A Return To The Farmer's Market!

Good morning everyone! It's the weekend! Today marked the first Saturday I've had away from work in a long while - which meant one very important thing to Maggie and I - we could go to the downtown farmer's market!

We set out this morning nice and early, determined to wander around before the crowds got too bad. We didn't really have a list of ingredients that we were looking for - we simply wanted to peruse and enjoy the atmosphere of the market.

That building to the right, behind the large YMCA in the front is Des Moines' tallest building - the Principal Building. You can barely see it behind all of the fog and humidity. 

That's what it's SUPPOSED to look like. When not lost in the clouds. 

It was a humid morning here in Des Moines, and when we arrived, much of the downtown skyline was still hidden under a thick layer of fog/clouds/humidity. With a slight breeze, however, it was pretty pleasant to wander up and down the streets enjoying all of the aromas of the market. I'm not sure what the difference was this time, when compared to our last visit to the market - but the aromas today were simply intoxicating. Onions, fresh herbs, grilled chicken, sweet corn and all sorts of fruits filled the air with their fantastic aromas. It was worth the trip just to smell everything so fresh.

It wasn't TOO busy right away this morning

It was also interesting to see just how large things have grown since the last time we visited the market. Three weeks ago, candy onions were about the size of a fifty cent piece. Today, they had grown to the size of a baseball! Certain veggies were shifting into season as well. On our previous encounter, large water melons and cantaloupe were hard to come by. Today, we saw some melons that were larger than a small child!

It's safe to say that cantaloupe season has hit its peak! 

We didn't leave empty handed, however. Maggie picked up some fresh mint ($1) and a small bag of scallions ($1) for her recipe this week. While not a 'large haul' it was still a blast to wander around the market and take in all of the fresh veggies. And, given that our local Hy-Vee charges $3.29 apiece for scallions, getting 6 for $1 is certainly the deal of the day!

Total cost - $2

On another note:

I'm VERY excited to share with you something we found at Barnes and Noble last night:

These book is written by The Culinary Institute Of America and is actually the textbook for the school. But, it has its uses for us 'non-chefs' as well. It's filled with tips on picking fresh ingredients, buying pots and pans, using knives, flavor combinations and (of course) RECIPES! This beefy book (well over 1200 pages and weighing a solid 12 to 15 pounds) caught my eye and I immediately knew I had to come how with it...except Barnes and Noble was requesting a hefty $70. 

Damn. 

However, after a quick trip to my favorite website in the world - Amazon.com - I found this: 

SOLD! 

After some amazon 'store' credit I had laying around, I have this puppy coming my way for about $20. It's like Christmas! I can't wait! Needless to say, you will be seeing a lot more about this book in the coming weeks. 

That's all we have for you today. I've got something special planned for tomorrow - it should be a lot of fun. It's something we've yet to do on the blog. And, it's NOT breakfast. Check back tomorrow afternoon or evening to see what I'm up to. Until tomorrow, 

~Cheers 

Soothing & Savory Potato Soup

Good evening everyone! It's Thursday, which means the week is drawing to a close (did it zip by for anyone else? it seems like Monday was just yesterday!) Thursdays mark my return to the kitchen - which I always enjoy. On Thursdays, I typically like to make a larger meal. This is so we have leftovers when the weekend rolls around. Tonight's recipe (although slightly out of season) should yield a nice amount of leftovers so we don't have to cook that much this weekend - always a bonus (and it's better than eating out all weekend, both for you tummy and your wallet!)

Ever since I was a little kid, one of my favorite meals has always been my grandma's potato soup. Her version of the classic dish is a combination of potatoes, cheese and other seasonings that blend together to create a great creamy flavor. Despite other family member's best attempts, no one can ever duplicate my grandmother's recipe to perfection. We've come close - but we can never quite nail it. Is she withholding an ingredient? Possibly. What's more likely is we simply can't duplicate the one thing that every grandma puts into a recipe - love. (I know, it sounds cheesy - but it's better than accusing your grandmother of withholding a key ingredient to a recipe like it's the secret formula for world domination, right?)

