Southern California Cioppino January 27, 2009

The very first time I encountered cioppino was at a high-end restaurant — the sort of place that was located on the top floor of a very tall building and frequented by people in evening wear headed to the opera — and it had soaring menu prices to match. Despite the dent left in my pocketbook, it became an instant addiction. I have since ordered it at several different restaurants with varying levels of affordability and quality, but it has never disappointed my seafood cravings. Like most people in recent times, however, we’ve started cutting back on eating out in an attempt to assuage our much put-upon bank accounts. A good seafood stew became one of the top things on my list of “learn-to-make” items at that point.

Considering that the original cioppino was a working man’s meal (created around the 1800s by the Italian fishermen of San Francisco), it’s suitable that it should be brought back up-to-date as a hearty-but-affordable dish for home cooking. With this in mind, I started putting together a cioppino with more realistic ingredients for the busy and budget-minded, who might not be within convenient range of a local fishmonger. I must say it was very tasty.

Chocolate Cool Whip Pudding-turned-Gelato January 23, 2009

Lactose is the bane of my existence. Well, not the only one, obviously. But a significant one nonetheless when you’re severely intolerant to it, living in a country where it is omnipresent, and not given much choice in avoiding it other than turning to often off-tasting specialty foods or chain-popping expensive enzyme pills. Considering that 60% of the world has some form of lactose sensitivity and America is a country of immigrants, it really is rather silly that more thought isn’t given to this by food manufacturers. I don’t know how many times I’ve come across somebody asking for dairy substitutes only to have some ignorant lactose-consuming “expert” advise them to “use the real thing”, assuming that the person making the request is just being cheap or trying to lose weight. My usual response in these situations is to point out that “quality” is subjective, depending on the consumer. Especially when partaking of one person’s “quality product” will lead another person almost directly to puking and other unpleasant side effects. Leaving soapbox now.

At any rate, rich dairy products are especially hard to avoid when you have a fondness for cream-based desserts. Entirely soy-based ice creams tend to have a bit of a beany aftertaste and the only brand of Lactaid ice cream available in our area is plain vanilla. Born out of all this dietary adversity is my ongoing quest for the perfect lactose-free ice cream recipe. I don’t claim to have found it yet, but I have had quite a few trials that ended up as qualified successes. One of which I will talk about now.

The Gravlax Experiments. January 22, 2009

As most of you may know, I’ve been visiting Finland twice a year for a while now. This has given me plenty of chances to sample Nordic cuisine and of the many things that I’ve become a fan of, their amazing gravlax selection (readily available in little plastic packets in the deli section) is definitely one of the biggest. The cured salmon they have out there is much closer to raw — smooth and buttery — than the stuff we manage to find here. Most of the lox we get here in SoCal is the smoked stuff, which is usually saltier, heavier, and a bit more preserved (it just feels stiffer when you take it out of the bag), even though it’s been cold-cured and not cooked. So with the goal of accessing a more sashimi-like cured salmon at home, I started the gravlax experiments.

I went off of the Cooking For Engineers Gravlax recipe, since it seemed to be one of the simplest available while being close enough to traditional technique without required wooden weights and large drifts of snow. The cook for that page put up great pictures, but I wanted to take my own because I’m contrary that way

Not your everyday sammich. January 19, 2009

Mmm. Brie and capicola on a toasted baguette for breakfast.

A new Fresh and Easy just opened across the street and I might be slightly excited about the convenience with which I can now run out to pick up random ingredients for my culinary experiments. Which, granted, don’t always turn out quite the way I’d expect, but luckily the boy has a strong stomach. Hee.

Misu’s Victoria’s Secret Pose. January 15, 2009

Our cat. Wants to be a model.