I made some hotsauce.
It's my best one yet, Chris can testify to that having eating about 2 medium/large bottles in less than 3 weeks.
Very delicious but also very hot, not for the timid.
I'll get a picture of it up here later.
Its based with carrots, oranges and habaneros.
I don't have a name yet.
But I do have a few bottles at home for sale.
Mostly big bottles - 20 bucks will get you over half a liter which is quite a lot of hotsauce, I also have one or two small bottles left.
So if you are interested, let me know. I can drop you off a bottle if you're in the metro boston area or if you're out of reach you can throw in a few extra bucks and I can ship it to you.
I'm hoping I can start selling these, and with that money make more sauce and hopefully snowball effect my way to an actual hotsauce company.
B. Out
Friday, November 6, 2009
Love | Cooking
Its cold outside. Not so cold that I'm all grumpy and achy, just to the point that I'm gonna need a hat soon, and I really want to cook and cook and cook. There are dishes that I can just about taste on the tip of my tongue as I imagine them.
Red and green bell peppers sauteing with habaneros, jalapenos, garlic and onions. A sprinkle of salt. A grind of pepper. More salt. A quick swish and drizzle around the pan with the olive oil. Cooking it down just till the hab's start to smoke and tickle your throat.
Arborio rice toasting in duck fat. Shyly adding a splash of black truffle oil and a pinch of white truffle salt just to get that wonderful aroma going.
That perfect cheesy smell of gougeres as they rise.
I love it. I love it all. I love cooking. I love that satisfaction of being able to make food that is just awesome. And there are certain things I just cannot wait to make - such as Fire Chili and Many Mushroom Rizotto and Gougeres with cheddar, bacon and leeks.
But, as with any love, there is always complication.
The biggest problem is that I find that my motivation and enthusiasm to cook things goes flat if no one but me is going to eat. Cooking for my parents is great; I get a lot of joy cooking for them, especially after they cooked for me most of my life. It was truly their gourmandise[new favorite word] that taught me to cook and brought out the foodie within me. And I've always loved cooking with friends. Whether it's Indian/pan-Asian food at William's house in Concord or homemade pasta with mushroom sauce at Emily's or making a giant pot of chili with the roommates and we'll all eat it over the course of weeks or even months. Or every now and then I'll make a big batch of hot wings. It certainly isn't limited to that, but it all has its limitations, because, while I thoroughly enjoy all that... they aren't really my target audience.
I want someone I can cook for. Someone to seduce with my culinary creations. Someone to get impatient and hungry when she smells the aromas wafting through the kitchen. Someone to watch as her eyes light up with excitement when I give her the first taste of a sauce in progress. Someone to convince to try flavors and foods foreign to her palate. Someone to be both muse to bring inspiration and goddess to present the divine sacrifice to. Someone to make soup for when she's sick. Someone to indulge me when I fully dork out about food.
Basically I need a date. Cooking, as fun as it is, isn't as fun without a beautiful girl to cook for.
Back in September there was a girl I was supposed to cook for [As you can tell I did not get that opportunity. Long story short I was led on and then blown off, which I must admit still kinda hurts and I hate that I let things like that get to me.] But just as a result of that excitement I was able to think up a rather fantastic meal that some girl, at some point, will get to fully enjoy.
I know that with someone to cook for; inspiration can be plentiful - enthusiasm can be boundless - and motivation can be strong. Until that point... I'll certainly have things that I will want to make... but without someone; my inspiration may run dry - my enthusiasm will certainly have short limits - and my motivation will undoubtedly waver.
What thrills the tongue and fills the stomach cannot alone satisfy the heart.
Red and green bell peppers sauteing with habaneros, jalapenos, garlic and onions. A sprinkle of salt. A grind of pepper. More salt. A quick swish and drizzle around the pan with the olive oil. Cooking it down just till the hab's start to smoke and tickle your throat.
Arborio rice toasting in duck fat. Shyly adding a splash of black truffle oil and a pinch of white truffle salt just to get that wonderful aroma going.
That perfect cheesy smell of gougeres as they rise.
I love it. I love it all. I love cooking. I love that satisfaction of being able to make food that is just awesome. And there are certain things I just cannot wait to make - such as Fire Chili and Many Mushroom Rizotto and Gougeres with cheddar, bacon and leeks.
But, as with any love, there is always complication.
The biggest problem is that I find that my motivation and enthusiasm to cook things goes flat if no one but me is going to eat. Cooking for my parents is great; I get a lot of joy cooking for them, especially after they cooked for me most of my life. It was truly their gourmandise[new favorite word] that taught me to cook and brought out the foodie within me. And I've always loved cooking with friends. Whether it's Indian/pan-Asian food at William's house in Concord or homemade pasta with mushroom sauce at Emily's or making a giant pot of chili with the roommates and we'll all eat it over the course of weeks or even months. Or every now and then I'll make a big batch of hot wings. It certainly isn't limited to that, but it all has its limitations, because, while I thoroughly enjoy all that... they aren't really my target audience.
