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.