, but I have two thoughts on the subject, 1.) it's scary and never as much fun in reality as it is in my mind and 2.) you can have adventures anytime, anywhere, anyhow if you're up for it. Not that I blame anyone for moving. Sometimes it's just right; it's just what you've got to do (in addition to being new and exciting).

But doesn't it feel like people are always on the move these days? Not a few months go by without saying a hard goodbye or meeting someone brand new to the area. I should be more open to moving because if I frankly think about what I'm "doing with my life" it probably isn't living in Omaha forever and ever amen, but it does make me happy right now. I adore my friends. Adore them. And work, it's good. Really good most days. It's not forever, but gosh, it fits snugly right now. And school, I get to make mocha pots de creme that slide onto the spoon and down the hatch so smoothly. And these yeasted savarins soaked in orange syrup with apricot-orange mousse and creme anglaise -- so good and just the epitome of summer with fresh apricots and bright oranges. I get to spend all this time learning about ingredients and techniques and perfecting recipes. It's so good, it's all so good. Even when people I care about pass through too soon (it's always too soon).

A couple days ago, I settled into life again, knowing that the things I'm worried about (i.e. my ability to pay for loans and be employed for real at some point) will work out whether I worry or not. For the time being, I am happy making savarins and hopefully new friends.

Savarins:

1 1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water
3 ounces butter, melted
1/2 cup raisins, soaked and drained (optional)
1 teaspoon citrus zest

Combine flour, salt, eggs, yeast, sugar and water in a mixer and mix for eight minutes on medium. Scrape down the sides. Add the melted butter and mix another five to eight minutes until the dough is sticky but thick enough to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Transfer to bowl and let ferment until about doubled. Transfer to greased molds and let double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Saturate in a simple syrup mix of half water and half sugar (and flavorings of citrus or liqueur, etc.). Can be filled with pastry cream or mousse or lemon curd.

Fruit Mousse: (easiest thing ever!)
12 ounces fruit puree
3 ounces sugar
1 ounce brandy or liqueur (or water or juice)
.25 ounces gelatin (softened according to package instructions) (optional)
8 ounces heavy cream

Puree the fruit and send through a sieve. Stir in and dissolve the sugar and liqueur. Whip the cream to medium peaks. Fold into the puree and refrigerate. Serve quickly if not using gelatin.

Crepes and My Francophilian Fantasy

Lainey Seyler — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 09:20:00 +0000

I started culinary school just about a year ago now, and my blogging frequency has gone way way down. I'd say that has more to do with lack of time than anything else (full diclosure: I blogged at work a lot). I has a little to do with a blog scare back in February, and something to do with me lazily not bringing my camera to school. I'm going to try to remedy that. We make a lot of incredible thing at school, such as these individual St. Honore Gateaux, but I rarely share them. Additionally the recipes have gotten far more complicated in a strange sort of way. I've got the basics down. Things like deep frying, braising, pastry cream and sauce making are a breeze--so easy I don't count them as part of the instructions. But they do count. Braising is simple once you get it, but it has a lot of steps, lots of places where mistakes can be made. I'll try to be better at keeping a record, if only to have a volume of recipes and my thoughts on them not stored on my bookshelf or strewn about in my school bookbag.

We worked on pate a choux dough, which is the stuff that make eclairs, meaning it's awesome. The Gateau St. Honore is a mishmash of a number of pastry elements stacked on top of and inside each other: chantilly cream (fancy for whipping cream) piped onto filled cream puffs which are glued to a puff pastry crust with caramel. It was alright. With the crepes, however, I may have found my calling card.

I first made them in eighth grade French class under the tutelage of Monsieur Srb, a plump and jolly gay man, probably the first outed man I ever met even though I had no idea of his sexual orientation or really the concept of sexual orientation back in 1997. That requires conidering that people are different than you, and thinking of someone aside from oneself is a stretch for the junior high set, or at least for 13-year-old me. Every year M. Srb would put on a mother's day brunch. Our class, nearly 100 percent teen girls, absolutely loved it. We were assigned a cubby to decorate using glitter, sequins, streamers, fancy paper of all sort and (I am not kidding here) fashion dolls dressed in a variety of French-themed costumes. We sliced up strawberries and made strawberry-whipped cream parfaits. And M. Srb had a crepe maker--a sort of upside-down saute pan that made flipping the crepes easy enough for teens. Thus crepes were solidified as quintessentially French in my Francophilian mind. When I went to Paris seven years later at the age of 20, purchasing a crepe from a cart and eating it in the Jardin des Tuileries, the park between the Louvre and the Arc de Triompe (and the Champs Elysee), was on my short list of things to do.

Another seven years later, I am realizing what a brilliant treat the crepe is. It easily straddles the savory-sweet divide and allows all combinations of items to be rolled in a thin and crisp pancake and served from a truck. If nothing works out for me with writing and culinary school, you'll find me at a farmer's market filling crepes with pork tenderloin and peach mostarda (a concoction I cooked up for class) and chocolate, pears and pastry cream.

Crepes: from On Baking yields 30 six-inch crepes

6 eggs

6 egg yolks
12 ounces water
18 ounces milk
6 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon salt
14 ounces flour
5 ounces melted butter

Whisk wet ingredients then add the sugar, salt and flour. Stir in the butter. Let sit for at least an hour before cooking.

Heat a non-stick pan on the stove, melting butter into the pan and then wiping it out just to season the first crepes. Pour one to one-and-a-half fluid ounces of batter into the hot pan, swirling the batter around immediately to coat the pan. Cook until lightly brown on one side, scrape up the edges off the crepe with a spatula, grab a corner with your finger and flip over quickly. Or, if you are deft at flipping sans spatula, give the pan a nice flick of the wrist to turn the crepe. Cook on the other side until golden brown. Remove and fill as you desire.

Old Cuban

Lainey Seyler — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:08:00 +0000

I've been posting recipes on this blog for three years now. There are more than 300 posts and at least 200 recipes. Is there anything out there I haven't cooked? Of course, of course. In cooking and baking the possibilities are trully endless. But the last few days, right when all the summer produce is at its best, all I want to make are the old standbys. Pine nut and basil pesto, caprese salads with heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, pickles, tea cake. While my vegeteable-starch-protein class stretched me creatively, at home I am seeking the creature comforts.

Amanda and I had another potluck last night. It's her last before she moves to Portland, Ore., next weekend, and it was a great way to send her out--with great friends and great food. I didn't cook anything. Too hot. To keep cool, I thought cocktails would be a nice change from the typical beer and wine we usually serve.

I bought some fresh mint at the Old Market farmer's market, along with some dill for the pickles and some zinnias for the kitchen table. The only logical drink to go with was a mojito, fresh and cold, but also not very strong on the alcohol, which for this party, wasn't exactly what I was looking for. My friends Sarah and Matthew have shared their interest in what I would deem sophisticated cocktails. No daquiris or margaritas flavored with sweet and sour mix here. They and my friend Lindsey are partial to champagne cocktails, where the champagne adds the fizz instead of tonic water or club soda, along with a bit more depth of flavor. I first tried a salty dog topped with champagne (it's grapefruit juice and gin) at Sarah and Matthew's, and Lindsey is a big fan of the French 75, which is made with gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and champagne. I settled on an Old Cuban, I guess you could call it a variation on a mojito. It's recipe is two ounces rum, two dashes bitters, 1 ounce simple syrup made with mint leaves, one ounce lime juice and topped off with two ounces of champagne. Plus loads of ice, especially if it's more than 100 degrees where you live.

The Final, Part Two

Lainey Seyler — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 15:50:00 +0000

So I've been busy, and posting on the blog has taken the greatest hit until I woke up yesterday morning with a scratchy throat, which soon developed into full-blown strep. I've spent nearly the whole of this beautiful Saturday lying in bed and sleeping, lying in bed and reading, and now lying in bed and blogging. I've been cooking and baking though, plenty. My second of three final practical exams for vegetable-starch-protein was Wednesday and went wildly successfully. Chef Reichardt was impressed that I made my own mayonaisse for the Waldorf salad (I can't believe no one else made theirs), my apple and pear mostarda (a sweet and sour sauce) was the best in the class (and he claimed he had some awful mostarda), and at the end of my pork tenderloin entree he declared that I was a good cook. Incredible. I was very complimented. And then I screwed up the dessert.