I want someone I can cook for. Someone to seduce with my culinary creations. Someone to get impatient and hungry when she smells the aromas wafting through the kitchen. Someone to watch as her eyes light up with excitement when I give her the first taste of a sauce in progress. Someone to convince to try flavors and foods foreign to her palate. Someone to be both muse to bring inspiration and goddess to present the divine sacrifice to. Someone to make soup for when she's sick. Someone to indulge me when I fully dork out about food.
Basically I need a date. Cooking, as fun as it is, isn't as fun without a beautiful girl to cook for.
Back in September there was a girl I was supposed to cook for [As you can tell I did not get that opportunity. Long story short I was led on and then blown off, which I must admit still kinda hurts and I hate that I let things like that get to me.] But just as a result of that excitement I was able to think up a rather fantastic meal that some girl, at some point, will get to fully enjoy.
I know that with someone to cook for; inspiration can be plentiful - enthusiasm can be boundless - and motivation can be strong. Until that point... I'll certainly have things that I will want to make... but without someone; my inspiration may run dry - my enthusiasm will certainly have short limits - and my motivation will undoubtedly waver.
What thrills the tongue and fills the stomach cannot alone satisfy the heart.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Stolen Pears and the Death of a Teapot
So yesterday in my cleaning fervor, the Japanese teapot my dad gave me for my birthday 5 or 6 years ago crashed to the floor from the highest shelf in my room. The wooden box that held it disassembled its sides as if waiting to be put together for the first time. Upon lifting the top from the wreckage I found shards of what used to be a beautiful teacup, the pot's handle was a good 5 inches from where it should be, and the lid was chipped - and one cup, somehow, was completely unharmed as if to tell me not all hope is lost. The pot is fixable - just need heat resistant ceramic glue, but its still sad to see one of my birthday presents that I really loved meet such a fate.... alas.
Pears
Last night my roommate Chris and I walked up the street to get Chinese food at 1 in the morning and on the way attempted to raid this plum tree I had spotted a while ago and had been waiting to ripen... unfortunately all the plums were gone or dried up. I was pretty pissed off. I'd been thinking about those plums for months: ever since I had spotted the tree, and even more so recently. I thought they would be a nice addition to the cheese plate I had conceived to precede the fantastic meal I plan to make for my date... (if it ever happens).... and had I somehow missed the ripening window by a matter of a week or two.
As we continued on, we discovered a pear tree beaming with fruit. I acquired a bag from the Chinese food "restaurant" and on our way back we climbed up the wall and filled it up... Sure it was in someone's yard but you know what? I don't care. I've discovered that my town is riddled with fruit trees of all sorts and the ones in peoples' yards almost all go to waste. And so I have decided I'm not going to stand for that. The answer is apparently thievery - though I like to think of it as more of a Robin Hood sort of "Take from the negligent and give to the unwasteful". Admittedly my wealth dispersion system is a bit different and possibly broken.
Anyway - through a combination of diligent research and then giving up after finding an answer that seemed acceptable I have determined that these are Brough Bergamot pears.
They're pretty hard, so I thought they might be unripe, but they are delicious and so now all I can think of is what I want to do with them. My first thought was roast chicken and pears ala Christopher Walken. (see video)
Later (today) I thought to do another infusion and did a quick poling on Facebook to see what booze people thought I should use. While most have suggested vodka, I'm going to go with a white rum - I'm hoping the sweetnesses will play off of each other. This will get it's own post later.
And then I'm planning slicing some of these and serving them on my cheese plate... (which I will hopefully get to serve)
But acquiring the pears was certainly half the fun... perhaps there is more to come...
-B Out.
Pears
Last night my roommate Chris and I walked up the street to get Chinese food at 1 in the morning and on the way attempted to raid this plum tree I had spotted a while ago and had been waiting to ripen... unfortunately all the plums were gone or dried up. I was pretty pissed off. I'd been thinking about those plums for months: ever since I had spotted the tree, and even more so recently. I thought they would be a nice addition to the cheese plate I had conceived to precede the fantastic meal I plan to make for my date... (if it ever happens).... and had I somehow missed the ripening window by a matter of a week or two.
As we continued on, we discovered a pear tree beaming with fruit. I acquired a bag from the Chinese food "restaurant" and on our way back we climbed up the wall and filled it up... Sure it was in someone's yard but you know what? I don't care. I've discovered that my town is riddled with fruit trees of all sorts and the ones in peoples' yards almost all go to waste. And so I have decided I'm not going to stand for that. The answer is apparently thievery - though I like to think of it as more of a Robin Hood sort of "Take from the negligent and give to the unwasteful". Admittedly my wealth dispersion system is a bit different and possibly broken.
Anyway - through a combination of diligent research and then giving up after finding an answer that seemed acceptable I have determined that these are Brough Bergamot pears.
They're pretty hard, so I thought they might be unripe, but they are delicious and so now all I can think of is what I want to do with them. My first thought was roast chicken and pears ala Christopher Walken. (see video)
Later (today) I thought to do another infusion and did a quick poling on Facebook to see what booze people thought I should use. While most have suggested vodka, I'm going to go with a white rum - I'm hoping the sweetnesses will play off of each other. This will get it's own post later.
And then I'm planning slicing some of these and serving them on my cheese plate... (which I will hopefully get to serve)
But acquiring the pears was certainly half the fun... perhaps there is more to come...
-B Out.
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