Swallowtail Farm

Hey lovely listeners/readers!

If you enjoyed hearing about delightful, delicious produce this week on Tasty Jams, then check out Swallowtail Farm's website (linked above) or visit them at the Wednesday downtown farmer's market. You can ask them about their CSA program, how to volunteer, their future livestock programs, or just what you might be able to buy currently. They are lovely, and quite friendly, as are many of the producers at that market.

I'd encourage everyone to ask more questions about your food, and if the producers are unwilling or unable to answer those questions.... rethink who you buy your food from!

Onions & Garlic,

Zambria

Baking Substitutions

Sometimes, we don't have things in our kitchens. Maybe we should, but for that last minute recipe or when we're really poor... these substitutions come in real handy!

1 cup Buttermilk = 1 cup milk & 1 tbsp vinegar (use a regular white vinegar unless you want to change the taste!)

Allspice = 1/2 cinnamon & 1/2 cloves

Pumpkin pie spice = 1/2 cinnamon, 1/4 ginger, 1/8 of both cloves and nutmeg (I tend heavier on the nutmeg)

Raisins = dried cranberries OR prunes OR apricots (chopped) OR chocolate chips OR etc etc etc. Pick whatever you like and might compliment your other ingredients!

1 cup Cinnamon Sugar = 1 cup sugar & 1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp Cornstarch = 2 tbsp flour

The Long Awaited Meatloaf Cake

We promised this in perhaps the very first episode of Tasty Jams, and here at last. Feast your eyes on the Meatloaf Cake....

Use any type of meatloaf recipe you like and decorate as desired!

Today!

Tune in to our show! This week, we'll be discussing french food.

French cuisine has had perhaps the biggest impact on our modern way of cooking and thinking about food. It is considered the fanciest, tastiest and most buttery cuisine.

Point being, we like it.

Listen in today, when we'll have a genuine French Guy in studio. We will eat beignets and cheese, discuss the glory that is french cooking, and hopefully coerce some secret family recipes out of him!

1-3pm EST, growradio.org

Food politics, eating bugs and huge bowls of hummus

This article, from foreignpolicy.com, covers just a few of the important international food issues which we need concern ourselves with.

Speaking of chocolate just last Sunday, page two of this article shows in particular how investors can gain control of a huge portion of a resource, keeping the price low for themselves, while driving up prices and making a huge profit. In the meantime, that means higher prices for customers while the people producing the cocoa beans receive none of the benefit.

Yet another example of why it is important to focus on quality rather than quantity, and work with producers who are transparent and trustworthy.

For happy, and amazingly delicious chocolate, check out: www.armadillochocolates.com

And listen to our interview with chocolatier, Natalie, which aired on 4/24/11.

Bon Bons & Truffles,
Zambria

Rosemary Bread

Aka: Zambria's first attempt at bread.

And it pretty much worked!

Combine these three things:
1 cup warm water
1 package (1/4 oz) yeast
1 tbsp sugar

and wait for the mixture to bubble. Then add:
2 tbsp softened, unsalted butter
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp itallian seasoning (I used Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle.)

Add 2 cups flour, then add another cup small bits at a time (3 cups flour total).

**Side note about flours**Bread flour is best to use because it has a higher gluten content, which will react more with the yeast, causing it to rise to the greatest degree possible. I used both all-purpose flour and whole-wheat flour, which resulted in tiny but tasty loaves! If you want you can add gluten to your flours, which you can buy anywhere which has a good flour selection. 1/2 to 1 tbsp should do the trick!

Okay, now knead it for 12 minutes, put it in a bowl coated with olive oil and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Punch it down, split into two loaves and place them on the greased tray (or parchment paper) they are to be cooked on. Sprinkle with more rosemary if you please and let rise another hour.

Set oven to 375 degrees and brush with a beaten egg, then bake 15-20 minutes.

Make sure to eat at least some of your bread while its still warm.... with butter.

Herbs & Spices,
Zambria

The Cocktail Episode

We're over our hangovers, so as promised, here are all of the recipes shaken up by our friend Cain.

To make simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water and heat until the sugar dissolves. Then don't touch it and let it cool! Done!

Amer Picon is impossible to find in the good old USA, so you can substitute some savory orange bitters.

