Geographical Pinball

Current Location - Campbell, CA. Duration - 8 hours thus far

Before that - Driving up the 5 from Escondido, CA. Visited Stone Brewing Co. with some friends from back in the day and a fellow brewer who works there. Ate well, drank well, thoroughly impressed with what Stone is doing. Arrogant Bastards.

! step back - San Diego for a night, watched Natural Born Killers, loved it. Made honey-maple bacon, chocolate raisin oatmeal, and scrambled eggs with fresh tomato salsa and brie. Also made a video about tea-making which will make it to the internet if I can convince my phonebot to speak to my computebot.

Before that - Escondido Briefly for a beer and catching up with old Davis food scientists and associated crew.

That all was prefaced by two weeks in West L.A. - time spent with good friends and family, starting new ventures and enjoying life to the fullest. I look forward to returning after...

...The current plan..

My farmer friend in Pleasanton hasn't called me back, so I may just go to Milpitas to do a stuff exchange with my storage, then on to Fremont for a birthday party of an old friend, then to Davis tonight to brew beer tomorrow... or maybe Berkeley tonight - the plan is still up in the air.

I'll be in Davis/Sacramento for most of this week - The Auspicious Ox Truffle Dubbel should be ready to package or at least mature some more. There are more beers to brew and more things to do. Saturday will be a special day, and I will tell more about that when the time is right.

I need to make money in the short-term to finance long term goals. I am still searching for lucrative possibilities.

Be well, World. I'm coming.

A Blog A Day

Yesterdays news is today's breakfast. Here's the story behind that one:

I woke up feeling much better today, but I knew what I had to do. Rather than just reheat yesterdays oats in a microwave, I would go beyond what was expected. Of course, if you know me, this is to be expected.

I wanted to pan fry my oatmeal, much like a piece of polenta. I had about two cups of yesterdays prepared chocolate banana nut oatmeal. First I spread the oatmeal out about 3/8 of an inch thin, and put a layer of unsalted rye cracker crumbs on the bottom and top. When sliced and fried, this yielded a crusty glop that tasted good, but not quite good enough.

So I added 2 eggs, 1/3 of a cup of brown sugar, dried cranberries, more cracker crumbs, and time. If I had to do it all over again, I would only use one egg.

Why? I was trying to remove moisture. The second egg was a lot of extra moisture, and all I really wanted from the egg was binding. The excess moisture was why I chose sugar instead of a syrup, dried fruit over fresh, added the crackers, and let it sit so that the moisture could redistribute.

The resulting batter fried up in clarified butter very nicely, and would make a great snack any time of day, cool or hot. I made enough that they had time to cool, and some of my fellow eaters reheated the oatcakes in the toaster oven, with delicious results.



...Meanwhile...


I can't just sit idly by in a kitchen, cooking one thing at a time, waiting, lolligagging. So I roasted a chicken for tonight's meal. All the veg is organic, as far as I know. Here's what I started with:

Large roasting pan (4 inch deep sides, oval shape
grapeseed oil
2 large yams
frozen bones from the last chicken
frozen beef shank bones from the past
1 whole kosher organic chicken, no giblets
5 apples on the border of being past their prime
1 onion
salt and pepper, of the freshly ground variety
1/3 fresh lemon

oiled the bottom of the roasting pan.
quartered yams lengthwise, arrange tightly in bottom of pan with room around all sides
fill the perimeter of the roasting pan with old bones such that they touch the bottom of the pan
massage chicken (it's been tightly packed in a little plastic coffin for who knows how long...it needs some stress relief! Martin Yan showed me that.)
place chicken breast side down on top of yams, surrounded on all sides by bones.
quarter and 'seed' apples, and add them to the perimeter of the pan. I did not peel them, because they will be peeled after cooking.
chop onion (about 1/4" squares) and drizzle over entire pan (we're going for carmelization here)
salt and pepper people!
seperate peel from flesh of lemon, and slice peel in strips, and flesh in slices. The peel will release it's aroma and oils much faster this way, without being 'cooled' by the wetness of the flesh. scatter over top of pan.

Since the bones were frozen, the whole thing sat uncovered in a warm oven at 200 degrees for half an hour to defrost everything. at which point, the heat was turned up to 375 for 2 hours.

The whole pan has been removed and is resting, covered. This is very important, because the heat will be distributed evenly, and the chicken will stay moist and delicious, not chewy and tough. I'm going to strip the carcass when it is cool, the use for the meat I have not yet decided. the apples will be peeled and combined with the onions and possibly the yams in a applemash that should taste...amazing.