It was creme caramel reversee, or more popularly flan. Maria made cute little almond florentines and a strawberry gastrique. I burned the caramel four times. Four. I would look away for 0.2 seconds only to look back at a black and nearly smoking pan of sugar. Considering that I'm a pastry student, it was a little embarassing that I had so much trouble with the dessert. In the end, the flan was creamy with a simple syrup just barely shy of a bitter burned flavor.

Pork Tenderloin or Chop: adapted from Jamie Oliver
1 loin or 2 chops
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
salt and pepper
oil

The fennel really complemented the pork in this dish. It was so simple, yet really quite delicious. I just rubbed the outside of the loin and/or chop (I had chop to practice and loin in class), heated the oil in a saute pan on medium-high heat and pan fried the pork until it was done, leaving the loin at medium instead of cooking it all the way through and drying it out. In my opinion the tenderloin was a much better choice.

Pear and Apple Mostarda: yields 1 quart from James Peterson's Sauces
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 apples, cut into wedges
2 pears or any other combination of fruit, cut into wedges if necessary
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

This sweet-sour sauce goes well with pork. Again, it is incredibly easy. I brought the vinegar and sugar to a light boil on the stovetop and then added the apples, pears and some cherries that we had in the classroom. I left the saute pan on simmer, stirring occassionally for half an hour. Once the fruit is softened, remove it from the pan, raise the heat to high and reduce the liquid to the thickness of a sauce.

Waldorf Salad with Honey-mustard Mayonaise Dressing: serves 2
bunch of arugula
1 apple
1 stalk celery
1/4 cup walnuts
handful grapes

Dressing:
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon mustard, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon honey

Chop the fruit and vegetables to a similar size for the salad. Set aside.

I started this by making the basic mayonaise out of James Peterson's Sauces in which I whisked the yolks, mustards and vinegar together. Then slowly poured a combination of both oils into the yolks, whisking constantly. The mayonaise will thicken up quite a bit. Just go until the oil is completely incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Add the honey and a bit more vinegar. Taste and adjust mustard, salt, pepper, honey and vinegar to taste. You'll want to have the vinegar to water down the dressing a bit so it's easier to pour. Toss the mayo with the fruit and vegetables and plate the salads.

Creme Renversee aka Flan: from Mastering the Art of French Cooking
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla

Caramel:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
To make the caramel, bring the sugar and water to a boil in a sauce pan. Remove from heat once it has just barely browned. Pour into four to six oven-proof molds.

Preheat the oven to 325. In a stock pot, bring the milk to a simmer. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, yolks and sugar. Once the milk is simmering, pour it slowly into the egg mixture while whisking. Then pour the custard into four to six bowl molds which already have a bit a caramel in them. Place the molds in a baking pan that is filled with enough water to come halfway up the custard dishes. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, until the custard has set. Remove from oven and let cool before turning the molded custards out onto serving plates.

Vegetable-Starch-Protein

Lainey Seyler — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:47:00 +0000

I haven't been posting lately. I'm in the throes of summer, which thus far has involved travelling to California, two camping trips involving climbing and a intensive five-week course entitled Vegetable-Starch-Protein Cookery. This is a great class. My chef is Deke Reichardt; he owns the Jackson Street Tavern on 11th and Jackson in the Old Market (go for the duck tacos). Class meets twice a week for seven hours and we, as a class prepare some five to 10 dishes from a set list of recipes and then everyone comes up with their own plate using only the ingredients that arrive in class on a cart.

Chef Reichardt humors me and Maria, who are the only pastry students in the class. We've made baklava, a banana and a blackberry clafoutis, mango semifreddo, rice pudding, bread pudding and pizza dough. For me, it's this great challenge to come up with something completely elaborate. Last session may have taken it all with seared scallops in a lime beurre blance over a barley pilaf with cilantro and tomato. Yeah, beurre blanc. It turns out I did learn a few things in Soups and Sauces class.

Today was day one of a three-day final exam. We were required to present a three-course meal of a wilted spinach salad, beef-short rib and caramelized onion ravioli with a muhroom cream sauce and a cherry clafoutis for dessert. There weren't any recipes, just ingredients and three hours in which to complete everything. It started out (for me at least) like a big cluster. I was assigned the second time slot and was suddenly scrambling to put things together when I didn't need. to. I screwed up the spinach salad with enough time to redo it (the first batch was overdone and inspired the gag reflex). I sauteed the spinach with olive oil and fried some proscuitto with garlic and shallots and deglazed the pan with balsamic vinegar to make a dressing with honey and warm olive oil.

The ravioli turned out so-so. It's surprisingly difficult to produce ravioli thick enough not to break but thin enough to not taste too doughy. Mine was too doughy. But the braised short ribs and caramelized onion stuffing was great. And I loved the sauce, even though it came out a bit on the salty side (I love salt). The clafoutis, of course, was fine, and I even had enough time to throw together a cherry compote sauce on the side. OK, so I did learn something in that awful Soup/Sauce class.

Clafoutis here

Wilted Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Dressing:

1 pound fresh spinach

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 shallot, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 ounce pancetta or prosciutto

3 ounces balsamic vinegar

1 ounce honey

salt and pepper

Wash spinach dry completely. Moist spinach wilted in olive oil is nasty stuff. Dice up all the veggie and meat. In a saute pan, heat the olive oil on medium. Add the spinach and toss around to coat with oil. Saute until spinach has only just barely wilted and isn't soggy and/or gross (can you tell I have a problem with warm spinach?). Remove from pan. Add the prosciutto and fry up a bit, then add the shallots and garlic. Cook until softened. Remove and pour over spinach. Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar, turning the heat down and touch. Add the honey and then the olive oil and cook until warm. Season with salt and pepper. Toss vinagrette with the warm dressing being careful not to overdo it. Serve.

Basic Braised Beef Short Ribs:

4 beef short ribs

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

2 stalks carrots, coarsely chopped

bay leaf

3 cups stock

1/2 cup red wine
salt and pepper

So this is your simple braising formula and instructions. Millions of variations exist for you to unfold changing the vegeatables, herbs, braising liquid and deglazing liquid (the wine in this case). Braising may have been one of my greatest culinary discoveries.

Anyway, here's how it goes: Preheat the oven to 300. Heat the oil in an oven-proof pot, like a Dutch oven. Dry the meat and season it with salt and pepper. Sear the outside of the meat in the oil, rotating to get all the sides good and browned. Remove from pot. Saute the vegetables and bay leaf in the same oil. Once they have been coated with oil and softened only slightly, add the wine using a wooden spoon to lift the juicy bits from the bottom of the pan. Once the wine has reduced slightly, return the meat to the pot. Add the stock covering only half of the meat. Bring the stock to a boil. Cover the pot and pop it in the oven for an hour and a half or until the meat is fork tender (it kind of flakes away from the fork when you pierce it).

To fill ravioli, we completed this tedious process in class and then tore apart the meat and mixed it with caramelized onions that I cooked on super duper low heat for several hours (four is standard--seriously, but it's so worth it). I made a little sauce of maple syrup and water and rosemary sprigs that I filled the raviolis with. I wouldn't recommend spending the time making and filling the raviolis because it's a pain in the arse, you should pay professionals to make stuffed raviolis--it is so worth it. The sauce I made was pretty easy though.

Mushroom Cream Sauce:
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup port wine
4 ounces mixed mushrooms
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper

Reduce the volume of the beef stock to one fourth. Reduce the volume of the port by half. Combine and add to a saute pan. Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add the cream to thicken and season with salt and pepper.

On the Lamb

Lainey Seyler — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:19:00 +0000

I have a tendency to get carried away. At the first or second farmer's market of the year, I splurged on a leg of lamb. I'm embarassed to say how much it cost. Twenty dollars--just under $20. The farmer swiped my card (very savvy, but a good idea if you're charging that much for meat), I walked away and later thought that spending twenty bones on a raw product was a tad irresponsible for a student. (I paid for it financial aid, and will furthermore justify the purchase by claiming the expense under "studying.") The leg of lamb sat in my freezer for weeks until the perfect moment last week when it wasn't too hot (just enough) and most my friends could come.