Enjoy! (of course only if you're over 21....)

Old Fashioned:
2 oz rye whiskey
1 tsp simple syrup
2 dash Angostura bitters

Build over ice, stir, serve in a short tumbler with an orange twist.


Bronx:
1.5 oz gin
3/4 oz sweet vermouth
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz orange juice

Shake with ice, serve in a martini glass.


Mother-in-Law:
1.5 oz bourbon whiskey
1 tsp Cointreau (or you can use any type of triple sec)
1 tsp maraschino liqueur
1 tsp simple syrup
2 dash Angostura bitters
2 dash Peychaud's bitters
2 dash Amer Picon

Stir with ice, serve in a martini glass with a lemon twist.


Aviation: Zambria's new favorite cocktail in the world.
2 oz gin
0.5 oz lemon juice
2 tsp maraschino liqueur
1 tsp creme de violette

Stir with ice, serve in a martini glass.


Ward 8:
1.5 oz bourbon whiskey
0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz orange juice
1 tsp grenadine

Shake with ice, serve in a martini glass.


Suffering Bastard: Trixi's new favorite hangover cure.
1 oz lime juice
4 oz ginger ale (the more gingery the better if you like!)
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 oz bourbon whiskey
1 oz gin

Build over ice, serve in a rocks glass.


Pegu:
2 oz gin
1 oz orange curacao
1 tsp lime juice
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash orange bitters

Stir with ice, serve in a martini glass.


Brooklyn:
1.5 oz rye whiskey
0.5 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash Amer Picon
1 dash maraschino liqueur

Stir with ice, serve in a martini glass.


Martinez:
1 oz gin
2 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash orange bitters
2 dash maraschino liqueur

Stir with ice, serve in a martini glass with a lemon twist.

Stir and Enjoy,
Zambria

The Great Tamale Debacle

Tamales are a traditional dish made in Mexico and many other South and Central American countries. They consist of a starch-based dough, usually corn, with filling sometimes of meat, cheese or veggies, wrapped in a corn husk or another type of leaf, and then cooked (steamed, boiled, baked). This gives them infinite delicious variation.

But, if you have never made these babies before, just know....

They will be delicious but probably won't come out just as you had hoped.

I decided to make a sweet poblano tamale based on what our friend Daniella was telling us about tamales where she grew up, Bolivia. I bought my corn, but could only find corn in half husks, the first disaster.
But being the bull-headed cook that I am, I was not deterred. Shuck the corn and save your husks. Then take the kernels off the corn with a sharp knife. Once you have em all, boil them, until they are soft. I waited about 45 minutes and this was TOO LONG! My corn mixture got real soggy.

During this time you can roast your peppers if you want to use them. I chose poblano because it is sweeter than most hot peppers but still has a flavorful spiciness.

Roasting peppers:

-If you want to be fancy, make a fire and let the peppers sit near the coals, rotating them until they are happily scorched all around.

-If you want to be fast, start up your broiler and toss em in, rotating them until again they are scorched all around.

Then put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, and let them cool this way. It keeps in the moisture and helps the skin separate from the flesh.
After they are cool, you can peel the pepper easily, open it up and remove the seeds and veins. then slice em and put em on anything!




Now back to the corn, is it soft? Okay, either mash i or use a food processor or blender to beat it into submission. Then add whatever spices you like, I used:

2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp melted, unsalted butter (you can use shortening too.)

I absolutely recommend varying this, my mixture was much too wet, so I added cornmeal until it got a bit more reasonable, also adjusting the spices as I went.

So with these silly little half-husks, there was no way I could do something as cool as tying them up in little bundles and boiling them. So I made little tamale boats... And baked them. Once we got into the studio, I returned them to the oven with the peppers and some cheese for a hot little snack. You can't expect us to talk about food for two hours and not have snacks!

Also formed them into little cakes, fried them in butter and put fresh cheese and the poblanos on top. Yummy.

Sweet & Sour,
Zambria

Fresh, Hot Mozzarela Sticks!

After a pizza pizza party, you may have left over mozzarella cheese. When buying cheese, I generally buy the larger chunk. It is more economical and of course it is always good to have more cheese around.

EXCEPT if it is a soft cheese, or a fresh cheese and I know I won't be able to use it quickly.

