Sunday Nights with Kristy in the Kitchen

I can't believe it's been 4 months since my last post. Sorry fans, but the good news....the book is officially under review. Now, back to the kitchen!

Ian had a hankering for Czech garlic soup. That was probably our favorite dish (other than the mountaneous pork items) at the most wonderful Moritz pub in Olomouc! So, I took a stab at it. When we looked at it in the bowl, we said, that's it! When we tasted it, we were sure. The funny thing is, we ate it like starving people and didn't even take a picture. Here's what I think I did...

I sauteed:
1/2 yellow onion
2 red potatos cubed
12 crushed garlic cloves (yes, 12, and they were large cloves, maybe 18 regular size cloves)
a healthy sprinkle of marjoram
a healthy sprinkle of caraway seeds
salt

Then I added 3 cups of homemade beef stock. This I made from the Christmas standing rib roast.

I let this come to a simmer, cool slightly, and put in a bowl. Then I topped it with pumpernickel bread cubes fried in butter and of course a little parsley because, as Paul Deen says, we need our vegetables!

OMG, this was amazing and looked and smelled like the real thing. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine that I was back at the Moritz with our friend Martsin!

THEN, since it's spring, I decided asparagus was in order. This was inspired by Cooking Light.

First, I sauteed shallots, mushrooms, garlic, and a little onion. I used shitake and baby portobello mushrooms.

Then I added two cans of cannelini beans and veggie broth and let it thicken a bit.

Then I added blanched asparagus, arugula and let that warm through. Then topped it with panco and grated pecorino romano and broiled it. YUM! Add a little Penzey's spicey salt for good measure and it's a wonderful healthy vegetarian dish that is also hearty and delicious!

It's good to be back in the kitchen!

Never send Ian to Buy a Turkey!

Hi Friends, yes, it's been awhile. Busy fall here. But Thanksgiving arrived and we decided to cook at home . . . just the two of us. It was delicious--turkey, smashed potatoes and giblet gravy, roasted brussel sprouts, oyster dressing, cranberry relish, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Step One: Buy a turkey

Ian decided he wanted leftovers. Let's face it, for two people, a roasting chicken would have provided plenty of leftovers. But Ian decided he really wanted leftovers, so he purchased the biggest turkey he could find. A 22 lb fresh turkey. He forgot the part about me washing it in the sink, drying it, seasoning it, and in general having to wrangle it from package to oven. Needless to say, I got a workout Thanksgiving morning.

Step 2: Cook that Turkey

You know, I do think I've discovered the best of all possible turkey cooking worlds with this go round. I always put herbs and aromatics inside my birds, whether roasting turkey or chicken. It sort of seals the inside and then everything steams and it creates a deliciously moist bird every time. This time I used a whole head of garlic, an onion, an orange, thyme, salt and pepper. But the real kicker is slathering the outside with butter, lots and lots of butter. And then basting every so often. Do you know what kind of deliciousness that creates . . . crispy skin like candy! You heard it here first.

Even at a low temp like 325 degrees, this giant bird only took 4 and 1/2 hours (with a thermometer in its thigh) until it reached the crispy juicy delicious stage of Thanksgiving turkey nirvana.

Step Three: Make the Fixins

Smashed potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts are easy enough, and my riff on my mom's cranberry salad was tart and tasty, but I'm still on a quest for the perfect oyster dressing recipe. This year I got closer by starting with the sauteed onions, bell peppers, and celery with sage and thyme, homemade croutons, homemade stock, and a quart of oysters. But next year, I'm going to saute the vegetables in bacon and then add bacon to the dressing. Or maybe chorizo. And maybe another pint of oysters. You heard it here first. Oh, and giblet gravy is now part of my Thanksgiving repertoire. Make giblet stock and the gravy that you get from it is divine.

Step Four: Eat...

Drink...

and Enjoy!

Hope you and yours had a delicious Thanksgiving!