I fitted the leg, which took a couple days to dethaw in my fridge, with a Moroccan spice rub under the directions of Molly Stevens who wrote All About Braising, a book that's been on my Amazon wish list for at least a year. I roasted the spices and then sent them through a peppermill twist by aching twist of the wrist. I marinated the leg overnight then cooked the braise with a slew of Mediterranean vegetables, which all got too soggy in the Dutch oven but were still tasty if a bit mushy. Alongside, I made a slaw of sliced carrots and radishes, lighter to complement the heavy hand of the lamb.

Making dinner for friends will probably continue to be one of my favorite things no matter who I'm friends with or where I live. Well worth $20 for a leg of lamb and change for vegetables, although we would have the same happiness with vegetarian pasta so long as there's wine.

Moroccan Spice-rubbed Lamb: From All About Braising by Molly Stevens
Rub:
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon allspice berries
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch turmeric
pinch cayenne

leg of lamb, bone-in
1 onion, sliced
1 bulb fennel, sliced
pinch saffron
1 eggplant, cubed
1 tomato, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 cup chicken/vegetables/beef stock

Heat the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns, allspice berries in a saute pan without oil until they are aromatic. Grind with a pestel and mortar. Add the rest of the spices and rub on the exterior of the lamb. Let lamb marinate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Meanwhile, heat some oil in a cast-iron Dutch oven. Sear the outside of the lamb, remove from heat. Saute the onion. Stir in the saffron threads and some salt. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in the rest of the vegetables and bake another hour and a half until the meat is fork tender. Remove from oven and remove the lamb, setting it aside covered with foil. Meanwhile, bring the vegetables to a boil to reduce the volume of the liquid. Pour over bulgur wheat or quinoa and serve with lamb.

Carrot-Radish Relish: taught to me by a fellow student
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
10 radishes, sliced
1/2 cup white-wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple-cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon sugar
salt to taste

Slice the carrot and radishes. Meanwhile, heat the vinegar, oil and seasonings until just barely simmering. Remove from heat and pour over vegetables. Let marinate for at least an hour in the fridge. Strain excess liquid and serve.

Mini Blinds in the Garden- Take 2!

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:18:01 +0000

Last year I read about the idea of using used mini blind slats for labeling veggies in the garden and thought is was a grand idea since i had plenty of those laying around. However, the Sharpie faded in the sun long before garden season was over. So THIS year, I’m taking the additional step of spraying them with clear spray paint (2 coats) before staking them in the garden (click photo to enlarge). We’ll see how it goes….

Transition

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 04:49:16 +0000

Hey everybody. Hope everyone is not getting to worked up over the nice weather we are getting. The worst part about spring peeking around the corner is the possiblility of a blizzard. Anyway, this is Chef Paul and I really have wanted to post some eatery experiences. I go out to eat very little. Unless it is something quick. My fiancee and I splurge once in awhile at Smashburger. I freaking love everything about the place except I wish they had fresh cut fries, the kind served at Broncos. Tip: the one on “L” Street is better. Just like everyone else I am pinching pennies. Dinner at home is one of my favorites, a steak on the grill, butter roasted lobster and a cold beer in my hand. I know that this site and many other sites are about eating at restaurants, but we all like good food and probably prepare some damn good stuff at home. Can we share some of those things?

I can’t wait for the warmer weather and what everyone is eating!

Ohh my wallet!

Wed, 26 Jan 2011 19:26:27 +0000

With all that’s been happening in the Omaha lately.. the new restaurant tax, new wheel taxes, recall elections, and the fact that we have become a single income family, we really haven’t had much time or cash to go out and eat. When we do, it’s been to someplace that we regularly go to, like Hiro or Famous Dave’s. It puts a cramp on being able to do reviews for new places. I have, over time, invited other people to post their reviews and experiences on TOC and haven’t had any real response. Today I was sent a link to a site called “The Inner Fatty“, which is about individual things this person eats. He keeps going back to the same Chinese place and I like his photos. This may be another site rework… it may be that I just start copying the format… I don’t know… I miss posting, I miss telling you guys what I’m eating and what I like…

We’ll see how it goes.

~The Omaha Critic

Oops!! Wrong lunch!!!!

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 13:46:32 +0000

It’s not always a good idea to let your husband pack his lunch unsupervised. Today, I was preoccupied while Chad was rummaging through the fridge for leftovers intended for his lunch. When he was done, I noticed that the chili I had packaged up for his lunch was still in the fridge. I peeked inside his lunch box, wondering if he’d packed enough food for the day, and I discovered that he’d tossed in the WRONG tupperware container (click photo for larger view). Boy would he have had a sad lunchbreak when he realized he’d packed the dog’s veggie puree. Mmmmm….mushed up, nearly rotten, celery/apples/salad mix! Whew! Wife saved the day today. LOL!

October Update from our Garden…

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:07:50 +0000

Considering there was snow on the ground at just about this time last year, we are pretty grateful for the awesome fall weather we’re having here in Omaha, NE!!! Maybe we’ll get something to eat out of this garden, after all…

Sleep tight…don’t let the fall frost bite!

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 02:16:32 +0000

Fall gardening definitely has its downside! With the threat of frost tonight, we couldn’t afford to take any chances. So off to the thrift store we went to buy them out of queen-sized sheets. Looks like we’re covered, but we still pray for NO FROST for those who aren’t able to tuck their veggies in for the night

Today’s Farmers Market Finds!

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 19:35:18 +0000

We picked up a few items at the Old Market farmers market today
I can’t believe the season is almost over! Sob…

Garden is still “kickin”

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 12:33:47 +0000

It’s nearly October, and I’m pleased to report that our garden is still alive and kickin’. Here’s a view of the garden, as well as a pic of yesterday’s harvest (click pics for larger view)…

Wings and Rings and Cheesecake, OH MY!

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:40:32 +0000

It seems like all sorts of new restaurants are springing up around Omaha, which is a bittersweet development for the OC and myself. I love nothing more, when we have a chance to go out to eat, than saying “Let’s try somewhere new!.” Sadly, there are far more “new” places than our budget allows us to visit!

To that end, we stopped in to the new Buffalo Rings & Wings at 12240 L Street. We stopped in for a late lunch, so we missed the majority of the lunch rush. After a little confusion amongst the wait staff as to where to seat us, we were given a table, and immediately placed our drink orders. Our server, Luke, was awesome at making sure we had everything we needed, and that we never had to wait for a drink refill.

I ordered their lunch special boneless wings with lemon pepper sauce (5 boneless wings and a side for $5.99), as did our daughter with parmesan garlic sauce, and OC represented all of MANHOOD by ordering 10 mild roasted garlic wings, 15 Original Hot wings, and then an additional lunch special with 5 Original ATOMIC wings (Yes, about half of them went home for the rest of our troops to devour). For sides, we ordered saratoga chips and onion rings.

The wings? They’re good. They’re not spectacular – they don’t stand out as the BEST wings we’ve ever had, but they were good. They were flavorful. They had plenty of sauce and were cooked perfectly, for both the boneless wings and the traditional wings. Heat-wise – they just weren’t that hot. Even the atomic wings – while they did provide some longlasting burn – weren’t that hot. The Original Hot wings would be on par, for me, with a Buffalo Wild Wings Medium hot wing. The roasted garlic and lemon pepper sauces were good, but not spectacular. The parmesan garlic sauce was my favorite of the ones we tried.

The saratoga chips? Meh – they were good chips, I will say that, but they also weren’t anything to write home about. The onion rings, however? PHENOMENAL. They were easily the best onion rings we’ve had in a very long time, and when dipped in the garlic parmesan sauce from the wings? Outstanding. VERY VERY GOOD.

The only down side we felt was that there could be a little more flexibility in allowing customers to select more sauces. OC wanted 25 wings with 3 different sauces, but was told he could only have 2 (as an order of 10 and 15). He would have tried more sauces if he could have broken them out in 5′s – and then we’d be able to rate more of their sauces for you! Unfortunately, it is what it is. I understand it’s easier for them to manage this way, but as a customer, especially at a new place, you want to try all the sauces. More accomodation would be nice.

OH – the other thing that was absolutely fabulous – we had the Xango dessert, which was essentially cheesecake wrapped in a pastry shell and fried, and then dressed with cinnamon and sugar, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. It was AWESOME.

