I went and got my tubbiness into gear on the trail around Buntzen Lake. My brother, in his munificence, came along so that I wouldn't be alone and that he could make sure I didn't roll down a hill with my spheroid nature.

Well, that and the weather was great.

These pictures are for everyone but for Doug especially. Dude, if you do make it here, I'll do everything in my power to take you on this and other nice lake/forest/mountain trails.

And yes, I have nothing better to do on New Year's Eve. I'm lazy, sue me.

( Trees, trees and more trees!  )

As promised, I have photos for everyone from me attempting to cook a palatable Christmas dinner.

 

Me stirring a pot.



Me preparing stuff for the Christmas dinner. About 9+ hours in total of preparation (2-3 of baking the day prior, 6+ the next).



The spinach, Bosc pear, red onion, and mango salad, topped with walnuts. A dressing of balsamic vinegar, sugar, lime, and olive oil to the side. A surprisingly good balance and match.



A wintermelon soup with a base of shrimp shells, soup carrot, lotus roots, and chicken stock; garnished with some diced scallions.

 

Renkon gyoza - boiled lotus roots, sliced crosswise and then sliced again to make a sandwich (or more like a clamshell shape), stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, shrimp, scallions, light soy sauce, sugar, cooking wine, and corn starch. I had too much stuffing so I also stuffed firm Korean-style tofu in the same manner. Then pan-fried.

Two sauces to accompany - the first made from dark soy/ginger/sugar/scallions (slightly heated), the second from lime juice/honey/serrano chili/salt/ginger/scallions. Good contrasting sauces that helped to augment the flavor of the crunchy, satisfying gyoza.

  

Osso buco - veal shanks dredged and seasoned, then browned, the pan then deglazed with white wine and concentrated down. In a large pot, mirepoix sauteed with salt, then the shanks, wine redux, beef stock, and more white wine were added along with diced tomatoes, bay leaves and thyme. Pepper was then added and the thing was simmered for a very long time. Served with a squash and potato gnocchi, a little sweeter than standard gnocchi and a great counterpoint to the stew and a lovely base for the spicy 2000 Andretti sangiovese.

Lobster bee hoon - stock made from chicken, lemon grass, dried shrimp Singapore-style (shrimp-bilis), and the lobster head first made. Then, garlic, onion and ginger are sauteed until the onion is slightly browned, upon which the stock (elements strained out) is added along with the lobster, cooking wine, and fish sauce. Lobster removed once it is cooked, and the bee hoon added for 5-10 minutes, then the sauce is thickened with corn starch. Arrange the noodles in a bowl, top with lobster, and garnish with cilantro and scallions. Amazing dish - full-bodied, a plethora of citrus and seafood flavors, and a pleasure to slurp down (the noodles get kind of wet regardless).

Dish #6 (grilled salmon + vegetables) was superfluous - people were already full. Apple pie and pecan tarts not photographed, but the caramel used for the pecan tarts separated and so I ended up topping the tarts with something looking like maple sugar. Baking again, it browned slightly but the tarts looked a little like mold was growing on them. Oh well, they still tasted good.

Overall, a great way to relax for the day. I'd have a more in-depth description (and I actually did), but right now I'm a little annoyed that my computer froze just as I was about to hit submit. Sigh.

Anyway, any critiques of my cooking are welcome! Happy holidays! 
 

New tenants were moving in to the third floor of my parents' building yesterday, which meant we no longer had anywhere convenient to stay. Thus, we decided to hit the road and split the 17-hour drive into two days. I think 11 hours feels just as long as 17 does. We got to Seneca Falls around dinner time yesterday, ate at the only restaurant downtown, and then got to Albany around 1230 today. The early bird was just starting, and no one is here to entertain me who isn't playing. Jeremy gets here soon enough, so I'm keeping myself busy with farming and word twist.

I am ambivalent about this tournament. This is usually the right attitude going in. I plan to spend a bit of time looking at high prob bingos today, once I get checked into my room and settled in. I couldn't decide whether UNRAISED was a word in a game at chicago club the other day. Oy.

Tags: albany

Add chef_monkey to keep up with our meals on your friends list. Thanks for setting up the feed, kismet09!