...and so...


Now I'm working on "The business". I am a consultant. What do I consult? Well, for starters, anyone who is in the business of making, distributing, or selling beer. and wine. and food. It's very simple- I have dedicated my life to the pursuit of quality in everything I do, especially food and drink. I only ask to be reimbursed for my time. Speaking of it, time is of the essence. I must be off.

I'm currently in LA, I'll be in San Jose around Monday, and I'll be in Davis next week. I'm planning on returning to LA after for a couple more weeks for car repairs and business opportunities.

I look forward to seeing you.

Blogging for breakfast

First things first: breakfast.

I woke up this morning feeling none too happy in the colon region, so I figured I need some fresh whole grain delicious to clear everything out. so here's what I did:

I found the heaviest, most awesome pot I could find - it happened to be of the "Le Creuset" enameled variety - and put it on low and added dry oatmeal until it was about 1/4 to 1/3 full of oats. I then added a dash of ground allspice. The guests so far were dry toasted by stirring them for a few minutes, and some water was put in the kettle to boil.



When I felt that the oats were sufficiently toasty, I added some soy milk from the fridge to cool everything and slow the cooking party down. Once the water was boiling, I covered the oats with water and set to work rough chopping some dried mango, which immediately joined the festivities.

Of course you can't have oat meal without some butter and honey, so a half-pat of butter went in, as well as something like two tablespoons of smoked mesquite honey joined the mix as well. After tasting, the oats were still starchy, so they got more water (as much as i could safely put into the pot). Then I added some time.



The end was drawing near; I knew I would have to finish this thing, so I gathered what I had before me:

candied pecans, crushed by me
dried fruit & nut medley
cocoa powder
almond oil
one half banana, sectioned lengthwise, chopped.

Once the oats were edible (and the fridge door was re-organized, my other project of the morning), all of the above went in with a hearty stir to lift up all of the delicious that had crusted onto the bottom. If I had not stirred vigorously, the bottom would have required a soaking to clean up - but not here, no muss, no fuss. The only evidence is delicious, nutritious oatmeal - which I immediately set about devouring with the help of a dear friend.

FOOD.

The concept of food can mean any number of things – nourishment, fuel, family, satisfaction. To those in the business, it can be associated with stress, work, frustration, artistic expression, the pursuit of consistency, and if you’re both lucky AND good, profits. After a lifetime of sampling, I’ve eaten the good, the bad, and ugly, and I’m very happy to add another experience to the ‘good’ category. Food – something so simple, I wish I had thought of it.



Go to food-la.com. Go to Pico and Prosser in LA and experience for yourself what food can and should be, and wonder what you were doing before. The food is fantastic – good ingredients made well without the fuss of hosts, waiters, and tablecloths. Food is very accessible:


Go to the counter – peruse the baked goods, the deli counter, the blackboard which offers sandwiches salads, pastas, and so forth. The sheet of butcher paper describes the daily specials. It all looked too good; it is a pity to have only one stomach.




My only bone to pick (although to be fair, there were no bones on the menu) was the lackluster beer selection. I’m not faulting any of the beers on display, but they only cover one section of the beer palette – the mild flavored lager category. Anderson Valley’s Oatmeal Stout is a notable exception, and I went to purchase one to accompany my meal, but my surprise I was alerted that I could not legally consume it on-premise. This is alarming to me, since I consider beer to be food! I was told that Food has a license to sell it, but not to serve it. They inherited their license from the PW market that owned the space before them, and did not alter it to allow for serving when they took over the space.



I spoke with Judy, the owner, and she said she has plans to petition for a license to serve in the coming months. In the meantime, I will suggest a few beers that they should carry in the meantime. I can think of a few beers I would like to have with delicious food, but now I’m going to open the floor to you, internet – what beers would you want to drink in a take-out situation?

twenty5

So, you probably already know what the "internet" is. You may understand the concept of a "web" of "sites", where different "information" is available. One such site is known as "facebook", where people can network, socially.

One such social networking example is the current "meme" of writing 25 random things about yourself for all to see. Since I write so little as it is (at least publicly), I will republish here what I wrote there.

Without further ado: Twentyfive Randumb Things About Me.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)


1. I have $2.10 in nipples, in the form of two silver dollars and a dime.

2. I have not shaved since the first of January.

3. My left pupil is larger than the right because of a badminton injury in high school. I recently learned that I could have sued for thousands of dollars since it permanently affected my vision.

