A contradiction in foods....

My parents are just done visiting. Guess what I heard from them? Time to lose weight... your getting chubby. I know, I know, its 'cause of all the food that I have been making. I make lots. I eat lots. Not something I can help... or is it? Guess its time to start exercising, but before that starts, time to indulge myself one last time before the great diet/workout begins. Its what I call the contradictory dish, a mixture of healthy habits and fatty foods, yet perfectly (in my sense) combined to create one my craziest creations. You'll see what I mean. To be honest, this is not the first time I made this dish, nor will it be my last (as if that would ever happen). I don't make it often, but when I do, its always well received. My family loves it when they eat it, and hates me after they do. Everything about it is contradictory. As you will soon see.

The recipe is as follows:

Spinach Mushroom Risotto (Serves 3, if you eat as much as I do, otherwise 5-6)

3 cups of rice (uncooked, washed)
1 medium onion
1/4 bag of baby spinach (put more to increase the contradiction*)
10 fresh button mushrooms
Dried Jalapeno chips
Dried Oregano
2 cups of Beef Stock (make your own, by in cartons, your choice)
2 cups of Heavy Cream (replace with milk to reduce contradiction*)
1/4 stick of Butter (replace with Olive Oil to reduce contradiction*)
1/2-1 cup of Whiskey
1 cup of cheese (Provolone, Parmesan-Reggiano, or mix of your favs)

*Changes in flavor may occur.

In a medium sized pan, melt the butter (all of it), sautee mushrooms and onions until onions are translucent, add the dried spices to taste (refer to Dinner Meeting post for how that works). Once the spices are added, add the beef stock and heavy cream, wait until boiling then add the Whiskey, boil until the alcohol burns off (or not, if you like the taste of alcohol.... 'nuff said). Turn down heat to maintain a slight boil, add rice, stir constantly until the rice is fully cooked. Add beef stock as necessary to maintain liquid to rice ratio. Mix in the cheese slowly, making sure all is melted, so you don't get any lumps. Plate and serve while hot. Top with diced green scallions and fresh ground pepper for a beautiful look.

The contradiction, for those that hasn't noticed is the mixture of healthy vegetables, and the massive amount of butter, cream, and whiskey in the mix. You may substitute with healthier options, but nothing taste quite the same as fresh mushrooms and onions sauteed in butter. There's just this nice earthy, tantalizing aroma that you don't get when you do the same thing with olive oil instead. You would know that smell when you make it, it is the only reason that I ever cook with butter (and most likely the only time) Normally I would use milk instead of beef stock, but since this is made with only veggies and rice, its nice to get that meaty, rich flavor without the addition of protein into the mix. The whiskey was kind of a spur of the moment thing. Just know that if you don't like the taste of alcohol, boil the liquid for a while longer so that the alcohol is gone, but the flavor remains. As for me, that didn't really happen. I was in a little bit of a rush, and added the rice before enough of the alcohol boiled off to my liking. I was slightly woozy by the time I was done with dinner.
O_O||| <(lightweight)

Looking back on this dish, it reminds me of the eternal question "to butter, or not to butter?" it is the eternal conflict in the world of culinary arts. I believe I have started to ramble. Time to amble off to another beginning of an adventure of aromas and tastes.

Live long and eat well.
Aphrael

Dinner Meeting....

Right out of the oven

A dish created from my mixed experience of eating, a combination of many ingredients that created something I never imagined. Good thing it turned out well. Actually, better than I expected, as my roommate told me. It was a spur of the moment idea that came to me, may be because I watched so many episodes of Hell's Kitchen, and having seen wellingtons made so many times on the show, decided to try for myself. Of course, its no fun to just copy everything you see on TV. Just as my brother does with his music all the time, I decided do something similar, yet quite different.

Nice cut down the middle. Hope the juices don't dry up.