It's time once again for my favorite annual night of television tonight. The Kennedy Center Honors, CBS, 9pm ET. Honoring Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert DeNiro, and Bruce Springsteen. It should be a great show, as always.

over at chefmonkey.blogspot.com. all my kitchen blogging will move here from now on, so if you enjoy the recipes, please subscribe or visit from time to time.

we're in chicago - it's been a reasonable temperature, and we're ensconced on the empty third floor until the renters move in on 12/29 - it's nice to have the big space all to ourselves, although it'd be even better with some furniture and a mattress with more support than a cushion of air. i think we'll leave on the 29th to make the trek to the ithaca area, and then tim will drop me in albany from there.

highlights have been seeing the nephews, working out at the fancy gym and lots of food and presents (highlights include ugg boots, new bathrobe, a bunch of dvds and cds including Glee vol 2, and tons of chocolate).

xmas brunch: two types of baked french toast, dutch baby pancakes, cream scones, fresh fruit and cheese plates, hash browns, corned beef hash, bacon, sausage, and frittata.

xmas dinner: prime rib, catalan style swiss chard, green beans, rice, three cheese sourdough bread, glazed carrots, cake with fresh fruit and meringue.

and then last night, the parents sent us to mercat a la planxa, jose garces' tapas place downtown. we had eight tapas: flash fried peppers with salbitxada; three cheese plate (pau w/chocolate hazelnut puree, ombra with orange-guindilla marmalade, and cana de cabra with strawberries and balsamic reduction - i drank all the balsamic it was so good); escalivada with roasted peppers, cipollinis, eggplant and tomato confit; patatas bravas; roasted brussels sprouts with bacon, feta, and garbanzos; wild mushroom saute with potatoes and onions; duck breast with seckel pears and a duck confit & foie gras crepe.

the food last night was excellent - it was well-timed as far as when the courses were brought out, and the flavors were unique and excellent. the duck with the duck crepe was by far my favorite - it was ridiculously rich, small enough that i wasn't overwhelmed by it, but big enough to feel like i'd gotten a good serving.

we went to see Addams Family after that - it's in preview in Chicago. Hard to go wrong with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth in the title roles, but the show was kinda dumb - the story wasn't that interesting, and there were no stand-out songs. Maybe people who like the tv/movie a lot will appreciate the show more. The hardest part was Nathan Lane's accent -- it felt like it wavered from Spanish to Italian to Jewish. Meh. Also, Terrence Mann is one of my favorite broadway actors, and his main song was about his tryst with a giant squid - kind of a waste of his talent. But, it was fun, the voices were great, and it's always nice to get to the theater.

Tags: celebrations, chicago, family, food

Well, I hope everyone has been having a good winter. Life's too short to not be enjoying oneself once in a while.

Today, I spent 7 hours doing what people would call torture but what I call a well-deserved hiatus trying to cook. I expect that i will get a cooking rating of root i, but I gave it my best.

I have photos, but I just want to let people think of how badly I botched the following:

1) Spinach salad with Bosc pears, Filipino mangoes, red onions, and walnuts, topped with a balsamic/citrus/sugar based dressing

2) A soup based off of a base of chicken stock, boiled shrimp shells, a soup carrot, and lotus roots, with wintermelon boiled within and a chiffonade of green onions for garnish

3) Renkon gyoza, the stuffing being a mix of diced shrimp, ground pork, Chinese cooking wine, sugar, soy sauce, and green onions, sandwiched between either braised lotus roots or firm blanched tofu, served with two sauces (one a combination of dark soy/sugar/ginger, heated slightly, the other a combination of chili/lime/honey/green onions/a touch of salt) 

4) Osso buco with potato and squash gnocchi

5) Lobster bee hoon

6) Grilled salmon with oven-roasted spears of asparagus and carrots

7) Pecan caramel tart cookies

8) Apple pie

I'll have to get someone else to do the review for it... cooking wise I have to give myself an A before we get to the desserts. There, I give myself B+ not counting presentation aspects; counting that I give myself an F (the revenge of the deformed pancake chef!).

Well, now to ask the question: do people want to see the junk I made? Or is my menu repulsive enough that people want to bleach their eyes from the text, not even wanting to think about the horrors of my actual attempts at cuisine?

Take care! I know I will, from the nice bottle of '00 Andretti sangiovese and '06 Dr Loosen riesling (both good wines, though the first is very near the end of its shelf life but the second is *sublime*).

dec 25 2009
dec 25 2008

I need recommendations for good iPod touch apps.

Anyone?  Bueller?