Y’all
People in Texas are throwing spaghetti sauce at houses.
The Flaming Squirrel: A Mixological Remembrance
Virgin On A Grape
Ms. Ginn said many people have been energized by the image, but some have questioned its authenticity. Ms. Ginn said she has not altered the image.
“I can Photoshop a zit off someone’s face,” she said. “I can’t Photoshop the Virgin Mary onto a grape.”
Oobleck
Oobleck is a non-Newtonian viscous fluid that changes from liquid to solid by applying pressure and it looks pretty easy to make. (video via Coudal)
it’s only — a year — a-way!
Y’all. We’re a year away from clusterflockstock.
Dear Clusterflock
Tell me a story in the form of a recipe.
Hot DP
From the Wikipedia entry on DP —
In the 1990s, the movie Blast from the Past has a character played by Christopher Walken whose wife (played by Sissy Spacek) prepared hot Dr Pepper. There was an actual campaign in the early 1960s to serve Dr Pepper hot with slices of lemon as a winter drink. The police investigators at the beginning of Blast from the Past can be seen reeling in disgust at his having it prepared hot.
Hot DP was an abomination. It was nasty.
Tastes better than yo mama
A perfect model for the forthcoming Cooking with Clusterflock show (which will star Daryl and Cindy, I believe, with guest appearances by Rick’s beloved, among others):
(Via Swerdloff)
Good Thangs: St. Paddy’s
Chocolate Stout Cake Recipe from Epicurious
Corned beef and cabbage just makes me feel bloated and gassy. I’d rather bake this delicious cake for my St. Paddy’s day feasting. Last time I made it I put an orange liquor cream cheese icing on it and it was very yummy. It pairs nicely with Guinness of course, and if you’re like me and start drinking before you even start baking, don’t worry, this cake tastes almost as good coming up as it does going down.
Flag & Shamrock Thong at Irishshop.com
St. Patrick’s Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide. For some of you it’s a day to wear green, celebrate Irish culture, and drink green beer. For your cousin Regina last year, it was an excuse to dye her pubes green and flash her lucky charms for 8 blocks from atop a St. Paddy’s Day parade float. If you’re not quite feeling that much in the party mood but still want to show your spirit, you’ll feel lucky in these thongs and avoid a citation for public lewdness. [$10.49]
Shamrock Dog Pillow on etsy.com
This is adorable! How nice to roll over to see your dog asleep on this in your bed instead of the dwarf dude from the party who was dressed as a leprechaun and kept looking up your skirt and offering to show you his Blarney stones. Ah well, he must have had the luck of the Irish that night. [$19.]
Sláinte, y’all!
Iran President Ahmadinejad: Our BBQ Is Peaceful
President Ahmadinejad says the #1 ingredient is love
New York, NY — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad screwed up already tense U.S. relations by announcing plans to visit “Ground Zero” in New York City and insisting the 9/11 attacks had never occurred.
Leaked details of President Ahmadinejad’s speech scheduled for delivery Tuesday to the United Nations General assembly confirmed his country had developed its own secret recipe barbecue sauce, but that Iran’s plans for the deployment and use of barbecue sauce were not “for military purposes”.
“Our sauce is smoky-sweet with just the right amount of kick,” declared the manic leader. “The proud Iranian people have proven once again their ability to succeed without the help of corrupt Western powers, and to blend carefully the right combination of vinegar and brown sugar. Our sauce enhances the meat’s flavor instead of hiding it.”
Life just doesn’t make senf. You have to buy it in a jar.
Cindy and Sheila were talking about vinegar and mustards. Mustard, as almost everyone knows, is one of Nature’s perfect foods. It is placed in our worldly domain so that we can be happier, mentally healthier, and better able to enjoy zippy mettwursts.
Quinoa Joy
Today’s quinoa and grilled zucchini recipe came together in a flash [writes Heidi Swanson] because I used a trick we’ve talked about before.