The atomsphere was great – very uptown sportsbar-ish, with enough tv’s on the walls to make my husband’s ADD-addled head explode. Everything was clean and efficient, and aside from the small issue seating us, everything was perfect. It’s not overly pricey (on par with the other wing places in town), and everything was great.

I give it a solid 4 French Fries – it’d go up if the’d let you mix and match your sauces a little more.

~The Critical Wife

M-M-M-Mexican!

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:15:26 +0000

Mexican food is by far one of my favorite “categories” of food. From time to time, we venture out to South O to check out some of the more “authentic” Mexican restaurants, and we have a couple of less authentic, more tex-mex-y type places around where we live. We are always looking for new places to try – and just happened to find one the other day that we hadn’t known about.

While we were out looking for a new/different place to eat yesterday, we stumbled on Salgado’s Mexican Grill, near 90th & Fort. (It’s in the shopping center where the Shopko is. Formerly Julios, Matt’s Grill, and possibly several other random things.) Going into the restaurant, it reminded me of most of the other middle of the road Mexican restaurants around here. Somewhere along the line of Julios or LaFondas, is what I expected.

We arrived around 12:15, and were seated quickly in an empty section. Upon perusing the menu, the OC and I were both stumped. We wanted one of everything. Salgado’s offers a mix of more traditional Mexican fare, along with Americanized versions of many dishes, and even burgers. OC kind of twisted it up by having traditional Mexican tacos, but with ground beef and chicken fillings. (This seriously bummed me out, as I was hoping he’d get asada and carnitas. Darn him.)

I went the white girl route with the Burrito Gringo. People…what they didn’t say on the menu is it should be burrito gringoS. Plural. As in there is no way one person can finish that burrito in one sitting. WOW.

Ok, the food – rather than the standard chips and salsa, Salgado’s serves chips with a selection of salsa, beans, and a spicy pico de gallo. All of these were good – very spicy on the salsa and pico, but the beans were a little bland (fixed this with salt). The tacos were great – all they were missing was a slice of lime, which was requested but never delivered. The dish was two ground beef and two shredded chicken tacos in corn tortillas with onions, cilantro, and radish slices. Flavorwise, they were awesome. My burrito was also fantastic, and I ate about 1/3 of it before being completely miserably full. It was filled with beans, rice, and ground beef, and smothered in melted cheese and sour cream. TOTALLY wonderful.

The best part – the burrito bigger than my head was $5.99. OC’s tacos were 7 or 8 bucks total – can’t remember if he got them as a lunch special or a la carte. Either way, still cheap. The horchata they offer….wasn’t memorable. It had a really perfumey taste I don’t love, but it wasn’t bad. Service was decent, but a little flighty.

We will definitely go back.

My rating? 3.5 Napkins, brought down only for service. If I could give it a 3.75, I would. Very tasty food, very affordable, decent service (not great). All in all, good, authentic-ish, Mexican food! Give it a shot.

Rated by: TheCriticalWife

Sam's Italian Villa

NinjaDebugger — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:51:00 +0000

Restaurant: Sam's Italian Villa

Address: 3312 West Broadway, Council Bluffs, IA

Website: http://samsitalianvillacb.com/

Genres: Italian

Check Constraints: None

Chain: No | More Omaha Locations: No

==NinjaDebugger==

Ordered:

Garlic Bread ($3.95)
Soda ($1.95)
Prime Rib Dinner ($16.95)

Baked Potato
Bread
Salad
Spaghetti w/marinara

I have a history with Sam's Italian Villa that does not actually involve eating there. See, when we finally moved into our house across town, I had the opportunity to get myself a job, so I took myself around to the local fast food places, naturally, and got myself a job slinging tacos. It was a good job, and I am still willing to eat there, so overall, it worked out pretty good, except when I had to quit because they kept scheduling me to close on school nights.

In any case, on the path to and from work, I would be forced to walk past Sam's Italian Villa. Now, being poor, my money pretty much all went into either helping with the bills or purchasing a computer, for I had decided I wanted to be a programmer, so while I was sorely tempted by the wonderful smells wafting forth from the vents of Sam's Italian Villa, I was never actually able to simply go have a meal. Other concerns came first. But someday, I would. That day was today.

Unfortunately, it started off poorly. The bread from the dinner came out first, and was old was swiftly hardening into a Breadstick of Indestructibility +5. This was followed swiftly by the garlic bread, which was burned on top, underdone on the bottom, and lacking utterly in any form of garlic. This was swiftly followed by the salad, a mass of iceberg lettuce with a smattering of carrot, straight from a bag, accompanied by two cucumber slices and two cherry tomatoes. It was quite evident, especially from the wilted, dried out look of the cucumbers, that it had been sitting out a while, and the accompanying vinagrette was bland and uninteresting in spite of the many herbs. Then the cup of spaghetti with marinara came out. They didn't fuck up the pasta, at least, even if the marinara was the most bland, uninspiring marinara I have ever tasted in my life.

Then came the baked potato and the prime rib. The potato came with a side of sour cream, thankfully, but was very slightly underdone. A forgivable sin, next to all the others. The prime rib was, um... immense. As big in girth as the monsters we had at the Drover, but half again as thick, it was mightily impressive... until I realized that at least a third of it was either gristle or massive chunks of fat.

Overall, I have to say that I would rather eat out of the Drover's dumpster than go back to Sam's Italian Villa, and that opinion is not in the least colored by my high hopes for it. For the same price I could go to Cascio's Steak House or the Drover, and get food that is quite literally better in every way. Sam's Italian Villa is much better experienced from the outside, where it smells simply divine.

Mmmm…pancakes!

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:46:57 +0000

For year’s I’ve been hearing about Vidlak’s Brookside Cafe in Millard, located on the Northwest corner of 156th and L/Center/Bob Boozer/whatever it is at that point. (Sorry, no website or we’d link!) I’ve heard time and again that Vidlak’s had the best breakfast in Omaha. But, to be honest, the best breakfast in Omaha is made by my husband right here at home on a fairly regular basis – so we don’t go out for breakfast much!

Regardless, I wanted to try Vidlak’s out and see what all the hype was about. We stopped in on a week day morning, around 10 AM. The restaurant was busy, but not overly crowded, and we had no problem finding a table. I overheard one of the servers saying that they had just had a rush, and everyone who was there had come in within the last 10 minutes. Ok, I thought – it may be a bit to get our food, if everybody just got here.

We ordered quickly – a selection called the “gut buster”, which included two sausage patties, two eggs, two potato pancakes, and choice of toast or regular pancakes, all for $6.95. I also ordered a cup of coffee, as I find that’s almost always a good barometer of a “breakfast joint”! If they can’t get the coffee right, forget the rest.

As I sat and waited for our food to come, I watched how the servers buzzed around the room and interacted with the other customers. Buzzed is very much the right word – as the main server in my section was constant in her trips from table to table, making sure everyone had what they needed. Now – Vidlak’s isn’t all that fancy. I stop short of calling it a diner, because…well…because I guess it feels just a step above a diner. It’s just a nice, middle of the road kind of place.

To my surprise, the food actually came out rather quickly, and piping hot! The sausage was great, the potato pancakes were awesome, and the eggs…well…they were eggs. Scrambled, by my selection, and there was nothing wrong with them. Eggs just don’t thrill me, so I admit I avoided them. They looked good, however, and my dining companion enjoyed some of mine.

What I really loved, though? The regular pancakes! They were served as a side to my meal, and…wow…the were sensational! Great flavor, cooked to a beautiful golden brown, served with warm syrup and softened butter…the were pancake perfection! I will definitely be back!

My overall rating…it’s a good 4 napkins. I can’t find much to argue against it actually being the best breakfast in Omaha. It was pretty darn good. The ony slight problem I saw was that the person sitting across from me never got her food, and there was confusion over who had put her order in. HOWEVER – three of the servers immediately worked to make the situation right. I left before she received her food, so I don’t know how that ended, but it was the only less-than-perfect thing I saw. Given the actions of the staff, I can’t even fault them for it.

I can’t wait to go back for some Eggs Benedict. Or maybe a potato casserole. Man, I don’t know – I just want some more pancakes!

~The Critical Wife

Okinawa Sushi Grill (how do you grill sushi?)