But in this case, I used the extra to make tasty homemade mozzarella sticks!

Cut up the cheese. Make sure to use thick chunks, the smaller ones end up being mozzarella caterpillars. The one on the top right here is too small.








Have ready two beaten eggs and your breadcrumb mixture. I just used panko breadcrumbs so they would already be spiced and because I love that salty panko-perfection. Definitely try out your own seasoning mixtures if you like, regular breadcrumbs with Itallian seasoning, salt, pepper, and a bit of Parmesan or Romano cheese is a good start.

Dredge em in the eggs then in the breadcrumbs, then let em FREEZE. This is important, I only waited two hours, and this is the minimum! But I was huuuuungry.

Also make your own Marinara sauce:

Chop these guys
half a large onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small carrot
1 or 2 ribs celery, leave the leaves!

Then saute them in a bit of olive oil for not very long, just to soften the carrots a bit. Then add some canned crushed tomatoes, just enough to hold everything together and give it that "marinara sauce look" that you want.

Everything can be done to taste!

Take out your sticks and fry them in canola for vegetable oil. Make sure the oil is HOT HOT HOT before you start!

Then eat em, and frankly I had to start before I finished cooking.

Butter and Oil,
Zam

Things I Made at Work Today

Sometimes, I get paid to make delicious treats.

Like butternut squash macaroni and cheese.

and Lasagnettes.

Oh, I love cooking.

Fahrenheit and Celsius,

Trixi

DIY: Chicken Stock

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PUT DOWN THAT SWANSON'S BOX OF BROTH! Seriously. Let me see both of your hands. Okay. Good.

I had no idea how simple making a delicious chicken stock is until this past year. I also had no idea how much dimension and life a homemade chicken stock breathes in to ANY dish.

The basic stock formula calls for a few onions, some carrots, some celery, sprigs of thyme, a handful of peppercorns, and some type of chicken meat/chicken bone.

Stock utilizes all the kitchen scraps you usually throw away. I have a giant ziplock bag that I take out every time I cook. When I have onion ends, or skins, or celery tops and carrot butts, I put them in the bag. I leave the bag in the freezer until I'm ready to make another batch of stock. I also put the carcass from any chicken I roast in that bag.

The first few times I made stock, I used only the aforementioned scrap bag. The stock turned out tasty enough, but lacked a certain "chickenness" I desired. I asked a few people what I should do about the prevalent veggie taste in my stock. Chicken necks and chicken backs are the answer. At your local supermarket (or at mine, anyways), there are always chicken necks and chicken backs for sale. The necks are less than a dollar a pound and the backs are about a dollar a pound. They build the chicken flavor in your stock and create a heavenly velvet finish.

First take your chicken necks or backs, put them in your largest stock pot, just barely cover with water. Let the chicken parts sit in the water for 30 minutes.

Get your vegetable scraps ready. If you have no scraps, use two large onions, a carrot or two and a few ribs of celery. Cut them up into hunks. They don't have to be chopped particularly well, they're going to get all the flavor boiled out of them and become a great addition to your compost. A rule of thumb: one part celery and carrots to four parts onion. Add a couple sprigs of thyme and twelve peppercorns.

Add water until everything is covered.

Bring water to a boil. As soon as it boils, lower heat. Simmer, partially covered, for 3-8 hours. 

Some people like to skim the fat off of their stock. I don't. It acts as a protective layer between the stock and bacteria.

When the stock simmers to my liking, I strain it into a giant bowl where I let it cool. Then I put it in tightly sealed containers and store it in my freezer. It lasts for up to three months. Any time you need to use it, you can put the frozen block in a double boiler, directly in a pot on low heat, in the fridge, if you're a good planner, or you can even melt it in the sink under a stream of running warm water.

I swear, once you eat chicken noodle soup with your homemade stock, you will never consider boxed stock again. Homemade chicken stock adds oomph to any and every chicken dish. It's also a great way to recycle veggie trash. And it's ridiculously cheap.

Give it a whirl.

Chicken and Yellow Rice,

Trixi

 

DIY: The Miracle that is Red Sauce

I've looked through all the cookbooks I have (a paltry 13. I never know which ones to buy when confronted with the decision!) and consulted the mighty internet, but I cannot come up with a consistent definition of marinara.