Lately, I've been craving some form of potato soup. However, rather than attempting to duplicate something that can't be duplicated (after all - I am not, nor do I plan to ever become, a grandmother - thereby lacking the key 'grandmother's love' ingredient) I decided to try another path. In my mind, I've been making up a perfect combination of ingredients for my own, homemade, potato soup. However, some of the things I want to blend, I'm not 100% sold on yet (As far as flavor pairings go. I know the flavors will work together, I just am not sure if it's the flavors I'm looking for) So, I decided I needed a 'middle man' recipe. Something to use as a proof of concept when creating my dish. I found such a recipe in Jaime Oliver's cookbook - leek and potato soup - that would do quite nicely. So, my attempt at tonight's recipe is for two reasons, first - this dish looks quite good and I do love potato soup. Secondly - this recipe uses some of the combinations I want to try in my homemade potato soup and I want to taste test the results.

So, grab some potatoes and a large pot - and let's get cooking!

The Recipe: Leek And Potato Soup
Original Recipe Found In: Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals


What You'll Need:

2 Carrots
2 Celery Stalks
2 Medium Onions
1 3/4 Quarts Of Chicken Broth (Roughly 7 cups)
1 Pound Of Leeks (Typically 1 leek is one pound)
2 Cloves Of Garlic
1 Pound Potatoes
Olive Oil
Sea Salt & Black Pepper

I typically tell you to begin by pre-measuring your ingredients, but this week's recipe doesn't have a lot to pre-measure.

Begin by peeling and slicing the carrots into small sections. Slice your celery into roughly the same size of sections. Peel and chop your onions as well.

Wash and slice the leek. Begin by chopping off the root end and then making a long vertical cut up the stalk of the leek. Next, rotate the leek and make the same cut on the opposite side. I've found that making two additional vertical cuts - one to each side of your first cut, makes the leek a little easier to chop. Next, making horizontal cuts, about a 1/2 inch a apart all the way up the stalk until you reach the medium green color. I prefer to dice my leek into smaller portions, but you can simply use the sizes you end up with after these cuts. It's all a matter of personal preference. Once you're finished with the leek, peel and slice the garlic cloves as well.

Get rid of that nasty root

And slice the leek up

All chopped up

Pour your broth into a medium pan on high heat and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, place a large pot on high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix in all of your chopped ingredients into the pot and stir well with a wooden spoon. Stirring every few minutes, cook until the carrots have softened and the onions and leek begin to turn slightly golden brown. This should take about 10 minutes.

While you are cooking up your veggies, you can begin to peel and slice the potatoes. If possible, try to dice the potatoes into 1/4 inch cubes. This makes cooking faster - as well as makes blending a little simpler if you choose to do so later.

The potatoes are diced and ready to go 

Everything cooking away nicely 

By now, your broth should be bubbling away happily and your veggies should be nice and golden brown. If so, pour in the broth with the veggies and stir in your cubed potatoes as well. Stir everything together well and then return the soup to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat, place a lid on the pot and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes or so.

First the broth...

Then the taters 

After 10 minutes, you have a decision to make. You can either serve the soup as it is, or you can opt to use an immersion blender and mix everything together to make a nice smooth soup. I opted to use our immersion blender - because, well...it's fun to use!

Before you begin, remove the pot from the heat - you don't want it to still be cooking away while you are blending.

Using an immersion blender - practical and FUN 

Add a nice pinch of salt and pepper to the soup before using the blender. As I found during my sweet potato and chorizo soup recipe, the best way to blend the soup is to hold the blender just below the surface of the soup and wait until it 'sucks down'. Then - you'll want to slowly rotate the blender in a small section of the pot until you feel the soup 'let go'. The blender should be able to be easily pulled back to the surface. That's how you know that everything in that area is finely blended. Repeat the process around the entire pot until everything is blended smoothly. Once that's done, all that's left to do is serve up and enjoy!

The Results:

It was while attempting to get this shot that I dropped my camera in the soup...more on that below

Delightful! The final dish had this deep, almost vegetable stew like flavor. You could taste the perfect blend of onion, leek and chicken broth - all tied together with a rich potato base. I think blending the soup is the way to go, however, if you love chunky veggies in your soup - skip the blending and dive right in. Either way, it's a can't miss dish.

In the end, I didn't duplicate my grandmother's recipe - but I really wasn't trying to. What I did do, however, is validate a proof of concept. I now know that the flavor combination I have in my mind will work. Now, with a little more research I will be able to create my ultimate potato soup! (I'm really excited about this prospect!)