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:13:44 +0000

Okinawa sushi, at 124th & L. (I can’t find a website for them – sorry!)
As you may or may not have noticed, we’re big sushi fans. Omaha Critic is more about the sashimi/nigiri, while I am definitely more about the maki rolls. But when there’s a new sushi place opening, you can bet it’s on our radar. I hit up Okinawa early in the evening on their grand opening weekend. Now – I will admit, I expected there to possibly be some bumps, given that it was their opening weekend, but it wasn’t too bad. We tried the Gyoza appetizer, which was pretty good. We also tried the california roll (if a sushi place can’t do a cali roll, they need to close up!), a tempura shrimp and crab roll (I think it’s called a rocky roll), the shrimp naruto roll, and the “Golden Eagle”.

The sushi, overall, was good. It doesn’t compete with my favorite sushi place, but it was good, and better than some of the other places locally. The service was fairly good, if not really communicative. The cali, rocky roll, and naruto roll all came out together, and we had quite a while to finish them before the Golden Eagle came out. The Eagle, which we ordered on the recommendation of the server, is a tempura roll with tempura banana and a special sauce. Unfortunately, because that came out quite awhile after our other rolls, we were too full to really enjoy it, and took the majority of it home. (Cold – not so great.)

The restaurant, being brand new, was clean and nice, if a little small. The food was good, and the service fairly decent. My only complaint about this restuarant was that they charged us for refills on our drinks. Normally, this wouldn’t annoy me because most places tell you they charge – but Okinawa didn’t. Also, the server started asking if we wanted refills before we were even half way through the drinks, and did refill them far before they were empty. SO – it was just a minor annoyance, but it bugged me.

I’m feeling 3 stars on this one. Some room for improvement, but not bad overall. We’ll definitely give this one a try another time, and see if that moves up!

Well isn’t that GRAND! (Grand China Buffet)

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:12:01 +0000

Ok, so again we’re not updating quite as often as I would like, and I have the best of intentions. But you know how it is – life gets in the way.

LIFE, man.

Grand China Buffet – Roughly 112th & Chicago (by Parable book store).
Ok, people. Don’t roll your eyes. It’s a buffet. It’s a CHINESE buffet. Sounds a LOT like China Buffet right across Dodge street at 114th. But you know what? WOW. This place offers the standard Chinese buffet, Mongolian barbeque, and…wait for it…SUSHI! Not the premade sushi a lot of buffets have, but fresh, prepared on-site where you can see it, sushi. I’m not going to lie – it’s not on par with our favorite sushi, but you know what? It’s not half bad! Their buffet is expansive, with many, many selections including some non-Chinese options. My personal favorite? Their coconut shrimp. AWESOME. They also have the standard crab legs at dinner, and all the Blue Bunny ice cream you can handle for dessert! SO – as buffets go, it’s a win. The restaurant is clean, the staff has been very attentive on the several occasions we’ve gone. The food is buffet food quality – but not bad, and plentiful. I’m going to give this one a solid 4 napkin rating. It is definitely well worth it.

Been hang’n at Mother Zemog’s

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:28:14 +0000

Ok the title is a very obscure inside reference to som old game stuff I used to do… Anyway… Zemog’s catered lunch today downstairs. I got an order of their Nachos and I have to say: Yum. So I stood in line and made my order, the gal started prepping it with pride. Something you don’t see much in food service in this town. At that moment, her whole focus was that $6 plate of food. She took great care to make sure that each bite and chip had the right amount of beans cheese and meat. We chit-chatted a bit and came to find out that they make their own beans and Tortillas. She passed off my plate to the next guy who put on the garnishes and I manged to snake one of these home made tortillas. They were pretty darn tasty. Thin, light and had good flavor. So far great experience. So then he motions over to the salsas. “mild” “hot” and “Surface of the Sun”. Hearing the last, I scoffed and got a nice big cup of it. I then took a cup of the regular hot, then headed back up to my desk.

I sat down and started to take apart their sauce… I tasted the “surface of the sun” and had to laugh. It was WARM, but not too hot… (please remember, I have a LOVE for hot food and only Taste of Thailand can make things that are too hot for me) I then tasted the regular hot sauce… Tasted about the same. They were ok, but they had the kiss of death when it comes to salsa… they used canned tomatoes. They needed something else too… I can’t put my finger on what, but the salsa was bland. There weren’t enough layers to it. The funny thing is, I just made my salsa last night. Fresh tomatoes, cilantro, onions, fresh serrano peppers, garlic and salt. Finding the perfect blend is important…. I’m not going to go into my ratios and prep… that will give away my Texas State Fair winning secrets. Yes kiddies, my recipe (that I snagged from a restaurant I used to work at) won the Texas State Fair salsa competition 3 years in a row if I have my facts right… Well… that’s at least what I was told by the head chef and the manager. He could have made it up.

I will be going back to Zemogs when they come back.

Pros: The enthusiasm of the staff and the food quality
Cons: Canned tomatoes

Overall: I liked it. I loves small locally owned businesses. They are doing their best to make a name and I will recommend them until they tick me off. As I said… I will be going back.

Website work, ideas, and competition.. and a splash of merlot

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:02:38 +0000

I have been noticing some strange issues with the web site as well as some old out-dated information. Over the next few weeks I am going to try and clean some of that up.

In the meantime, I would like to invite everyone to make suggestions for improving the site or adding content. I have a co-worker whose son is looking for a job. They are a chef working part time and looking for full time work. After having that conversation, I was kicking around some sort of chef recommendation service. Let me know if you have any thoughts on if I should add this.

I have another idea bouncing around in my head..

Is anyone interested in a version of “Chopped” for Omaha chefs?

Thanks!

~The Omaha Critic

Holy Kobiashi Maru Batman!

Tue, 04 May 2010 19:47:10 +0000

There are some treasures you stumble across by complete accident. Today, such a thing happened.

A coworker and I went to lunch and we were headed to Jason’s Deli. When we pulled up, the line was out the door. We couldn’t find a parking spot within reasonable walking distance and we both became agitated. So we drove away and I figured we should try someplace new. We exited out on to “I” street and I said, “Ever have Korean?” The answer was no, so I drove up “I” street to 108th and cut across. I was feeling rather Han Kuk Kwan-ish and so I figured some nice Bulgogi would be in order. We pulled up in front of what used to be the right place and there was a new sign: “Maru”. It was now serving Sushi and Korean food. We walked in and the homey mom and pop restaurant was replaced with a spiffy modern look. No more karaoke room, no more big screen TV… it was all gone. What was in its place was a totally remodeled, sleek new dining area and an extended menu. I ordered my Bulgogi and two rolls: Mikki and Salmon Skin. It was a little strange though because my co-worker and I were the only two in the place for a while. Our waitress seemed a bit new at it, but she was nice and took pretty good care of us.

The food came out and I was a bit sad, I had ordered off the lunch menu which has a different Bulgogi recipe than the dinner menu, but it was still good. Then my sushi came out. It looked real good. The presentation wasn’t as artistic as I like, but they were big rolls. Fat with filling and thin with rice. The rice was good and I am happy to say that the fish was fresh. As we dined others came in, having the same reaction that we had. Nobody really knows that it’s there. So I am taking it on myself to say something nice about them. Am I putting this place on par with Hiro? I don’t know. Is it better than Blue? I think so. Better than Sushi-Japan? YEAH! (Duh!)

I hope the owner takes my advice and does a promotion with Club Roxbury, which is just up the street. I think it could bring them new business. I believe that after a bit of refining, that Maru could be something special. The southwest side of Omaha needs something good. We’re lacking awesome, Omaha owned and operated food.

The Good: Great sushi, Fresh fish, Great remodel, Nice staff, great location

The Bad: MORE GINGER!!! MORE WASABI!!! Ginger is like candy… more more more… ;) There wasn’t much on the plate when it came out. Made me feel like you were skimping.

The overall impression: Good job. Nice place, prices are on the same level as Hiro and Blue. I am looking forward to exploring their menu more. I think that it is going to be a place I start dragging people to. Will it be “Hiro” to me? Dunno… doubt it… but it’s damn good for what it is. I will be back. (Someone Build them a website!)

~The Omaha Critic. (Well Fed)

There are some treasures you stumble across by complete accident. Today, such a thing happened.

