The Clever Chef

Embarking on a new adventure

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:59:28 -0800

I found, a few months ago, that I really missed baking bread nearly weekly. The bread I baked wasn't really daily-eating bread, but it was fun and there's nothing like the smell of dough in the oven, being transformed into something supremely delicious. I've been working on my breadmaking skills, and I think I'm getting better. I've made a series of doorstop-style loaves, which I believe had fallen due to over-proofing. I've been studying the chemistry of bread, from the way that gluten forms and how yeast eats all the bits of sugar its fed. Reading, however, doesn't seem to really be helping in and of itself. I'm dealing with a crap oven in a rental apartment, the wildly varying temperature of Portland's summer, and craziness in the moisture. Despite this all, I started a culture about 7 days ago which has become a proper sourdough starter (using Susan's awesome instructions), and it's happily eating whatever I give it with great abandon. And thus, this, dear readers, is what I'll be using tonight to make my first sourdough loaves. The bf and I went down to Bob's Red Mill last Saturday and purchased a ton of flours (well, okay, so maybe 30#), and I have a feeling I'll be baking up a storm this fall and winter. I am going to track this sourdough bread with photos to show you my triumph (or utter failure to bake bread that looks like bread)! Hopefully with more tomorrow... wish me luck!

Best Ever Chicken Salad

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:23:51 -0800

In this house, we like chicken salad. Did I say like? Nay, we adore our chicken salad. It's right up there with Awesome Fish Tacos and Roast Chicken in the major rotation of standard meals. In fact, the aforementioned roasted chicken regularly makes its second (and third) appearance at the dining room table as this mixture. We put it atop mixed greens, between slices of bread, on crackers, and stuffed into fresh pita. It just goes with everything.

Lamburger and Fishwich Double-Feature!

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:36:29 -0800

So I'm putting these both into one entry not only because I am lazy, but because the most cookingest part of both of these is the meat, and you can really add whatever and eat these in any way. The lamburger is a standard recipe I use for most any kind of ground meat (with at least 16% fat), and it is fantastic with most any stuffing, especially bleu cheese. The fishwich is another standard recipe that I use for not only large fish patties but homemade fish fingers/fish sticks, and can be applied to any good thick piece of fish with ease. I'll add my recipe for mayonnaise, which is the base for the aioli on the lamburger (while the aioli is the base of the "tartar sauce" I use on the fishwiches) in another post (sorry! it's a ton more writing! ^_^ ).

Savory Pain Perdu with Strawberries

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 17:45:38 -0800

I know, I need to get the recipes up for the Stuffed Lamburger, Fishwich, and Stuffed Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Prosciutto, but what I ate this morning was incredibly fantastic, and since all of the ingredients are in season right now (at least in Oregon), so I wanted to get the recipe up post-haste. The idea for this recipe was thought up when the boyfriend and I were in Canada a few weeks ago and making the most out of having a television in our hostel room by watching Food Network and the Discovery Channel whenever we were stagnant. We picked up an episode of Iron Chef: America in which the "battle food" was breakfast. I remember skipping this episode on the boyfriend's TiVo way back in the day, because I was morally opposed to "breakfast" being the "secret ingredient" in IC:A. Breakfast? Ridiculous. We ended up watching the whole thing and I took as many notes as possible. There was a point where I was trying to figure out how some certain ingredients were going to work together: marscarpone, garlic, basil, and strawberries. It made me think back to the days when my mom and I would go to the garlic festival in Gilroy, California - I had had a strawebrry shortcake with garlic cream that was fantastic. But that was over 15 years ago, and who knows how my tongue was working back in those days.

The ingredients on IC:A ended up going to 2 different dishes, but the idea was already rooted into my psyche, and I couldn't think of anything better to put together for Sunday breakfast.

