In which I make a bread pudding.
By Kristen | April 21, 2008
Despite being a food blogger for… how long now? A year and half? I have something to admit: I have never cooked another food blogger’s recipe. Ever. I don’t know why; I just haven’t.
So, when I saw this post on what to do with old bread, I thought, huh, that sounds pretty good, then filed it away for future reference, the same way I’ve done with a hundred other recipes in the past year and half.
And then last week, I found myself with a collapsed loaf from a recipe I’d tried. I think I added too much yeast. It was edible… but a bit flat and therefore useless for sandwiches or, really, anything. So, I was standing around in the kitchen, glaring at the failed loaf, when I realized I had eggs and milk… I even had some grated Gruyère and Swiss hanging around.
So, what the hell — it’s just gonna go to waste anyway, right?
Holy shit, this is possibly one of the best things I have made EVER.
I cubed the bread, and filled the pie pan with the cubes. (The rest went to the birds.) I used a ratio of one egg : 1/3 cup milk (4 eggs, 1 1/3 cups milk in all) until it looked completely soaked, like french toast. I threw in a couple handfuls of grated cheese and one bunch of chopped broccolini that was wasting away at the back of the fridge. I started it out at 375º but after 20 minutes it was browned nicely but still wet in the middle, so I lowered the temperature to around 300º and cooked for another 20 minutes.
Now, I do not like baked eggs. Quiche, frittata, shirred eggs… they all get a weird taste/texture I don’t like. But this was fluffy and tender and not all eggy. You can see from the photo that some of the cubes of bread crisped up and got all crunchy… I’m actually salivating just remembering it.
Will this be the start of a blog cooking spree? I kinda doubt it, but you never know.
Topics: My First Time, Make It Yourself | 8 Comments »
Milk: a love story.
By Kristen | April 17, 2008
Like most love stories, this one begins when I was least looking for love.
I was at the Columbia Greenmarket last Sunday. I didn’t really need anything; it was just a nice spring day and I wanted to get out of the house. I picked up some apples and a butternut squash, probably the last I’ll eat of either until next fall.
I walked past Milk Thistle Farm’s table twice, noting how nice it was to see a dairy that wasn’t Ronnybrook Farm. I’ve been unofficially boycotting Ronnybrook since last May, when some assclown working for them intimated I was purposely raising my child to be rude and I didn’t really take a shine to that.
So, merely because this guy was not Ronnybrook, I decided to buy a half-gallon.
I took it home, I poured a small glass… I fell in love.
It’s sweet and creamy. When I heat it up, the grassy smell really comes out (and I keep sticking my nose into the empty cup to revel in it). And I would swear, it bothers my lactose-sensitive stomach much less than regular milk.
I’m already planning to go back and get another half-gallon tomorrow.
Milk Thistle Farm
Fridays: Union Square
Sundays: The Columbia Market (114th & Broadway)
Topics: Local Locales | 3 Comments »
Um, what?
By Kristen | April 14, 2008
So, there I was, watching SpongeBob with my kid, when there was an ad for The Topsy Turvy™ Tomato Planter! The Upside Down Tomato Planter!
Gee whiz! It’s topsy AND turvy!
I admit it; I was kind of into the idea, thinking about whether or not I could get away with putting one on my fire escape and not have it be a fire hazard… and then in the middle of their sales pitch was the following line:
“Because the Topsy Turvy™ is upside down, water and nutrients pour directly from the root to the fruit, giving you up to 30 pounds of deliciously ripe tomatoes per plant!”
To paraphrase Morbo the news monster:
TOMATO PLANTS DO NOT WORK THAT WAY!
Fine. Maybe the excess water spills out of the bottom of the pot and onto the leaves. I know my high school biology classes are many many years behind me, but even I know nutrients do not “pour directly” into a tomato just because you’ve hung it upside down, sort of like how one doesn’t spontaneously vomit from standing on one’s head.
Science, people! Simple science! Embrace it, for it is your friend!
Topics: WTF?, Science! | 4 Comments »
Meet the humble ham hock.
By Kristen | April 9, 2008
Kinda gruesome, isn’t it?
A ham hock is the end of a smoked ham where the foot was attached to the hog’s leg. It is the portion of the leg that is neither part of the ham proper nor the foot or ankle, but rather the extreme shank end of the leg bone and the associated skin, fat, tendons, and muscle. This piece generally consists of too much skin and gristle to be palatable on its own, so it is usually cooked with greens and other vegetables in order to give them additional flavor (generally that of pork fat and smoke), although the meat from particularly meaty hocks may be removed and served.
Source: Wikipedia.
I’d like to say I bought ham hocks because I’m embracing the Fergus Henderson idea of nose-to-tail eating, but it was mostly out of a morbid curiosity. I got them from FreshDirect and after a couple of days of them freaking me out every time I looked into the fridge, I stuffed them in the freezer and forgot about them.
Then I wanted to make some beans. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Gezellig Groceries, My First Time, Make It Yourself | 4 Comments »
Brave New Food: Bubu Lubu
By Kristen | April 8, 2008
“I Eat It So You Don’t Have To” was too long, so until I think up something better, I’m calling this segment “Brave New Food” which I’m not 100% happy with either, but at least it’s shorter.
Here’s the first item in this new series:
Right on! Mysterious Mexican candy bar!
Say, what’s in it?
Topics: Brave New Food | 2 Comments »
Save the bees
By Kristen | April 4, 2008
Perhaps you remember from last year how borderline-obsessed I am with declining honeybee populations.
Enter Häagen-Dazs and their new Help The Honey Bees site. Not only is it a fun site but, to my delighted surprise, really comprehensive and informative.
And, it gives us all a reason to go out any buy some ice cream:
Like you really needed a reason, but still.
Topics: In The News, It's a DYN-O-SITE! | 3 Comments »
Asbestos sandwiches
By Kristen | April 3, 2008
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the above Cat and Girl comic.
Why? Because I, too, have recently found a deeply guilty pleasure:
Mayonnaise sandwiches, but worse…
Miracle Whip sandwiches.
Sometimes with potato chips in the middle.
Having admitted that, I must now go into hiding from the food blogger secret police. In my secret annex, I will keep a diary detailing my love of the foods food bloggers are supposed to hate. Oh, Velveeta! Will we ever meet again?
Topics: Odds and Sods | 5 Comments »
Not April Fools
By Kristen | April 1, 2008
So… that Easter ham I made? It looked so much like a person, we couldn’t really bring ourselves to actually eat it.
I shut it into the oven but it, well, became sentient. And I kinda think it’s been looking down my shirt when I bend over it, quite honestly.
Here, you be the judge:
Topics: WTF? | 2 Comments »
Oh, Chinatown.
By Kristen | March 31, 2008
Just when I thought you had shown me everything — from the most delightful dumplings ever to old men horking up unnameable globs onto the sidewalks — I though I had become inured to your myriad charms.
And then, I found something and fell in love all over again.
Thai Pocky.
Topics: Local Locales, Brave New Food | 6 Comments »
My ham will devour your soul!
By Kristen | March 28, 2008
As I was uploading photos this week, I found a picture of my dynamite Easter ham.
Y’see, it was still in the oven, and I had a hard time getting a good photo with the flash off, but with the flash on… well, you should be sure all small children are out of the room before you click.
Topics: WTF? | 5 Comments »
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