The Good: Great sushi, Fresh fish, Great remodel, Nice staff, great location

The Bad: MORE GINGER!!! MORE WASABI!!! Ginger is like candy… more more more… ;) There wasn’t much on the plate when it came out. Made me feel like you were skimping.

The overall impression: Good job. Nice place, prices are on the same level as Hiro and Blue. I am looking forward to exploring their menu more. I think that it is going to be a place I start dragging people to. Will it be “Hiro” to me? Dunno… doubt it… but it’s damn good for what it is. I will be back. (Someone Build them a website!)

~The Omaha Critic. (Well Fed)

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Around the World in 80 Blocks

snekse — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:59:00 +0000

The United States is often called the melting pot of the world. Many cultures living together under one roof so to speak. Yet outside of places like Berkeley CA, the diversity in most cities is segregated into little cloisters. Out of these enclaves come neighborhoods that get labels like Chinatown, Little Italy and Spanish Harlem. And of course in each of those, you'll often find the best of that region's cuisine.

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

In Omaha, 24th street not only connects South Omaha to North Omaha, but it also connects many cuisines to one another. You can take a culinary tour around the world by starting at one and working your way towards the other. And that's what we did.

With the company of Paul Kulik (Executive Chef; The Boiler Room) and Nick Strawhecker (Executive Chef; Dante Pizzeria Napoletana), we started just South of the South Omaha Main Street Historic District and ate our way up past the Near North side. We sampled Mexican, Thai, Ethiopian, Barbecue and Soul Food with some good old Midwestern fried carp and beef jerky thrown in for good measure - all in about 4 hours.

For some people, wandering into a random ethnic restaurant and ordering something unfamiliar is a bit terrifying. I'm here to tell you to just let go; don't be afraid. If need be, ask for help. As long as you avoid your allergens, nothing is likely to kill you. And if it tastes gross, so what. It's just food. Order something else. The point is you don't have to travel to eat exotic foods. My bet is that there's something on a menu in town that you've never had before. It could be something as simple as a Mexican mole to something as exotic as bird's nest soup. Just get out there and explore what your city has to offer.

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

How would you like to start your morning off with one of these each morning? El 7 Mares is open at 10 am each morning and specializes in seafood from a distinctly Mexican perspective. We asked our waitriss what their specialty was and she pointed us to the La Campechana Pescado Cocteles . This massive goblet was filled with a a nice tomato broth similar to a gazpacho with piles of shrimp, calamari, octopus and oysters. This was much sweeter then cocktails any of us had tried in the past and was a great way to begin our day.

Next we headed to Joe Tess Place for their "Famous Fish" which just happens to be fried carp. I wish we had good things to say about this odd delicacy, but the fish left a lot to be desired. We'll leave it at that. They do offer Schlitz beer, which could be seen as a bonus in some circles :-)

Putting that memory behind us, we headed to our most anticipated destination of the day - Taqueria Tijuana. Many a debate is often had about where to find the best Mexican food in Omaha. Many of our trusted friends have told us about the amazing tacos at Taqueria Tijuana, yet none of us had been yet. Cut to the chase: A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! There was some very colorful, passionate language used, but I'll paraphrase and just say "That's a damn good taco". I think the phrase "Best Taco in Omaha" was also used. Oh, and I know we got 4 different tacos, but those statements stand across the board.

Pay. Jump in the car. Head down the road. Laos Thai Market. Another place I've heard I must hit. A spot that's half market, half restaurant with no real line between the two. An incredibly small kitchen is tucked in the back with residential refrigerators for coolers. The entire place is run by 3 people. Presumably mom and grandma in the back cooking and cleaning with the son waiting tables in the front. Unfortunately that killed our time line taking over 20 minutes to get our green curry with chicken. It was *almost* worth it. The curry was spicy, clean and balanced - not at all cloying with coconut milk.

Back in the car to see what else we can find. A quick drive-by Shang-Hai Garden Chinese & Mexican food for a laugh, but no food. Then a pit stop at Stoysich House of Sausage for some jerky that Paul had been calling "meat butter". Opps, that was Wohlner's Grocery that had the "meat butter". Nothing wrong with the Stoysich jerky though. Next place.

Here I elected to cheat just a tad. The International Cafe is a 1/2 block off of 24th Street, but how do you pass up the opportunity to have East African food in Omaha? Don't be thrown off the trail by the "House of Gyros" tagline. Inside are the goods. Falafel, Sambusa, something called Mendase and more. We ordered the Doro Wat on Injera. We quickly dug into the braised chicken in a nice rich red sauce. You'd swear has tomatoes in it, but you'd be wrong. The injera here was rather delicate, so forks are not a bad idea. Keep in mind that being Muslim requires prayer through-out the day, so be prepared to wait if you go during one of these times.

For our last stop with the full crew, we sought out the Southern Boys Cafe. Not much to look at on the outside, but the inside is plastered with character. Pictures, posters and the guitar in the corner give you a fast idea about the owner in case you don't get a chance to meet him. We got a chance to talk to the owner and I think the place is appropriately named. We ordered ribs and fried okra, but were easily talked into getting the fried catfish as well. Everything was excellent. The ribs were unique with just a ton of flavors going on. The okra was some of the best I've ever had.

At this point, Paul and Nick both had to head back to "the office". I chose to carry on since there were a couple more places I wanted to check out.

I was told I should stop at Chef Mike's Community Cafe. Since Thursday's are soul food day at Mike's, who was I to argue. It was not what I was expecting it to be. Don't expect a restaurant. Instead this is basically a cafeteria. My stomach was getting full and I had other stops I wanted to make, so I decided to pass. If you think I made a mistake, leave a comment and tell me how great the place is.

Back in the car and continue up 24th to a place I haven't been to in years. I was a little proud of myself for knowing of a barbecue place that one of the members of Greater Omaha Barbecue Society hadn't heard of. Not to mention a little funny since the person in question happens to share the same name as the location in question. Granted the place is called Bill's BBQ, Liquor Store and Gas, so not being a dedicated barbecue joint might have something to do with the oversight. Waiting for your 4 bone ribs while people get rolling papers, alcohol and Starbursts is a little amusing. I should also mention, in case it wasn't clear, this is not a restaurant. There are no seats, no counters, and certainly no hostess. You walk up to the barred window, order your food and go. It's not the best BBQ in Omaha, but it's not bad and worth a slight detour if you're in the area.

My final stops for the day actually weren't on 24th Street. I popped up to the Institute for Culinary Arts at Metro Community College to drop off some of Bill's barbecue to some friends. If you haven't seen their new building yet, get out there ASAP. It's amazing. I believe Omaha will become a destination school for those entering the culinary field because of the incredible work put into this new facility. And if you haven't been to Sage Student Bistro, change your dinner plans soon. This is one of my favorite places to eat in Omaha.

By now it was time to head home. Since my wife didn't get a chance to join me, I wanted to bring home some dinner. What did I bring her? Some of the Best Fried Chicken in Omaha from Time Out Foods at 30th and Pinkney. A good Southern style fried chicken with a nice crunch and a spiciness that adds a little zip, but is not overpowering. The potato salad and coleslaw were both tasty as well.

It was a long day and a food coma ensued, but it was completely worth it. Hopefully our journey will inspire others to really investigate all their town has to offer and uncover some special gems that are worth the trek. Eat well.

Special Thanks To...
Foodbuzz for funding our tour.
Paul Kulik and Nick Strawhecker for joining me.
Food & Spirits Magazine from whom I borrowed this idea.
All the restaurants that we visited for just being there.

ApologiesThere was supposed to be video to go along with this post. I'm still trying to get the technical difficulties worked out on that one.

Tags || OMAHA | 24TH STREET | FOODBUZZ | 24 24 24 | PAUL KULIK | NICK STRAWHECKER | more... |

Installing mini blinds in the garden…

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:09:04 +0000

Every modern garden needs a good set of mini blinds!! I just found this idea on the Internet tonight… Disassemble an old set of blinds, cut the slats to your desired height, and use them as markers in your garden. Super simple and super CHEAP! So I decided to give it a try tonight, and I will keep you posted about how well it works. Has anyone else tried this? Let me know.
PLEASE NOTE – If you want the labels to look cute or stylish in any way whatsoever, then I’d recommend allotting a bit more time for your project than I did for mine. LOL!
(Click on photo for enlarged view.)

Buying in bulk ROCKS!!