The Fourth Meal

Who doesn't love the fourth meal? You know, when you're wandering around Vegas, contemplating your next craps table, and think, "I'm hungry" at 2 am. Well, this lovely meal isn't necessarily anything gourmet, but it was tasty. Club sandwich with turkey, ham, bacon, tomato, avacado, and (this really made the sandwich) bean sprouts, served with cole slaw that was vinaigrette based--how'd they know that's my favorite. Now I'm not a bean sprout kind of gal, but for whatever reason this was the perfect salty earthy touch to a seemingly perfect sandwich. How does the club get more perfect? And in case you're wondering, we found the diner spot that we frequented the first time we went to Vegas, in the MGM Grand, the Studio Cafe. It hasn't changed.








Oh, and yes, in case you're wondering. . . we actually came home with more money in our pockets than we left with. I had a lovely time at the craps table at "Slots a fun" and "Casino Royale." In fact, they are probably my two most favorite dive casinos. This picture was taken on the "down low" in Casino Royale. Notice my $100 chip.

So all in all a good time was had by all. Next time you're in Vegas, throw some money on the craps table for us and have the 4th meal. You'll be glad you did!

"Busy with School" Pictures

So I get an email from a friend and it said: "what the hell happened to the food blog?  Don’t tell me you’re busy with 'school.'"

Sorry loyal readers, I'm busy with school. An occupational hazard. But I regularly take pictures of my culinary adventures, to the annoyment of my dining companions.

So, consider this post my "busy with school pictures." We have some too cool for school places to report.

Sushi on the Rocks:
This is (obviously) a sushi restaurant on south Meridian that is literally too cool for school. If you go upstairs to the nightclub, there are beds for lounging and you can purchase entire bottles of vodka for consuming. Needless to say, when we went up there, we felt outclassed. Regardless, we LOVE the sushi, especially the flaming Playboy roll: 

We also love the many other tasty rolls. This place really does a lovely job with sushi.

Food at Home:

We also eat at home most of the time. I am blessed with chef friends and culinary curiosity, so this is a simple dish with homemade marinara and whole wheat pasta from our friends Josh and Betsy. I did a good job with the combo, I must say.

I also whipped up a batch of onion soup, DELICIOUS, for the Colts home opener. I rarely use a recipe, but consulted my Cooks Illustrated for this one. Believe it when you read how to carmelize onions to enhance the richness of this soup. AMAZING! It also includes balsamic vinegar.

Breakfast at 'Good Morning Mamas':

In my neighborhood we have a wonderful Italian restaurant called Mama Carollas. This establishment acquired the 'gas station' next door, converted it to a restaurant space, and now serves breakfast and brunch in addition to the outstanding acclaimed Italian dinner menu they've been serving for years. They've been open maybe a year, maybe less, for brunch. We've read mediocre reviews, so have delayed our foray into Mamas for breakfast. What a bad decision; this is a lovely place. Those who poo poo Mamas are clearly in the hip pocket of Patachou or Taste, both of which are good, but I LOVE the fact that my neighborhood is becoming this competitive mecca for bunch happiness. I LOVE Mama's. Ian and I each had a breakfast entree and then shared a side entree of biscuits and gravy and were not disappointed.

We each had an omelette. I had an Italian omelette, covered in pesto, appropriate for Mamas. Ian had a more traditional but still delicious omelette. We were very happy, the place was packed early (we got there by 10 am), and we LOVED the 50s soda fountain Italian cuisine decor. We will definitely be back and you should check it out.

Next, our roots. We (well, at least I) miss Bloomginton so much that I can taste it. We return once a year to the Upland Brewery Hillbilly Haiku, featuring headliner Todd Snider, in Bloomington:

How fun. We bring our chairs, sit amidst folks on hay bails, and listen to great folksy, bluesy, rock-a-billy bands play while drinking delicious Upland brew. Todd Snider, the great storyteller, is always the headliner, and time flies. When he signs off for the evening, I always think, Todd, you've only been playing for about 15 minutes, but of course it's over an hour. This is a great event, proceeds which benefit the Sycamore Land Trust. B-double-e-double-r-u-n. . .

Local cuisine at our Tuesday night haunt on campus:

Finally, we are on a first name basis with our most favorite and personal bartender Steve. It's like our own personal Cheers, called Our Den. I appreciate that the chef features weekly menus with local Indiana cuisine. This week it happened to be not quite local Indiana dogs, Chicago dogs, complete with the green relish. Can you believe it. And the dog snapped when you bit into it. Kudos to the chef of Our Den.

