Day 38: Saucy

I almost bought a blowtorch today.

This all started when I stayed late at work for a flight.  It was a good deal.  I would get to fly and experience some Mondo magic, and Swervin got to go home earlier for his birthday.  Of course, it also meant I needed some quick food for dinner, so Subway was in the cards instead of the planned rockfish dish with creamy garlic polenta.

When I got home and was still a bit hungry, I thought, "that's okay, I can run by the store to grab some chocolate for this weekend, then I'll make that polenta as a snack."  I ran by the store, found the chocolate quickly, and ran over to the hardware section just to see if they had a blowtorch for the creme brulee that I would like to make properly at some point.  They did.  However, I already had enough in my basket with the triple sec and sherry that I was buying also that I decided against spending another $30 on a needless appliance.  I'll probably end up getting one at some point anyway.  I'm almost positive I will.  Because after all; a specialized, potentially explosive, fire-making device seems like exactly the sort of thing I should own.

Then I got home and discovered that I have no cornmeal.  There went my dreams of a delightful fried polenta snack.  That just meant it was time to start early on Q's present.  Tonight became a tale of two sauces:

The first was a White Chocolate Sauce with triple sec and cream.  And the second was a Dark Chocolate Sauce with coffee, cream, and triple sec and brandy pretending to be Grand Marnier.  That's right, I actually drew a line and said no to buying something for Patrick tonight!  I feel a little bad about not following the letter of the law, but it's chocolate so of course it's good anyway.

Plus, I got to put the sauces in my new (cheap) plastic squeeze bottles that I finally found at the store tonight.  Trade a not super-productive night of cooking for a great night at the store and some good prep for this weekend.

Go Navy!  Beat Georgia Southern!

Day 37: Chilled Grilled and Nothing Spilled

Ah! Finally, my blog is sort of working (if random formatting occurs, I promise it's not my fault) and I can post something about what I've been up to.

I spent most of last night with a massive ham in the oven.  I believe it's 13 lbs.  This seems like a lot for one person, and it is.  However, Patrick likes to use Virginia country ham quite a bit, so I'm confident I can get through it.  Plus, I have to build up my repertoire of recipes and ideas for the 2010 International Ham Day.  What's this?  You've never heard of Ham Day?  Well, I'll have a guest blogger on in a bit to share the history and lore of Ham Day, but go ahead and prepare yourself for this September 20th (it's a Monday) when you too can celebrate a little bit of ham in all your meals.

Tonight was another cold starter for dinner night:  Chilled Grilled Black Mission Figs with Virginia Country Ham and Lime Cream.  Now, these weren't fresh black mission figs.  I don't think I've ever even seen figs in the store, but I was able to buy some when I was in the Burgh a bit ago.  However, even things that aren't quite fresh, when sprinkled with enough cinnamon and sugar, become delicious.  The ham is too salty, and I was pretty sure that it was going to be, but I don't know that there is anything I can do about that now.  The lime cream is good (I got to whip more cream tonight), and at first I didn't pipe on enough--yeah, I got to use my new pastry bag tonight!--but I though I actually did pipe on too much for the visual effect given.    So, if I were serving this again, I think I would have to make a compromise and (shocking that I'm putting presentation over taste) probably leave just enough cream on for effect, but not overpower it for the sake of taste.  I could always have the cream on the side for a little extra flavor if folks want.  At any rate, the dish tasted okay.  I definitely think some things could be done differently, but I don't think it was by any means a failure dish...just not a huge success.

p.s.  I also just found out that tomorrow is Swervin's birthday.  I wish I had figured that out a little earlier or I could have made a birthday something for him and his family.  I'm not sure if there is anything I can whip together tonight or tomorrow.  I don't even have any pie dough made.  Blast.

Week 4: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

You know how Arthur Dent just couldn't get the hang of Thursdays?  Well, I'm just not really getting the hang of this week.  I passed out dead Monday evening when I got back from nothing too strenuous and woke up the next morning not even feeling that great.  Not that this is any excuse for not cooking anything much this week, or for not writing about what I have made.  Julie would be ashamed of me, Patrick would tell me the show must go on, and Julia, I think, would probably understand.

Last Thursday, after baking my oat, honey, cashew, flour, wheat germ, oil, almond mixture spread on a sesame seed pan; I set it out to cool for the night and woke up Friday morning to a deliciously sweet-smelling apartment.  I mean really, it smelled awesome.  Tremendously better than the smoky cloud that likes to develop when I make something normally.