The general consensus defines marinara as a tomato sauce containing a hearty amount of vegetables, whether they be onions or bell peppers, carrots or celery, I find no specifics. Marinara must also have herbs, mostly basil. Tomato sauce on the other hand, lacks any additional veggies or herbs. Just some salt and pepper.

So, today I want to show you how easy making Red Sauce (eh, you like that?) is. I made an incredibly delicious Red Sauce with things I already had in my pantry. And so can you! 

I make a habit of buying canned tomatoes every time I'm at the grocery store. The more I cook, the more I notice how often canned tomatoes come in handy. For my Red Sauce I used a giant can of crushed tomatoes, but you can use any you have, as long as they have some sort of juice or puree in them.

Other things I noticed in my kitchen worthy of belonging in this sauce: a white onion, dried porcini mushrooms, bacon, garlic, red pepper flakes and rosemary.

I took the porcini mushrooms, put them in one cup of hot hot water to reconstitute them. The first time I ever had to reconstitute mushrooms, I was told to leave them in the water until the felt soft. No time frame. I left them in the water for five minutes. They were not reconstituted. The mushroom tartlets I made turned out hard and chewy. Let the mushrooms steep for up to 30 minutes. Even then, check the tenderness, remove any tough stems. 

Next, I heated up a splash of olive oil in my large casserole over medium-high heat. Once the oil began to bubble, I dropped in the four strips of bacon I'd chopped into little bits.

I cooked the bacon until it began to crisp and brown, stirring diligently to prevent burning. When the bacon turned golden, I added the onions and rosemary.

I sauteed the onions until they turned translucent. When their edges began to turn golden, I dropped in a handful of garlic. Garlic is incredibly sensitive to heat and will burn faster than you realize. Keep garlic to the outside of your veggies, so it comes in minimal contact with the burner heat. After about thirty seconds, I added a dash of red pepper flakes.

I added one 35 oz can of crushed tomatoes, the reconstituted porcini mushrooms and the mushroom broth (juice?). 

I then stirred and simmered until the sauce thickened (about 35 minutes).

And now I have a whole bunch of delicious Red Sauce in my refrigerator! Actually, I have one container in my refrigerator, expressly for the lasagna I plan on showing you how to make later. The rest I froze. It thaws in no time and is delicious on pizza, pasta, some vegetables, anything! See how easy that was? Add more, add less. You can make homemade red sauce in barely any time at all. And if you want to make pasta, you can just boil the pasta straight in the sauce, for an extra rich and delicious noodle.

Happy eating!

Kit and Kat,

Trixi

It's a Pizza Pizza Pizza Party!

Well, dearest internet, after a brief hiatus I am here to bombard you with recipes and links. I'd planned on posting this delicious pizza experiment after our show on Sunday. But, I could NOT find my camera cord anywhere. I searched high and low and low and high and even in the middle of things, but it was NO WHERE to be found.

About half an hour ago, my sister called me. I lamented over my lost camera cord. "Can't you just put the memory card in your computer?" She asks. Why, yes, actually, I can. Thanks, Nicole, for teaching this computer illiterate lady a new trick.

Last week Zambria, our lovely little friend Brittany, and I made SKILLET PIZZA.

Originally we wanted to make two pizzas, one with meat galore and one with delicious veggies. This was quite ambitious. After we ate that meat-tastic monster pizza lethargy set in and we played Boggle instead of making the second pizza.

I would love to share with you the guidelines of this recipe so you too can make a lip-smacking skillet pizza of your own.

For ANY Skillet Pizza You Need:

• Crust
• Sauce
• Cheese
• Toppings (for us it was a meat medley!)

Now, for the specifics of OUR recipe.

I made dough for the crust in the afternoon so it would have time to rise by Pizza O'Clock. You can use any dough recipe under the sun. I used an incredibly basic one this time, but have also used a Beer Bock crust that blew minds, well, my mind.

• 1 package active yeast
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp salt

Combine the yeast, sugar and water. If you're using a stand mixer, preform this step directly in the mixing bowl. Let the yeast mixture stand until foamy, about five minutes. 