So that has been our culinary adventure for the last 3 weeks. It's been fun and I apologize for not devoting each adventure to its own post, but hey, gotta serve those students, eat West Coast Tacos, and write. Please come visit and I will take you around to all the culinary hot spots I know and we will have a grand time.

xoxo
The Traveling Prof...

Chicken--the Other White Meat!

Received an email from a friend and loyal reader. It said: "I'm playing a drinking game with your blog. Every time you write the word 'pork' I take a drink. It's only coffee, but still." It's even more funny when you know that my friend is Jewish.

Thanks for the laugh. But really, I have been enjoying the Year of the Pig . . . whether in the Czech Republic, Poland, or the Indiana State Fair. So this blog post is devoted to chicken--the other white meat!

If you want to have a chicken dish that is the most tender and moist ever, hands down, juices flowing, succulent, you can't believe it's chicken . . . come take a walk with me to the land of "Beer Can Chicken."

Really.

It's not just a myth that all those country folks who drink the cheap beer know about. No, it's made its way to full-on culinary respectability, and the beer is still cheap . . .

So, go to the chicken store and get a whole chicken or three. I'm working with three because there are 10 of us for dinner. Rub it with canola oil and your favorite rub inside and out and let it percolate in the fridge overnight. Then (and this is where its gets personal), open a can of beer and drink about half. Drop a couple garlic cloves in the can and then stick the can up the back side of the chicken. Really. So the chicken is sitting upright on the can. Put an onion or a potato or something similar in the top (neck cavity) of the chicken so the steam cannot escape. Then put it on the grill.

Hello, this is me and my three new friends and our grill waiting to get happy. I let the grill pre heat and then try to position the chickens so none is directly over a flame--this time I turned off the middle burner, had the others on medium/medium-low, and left them alone for about an hour and 15 minutes.

I kept monitoring the temp because I'd really like it to be 300 degrees or above inside the grill. It took it a while for the temp to recover with three chickens, so all total I probably left it on the grill for an hour and 20-30 minutes, but then I took its temp and the chickens hit 160 and all was more than well.

Look at how incredibly brown and crunchy they look. And you will not believe the juicyness until you make them for yourself. Everyone said it was the most moist chicken they had ever had. We now swear by this method and it's so easy. So if you're looking for something to jazz up the other white meat, try beer-can chicken. And don't use a fancy beer. Just drink about half of a can of Miller, drop in a couple garlic cloves, and then shove it up the back side of a chicken. In about 90 minutes (or about 70 for one), you will have the most fabulous chicken ever.

If you're really daring, try root beer or coca-cola. The trick is the juiciness from the can of beverage, and not the fact that you're using beer.

And just a tip . . .  it needs at least 45 minutes to cool before you can handle it to pull the chicken off the beer. They become attached! Then carve it and eat. YUM!

Bon Appetit!

Dear West Coast Tacos: I Love You!

Never has the first week of classes on the IUPUI campus been so culinarily blessed. The West Coast Tacos truck came a-calling and I was there, cash in hand, to savor the deliciousness of spicy pork tacos.

What a cool concept. Sure, we've had the dirty-water dog stand for years (which was conspicuously empty on this day), but come on. Tacos...from a truck...while you wait...with your friends...and they're indescribably good. What more can you want?

I gotta give a great deal of credit to the creative ingenuity of Arnold, John, and Trent, who, according to their Facebook page (of which I am a loyal fan) are "just a couple of guys who sold everything [they] owned, bought a taco truck and just started working as hard as we could." THANK YOU! And really, I don't know what made you choose Indianapolis, but I'm so glad you did. Please come back to IUPUI again . . . and again. I told all my students about you today and will consider trading communication plans for tacos. "Will work for spicy pork!"