Anyway, I covered the baking pans because I didn't have a plan to deal with them before work, then when I got back, I quickly scraped the slightly browned granola into several Tupperware and have been enjoying the nuggets for the whole week since.  I think the granola clumped together well, but it ended up a little softer than I expected.  I think I can make it crispier by leaving it in the oven a little longer, but my other panful seemed to burn a little even with the same cook-time, so I'm not exactly sure what to do differently next time to find the balance.  Maybe it's just supposed to be a little chewy.  Patrick didn't mention anything about the consistency it should be, and it's certainly good enough right now for me to keep a Tupperware on my desk at work and to not really advertise sharing it with everyone else (though the recipe did make plenty to go around...of course).

Also on Friday, I received a package from my dear, sweet mother with eight Mexican vanilla beans in it.  They will come into play in the near future.

Then, it was off to "the Burgh" (Pittsburgh, Western PA, homeland of Mister Rogers), where I went to Coley/O'Connellize the G-8 household.  I went with G-8 Alpha to the strip district Saturday morning which was the absolute antithesis of where I am currently living and shopping.  There were grocer's markets everywhere with all kinds of fresh produce, a place to buy fresh made pastas, a great meat and fish market, and even a spice store.  A spice store!  That's all they had...just spices!  And, it wasn't even cheesily decorated to be a Persian market like I halfway expected.  Even if I didn't buy anything for myself, it was a breath of fresh air to know that there is a place in the world to have all your cooking needs taken care of, and it doesn't involve driving to four different crappy supermarkets all over SoMD.

G-8 Momma isn't a huge fan of seafood (and many other things, apparently), so I was looking for something to make that night that would appeal to all in the crowd.  It turned out that she wasn't going to be there for dinner due to a prior commitment, but I still like to make things that families will like when I visit so that maybe they'll be inspired to keep the idea in their hip-pockets for a family meal later (plug for Grace Before Meals).

All this consideration went out the window when I saw rabbit at the meat market.  I've been waiting for a moment to make Patrick's Apple-Braised Rabbit, and this was it.  We also picked up some lamb for the other carpaccio in the book.  We didn't end up making the rabbit exactly according to directions, but the apple juice (couldn't find cider this time of year) infused the rabbit loin and the bacon in the dish.  It was a nice sweetness added to the meat, and I could see braising rabbit or chicken in apple juice fairly easily in the future.  Also, bacon adds to any dish.  It's like butter in meat form.

The highlight for me, though, was our Carpaccio of Baby Lamb on Arugula with Mustard-Rosemary Sauce and Tabouli.  Wow, that's a bit of a mouthful now, but this was a very easy dish to make that turned out really well and for some reason wasn't nearly as scary as the Tuna Carpaccio.  If you want to make it yourself, cover lamb loin or rack of lamb in herbs, sear the outside, wrap in plastic, and stick in the freezer till you're ready to use.  The mustard-rosemary sauce was just another mustard-mayo combination with some rosemary-infused oil, and the tabouli was tabouli-ish.  Again, though (I know I keep saying this), the arugula pulled it all together and added the needed crunch.  That's a theme I'm going to have to keep in mind once I finally start cooking independently of the project.  A little crunch from a veggie makes a dish pop!

Day 23 (written mostly on Day 21): The Introduction

Why Julie? Why Julia?

Now, why Coley?  Why Chef O'Connell?  Why didn't he post something about all these whys to start off the project?

First, the Coley:
Recently trained lieutenant of Marines...without Marines, waiting to start flight training in Pensacola, FL.  Currently residing in a one-man apartment right down the road from NAS Patuxent River, MD.  One man with a crappy electric stove, a small refrigerator, a couple good knives, and one set of basic, Target-bought pans.

The Book:
The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook (A Consuming Passion) by Chef Patrick O'Connell--founder, proprietor, and chef of (go figure) The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, VA.
"The Inn at Little Washington is rated number one year after year in all categories of Zagat's Washington, D.C., restaurant survey...Reviewers call it the Promised Land, and its patrons are known as 'pilgrims.'"
"This book is a distillation of [Patrick's] thirty years in the kitchen...Each recipe has a story to tell and relates to the others.  Collectively, they define a style and taste that are uniquely American, though full of influences from other countries."


The Challenge:
At the beginning of this project, there were 130 days until Aviation Preflight Indoctrination starts.  There are 110 recipes in this cookbook according to the table of contents.
Learn to grocery shop, learn to cook, learn to present, create them all.

The Why:
I don't know how to cook.  I've tried a few times these past few years to learn, but I couldn't commit.  Now, I'm living in the boonies, have some time I need to fill, and have my own place where no one's going to care if I make a disaster of the kitchen.  I also went to The Inn at Little Washington earlier this summer to celebrate Clare's leaving the East Coast.  It was an unforgettable experience--the best meal of my life-- and I walked away with the newer cookbook.  Clare got me the first one, and I decided to dive in.  Why not?

