Fruitcake…
Fruitcake has a reputation as an undesirable, comical holiday gift, more suitable as ammunition for a trebuchet than something to eat. To me, this is the ideal food to cook at home - however it turns out, it’ll certainly turn out better than the commercial alternative.
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Chili-Cheese Omelet
I’ve since surpassed even this, but for a couple of weeks this was the Best Breakfast Ever. The title and photo should explain it all, but I’ll provide a quick recipe.
Chili: Normally, I prefer a braised beef chuck chili. I don’t use masa harina, tortilla chips, or any other evil corn product so it turns out a little watery. For this application I think something thicker and drier works better. Lentils thicken and suck up moisture and combine with ground beef for a nice texture. Any type of lentil works fine. I soak mine for a few hours in a lemon juice and water mixture, which I’ve heard reduces gassiness. I rinse the lentils and put them in a pot with water just over them, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or so. Meanwhile, I saute some onions and a maybe some peppers, chopped for consistent texture. Once those are soft I add some ground beef and the herbs and spices. For chili I like ground cumin and coriander, oregano powdered between my fingers, paprika, chili flakes, black pepper, and maybe cayenne or just some hot sauce. Once that’s all melded together and the beef appears cooked I add most of an 8 ounce jar of hot salsa. This is an awesome tip from Good Eats - you get tons of flavor and a bunch of vegetation without having to pick up a knife. There’s really no need for the sauteed onion and pepper earlier with the salsa. Once that’s bubbling along, check the lentils for doneness and dump them in. It’s no problem if there’s extra liquid with the lentils - it’ll cook off. Simmer a while and check the flavor, adding salt, hot sauce, or pepper if needed.
Omelet: I’ve made omelets the “right” way and they’re nice, but I think this way is better. Maybe it’s not even an omelet - I don’t care. You’ll need a small non-stick skillet, hopefully the only non-stick thing in your kitchen, except for maybe a crepe pan. Heat some butter over medium heat. Whisk 2-5 eggs until fluffy, optionally with a bit of creme fraiche. When the butter foams shake it around the pan to evenly coat and pour in the eggs. Turn on your broiler, placing the top rack so your omelet pan will be a couple of inches from the heat. Pretend you’re making scrambled eggs, mixing the eggs as they cook, but stop before they’re all set. Grate on some cheese and place the pan under the broiler. Watch it carefully - when it’s done it’ll be set, puffy, and golden brown and the cheese will be melted.
Pour some hot chili on top of the omelet for the Best Breakfast Ever (for now).
Stuff I Like: Bamboo Cutting Board
My friends Acacia and Ray gave me a bamboo cutting board for my birthday or Christmas a couple of years ago. Since then, my other cutting boards have sat lonely and neglected. The bamboo board has several advantages. First, it’s very hard, so even rough chopping doesn’t cut into it much. There are a lot of shapes available, but mine seems perfect - small enough to fit many places on the counter, rounded corners that are pretty and nice for holding, an overall square-ish shape so it’ll stand up for storage and drying. This board at Amazon appears to be about the same size and shape as mine. They’re also very inexpensive, which will be nice if I ever need to replace mine.
How to make yogurt easily
After making many gallons of yogurt, I think I’ve figured out the easiest, most fail-safe method. To summarize: 1) Use Yogourmet starter for consistency, 2) use ultrapasteurized milk to avoid the tedious heating-cooling step, and 3) use a yogurt maker to avoid the complicated low-tech yogurt-making methods.
Ingredients:
Yogourmet starter/culture. Using a little plain commercial yogurt does work and is less expensive, but Yogourmet produces consistent results. It’s available at Whole Foods, local health food shops, or online.
Ultrapasteurized organic milk. Organic milk tastes better, and might be healthier. More importantly, ultrapasteurized milk does not need to be heated first to produce good yogurt. Yogurt-making instructions usually say to heat the milk to kill bacteria, but I think heating it has more to do with changing the milk somehow so the yogurt will set better. Milk that’s ultrapasteurized sets well without the pre-heating step, so you can skip the most tedious step of the yogurt-making process. It doesn’t seem to matter that the milk starts out at refrigerator temperature instead of 100 F or so as is usually recommended. I use whole milk or half-and-half but I assume that skim or 2% would work fine too.
A Salton 1 quart yogurt maker. Yeah, it’s another electrical appliance in your cupboard, but if you make yogurt frequently you’ll appreciate it a lot. I prefer the Salton yogurt maker because 1) it’s very inexpensive (under $20 right now) and 2) 1 quart Ziploc twist-lock tubs (or even 1 quart glass jars) can be used instead of the included badly-designed tub. Using a tub with a secure lid makes mixing the milk and starter much easier.
Process:
Add about a cup of ultrapasteurized milk and the starter to the tub, secure the lid, and swirl till it’s mixed in completely. Add milk to the top, avoiding over-filling, and secure the lid. Put the tub in the yogurt maker, add water to reach near the top, and plug in the yogurt maker. I let it work for at least 24 hours so the bacteria eat as much of the lactose as possible, but if you’re not concerned about that it might be ready after 10 or so hours. Chill the tub of yogurt completely, without disturbing it, for the best texture.
Organic tomatoes…. in Alaska!
These were at the farmer’s market in Fairbanks, at the fairgrounds on College.