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:01:41 +0000

$50 can go a LONG way in the produce section of your local warehouse store. Here are the goodies we filled our cart with today…

Would we prefer local, organic fruits and veggies? Of course! But since our garden currently looks like THIS, it’s gonna be a while…But we SURE did enjoy a delicious light and fresh dinner from the bounty we secured from the store today. Even better, we got to enjoy it outside on a beautiful evening -the perfect end to a perfect day! Oh, and Jackson thought he should join in the picnic, too…but no such luck for our canine friend – well, okay, he may have scored a few bits of bell pepper

RECIPE: Omaha Reuben Sandwich

snekse — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:50:00 +0000

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Please allow me to introduce myself

snekse — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:52:00 +0000

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Grill…here we come!

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:49:50 +0000

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss!!! It’s finally been a great week for grilling out!! And just in time, too, because we just got our quarter beef from Range West Beef this past weekend. Now our deep freezer is fully-stocked (with over 100 pounds of vacuum-sealed meat) and ready for the grill. And, as you’ve probably figured out about us by now, we LOVE to save money by buying in bulk! Purchasing a quarter beef or more brings down the price of steak so much that it costs no more than the ground beef! Bonus!

Speaking of steak…our first meal from our newly acquired quarter was strip steaks. They were cooked just right – nice and rare, as grass-fed meat should be prepared! Mmm….mmm…mmm!

Gotta love the grass-fed meat! It’s so much healthier for you than the conventional, corn-fed varieties…and it tastes WAY better, too!

Please note – That salad was for TWO of us. Of course, we could still barely get it all down! Our eyes were a bit bigger than our stomachs this evening!

SousVide Supreme Review

snekse — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:29:00 +0000

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Sous Vide for the Home Cook

snekse — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:39:00 +0000

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Wohlner's Market

Mecha — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Restaurant: Wohlner's Market
Address: 2289 S. 67th Street
Website: http://www.wohlners.com/
Genres: deli
Check Constraints: Short-order.
Chain: No. | More Omaha Locations: No.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

Grilled Roast Beef Sandwich ($7.99)

Pasta Salad

Cup of Chicken Tortilla Soup ($1.99)
Fountain Drink ($0.99)

Some (not-too-longish) time ago, Wohlner's moved from its Leavenworth location into the new Aksarben Village "modern urban living center (possibly of doom)", one of those newfangled "planned" communities where there are apartments mixed with commercial offices with shopping and restaurants below, and everyone pretends that it's a vibrant tiny neighborhood of some dense urban metropolis which was airlifted here overnight. Or they would, if the economy hadn't prevented a good number of the retail and commercial slots from filling up. Regardless! Wolhner's is there to serve as the local neighborhood corner grocery store, like the Mr. Hooper of Aksarben.

... what? I can make non-geek references from time to time. Anyhow. Inside its new interior, Wolhner's sports a deli! It was to this deli that we descended like a horde of hungry code monkeys, and when the food finally came out, we all realized one thing more or less simultaneously; this place isn't just a deli. It's a bistro-deli hybrid.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, mind. The sandwiches here were definitely tasty, and everything was held to a good quality standard. What it does mean is that the food is artfully arranged on a plate which makes the quantity look rather small, and that your dollar will not go as far here as you think it will. With a bistro, you're paying the price for the high-quality food you're consuming, and the same goes here.

The sandwich, for instance, had a healthy amount of roast beef, a slice of good cheddar, and a tapenade spread across it which was delightful. There was supposedly a horseradish sauce, but though I got hints of it from time to time it was generally too weak to make a difference. I got with the side of pasta salad, which was al dente in all the right places and firm in the remainder. I also ordered a cup of chicken tortilla soup, which stood head and shoulders above the yellow-flavored liquid I remember being served in my university cafeteria.

It seemed the consensus that the winner here were the sandwiches (no shock). I feel remiss in posting this without a review of the pizzas they do here, but we weren't certain how long they'd take to cook, and we were under time pressure that day.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

Pizza Burger (w/Slaw and Chips) ($7.49)
Cup of Soup of the Day (Tortilla Soup) w/Bread ($2.99)
Fountain Drink ($0.99)

The soup was definitely strong here, plenty of chunks and tasty bits, as was the bread (White, Wheat, or Rye options, I chose Rye) that came with it. I think they only offer the one soup of the day, though, so your soup may vary.

The pizza burger, unfortunately, was not as good as the sandwiches turned out to be. The place advertises 'Kobe burgers', and I can't disagree with the quality of the meat itself, but it was cooked to medium-well/well, I'm fairly sure, and it was not particularly large. To be fair to them, it's hard to compete with some of the excellent burgers available elsewhere in this town, and it's not bad. It just might be better to pick one of the sandwiches. Several of them looked very good. The place also has a lot of strong competition, with Blue Planet, Amatos, Gandolfo's, and Jini D's all basically within walking distance. Also, I don't like slaw and didn't eat it, so someone else will have to talk about that.

There is something to be said for eat-and-shop, and it's among the better of those, but personally I don't think I'll be visiting much for the food. The placement is fairly convenient, though, and they've got a good selection of groceries and alcohols and such. I think it'll do fine.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

Grilled BBQ Chicken Sandwich ($6.49)
Cup of Soup of the Day (Tortilla Soup) w/Bread (included)
Homemade Chips ($1.99)
Fountain Drink ($0.99)

I'm going to be quite brief about this one. The chicken sandwich was good, with nicely done chicken and a bbq sauce that was a level of heat or so above BWW's honey bbq. It didn't drip too much, it didn't slide around too much, but was a bit small for the size, and especially for the price.

The tortilla soup was probably quite good, but it was less chicken and more veggies, which means it's very much not to my taste, so buyer beware, on that.

The chips weren't chips so much as they were crisps, to steal the terms, and the best they got was when the not-quite-done ones were nice and soft and reminded me very much of my mother's homemade jacket fries.

All of this was overshadowed, though, by the incredibly uncomfortable seating, which was actively painful for me. I can bear a lot of different seating arrangements, but those fucking chairs are not only not comfortable if you fall into the "large" category, they are actively uncomfortable. So basically, screw that place. I'll be back, but only because they're one of the few places locally that carries Sprecher's, and it's in the grocery section, so that's where I'll be grabbing it from, and fuck those damn chairs.

It's worth noting that almost everything on the menu is also available in take-out form, if the dining-in option won't work for you for whatever reason. This also makes it a decent work-lunch destination.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

Wohlner's Reuben Sandwich ($6.99)

Tortilla Soup

Fountain Drink ($1.17)

I'm not sure what the deal is, but I just noticed I have the price for my drink written down as just a little bit higher than the others'.. In any case, ordering food at a grocery store to eat there at the store always seems a little odd to me. Here though, they have a kitchen in the back, menus, glassware, fountain drinks, and a section for seating. Yes, the chairs are not great. They are metal with arms that are a bit tight even for the "medium" category. The parking nearby is not great either. There are two lots on the side of a relatively busy street out in front. People around there don't seem very willing to let others who are parking or leaving go ahead.

The food was pretty good. I thought the reuben was a reasonable size. It came on a different bread than the others did, which I thought was pretty good. It had plenty of meat, sauerkraut, and sauce. The flavor may not have been as strong as it could have been, but I still enjoyed it. The soup was ok. It did have a lot of vegetables and only two or three bigger chunks of chicken. The next time around, I would probably try the pasta salad Cham got, since it looked pretty good.

Egg Genie is truly magical!

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:50:06 +0000

I have never been a big fan of hard boiling eggs. I’ve read about a million different methods for obtaining the “perfect” hard-boiled egg. But when I heard about this kitchen gadget, I had to try it for myself! It works GREAT! The only down side is that it only cooks 7 eggs at a time….

First, you pour the appropriate amount of water into the bottom tray. The Egg Genie comes with a measuring cup that tells you exactly how much water to use, based on the number of eggs you’re cooking and just how firmly you want them boiled.

Then you prick the pointy end of each egg. Trust me, this must be done! LOL!

Place eggs (pricked side up) in the Egg Genie.

Cover the eggs, and plug in the machine.

Don’t worry, Egg Genie will let you know when your eggs are done!