Now, I'm not Julie.  I'm not risking my marriage (completely single), my job (well, maybe my job a little), or my cat's well-being (if only I could have a pet).  I just signed on for the task to see how much I can learn and how far I'll go.

So far, it's been good.  Wish me luck.

Day 23: All is Right

I'm sitting at my desk right now with my legs in pain, talking to my mother, drinking a soda, and eating some homemade caramel ice cream because I just got my MCMAP brown belt!  Life is good.  I fought a fair amount today, and I'm probably going to eat something bad for me for dinner..but never fear!  I will still prepare something tonight.

Last night, when I was preparing this delicious caramel cream concoction, I was worried about its success.  The only time I have ever made ice cream was in my Aunt Mary's basement in Kansas.  That was more than ten years ago, so I don't remember most of it, and even then I was in the cranking ranks, so I didn't know too much about what went on before I went to work.

In this ice cream operation, it was just me and my $5 bargain ice cream maker from the thrift store up the road...and the directions that came with it, so when Patrick said "freeze according to manufacturers instructions", I actually could and didn't just have to make it up myself.

My big worry about caramel ice cream is the caramel part.  I tried to caramelize some onions last week for the miniature caramelized onion tartlets, but it didn't work too well (though the onions were still good), and I had to caramelize some sugar earlier this week for something that I'm not remembering too well, so I didn't have much faith in myself or my pans.  But, I kept the sugar-water on the stove beyond where I thought it would caramelize, putting my faith in Patrick once again.  Lo and behold, it worked!  The liquid did "begin to turn a golden amber color" and when I added the cream and whisked in the butter, I ended up with caramel.

Next was making the ice cream.  Not normally a problem for someone with a stainless steel bowl or a double boiler.  I have neither.  However, one time in the past, I needed a double boiler to melt chocolate for a German chocolate cake, didn't have one, so just held a pan over bubbling water.  It worked, it just took a careful balance.  It worked again last night.

Then, after combining the ice cream (which used the rest of my eggs) and caramel (and cooling everything off thoroughly), I put in Silkwood, set a towel down, hammered out some ice and water filter salt (it was the only thing I could find in the store) and got to cranking.  Sure enough, that tin can in a wood barrel made ice cream!  I poured it into a couple tupperwares (way more than I can eat on my own), and set it in the freezer.  Now it is creamy, caramely deliciousness.

I just have to figure out what to do with it and what to do when I make the rest of these ice cream recipes.

Day 21: The Sleepies

I brought my apple-walnut roses in to work today, and I think everyone liked them. There was one slight scare when I gave one to a pilot about to go out on a flight and he commented, "these are pretty good, is there alcohol in it?" My mouth dropped open a bit before I realized the dark rum that I baked the apples in was okay (unlike, I'm convinced, the Virginia Riesling wine that was in the Peach Puree I had a couple weeks ago).

Then, I got back after MCMAP, showered up, read my book a bit, and fell fast asleep for a bit. After that, I went to get some more cream from the store, came back and decided you know what? I'm just going to make some Campbell's soup (chicken and dumplings...delicious), clean up the apartment a little, and go back to sleep early tonight.

So, I'm hitting the rack/futon and saving the granola, caramel ice cream, and if we're lucky, the spicy pecans for tomorrow evening. Hopefully a brown-belt celebration!

Day 19 (Part 2): Filet O' Fish

I have never filleted a fish before. I have never filleted anything before. And I certainly don't have a fillet knife. So, I'm glad that I had four fillets to work on tonight. That meant I could almost completely destroy the first one, merely maim the second one, do okay on the third, and make a beauty (if I do say so myself) out of the fourth. I sliced the potatoes thinly with the

wonderful Santoku knife that my mom got me for my birthday (that thing is great!) and laid them carefully in a fish scale pattern on the fillets.

Then, I fried them in the same order I cut them. This also ended up being a good decision with the last set of potatoes having just the right amount of crispiness and the fish cooked just perfectly. The other fillets weren't bad (as evidenced by their rapid disappearance from my kitchen), but I definitely improved even within this one meal. I wish I had bought a few more fillets so I could have kept a couple for breakfast. Hopefully, this week I'll get some granola made to make my breakfasts more interesting.

Rainbow Trout in a Potato Crust is the easiest meal I've made so far, and probably one of the most striking when made right. I think I may end up making this again even within the project because of how quick and easy it is (especially if you don't have to take apart the trout yourself).

Oh, and another note before I forget. I almost titled this post 'He's on fire!' If I had a gas stove in this apartment like I did in Springfield, I would probably not be typing this right now. Hot oil over a stove is a dangerous thing to be splashing fish and potatoes around in. Fortunately, God protects me from my own stupidity and clumsiness when even Patrick's warnings don't do the trick.