4. #3 happened the week before I ran for class office, and I had to stay home for a week. My friend Derek delivered a speech on my behalf, and in that speech I made a joke about losing my sight from masturbation, which was the only thing cut from the speech.

5. I did not have a cell phone my first year in college, een though I had one in college.

6. I cannot stand TV journalism. The bulk of my news comes through NPR and Google Reader.

7. I have seen everything on homestar runner, multiple times.

8. After working for a thrift store I will not pay more than $5 for a shirt, regardless of style, type, or amount of dressiness.

9. When people ask me where I live, I point to my body.

10. If I could be any sea creature, it would be a walrus.

11. I did not pass 8th grade because I refused to do homework. I had to summer school that summer to get into high school.

12. I never graduated from D.A.R.E. because I never completed the binder and was sick on the day of graduation.

13. I don’t believe that the number 13 is unlucky, and I choose it if 77 or 21 are unavailable.

14. I don’t believe that digital privacy exists.

15. My favorite Disney movie was ‘Sword in the Stone”

16. I love watching movies, but almost never initiate going out to see them.

17. I set my phone to ‘alarrm only’ mode when I go to sleep.

18. One time as an adolescent, I wanted to reheat pizza at night without using a microwave, so I placed it directly on the electric ‘burner’ on the stove. I set off the fire alarm and woke up my whole family.

19. I’m convinced that my life is a physical comedy considering how clumsy I am and how many things I break. Case in point: While wearing an extremely long scarf, I was putting on my shoe while standing upright. I stepped into the shoe and pinned the end of the scarf between my foot and the shoe, and briefly choked myself.

20. I acted in a play of The Diary of Anne Frank in high school, and was the only Jewish actor, playing the only non-Jewish part.

21. If I pick up a cotton ball, I will get the goose bumps, without fail. I can make my hair stand on end just by thinking about it.

22. My favorite show on TV is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, favorite character – Charlie.

23. My favorite beer is…the one I am about to drink.

24. Both of my parents are diabetic, which was instrumental in my fixation with food.

25. I am very happy that you spent the time to read this.

Celebrate Winter Salad

I was invited to a dinner party, and asked to make salad. I knew I would make the dressing on location, and I was within walking distance of a Vons (aka Safeway), so this is what I bought:

a bunch of red radishes
two clementines (cuties)
1 carrot
1 pound of organic mixed greens
sunkist almond accents - sliced almonds with a butter toffee coating
1 anaheim pepper
1 anise bulb
1 square of treasure cove wax-coated blue cheese
organic seasoned croutons

Here is what was done to the salad 'greens' : all went in to a large bowl.

Wash your vegetables.

radish - tops removed, quartered by my mother
clementines - peeled, sectioned, seeded, and 4 sections reserved for dressing, also by my mother
carrot- shaved with a vegetable peeler by my business partner, zack
pepper- split, seeded, and inside of flesh scraped (to minimize the spice), chopped.
anise- split in half longitudinally, and the inner core was removed. then cuts were made from the bottom up to make pieces aprox. 1 inch wide, then sliced at 1/4 inch intervals.
blue cheese- wax removed, cheese crumbled by hand and served on the side.

The Dressin'

These things were added to a bowl

olive oil - 2 tablespoons
dry marsala wine - 1 tablespoon
2 dashes hot sauce
Worcestshire sauce - 1 1/2 tablespoon
Stone Ground Mustard - 2 tablespoon
red wine vinegar - 1 tablespoon
balsamic vinegrette - 1 tablespoon
juice from 4 clementine segments
juice from 1/6th of a lemon
juice from 1/6th of a lime

The dressing was added to everything previously mentioned (except the greens and cheese)
after 10 minutes, the greens were added, the salad was tossed, cheese served on the side, and then it was consumed, in entirety.

New Life

Newly rescued Thyme next to it's would-be plastic coffin.

My Dad buys these "Living Herbs" products, which are a living planter of a specific herb. I'm wondering if you can just buy one, plant it, and be set. He had a basil and thyme that were a bit old and worse for the wear, and he had already bought fresh versions of those and a rosemary

I planted the old ones, and took a few sprouts from the new ones and planted those as well. I hope these plants can be rescued, so that my dad's pocketbook can be rescued too. Living in Northern California, I will never pay money for Rosemary considering how prevalent and hearty it is.

Oh, hello slightly-moldy basil. A pleasure to meet you.

I don't know much about transplanting and such, but these plants are in moist soil, and will get plenty of morning sun. They are also right outside the kitchen, which means they'll get checked more often and probably eaten more often. Go plants, Go!

The newest of the new, Rosemary joins the party.