Add the butter, flour and salt. Mix with the paddle attachment until dough begins to come together. Switch paddle with dough hook attachment. When the dough begins to slap the sides of the bowl and crawl up the hook, it's ready.  

On a floured surface, divide the dough into two balls. Place balls in two greased bowls. Cover and let rise at room temperature for AT LEAST an hour. I let it rise for about three hours. An overnight rising is ideal, but if you're like me, cooking foresight remains a black art. If you don't have the time or if you have some other good excuse, you can always buy pre-made pizza crust from your local grocer. 

I made a whole mess of Bacon Porcini Sauce, which is explained in my DIY: The Miracle of Red Sauce, but you can use ANY sort of sauce. Homemade or bottled.

Preheat your oven to 400F, positioning one rack on the bottom most notch in your oven and the other in the upper third of your oven.

Post sauce and dough prep, Zam and Brit headed over to casa de Trix. We sipped on some of Zam's homemade beers, and discussed the topping possibilities. What we landed on was a combo of some bacon pieces, ground beef, a crumbled sausage, onions and garlic. 

While I browned the meat to grey-pink perfection, Brittany shredded up a mess of mozzarella. And contrary to Brittany's belief, the cheese shredder has the most important job, because cheese shredding is the thing this lady hates the most. 

Now, these next steps take place very quickly. Heat your cast iron skillet, with about a tbsp of olive oil, over medium-high heat.

Begin stretching your dough. If you're a pizza pro, do those fancy flip things I don't understand. If you're not, just stretch it from the center out. Be careful not to thin dough too horribly much in the center. Once the dough looks roughly the size of your skillet, you can stop.

Make sure the skillet is super hot. Place dough in skillet. CAREFULLY push the outsides of the dough into the sides of the skillet.

This creates a dip-dish effect. The sides of your pizza will brown and crisp beautifully.

Quickly, spoon sauce over dough. (It's so quick, the spoon is a blur. See.)

Add a good portion of your cheese, followed by your selected topping.

In addition to mozzarella, we also added some blue cheese crumbles, you know, for maximum deliciousness. 

Now, place the skillet in the oven on the bottom rack. Leave in for about thirty minutes. Go check on your pizza. Make sure the crust is firming and starting to brown on the sides. If it is, place pizza on top rack for about five minutes to ensure maximum topping browning.

Now marvel at the beauty and ease of your homemade pizza. Wonder why you have ever eaten delivery or DiGiorno. AND EAT!

Chili and Dogs,

Trixi

Sandwich time!

Check this out, this guy is scanning his lunch every day. What a delicious plethora of sandwiches he has to show us!

http://scanwiches.com/

Just makes me want to eat sandwiches all the time... which I do anyway.

Today, in fact, at the Top Restaurant, Trixi and I were saddened to have missed their brunch, but the burger we chose surely made up for it. We had a "Good Morning Burger," tasty beef, with a fried egg, bacon and cheese on top.

Does a burger count as a sandwich? Perhaps a subset.

And what about having a runny yoke on a sandwich, is that scannable?

Lettuce and Tomato,
Zambria

What's For Dinner?

MEATLOAF!(& Friends)

While I know meatloaf conjures fits of nostalgia for a lot of people about like, good ol' momma cookin', but it was a food I would NOT EVER EAT as a child. Mostly because it was not macaroni and it was not spaghetti. But also because, in my mind, meatloaf seemed like a stop on the same exit as Bologna or canned tuna on the highway of deliciousness. And to me, that exit looks like a rest stop without lights, or a working toilet, only a vending machine that takes my money but will not for the love of god give me a soda!

"Hiss! Boo! You asshole!", you say. 

As would I, now.  

But I enlightened myself at the age of nineteen when I found a recipe for BBQ meatloaf. Now freed from meatloaf ignorance, I find myself on a quest for as many different delicious recipes I can find. 

THIS may be a viable contender for the title of Most Mouthwatering Meatloaf. 

Turkey Meatloaf with Sun-dried Tomatoes 

A Modified Recipe from the Bon Appetit Cookbook

(I know as soon as all of you meatloaf purists (if you exist, and I think you might) read the word "Turkey," you are doubting my credibility. And you would all be as silly as me before my BBQ Meatloaf Miracle.)

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped

PREHEAT the oven to 375F. 