"Gently lift each fillet by sliding one hand underneath the waxed paper and carefully flipping the fillet over into the pan (potato side down), being careful not to splash the hot oil."

Day 19: A Delicate Rose

I'm writing this as I break into my first Apple-Walnut Rose. It is delicious. And probably the most fragile thing I've ever made.

It's supposed to be shaped like a rose, but I don't think I quite hit the mark. Partially because of my general lack of floral knowledge, and partially (mostly) because I have never worked with phyllo pastry dough before. I can't imagine working with that stuff regularly. It was easy to cut...with a knife or with my hands pulling it out of the package. And then, after I used my clever little paint-brush to cover the sheets with butter, they were slightly harder to tear while I was wrapping the walnut cream into them in a rose shape. Patrick claims that "The presentation is so striking that your guests will think you studied pastry making in Austria". I don't think I'll have to deal with that problem, though.

As I was talking to my dad while assembling the roses, he came upon a point that Julie saw during her week two. He mentioned that a good side effect of the Coley/O'Connell Project is that I'm learning not just how to make recipes, but also some general ways to use certain ingredients. Patrick's book isn't set up to be a series of cooking lessons quite like Mastering the Art of French Cooking is, but I am definitely learning how Patrick uses certain ingredients to achieve certain effects. In this one, I improvised a little with exactly how I was brushing the butter since it was taking me so long to assemble the roses. I'm also acquiring a good amount of kitchen-wares. Perhaps I won't need all of it in the future, but I think most of it will be fairly useful.

Day 18: I'm so scared

I just ate my most terrifying meal yet:

Fresh Tuna Tartare on Tuna Carpaccio with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Now, I enjoy my sushi. And I like me some tuna. When I order sashimi from a restaurant, I trust that the sushi chef knows what he's doing. However, when I try to prepare some raw seafood at home, I have very little trust in myself. I've never done it before. But, I do trust Patrick and I'm committed to the project, so I went ahead with the recipe.

I just went very slowly and followed Patrick's directions very carefully.

It turned out tasty and Patrick was right once again that "The wasabi mayonnaise brings all the flavors together." This is the second mayonnaise I've made for the project (along with the mustard mayonnaise from the tuna cakes) and I have to say that this concept of flavored mayonnaises is really neat. I've never really been a huge mayonnaise person, but flavoring it can make it pop.

"Either the tartare or the carpaccio can be served by itself, but they're more interesting in combination."

Patrick also made another good combination choice. The tuna carpaccio (tuna hammered out into a thin slice) didn't taste very good by itself, nor was the texture very appealing. And the tuna tartare (like beef tartare, a sort of raw, molded, marinated tuna cake mixed with chives, cilantro and sesame seeds) was delicious but probably not great on its own. In combination, though (and especially with the mayo) it made a very good meal. Also my first "cold first course."

Now hopefully my stomach agrees with it overnight.

Day 13: Ginger Scones

I turned back to the dessert chapter tonight. Not because I have a sweet tooth, but because I don't have the muffin tin Patrick wanted me to have to make the Carmelized Onion Tartlets. Instead, I had a try at Ginger Scones. Now, you might be saying to yourself, 'I've seen a scone before, how hard can they be?' Well, that's a perfectly fair observation. In fact, that's exactly what I thought. Fortunately, Patrick gave some good directions that made them easy...AS LONG AS YOU BELIEVE THE RECIPE!

I quote: "continue mixing just until the ingredients are incorporated. (Overmixing will cause the scones to be tough.)". I don't know that this is true for all scone recipes--I think I only ever had scones when Emily Jenkins brought them to GT class in the seventh grade--but when one mixes "just until the ingredients are incorporated," the dough looks dry and crumbly and like it can't possibly be molded into a little mound of deliciousness. This, it turns out, is not true. Roll the dough together into one mass, have some faith, carefully place the molds on the baking sheet, and believe.

Also, brush with the cream! If the scones are as dry as mine were going into the oven, and if your oven is as hot as mine seems to sometimes (only sometimes) be, and if you FORGET TO PUT THE CREAM ON FOR FOUR MINUTES, your apartment will shortly fill with smoke as mine sometimes seems to be. This can be remedied by simply brushing with cream.

The scones, after my doubting, turned out pretty good. I like this recipe because I think I can replace the candied ginger (which is expensive for the amount in the recipe) with whatever else I want. That's a good feeling because this is a big point of the project. I started just wanting to learn some more about cooking and get some ideas about what to do in the future. I've learned a ton so far, and I'm looking forward to more.

Now to go see if my smoke detector actually works. I have my doubts.