Dinner tonight

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 22:24:15 -0800

Well, that was an epic fail. See how I set myself up to do something I'm not sure I can do and see where it gets me. So let's start over again. I made a really tasty fish dish tonight (alliteration!) that I took no photos of, but I can sure write it down. For the porn part of the food blog, take a look at these photos, and maybe I'll grace the site with recipes for them soon as well.

(more after the link-jump)

Okonomiyaki, fuck yeah

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:23:25 -0800

There's not a whole helluva lot I can say about okonomiyaki besides it is the ultimate awesome-leftover killer. With a base of the disgusting-sounding batter with cabbage (added to flour, baking soda, dashi, water), this stuff is really quite amazingly good. Of course, at the end, it's covered in sauce and mayo, so who doesn't like that? Some important stuff to remember: the dashi really does make this stuff work. I had some homemade stock I made from leftover yellowtail tuna, bonito, and seaweed. My house stank for 3 days, but the stock is indispensible in Japanese cooking. You can pick up tiny bottles of the dry stuff, but I can't vouch for it (though that's what I do use for my tamagoyaki). I have not used the mountain yam, which is supposed to make this stuff extra-good, because I have been too lazy to have someone pick it up for me at one of the myriad of Asian food markets within a 2-mile radius my my house.

Virginia Cafe*, and current musings

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:20:13 -0800

I've been trying to figure out what to include on this site. Seems rather silly, doesn't it, for a so-called cooking site. The Clever Chef. The issue with that is that I am certainly not a chef. And clever? Not unless you catch me somewhere between 4pm and dinnertime.

There are some days when I cook up a storm - from bread to bagels and lunch and dinner all from scratch - and other days, nil (tonight, sushi!). I experiment far too much to feel comfortable printing recipes, really - there's always something to be improved upon.

Lately, however, I've been reading a lot about food - I've just finished Evan Jones' "American Food", a stoic 400+ page history and recipe archive rolled into one. I made the baked beans - fantastic. But it doesn't take a cook to figure beans + salt pork + molasses + maple syrup + heat + time = fabulous. Besides that, I'm still making a ton of Japanese food (okonomiyaki this weekend), and after a trip to Fubonn, making no less than 3 lotus root recipes, sesame noodles (based upon Deb's recipe, the dressing lacking in "oomph"), a sweet chili-sauce purchase, and coriander use (an ignored herb for the most part).

It's been food, food, food for the past... well, ever, and I've nothing to write? Can't be possible, can it? Yet somehow I'm stuck and you end up with this drivel.

Thus - at least a post per week - a promise. I can't ensure goodness, quality, or completeness. And god help me if I just start spouting off Michael Polan inspired rhetoric. But maybe I can make this work. Oh, and if I state what I'll be writing about next and the end of each post, I'll remember to take photos.

So, next post? Okonomiyaki. See you then!

*Tonight's post was written 4/25/2008, long-hand at Virginia Cafe, downtown Portland, after a very long day at work.

Corned Beef Hash

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:20:32 -0800

So I said, "I need to start blogging this shit again," and here I am. Nearly 2 years since I got just too damned lazy to blog about food, I'm starting it back up again. Moreso because I'm having a lot of fun actually making different recipes and baking. Yes, baking, something I'd been so scared to really experiment with, due to pretty much what happens nearly every time I bake - I end up disappointed. However, that is a tale for another post. This tale is about corned beef.

72 Hours for Gravlax: a journey

Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:37:24 -0800

That's right: a journey. A journey of self-discovery. A journey of learning. A journey of patience. A journey of thrift. And at last, a destination of sweet salty tasty melt-in-your-mouth salmon.

Gravlax, much like it's cousin lox, is good on thing such as crackers, bagels & cream cheese, and plain by itself. However, unlike lox, gravlax is simply cured salmon, and can be made at home. I suppose one could make lox at home, too, if one had a smoker, and this one doesn't have a smoker.