Recipe is as follows:

Stuffed Tomato Wellington (Serves 5.... maybe? I made enough for 4, but have some left over materials)

• 5 medium sized tomatoes
• 1 can of Pillsbury Crescents dough (Found in your local supermarket.)
• Stuffing:
• 1 pound of Italian Salsicca sausages (Buy the ones that are not in actual sausage casings)
• Can use other pork sausages if you wish
• 1 pound of ground beef
• Fistful of fresh spinach (Define fistful by how healthy you eat.... :D)
• 1/2 cup of Breadcrumbs (Make it fresh, buy it canned, your choice)
• 2/3 cup of Balsamic vinegar
• 2/3 cup of Soy sauce (I know, weird, right?)
• Dried oregano
• Dried basil (If you have fresh, even better. My basil plants died before I was making this)
• Salt and pepper
• Provolone cheese (Optional)

In a bowl, mix the sausages and beef together. Add balsamic, soy sauce, and breadcrumbs. Add dried spices, salt and pepper to taste. (Don't actually taste it... its kinda raw at this point. Kinda sniff, you should get a scent of oregano and basil, and a light vinegary smell) Mix the stuffing nice and evenly, the acidity in the vinegar would make the proteins very smooth in your hand.
Cut the top of the tomatoes. Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the 'meat' of the tomatoes. In other words, leave only the flesh that is directly attached to the skin. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of tomatoes left in there. Stuff tomatoes with stuffing. (Duh.)  Take the Crescent dough, and wrap the tomatoes with it. Make sure to seal it nice and tight so that it covers it completely. It helps keep the juices and the goodness inside when you cook it.
Set oven to 350 degrees. When oven is ready, put the wrapped tomatoes into the oven, bake for 18-25 minutes, until top is slightly golden. Lay a piece of provolone on top of the wellington, continue to bake for 5-7 minutes until cheese melts and becomes bubbly. Serve while hot.

As you can see, I'm not what you call an 'precision' cook. I go mostly by instinct, and most of the time it works out great, while other times, I make what you call 'edible' food. Also, the left over stuffing that you might have from making the above mentioned can be made into an awesome snack. Just take any extra Crescents dough you might have, wrap the extra stuffing(I am assuming you have no tomatoes left to stuff at this point), plus one piece of provolone cheese with it. Make it small, kinda like a mini pastry (2"by 2" squares is great) and bake it until its golden brown. Voila! mini hot pockets, put it in at the same time as the tomatoes, and you'll have something to munch on while the delicious goodness bakes to perfection. Hmmm... the thought of it makes me hungry.... time to make food. Before I go, this was made for my mini exec board meeting with my student group, hence the title.

Live long and eat well.
Aphrael

End of one thing, beginning of another.

Life is just a series of beginnings and endings. It is a never ending cycle. As the summer winds to an end, the beginning of this crazy spontaneous idea of mine begins. What better way to improve on what I already have by publicizing what I love to do in my spare time, besides all the distractions that fills the mundane world that we all live in. Cooking. A symbolic thing to represent the series of beginnings and endings. Just think. Everything we consume, whether you are a omnitarian, vegan, or some other food related '-arian', you are ending something while beginning others.

Endings are not always bad, especially if they represent something great, cooking supplies means the end of an object: Salad greens is the end of lettuce leafs as they are picked, butter the end of fats in milk, and so forth for anything you can think of to eat. However, this end serves a useful purpose, the basis of an incredible and sensual journey through what one can never expect. You don't know where you end up. That is what excites me about cooking.

End of cooking means beginning of eating, an act to which I abandon myself to whenever I encounter some delectable morsel of food, whether I have made it, or others did. It pleases me to no end when I am filled with delicious food that just sparks my imagination and/or memories. No matter what type of '-arian' you are, there a little something that will called to your fondest memories. After all, no one lives without eating something, right?
So here's a cheer to a start of something new, hopefully something that will be kept going for a considerable period of time, and who knows, may be someday this will be a record worth looking at.

Live long and eat well,
Aphrael

P.S. FYI, Aphrael isn't my real name, as most can see. It is the name of my favorite character in one of my favorite books, the Belgariad. Aphrael is the child-goddess of the Styricum in that book, and don't ask me what a Styricum is... Figure it out... its worth the reading time :)

P.S.II I probably will post pretty regularly, as I cook regularly, but since this is the post, I'll post my proudest dishes over the summer, which I am now glad I kept a record of, and most likely some recipes to go along.