Heat a splash of oil and a pad of butter in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the onion to the skillet. Saute the onion until fragrant and translucent. Add the celery. Continue to saute until the celery is soft. 

     (idea for next time: caramelize the onions, cook the celery separately, add carrots) 

Heavy bottomed skillets best distribute even heat, allowing a more even browning. If you don't have one, make sure you constantly move the vegetables.

Once done to your desired tenderness, remove vegetables from heat. Place in a bowl and cool until you can touch them with your hands. (Because I didn't. And it hurt.)  

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey
• 1 1/2 -- 1 3/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs from soft white bread
• 2/3 cup chopped drained oil-packed sundried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper

While you're waiting for that to cool, combine all of the above ingredients in a fairly large bowl. To the above list, I added some red pepper flakes and some herbes de provence. Add whatever you have! I wished I'd had some fresh herbs, particularly thyme. Pour in the vegetables. Mix until your fingers feel weird.

The cookbook called for a glass loaf pan, which I do not have. So I made it in a casserole. I thought it wouldn't make too much of a difference, but If the sides of my meatloaf had all the delicious crunchy pieces the bottom of it did, it would have been even more delicious. And I think that's what the glass pan provides.

I greased my pan with a bunch of butter, and I poured an 8 oz can of tomato sauce in the bottom of the pan (it keeps the loaf extra moist). I formed my loaf on top of the sauce. I put a bunch of ketchup on top of it and popped it in the oven for about an hour and a half. 

During which time, I made Pecorino Romano cheese mashed potatoes with green onions, garlic and shallots, corn on the cob and broccoli and squash with mustard butter.

By the time I'd finished with all the sides, the meatloaf was born!

TA-DA!

And then we ate and ate and ate and ate until we felt like THIS:

Barbie & Queue,

Trixi

Tell us what you like: a poll

The best New Year's Resolution that I ever made (and have probably most succeeded at) was to try all the foods that I didn't think I like, give them a second chance.

Kids tend to be picky and some more than others. There's a general consensus that maturity of taste comes with age. But that is the beauty of taste, each person has their own, regardless of age.

But we are curious, are there patterns in childrens' pickiness?

What kinds of foods do you like now, but didn't as a child?

Here's my list:
anything spicy (seriously, at all)
olives
dill pickles
scrambled eggs
fishier fishes

Let us know! We are curious.

Half & Half,
Zambria

These pretzels!

Hot damn, who knew I could make such super tasty soft pretzels... a super snack.

Makes 1 dozen.

Courtesy of The Joy of Cooking.

Combine:
1 pkg active dry yeast
and 1 cup 105-115 degree Fahrenheit water

(If you don't have a thermometer like me, I just boil water and combine half boiling and half chilled water, it should feel hotter than your personal temperature but not too hot.)

Let it react... You will see it happen.

Combine this with:
1.5cups sifted flour
2 tbsp softened butter (unsalted)
.5 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Mix (preferably whisk) for 3 minutes or more if you are feelin kinda crazy.

Add:
1.25 cups more sifted flour and knead until it isn't sticky any longer.
Let it sit, in a greased bowl, covered, until it doubles in size.

And then split into 12 even pieces. Roll each one into a skinny little dough stick, shape it into a pretzel (easier than it seems).

Let rise again. and set the oven to 475 F

Now SERIOUSLY....

Grease the baking sheet real good!

Boil:
4 cups water
5 tsp baking soda




Boil the pretzels in the mixture for one minute each and then garnish with salt, cinnamon and sugar, honey and mustard, or any thing you damn please. You know how pretzels taste, what would be awesome?

Bake at 475 degrees for 8-10 minutes, until they look pretty toasty.

Take it out, hopefully you greased it good enough. Even if not, they will just be a bit malformed.

Eat it, love it. Hopefully you need not store it, but if so.... airtight, up to a week.

Foodifesto

On our first show, we discussed how we think about food. Here it is, comment, add on, let us know what you think!

---------

The appreciation of food breeds respect for it.

We intend to cultivate this appreciation, in ourselves and hopefully in others.

We care how our food is produced, where and by whom.

Many of us have not gone hungry, a rarity in the world today, and due to this, we may become complacent in our food choices and take the abundance we experience in America today for granted.

