Happy Kiss-Me-I’m-a-Drunk-Caucasian Day

As anyone who has seen me in person can attest, I am not of Irish ancestry. So when it comes to St. Patrick’s Day, I’m not that interested. I don’t wear green, or get more drunk than usual. Nor do I consume green-tinted beer, or green-tinted anything else, for that matter. 

Musings on Processed Foods, Special Equine Edition

Food has been in the news quite a bit over the last few weeks, and for the most part, the news has not been good. Horse meat, it seems, has found its way into a large number of processed foods, and is appearing in various European retailers labeled as beef in hamburgers, lasagne, Swedish meatballs (say it ain’t so, IKEA) and other products. There is a Trojan horse joke to be made here, but I’m far too classy to make it.

Vegetables, Roasted

Having celebrated Pancake Day (alias Mardi Gras) in the last post, we shall discuss something more abstemious now that we have entered the Lenten season. For the moment, anyway—self-denial is not really in my nature. Nor are the dishes I’m talking about today particularly ascetic. Not from a flavor perspective, at any rate.

I’ve never been all that wild about boiling or steaming things. There are obvious exceptions, of course—one has to boil or steam some starches, like rice or pasta. But I generally prefer to use so-called “dry” cooking methods whenever possible—sautéing, for instance, or baking, or roasting.

Happy Belated Pancake Day

I’m back. Miss me?

I’m going to pretend you said yes.

The day job has been busier than usual of late, and life has thrown one or two curves my way, so I haven’t been able to post anything for a while. Also, I haven’t really cooked anything of note lately. Sometimes, you just come home, make your damned dinner, watch a bit of TV, and go to bed. Nothing interesting, culinarily or otherwise.

Homemade soup is quick and easy, despite what you've heard

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I recently came down with a bad cold that prevented me from writing up this post earlier. But now that I am restored to health, I am returning to soup. There is an odd notion in this country that the making of soup is a long, involved, laborious process. I have no idea where this belief comes from [cough—Campbell's—cough], but I am here to debunk it; the vast majority of soups can be made in less than an hour. And yes, while there are some labor-intensive soups out there (I’m looking at you, French Onion Soup), you can make homemade soup on a weeknight without straining yourself unduly.

Traffic Alert

Let's be careful out there, folks. 

Cooking under the weather

Here’s a quick dish that I almost didn’t post because it’s pretty trivial, really. But there has been a clamor for more posts. Really, there has been . . . seriously . . . OK, fine, one person asked me. So here’s a quick one to tide us all over until I have the time and energy to post something more substantive.

Timing

A few days ago, I was talking to a friend about cooking Christmas dinner, and the subject of timing came up—specifically, the subject of how to time a dinner party or holiday party so that the dinner was ready when the guests were ready to eat (or vice versa, I suppose). It’s exceedingly frustrating to try to have people over for dinner, only to find that the turkey you have been lovingly roasting all afternoon is done 3 hours before anyone arrives, or that your guests are on their fourth round of cocktails and you’re still in the kitchen, frantically trying to convince the beans to soften, or the onions to brown, or whatever.

Lentil Cassoulet

We inaugurate the new year with another Julia-Child-inspired recipe, alternately known as Lentilles Garnies or Lentilles en Cassoulet, or Gratin of Lentils with Meat. Given my day job, it borders on heretical for me to say that the English version of the name is the least poetic, but there it is. Let's compromise and call it "Lentil Cassoulet." 

One more thing...

Quick pic of my repast at Rudy's, home to some of the best barbecue in Texas.