Well, I just walked into the room, and I don’t have a freezer stocked with baggies full of cooked grains (”a stockpile of ready-to-heat base ingredients”), but this recipe looks so damn tasty I’m bound and determined to make it for eating tomorrow.
Nobody’s Perfect
Dedicated to the proposition that Daniel + cooking ≠ a bad idea.
Daniel, even Pioneer Women have bad days in the kitchen. Below is the back story (which you may already know) behind The Pioneer Woman’s triumphant Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce.
Oil Crisis
We were talking about food today.
I guess I got all wound up tonight and cooked the hell out of some stuff. My family only eats meat a couple of nights a week, and this was a carnivore evening:
Horse-Fat Fries
Horse fat is unusual among quadruped fats in having a lot of highly unsaturated fatty acids, which are reactive and finicky and readily go rancid, but on the way there can give an aromatic complexity to whatever is cooked in it. The general flavor of horse may also be different enough from beef and pork to add something unusual and enriching to the fried flavor. As for the texture of the fries: horse fat isn’t so different from other animal fats as to do something different to the structure of the fried potato, either crust or interior. So I think horse-fat fries come out well because the people doing the cooking in horse fat are clearly obsessives and making sure they do the best they can with this rare ingredient!
My Tuna Salad
My tuna salad has diced onions, diced carrots, garlic powder, black pepper, sea salt, capers and mayonnaise.
Mediterranean Diet
New research links a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, cereals, and olive oil to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and a healthier mind.
So the question is, what is the Mediterranean diet? The countries and cultures with their exquisite cuisines that surround the Mediterranean basin provide a rich source of delicious, healthy food from which to choose. Spain and its tradition of Tappas and country faire have so much to contribute. Southern provincial France is another rich source as is the whole of Italy. Greek, Turkish, Arab, and North African foods complete the feast. Any good cookbook on each of these countries and their ordinary faire and daily cuisines will help you find a pathway to a healthier diet.
The key to all of these is the use of fruits, vegetables, cereals and legumes as the center of the diet, and meat as a condiment. Meat is not lacking, and certainly not flavor, but the variety of dishes (and often “small dishes”), using many flavors, eaten with good home baked and easy to make breads, is at the heart of a diet based upon the genius of Mediterranean cuisines. Learning to make these dishes is not difficult. In fact most of them are easy. You may need to search for a few ingredients from specialty markets (Italian, Greek, and Arab), and buy a good food processor to speed up the work, but the results will astound you.
Here’s an example:
Mediterranean Olive Spread
The Mediterranean basin is the homeland of all things “olive.” No inhabitant of that region can live for long without ingesting this delicacy either in the form of cured olives or its greatest treasure, olive oil. This recipe highlights both and can be used as a condiment with meats, vegetables, or as a dip for crackers and bread.
1 cup of pitted black oil cured olives.
½ cup of extra-virgin olive oil.
1 tsp of ground cumin.
1 tsp of red pepper (or paprika if you want no “heat”).
3 cloves of garlic.
½ tsp of sugar
Juice of ½ a lemon.
1 tsp of lemon zest.
Nature’s Supergrain
It’s called quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) and if you haven’t tried it and are bored with the usual brown rice routine, you should head to the nearest Whole Foods. This tiny grain-like seed was called “The Mother Grain” by ancient Incans. A bonus: it cooks in 15 minutes.
From Whole Health MD:
Nutritionally, quinoa might be considered a supergrain–although it is not really a grain, but the seed of a leafy plant that’s distantly related to spinach. Quinoa has excellent reserves of protein, and unlike other grains, is not missing the amino acid lysine, so the protein is more complete (a trait it shares with other “non-true” grains such as buckwheat and amaranth). The World Health Organization has rated the quality of protein in quinoa at least equivalent to that in milk. Quinoa offers more iron than other grains and contains high levels of potassium and riboflavin, as well as other B vitamins: B6, niacin, and thiamin. It is also a good source of magnesium, zinc, copper, and manganese, and has some folate (folic acid).