It is easier for us not to think about the food we eat and what consequences exist because of it, but the world is in need of a sustainable and attainable way to produce enough food for all people and we need to figure out a way to do that.

So let's try.

Let's also learn to cook for ourselves with what we have on hand and continue to make delicious, creative food.

--------

Think about every decision(purchase) you make

Use what you are given

Give what you don't need

Be creative

--------

Rice and Beans,
Zam and Trix

Breakfast Sushi

Over beers at a local ale haunt, Zam and I discussed recipes we might like to show the world via our blog. Well, shot came to beer, Zam brought up sushi and VIOLA! Breakfast sushi birthed itself out of our brains, a veritable Athena of perishables!

Rather than go out and buy specific ingredients for said sushi, we utilized what lived in Zam's cabinets. We feel utilizing what's at hand not only conserves, but forces us to be as creative as possible. And that's half the fun of cooking!

For OUR sushi we used:

Crepes as Nori (a recipe modified from The Joy Of Cooking)

• 3/8 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp double acting baking powder
• 1 tbsp powdered sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/6 cup water
• dash vanilla

Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and powdered sugar. Beat egg in a medium sized bowl. Add milk, water and vanilla to egg.

Make a well in the dry ingredients. Pour the egg mixture into your well. Mix together enough so all ingredients are wet, be careful not to overmix. Bubbles will work themselves out, don't worry.

You can leave the batter in the fridge to rest for up to 6 hours. At least 1 hour of rest is recommended. We ignored this step and our crepes still turned out quite crepelicious.

Use a pan roughly the size of your desired crepe. Heat it thoroughly. Splash a drop of water on the pan to test the heat. It's super important that the pan is HOT! Now, add a couple drops of oil. Seriously, only a couple. We added too much oil at first and it just drowned the crepe batter.

Put a scant ladle full of batter on the pan. Pick up the pan and spread the crepe batter out by tilting the pan back and forth, side to side.

Leave the crepe alone for a minute or two. Using a spatula, flip your crepe if it's ready. While, traditionally, you want to let the crepe brown, for breakfast sushi you only want it slightly browned, if even. The key is to make sure your crepe is still flexible enough to wrap around your other ingredients.

Crepes done!

For the filling:

• Eggs (we used two)
• Onion
• Mushrooms (about 3 or 4 of any varietal)
• Canned Ham

We beat the eggs with a splash of milk and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Scrambled them. Then cut them up super tiny, like mock rice.

The onions, mushrooms  and ham we cut into strips, the way you would cut any sushi stuffer. We cooked the onions very slightly, so they retained their crunch for texture. The mushrooms we cooked a fair amount and we browned the canned ham (which, after cooking was delicious, but before cooking smelt like a freshly dressed wound).

Preheat your oven to 375.

To build your sushi, lay out a crepe. Scatter a thin layer of chopped eggs on top. Lay out the insides on the part of the crepe closest to you. Roll up your crepe. If you have one of those fancy bamboo sushi mats, you can use that to make the crepe as tight as possible. 

Place the crepe in the oven for about 6 minutes so all your ingredients return to a tasty temperature. 

Remove. Using as sharp a knife as possible (which we lacked at casa de Zam), cut your crepe into little sushi bites.

Now look how fancy you are!

We made a really easy cheesy dipping sauce, because everyone loves to dip! For it we used some colby cheese, a little milk and 3 whole hot peppers. Zesty.

It turned out surprisingly tasty for a brain child born at a bar. Things I would like to suggest to anyone else wanting to make breakfast sushi:

• Keep in mind texture and color. Contrast is key! Sushi is a food designed for show. It's all about color and texture! I really wanted something green for the insides, like green onions or peas. But, alas, we had none. Also, keeping the onions on the more crunchy side (Zam's brilliant idea) was awesome. Maybe putting something even crunchier in, like sprouts or anything fried, would be ideal.
• Anything at all can be a wrapper for this. Originally, I was thinking bacon. I really wanted to wrap the whole thing in bacon and fry it. BACON!
• Dipping sauce, while not necessary, brings it all together. If we'd had some pepperjack that would have been real nice. But, at any rate, I recommend SPICY.

Go sushi your faces off!

Fish and Chips,
Trixi and Zam