So what is this interesting resurgence of meals in trucks, trekking from neighborhood to neighborhood, selling their food options to swelling crowds lining the sidewalks for a taste? Is it the Food Network series "Food Truck Wars," or just a growing need to fill a niche for affordable, fast, tasty food on the run. (And by the way, you can vote for West Coast Tacos to be on the next season of Food Truck Wars. Voting starts August 29th and I plan to vote early and often.) Or is it just a need for something different? Both fit in the Indianapolis market. We don't really have a Mexican place that I love, but this isn't really Mexican. There is an interesting influence on the spice that I can't really identify just yet, but suffice to say, it's gooooood.

Let me tell you about my tacos. I ordered the spicy pork. I really wanted the fish and I think that is the most perfect taco combo on the planet, but no fish tacos today. However, I LOVE spice, and this had a kick even for me. So kudos to the WCT kids for their brave foray into taco spicery. What you get is a double-corn tortilla, lightly dipped in hot oil, covered in delicious spicy pork and covered in spicy deliciousness. I purchased my 3 tacos for $5 and nearly plowed over people running back to my office to savor each bite. It's so deceptively simple. And so fantastically good. The portions were just right. I could roll the tortilla around the spicy meaty goodness with only minimal spillage and in 3 delicious bites, devoured my taco. Corn tortillas are such a wonderful treat. Thank you. Everyone around here uses flour. But corn actually has a flavor, so you don't need lots of toppings. Corn, pork, spice, and I am a happy girl.

So kids, my new love affair with WCT is only beginning. I plan to stalk them wherever they go--Mass Ave, Broadripple, and hopefully back to IUPUI. I may even wander onto the Butler campus tomorrow for dinner. Thank you WCT for forecasting where you'll be. That makes stalking you much easier. But seriously, thank you for taking such a simple idea, buying a truck, and cooking well. I can't wait until truck #2 arrives.

Sincerely,
A Loyal Fan and Spicy Taco Lover

2010: The Year of the Pig

Welcome to the Indiana State Fair, two full weeks of deep-fried goodness with a heapin' helpin' o' pork on the side. Ian and I had a great and HOT day at the fair. We enjoyed the sites, but it was too hot to eat the deep fried goodness, so we just took pictures. Let me tell you about the culinary adventure that proves there's more than corn in Indiana.

First, we had the hair-brained idea to walk to the fair, which meant about 30 minutes in the 95-degree heat and humidity. Ok, we had bottled water with us. As we entered, we were greeted by the American Gothic right there at the 4-H exhibit hall. Pretty impressive, eh?

So, the first thing we noticed was that the fair was not as heavily attended as we had experienced in the past. We were there early afternoon on Friday, school had not started, but no one was out and about. Go figure? The sausage stands were relatively empty, so we had our run of the porky, deep-fried fatty goodness.

However, we refrained. Too hot to eat. Can you even imagine me uttering such words?

So, let me just take you on our stroll around the infield of the Indiana State Fair.

Just in case you're in the market for a hot tub . . . when it's 95 degrees in the shade.

Ian found some toys . . .

But after all, it is the year of the pig . . .

"Pigs are Nice"

2010 Year of Pigs . . . no kidding if you judge the fair by the food . . .

Hot Beef Sundae?

YUM! At least it's creative.

Really, this year's new thing is deep fried butter . . . Apparently it's a frozen pat of butter, rolled in cinnamon sugar and battered, then fried, then rolled in more cinnamon sugar. It actually sounds good.

and crispy creams as buns with bacon cheeseburgers in the middle. Really, so imagine. you choose 2 crispy creams and then a juicy bacon cheeseburger is placed in the middle. I'm all about the sugary-salty combo, but come on. Isn't that about a week's worth of calories?

And then there's the pork pancake . . .

If you eat all this, you will be round . . .

But the real proof it's the Year of the Pig . . .

How do you walk with those things?

1277 pounds, really?

How would you feel if you were the runner up at only 1201 pounds?

Just in case the giant pig cannot fulfull his duties, this one steps in. They both seem very relaxed.

But, in the year of the pig, what fair food did we choose?

Lemon Shake-ups and Corn dogs, of course

But the best part came on our walk home. We took a detour at the Upland Tasting Room to re-hydrate! Mmmmmmmm

So kids, that was our Indiana State Fair Culinary Adventure. Hope you enjoyed the view!