Spuds - - Page 6

by gansie

Food: Not So Depressing

[youtube 3OPQqH3YlHA]

I don’t know what to write. I just came home from a bar. I’m supposed to preview this article I wrote about Clara.

Clara is this wonderfully, funny 93 year old woman. A total YouTube wonder….waiting to happen. But I found her. The wrinkles in her face remind me of my grandmother. The way she brags about her grandchildren remind me of my grandmother. The way she peels vegetables reminds me of my grandmother. It’s hard for me to watch her without missing my grandmother.

But, yet, I’m glad there is someone to remind me of her, to remind me a harsher time. For surely, 2009 is not 1929. Meet Clara, The Depression Cook.

Great Depression Cooking with Clara [Express]

in Personal 6 comments

by BS

Spuds + Pork = Crazy Delicious

It’s soup day on the Simmer! Well it’s cold as hell so why not? Thanks to all you commenters who gave me a whole bunch of great ideas for how to use up my leftover pork pieces, I decided to give soup a chance.

Let me first say that I have never before made a successful soup. A few years ago, early on in my experimental cooking days, I tried to make potato soup and it came out brown and lumpy. I’m not even quite sure how it got that way but can you get any less appetizing than that? So needless to say, there were more than a few times throughout the planning and production of this meal that I was quite certain it was going to end up filed as a Friday Fuck Up, but through some miracle of god, cream, and bacon, it came out OK. Thus, I am allowed to post it on a Tuesday.

So I started out making a stock out of the leftover pork bone. Following all your advice, and a little online research, I soaked the bone in cold water for a couple of hours, then roasted it in the oven (I think this was a good idea because it made my house smell glorious). Then I put the bone in a saucepan with half a chopped onion and a few cloves of garlic, filled it with water, brought to a boil, and then covered and let it simmer for about three hours…

in Pig / Recipe 4 comments

by gansie

Jack Wasn’t Kidding With That Stalk

Somehow TV brings out the best of my food. Yes, TV is accused of gluttonous atrocities, but in my circle, it gives us an excuse to create inventive snacks. Vio decided on an all appetizer food party for the 2nd episode of Top Chef. I clearly obliged, although I really wasn’t sure what to make. I knew, however, it had to involve brussel sprouts.

When I went to the farmers market this past weekend I bought about 3/4 lb loose sprouts. But then I wandered over to another stand and saw something wondrous – sprouts on the stalk. All at once I felt totally enlightened and totally embarrassed. I try be cognizant of where my food comes from, try to think about where it grew and by who. I try to think beyond the super agri-industrial complex. But, fuck. I honestly have never thought about how brussel sprouts actually physically push through the earth. Apparently it’s on a stalk. I’ll need to find out a bit more (JoeHoya?) but for now, I knew I needed to eat my way through this first round so I could buy some on the stalk next weekend, the last weekend of the Mt. Pleasant farmers market <tear.>

Wait, one more thing. Okay, two. Does anyone know why sprouts get such a bad wrap? They’re totally delicious. And, why are there two spellings for the veggie? 80P forbid me to use the “brussels sprouts” version. I had to eradicate that first “s.”

And now the recipe

in Recipe / Veggie 8 comments

by BS

Endless Menus: A Candy Fiend’s Thanksgiving

We’ve already told you how to put more meat in your turkey-day, but it’s also come to our attention over the years that many of you see Thanksgiving not as a holiday that needs baconing-up, but more as an extension of Halloween. From candied yams to maple-glazed turkeys, to sugar-coated green beans and of course, more desserts than would even be conceivable on any other day of the year, Thanksgiving is a great time to load up on the sweet treats. But how? That’s where we come to your rescue again, dear readers, with our Endless Menu for A Candy Fiend’s Thanksgiving:

Breakfast: Candy Turkey

I know a lot of people like to skip breakfast Thanksgiving morning in order to save room for the big meal. This is going about it all wrong. You’ve got to expand your tummy to get ready for the feast. Think of it as warming up for a big race. You’ve got to do some light eating first. So start the day off with a festive fruit snack, which instructables helpfully teaches us how to turn into a candy turkey.

The Bird: Coca-Cola Glazed Turkey

Everyone’s always looking for a glaze recipe that sets their turkey apart from the neighbor’s, and what glaze could be more American than Coca-Cola? Farmers haven’t figured out how to grow turkeys that taste like Coke just yet (I think the Texas State Fair is working on that one for next year), but thankfully, you can just douse your bird with the brown stuff before sticking it in the oven and it comes out all glistening and sweet. (Photo: bucklava)

The Side: Marshmallow Sweet Potatoes

Yeah, you people snickered at the Coca-Cola turkey, but then you remembered you already do this, huh? Picking up in the grand vegetable-hiding tradition where green bean casserole left off, sweet potatoes smothered in marshmallows is perhaps the most bizarre of all T-day traditions. Somehow, just because the spuds are a little sweet themselves, that suddenly makes it OK to top them sky-high with hoof-candy. Kinda odd logic, but you won’t hear us complaining. (Photo: kathryn_rotondo)

Follow the jump, sweet teeth…

in Desserts / Drinks / Fowl / Holiday 5 comments

by gansie

How I Met Mariah Carey

I’m sure a lot of you are wondering how I know frequent ES commenter, Mariah Carey. Well, believe it or not, before she became a famous singer married to a little boy, we used to work together in Houston. Yes, this foul-mouthed Jerzy Girl spent almost 6 months working in God’s Country—with Mariah Carey. I almost got into a wreck the first time I saw a gun-rack on the back of a truck. Christ. Texas.

Anyway, so I know this might sound super obvious, but people eat Tex-Mex all the time in Houston. I just never really thought about it before I lived there. But for like every meal, people would want to eat Mexican. It shocked me. I mean, going out for Mexican was like a once a week, at most twice a week, thing, not numerous times a day. Somehow, I got accustomed to it. And I now no longer can stomach a margarita and chili con queso dip. I did, however, find a completely adequate substitution for my fav hang-over food, fried egg and cheese on a begal. It’s absolutely perfect and I can’t believe I never thought to do it before.

Right near our campaign HQ there was this dive of a Mex joint. I mean, terrible. But, they served the most amazing egg dish (and they even served it for lunch!) It was 2 small tortillas filled with scrambled eggs and

in Breakfast / Eggs / Recipe / Veggie 4 comments

by gansie

Fried From Eggs

I was on the bus home from a miserable Monday and in between pages of “The Perfect Meal” chapter of Omnivore’s Dilemma, I thought about my dinner. 80P would be at class, so I was on my own — to put a fried egg on anything I’d want. And then as I was cooking up my meal, and styling it, and playing the part of the photog, I thought about ES readers. And just how you all might be sick of seeing me cook something and then put a sunny side up egg over top. But, I’ll let you decide…

Decide post jump

in Eggs / Recipe 19 comments

by BS

Too Good to Be Food

I’m a little late getting to this story, but it has absolutely floored me, so I just had to share.

I’m sure everyone here has had the privilege of eating a Pringle or two in their lifetime. Or, more likely, seven or seventy or seven thousand. Once you pop, you can’t stop. It really is true. More than a few times in my life, I have sat down and eaten an entire tin of these things in one sitting. There’s just something about them–you could eat Pringles all day long and still be hungry. Now, after all this time, I’ve finally found out why that is–THEY AREN’T FOOD.

in Politics / Rants & Raves 16 comments