It takes 72 hours to make gravlax. It could take longer, but I'm impatient. My first batch of gravlax cost me a total of about $4.50 for approximately 4 servings. As you may see, gravlax is much cheaper than lox, which was the main reasoning behind making it. I <3 me the lox, but can't afford the massive Costco package every 2 weeks. Plus, the Costco package? Is too big for one person to eat. So here we go.

Gravlax (center) presented with hummus (left) and ajvar (right).

Sorry....

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 09:25:34 -0800

After the husband and I got back from Montana over Memorial Day weekend, I couldn't find my camera battery charger. While my battery was drained dry, I made many amazing things. However, I found the battery charger last Friday, and, with the help of Helen Corbitt, started making Gravlax. Since Gravlax is a 48-72 hour process, it should be done this evening, and once it's sliced, diced, and tasted, there will be a new entry up here.
Also, a very Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, who is my taste-tester, dish washer, test subject, and best friend. Everybody at once: aaaaawwwwwww....

A return from haitus: Chicken Gumbo

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 18:54:45 -0800

My mom made gumbo every once in a while while I was growing up, and I still think that her gumbo is better than any I've ever had at any restaurant, no matter where that restaurant may be. Mom lived in the Virgin Islands for a while before I was born, which is where she learned this recipe. She gave me the info for the base, and I just added into it some southernish greens and made a couple of changes to make it kosher. The recipe is relatively simple, but takes time. Making the roux itself takes almost 40 minutes and should not be attempted by someone who has lack of stamina, heart palpatations, or is less than 50' tall, as it must be stirred constantly.

That warning aside, this gumbo will knock your southern socks off:

How much Lettuce can one eat?

Thu, 25 May 2006 18:07:42 -0800

A lot, I'll bet. There is an amazing variety of lettuces out there, not to metion everything else with which a salad can be made. And, with all the dressings available these days... but lettuce and dressing does not a proper salad make. It takes... love... feeling... understanding the greens, the accoutrements, and above all, the dressing. The flavors must meld together perfectly, creating a balance of sweet, savory, sour, and salty. The texture should be varied - soft, crunchy, smooth, rough.

You know I'm totally full of shit, right? Salads are like the easiest thing to make next to pouring a glass of milk. While not necessarily something one would serve to guests at a non-vegetarian-un-hipster-non-minimalist dinnerparty, this first salad offering is easy to make and effing lovely to eat. I persent to you Steak'n Salad:

Cucumber Soup with Wasabi-Avocado Cream

Tue, 23 May 2006 17:50:03 -0800

Continuing with the streak of cooking as little as possible, I present to you Cucmber Soup with Wasabi-Avocado Cream:

Ch-ch-chinese Chicken Salad, bitchez

Wed, 17 May 2006 18:12:54 -0800

The weather here in sunny Boise Idaho has turned for the worse. For the past 3 days, the heat (95Â°F!!!!) has been leaving me ignoring the kitchen, prefering to eat out than to deal with the heat. It looks like gazpacho and multitudes of cold salads are in my future, starting with this one.

The only "cooked" part is a piece of chicken, and one totally doesn't need to be in the kitchen to watch chicken cook in the oven. The finished product was exactly what I was hoping for, and I'm thinking about making the exact same thing tonight. So awesomely good!!

Strawberry Turnovers with Lemon-Honey Sauce

Mon, 15 May 2006 17:02:21 -0800

Coming up with a pareve dessert can be taxing, to say the least. Since I was making a chicken curry for the guests on mother's day, I needed a sweet that was dairy-less, but didn't want to go with the Maneschewitz brownie mix left over from Passover and fruit. I remembered I had some puff pastry squares purchased a while ago with grand plans of a savory pot-pie-type of creation that never came to fruition (and all the better that it didn't, really). Coupled with some fresh strawberries, jam, and a tossed-together lemon-honey sauce, these turnovers turned out awesomely. The other great thing about then is that while they may be carbalicious, they're relatively low in calories (in comparison to many other desserts that are caloricful).

Hop!