Pork and Beans Sandwich
A 16 oz. can of Van Camp’s Pork & Beans and a fresh loaf of Loves White Bread is all you need for this instant lunch. Pile one slice of bread on top of the other. Ladle out a generous quantity of room temperature Pork & Beans diagonally across the top slice. Fold the two slices gingerly around the line of beans to keep the goop from spilling on your expensive shirt. An ice cold can of Hawaiian Sun Fruit Punch would move this simple meal into the realm of nirvana.
More recipes here.
The Best Holiday Mashed Potatoes Ever!
Mashed or creamed potatoes are a perennial part of any holiday feast. Traditional offerings of this comfort food are heavy in calories and minus the great nutritional possibilities that this recipe affords. Experiment with the following ingredients.
6 Idaho potatoes of varying size
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup of olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of salt
Russian Fur
This recipe, adapted from a traditional Russian holiday dish, takes advantage of winter vegetables and is festive, fun, delicious, healthy, and colorful.
½ purple cabbage (or 4-5 beets may be substituted, which is the traditional Russian ingredient) coarsely chopped in a food processor.
2-3 carrots cut into thin rounds
1 turnip diced into ¼ inch pieces.
Cuban Bread
Many years ago this recipe was given to me by an old friend. I have used it over and over again with great success and loved the rich, chewy texture that results. This two-loaf recipe, so easy to do, makes some of the best bread in half the time that it would take to make most other artisan breads. Its incrediblely good. Try it!
2 pkg. yeast
4 tsp. sugar
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tsp. salt
4-5 cups sifted unbleached flour (use more if needed). You can take one cup away from the white flour and add a cup of whole wheat flour, or make a blend of flours of your own choosing.
2-3 tbsp of cornmeal
pan of boiling water
Dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water and let sit 5 minutes. Stir in salt and flour, 1 cup at a time, beating after each addition with dough hook or wooden spoon. (I knead it).
Shape dough in round ball, place in oiled bowl and let rise in warm place until double, about 1 hour. Divide in two and shape into 2 round loaves. Generously sprinkle corn meal onto baking sheet. Put loaves on sheet and let rise 10 minutes. Slash tops with sharp knife or razor blade. Set loaves in cold oven with pan of boiling water, placed on oven floor. Turn oven to 400 degrees and bake bread till golden, about 25-30 minutes.
Black Bean Quesadillas
Here is a mouth watering way to present chicken or turkey (leftovers are great for this) in southwest style. The servings here are expandable, but the recipe (depending on the size of the tortillas) will serve about 4 folk.
INGREDIENTS
2-4 Tortillas (2-3 large regular wheat tortillas—whole wheat if you can get them, or 3-4 smaller regular wheat or whole wheat tortillas).
1 can of black beans.
½ yellow onion sliced thin.
1-2 mild chilies of your choice sliced into thin circles
¾-1 cup of shredded cheddar or jack cheese. Mix the two if you like.
1-2 cups of sliced cooked chicken or turkey—you may make this vegetarian by leaving off the meat portion.
Texas-style Hummus
This is a variation of one of the most delicious soul foods of the Middle East, Hummus bi Tahini. Hummus is a ubiquitous street food, made fresh daily and available everywhere across the Arab Middle East. By now it has made its way into the restaurants, stores, bistros and delis across North America and has become a culinary favorite of many Americans. Traditional Hummus is made from Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans. This variation is, I think, even better, and roots this dish deep in the heart of Texas and the South. Here’s how I make it.
1 can of Blackeye Peas, drain and reserve the liquid.
2-3 liberal tablespoons of Tahini (raw sesame seed paste). This product is readily available in most supermarkets today, all Middle Eastern markets, and can be purchased on-line.
3-4 garlic cloves
Juice of three lemons (or limes) – add the juice of another lemon if you like a more tart flavoring.
1-2 teaspoons salt.