Category Archives: Cookery

Challenge: February 5-7 — Enough Food for Sixteen Baos (Ten If We Purged)

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Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about the super-fun snowstorm we had over the weekend.  It started Friday night and continued on through Saturday, finally stopping around 4 pm.  Our grand total was somewhere over twenty inches; needless to say, this Bao was ridiculously excited about the whole affair.

Knowing I was going to be snowed in, I planned Three Meals:  chicken tikka masala and the ravioli from the poll, and then a meal I found in February’s issue of Martha Stewart Living (I tried to find the recipes on the website, but they don’t appear to be up yet).  I was a bit lazy and didn’t take pictures of everything, which is probably to your benefits as I suck with a camera.  Continue reading →

Ambitious, But Still Crappy with a Camera

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Back in the States!  Yay!  (Maybe?)

I arrived home at about 9 pm on Thursday evening, all sorts of sniffily both from my cold and from being sad about departing London.  Fortunately, the Blackberry and PS3 that awaited me provided the necessary moral support.

Anyone who watches Ina Garten knows Friday night is roast chicken night, and dang nabbit, I’ll be no exception!  I happen to love roasting chickens, and I was severely in the mood for some comfort food.  All I needed was some Scotch to complete the meal (well, technically I had a Bloody Mary, a martini, and then wine…).

However, for someone fresh off the plane, complete with cold (which as I type has morphed into a chesty cough), perhaps the menu I decided upon was a bit too ambitious.  The PS3 in the living room was also taunting me.  I made:  herb bread, cream of wild mushroom soup, a roast chicken, and praline mousse.

Want to be a Fattie? Live with Bao

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I had a ton of stuff just hanging out in the fridge, most of it dairy.  Cream, cheese, eggs — all there.  There was also a huge amount of bacon and herbs, so…

…carbonara for me and my flatmate!  Looks goopy, but it was pretty good for a last-minute dinner.  But god, I need to start eating better…

What’s wrong, you ask?  Try about 3/4 cup cheese, one cup heavy cream, and three eggs…

Challenge: January 23 — The Baoburger

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This week’s challenge was inspired by my chum Jared, who suggested that, in preparation for the terrifically unhealthy food normally consumed by Americans, I brace my stomach by making a greasy, huge hamburger.  I found this challenge quite interesting, but let’s face it:  the last thing I want to give myself along with a good meal is a case of the runs.  So, yours truly decided to test out a truly decadent burger.

In October I ate at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon and had the most exquisite foie gras sliders.  I wanted to see if I could mimic something similar in taste and equally as horrible for me, which is when I stumbled upon this recipe.  “How simple!” I thought to myself and plucked up some courage to buy foie gras, a task new to me.  I created what I call THE BAOBURGER.

I changed some of the components — in addition to minor tweaks here and there, I substituted ciabatta for brioche, emmental for Gruyere — and the technique:  rather than top with foie gras, I made a beef/foie gras patty to give the burgers a more subtle flavor, rather than a liver-spiked punch in the face.  I also used a cooking method that I learned in Japan; rather than just saute until done, I sauteed both sides, and then steamed the hamburgers until they’re done.  This not only cooks the burgers perfectly, but keeps them from drying out.  Finally, I reduced half of my bois boudran in the hot pan, added the hamburgers, and coated them with the reduction.

I give myself 3.5 out of 5 stars.  The burger was incredibly moist, and the flavor profile, I think, was decent.  There would have definitely been more impact had I topped the patties with the foie gras.  Sauce bois boudran was delicious (though I added salt and some Tabasco) and increased in flavor as it set.  It’s the perfect topping for a burger, with the chives and tarragon giving a sense of sophistication to what is essentially a whole lot of condiments mixed together.

I’m certain this burger would be just as dandy if you eliminated the foie gras, so give ’em a try if you’re interested.  You can find my recipe here.

When Your Guac Gets AIDS: A Lesson in Oxidation and the Proper Treatment of Avocados

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We all cherish avocado, but let’s admit it:  it’s not a very giving lover.  Half the time we find in the store, it’s completely unripe and could be used as a whetstone.  Other times, it’s so ridiculously soft that merely inspecting it in the supermarket not only dents the damn peel, but unleashes the sickeningly sweet stench of death.  Avocados are fickle.

Even if, though, you either happen to luck out and discover the Most Perfectly Ripe Avocado in your supermarket (as I did at Marks & Spencer the other day), or you buy an unripe one, put it in a brown paper bag on your kitchen counter (sure-fire method) and let it stew for a day or two, once you pop that green gooper’s cherry you’d better be willing to commit.  That’s right — in the words of the immortal Beyonce, if you like it then you’d better put a ring on it.  Consume that avocado immediately, man, or you’ll get burned.

For the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, I decided to have a one-man party in my flat in London as the actual ceremony started at 1 am local time, making it rather difficult for those with busier schedules than mine (read: those who are gainfully employed).  Still, as I am never one to turn down a chance at celebratory awards decadence, I made some homemade potato skins, some deviled eggs, piled up some cheeses, and rounded it all off with a bag of tortilla chips and some of my dang good guacamole.

My standard recipe calls for four avocados — which, if there are two to three people, seems to be almost not enough.  The cheese and eggs were, in fact, last minute additions and thus under my original calculations I figured the guacamole would be consumed entirely by yours truly.  Consequently, I prepared far too much food for one person (thanks for rubbing off on me, Mom) and there was, gasp, a gratuitous guac surplus.

I’m not going to lie — I knew what would happen; I just should have tossed it in the trash.  Even lemon juice cannot stop the hands of time.  Still, my Moneyless Self did not want to waste the £2.50:  I kept the guacamole, hoping beyond hope that the magically foggy weather of England would over-hydrate the air and stave off oxidation.  Oh, how wrong was I.  Click here for the result.  Possibly NSFW; certainly not to be done with any Mexicans around.

The only avocados truly safe from oxidation are those from which you abstain.  No lemon-flavored spermicide can save you from the grey-brown, airy HIV of the Aztec testicle tree.