And the Egg Genie is super affordable, too! Get yours today on Amazon.com by clicking here: EggGenie Egg Genie Electric Egg Cooker

What is Sous Vide

snekse — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:23:00 +0000

24th Street - Omaha, NE

The Longest Street in the World

Exploring the Cuisine of Omaha

So let's take a look at some of the things we discovered during our trek.

Peru Mucho Gusto!

NinjaDebugger — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Restaurant: Peru Mucho Gusto!
Address: 7755 L St.
Website: None.
Genres: Peruvian, Asian
Check Constraints: None noted.
Chain: No. | More Omaha Locations: No.

==NinjaDebugger==
Ordered:

Papa a la Huancaina (4.50)
Chicken Chaufas (8.50)
Crema Volteada (3.00)

Peru Mucho Gusto is a tiny place that is not exactly hard to find, but is unfortunately not very noticeable. It's tucked back in a tiny strip mall, in the hinterlands of L street between 72nd and 84th, and the interior of the place actually reminds me a lot of the Lithuanian Cafe and Bakery, but unlike that place, Peru Mucho Gusto has almost nothing BUT ethnic food, and oh what food it is.

Papa a la Huancaina is basically a baked potato, chilled and sliced, then doused liberally in a cheese sauce made with some Peruvian hot pepper. There is also half a hard boiled egg and an olive on the plate, but really... potatoes and cheese. It has just the right amount of heat for me, too, enough that I really can say "That's hot." but not so much that I can't devour half the freaking plate.

Other appetizers you'll be hearing about include this killer fried pork stuff and papa rellena, which bears little relation to the not so great dish I had at the Cuban place. Papa rellena is, uh... well, mash a potato, then form the mashed potato around a mixture of meat, raisins, and some other stuff, deep fry the whole damn thing, then coat it with that same spicy cheese sauce from the potatoes above. It's so good we had it twice.

We actually came here twice before doing the review, because the first time we forgot to write down what we had. Turns out, first time up, I had aji de gallina, which is a lot like papa a la huancaina, only there is an almost curry-like mixture of cream, cheese, shredded chicken, and hot peppers atop the potatoes. Also, a side of killer spiced and peppered rice that must be tasted to be believed.

This time, I went for Chicken Chaufas, which is a Peruvian/Chinese fusion dish, basically a Peruvian take on fried rice. It seriously blows regular fried rice out of the water any day of the week. The spices used really give the chicken an amazing flavor, and the rice and veggies go with it amazingly well. As a side note, the dish is huge, and even I was unable to finish it. It's actually something a whole table could consider grabbing as a side dish for everybody, it's just THAT BIG.

They did not have any cheesecake, which I had a craving for, so I ended up trying crema volteada instead. It was described as "Peruvian flan", which didn't help much, as I have never actually had flan. When flan was described to me as "custard", that was also not helpful, as the closest thing I had ever had to custard was pumpkin pie. I had very limited dessert choices when I was growing up and got dessert at all (holidays). Turns out, I can't really describe this stuff very well, aside from saying that it has an interesting texture, like pudding only much more firm, but it's delicious, if a bit cloying after a while. I'd suggest splitting one with somebody unless you have a real sweet tooth.

So yeah, that's pretty much Peru Mucho Gusto. We went here twice, you should too. At least. Every appetizer on the menu is pretty much pure gold, the main dishes are high quality, and there's a bunch of random stuff you can try, so just go eat. With, uh, mucho gusto, or something.

==Chamelaeon==
Ordered:

Iced Tea ($1.79)
Tamal ($3.50)
Seco De Carne Con Frijoles ($10.00)
Creme Volteada ($3.00)

My uncle and I once had the good fortune to actually go to Peru, on what should probably best be termed an "ecotourism" trip. Most of our time was spent at a lodge on the perimeter of the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Reserve (if you're curious, the company we booked the trip through is here), so it's not like I spent a week in Lima for the cuisine or anything. Most of our meals were cooked at the lodge, actually, and were very good if not extravagant (as an aside, if you ever get a chance to try red-bellied pirahna, don't pass it up. They look bony but they're good eats). However, on the several-hour-long trip upriver to the lodge we stopped at a village along the way for lunch. I regret that I was tired enough I never caught the name of the village, or the name of the restaurant we ate at, but we were served a large plate of rice and about half a chicken each.

I mention that story so that I can tell you this - the first time we came to Peru Mucho Gusto, I ordered the arroz con pollo, a fairly standard chicken and rice dish. The first bite of the chicken caused a flashback like I thought only happened in movies; the taste and expression of the dish were almost identical, and for a moment everything about the trip came rushing back. Now, I'm the first to admit that a sample size of two makes for really poor statistical significance, but it lends credence to the restaurant's authenticity, at least.

The seco de carne, also a traditional dish, was also excellent, though I don't recall having it on the trip. It's a beef stew, made with Inca corn beer, and as you may well know through cooking adventures of your own, beer plus beef is almost always delicious. As with most dishes at Peru Mucho Gusto, it's pricey, but you could actually order multiple dishes and do family-style dining, if you wanted, and probably come out ahead. The tamal was basically a tamale, as you may have already guessed. They're not identical; primarily the same elements are used to construct them, but the spicing's different, as well as the texture. The custard was firm and delicious - perhaps a little worse for the wear from being in the fridge for a while, but still very good.

I should mention here, after having found out post-eating, that you can apparently request a heat level when you order your food; this is not made apparent by the menu or the staff. Hopefully you have as good a time here as we did - it's nice that Omaha has such a wide variety of ethnic cuisines, and we should attempt to keep the ones we have thriving.

==Moogle==
Ordered:

Papa a la Huancaina ($4.50)
Lomo Saltado ($9.50?)
Arroz con Pollo ($8.00)
Chicha Morada ($2.00)

No, I did not eat two lunches at once, but I do remember what I ate both visits. The first time around was the Papa a la Huancaina and the Lomo Saltado. The Papa a la H. were decent. They are as ND has described, and the heat creeps up on you. I would probably pick one of the other appetizers we had ahead of this on my own though, such as the Papa Rellena. That was some good stuff. Definitely give that a try. There were also some Yucca Frita (fried yucca) around the first time. It was ok, but I wasn't really a big fan of that either.

The Lomo Saltado was really good. Tender beef strips, tomato, pepper and onion on top of french fries. The sauce/juices were tasty. They made the side of rice really good and had a bit of spice to them. The dish was very filling with lots of potato and rice. The prices on some of the beef dishes may have gone up a dollar or two since that visit, but they also have more options.

I had the Arroz con Pollo on the second visit. It's the same dish Cham had the first time around. The rice had a fairly strong cilantro flavor at first. It was mixed with various cooked veggies and came with chicken on top. The color of the chicken made me wonder if it was cooked through, but it appeared to be. The whole thing had good flavors and was plenty of food.

The Chicha Morada was a very interesting drink. It was made from corn (blue corn, I assume) and pineapple, and you could definitely taste both in it. It was a dark blueish purple and the flavors made it a little odd to drink. Though, it did go well with the food.

==Mecha==
Ordered:

'Seafood Sampler w/Rice' (9.50?)
Chicharron con Camote (8.00)
Arroz con Pollo (8.00)
Chicha Morada (2.00)

I will note that I cannot remember at all the name of the seafood dish I got the first time, but it was a rice deal run through with all sorts of minor seafood, including a shrimp with the head still on it and an oyster and... well, it was not wholly to my taste, but it wasn't bad, all the same.

The second visit is a bit more vivid. The Chicharron con Camote (ND's aforementioned 'killer fried pork') was an incredible pork dish that came, I believe, with sweet potato chips, but the important thing is the fried pork, which tasted so very good. Browned normally then fried, I think. Definitely a strong appetizer. The first time we went we couldn't get it, though, so there may be availability issues (the menu hints it's more a weekend deal, but we didn't go on a weekend, so.)

I also went with the arroz con pollo, and while there were no flashbacks, it was good all on its own without misty memories of South America. Moogle is right about the cilantro, which was pretty well balanced, in my opinion (you want unbalanced, let Cham make you food with cilantro in it). I think this is a reasonably solid dish for anyone to get here, but I think I'd want to try some of the beef dishes next time.

The chicha morada was thick in the mouth (think grape juice, but a little thicker) and had an incredibly unique flavor that I really liked. I don't think I could drink it every day, as it stands, but I'll be drinking it next time I go back.