This one is certainly worth an attempt for those at home. It is relatively easy to tackle and delivers a fantastic final result. Give it a shot, it's worth it!

Here's a first for you - I dropped my camera INTO the bowl of potato soup. Oops. I bet I'm one of the first people to ever have 30% of their digital camera covered in potato soup! Luckily, after a good cleaning, everything seems to still be in working condition. So, if you're looking for a potato soup proof camera - Canon makes a good one!

Also, after giving it some thought today - we've decided to pull the poll regarding Maggie's Wednesday recipes. Our thought process behind this move is simple - we started this blog as a way to share the experiences of two non-chefs as they took on the culinary world. That is what this blog is - and how it will remain. Our entire point is to take recipes that seem 'out of this world' or out of reach and bring them down to a normal level. Essentially, it's two non-chefs showing you how to cook like a chef. There hasn't been a single recipe on the blog so far that you cannot get home from work and make yourself. How do I know? Because that's how we do it. When we get off of work, we set to cooking dinner. It's on the table at a reasonable hour and it's never as complicated as it seems in the book.

We feel that making Wednesdays into a set style would completely ruin the integrity of what we're going for. We're not a 30 minute meal website - (although a lot of our recipes can be done in that time). Don't fall into the trap of thinking just because a recipe isn't 'simple' on the outside, that a normal working person couldn't master it. We've shown you everyday that thought simply isn't true. Maggie and I are two hard working, non chefs that come home each night and cook fantastic culinary creations. We're showing you, dear reader, that you too can tackle what seems impossible. That's what this blog is about and that's what we're going to keep it as. I should have thought that through more before posting the poll last night.

I went a little long winded on 'what we're about' there for two reasons; to explain to our dedicated readers the change in what we just said last night and to give a little introduction to our new readers. Our little blog has been growing by the day and we've more than tripled our daily views from when we started out. As such, I felt another 'what we're all about' was in order for our new readers. So - there you are everyone - that's what we're all about. Thanks for reading everyday and here's hoping you find it as enjoyable as we do!

That's all we have for you tonight. We're off tomorrow but have a busy weekend planned for you. Be sure to stop by Saturday evening AND Sunday evening to see what we've been up to. Until then,

~Cheers

Well...That Was Easy!

Good evening everyone! It's Wednesday, which means the week is halfway complete. Or, for you pessimistic types, the week has only half begun. Or...is it the other way around? Hmm- I'm confusing myself. Either way, Wednesday means one more thing; It's Maggie's night to cook!

Maggie took to the kitchen tonight with another of Rachel Ray's recipes. The recipe, titled "Too-Easy Chicken With Leeks" was very straight forward and simple. Great for anyone looking to fix dinner quickly. However, I know my other half can tackle a challenge a little tougher than this - so after the meal I posed a challenge to her. "One of these nights, I'm going to throw a tough recipe at you." I know she's ready for some of the recipes I've been taking on, she just hasn't jumped out to do so yet. What do you think dear readers, would you like to see Maggie tackle a tough recipe, or should Maggie Wednesdays be dedicated to simpler recipes? I'll put up a poll up on the side of the blog. Be sure to cast your vote and in a week, we'll tally all the votes and decide what type of recipe Maggie will do the following week. Enough about future plans, here's the details on what Maggie was cooking tonight:

The Recipe: Too-Easy Chicken WIth Leeks
Original Recipe Found In: Classic 30-Minute Meals: The All-Occasion Cookbook

What You'll Need:

2 Leeks
4 Pieces Boneless, Skinless, Chicken Breast
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Cup Dry White Wine
Salt & Pepper To Taste

Hi everyone! And yes, I have been given the ultimate challenge...A challenging recipe! I'm going to try my darndest to find a recipe or gulp down one Tyler gives me. Nonetheless, I shall be victorious in my conquest ahead.

Besides the chicken this evening, I made sweet corn, another simple task to complete. I must be a bad Iowan, because I had never made sweet corn before. Granted I've had it every summer for as long as I can remember, I had never cooked it during the times I ate it. I had to confer my two local experts on picking the right ears of corn and cooking it. My mom told me to look for large, light yellow kernels when I picked the ears. Tyler said bring a pot of water to a boil, drop the ears in, let it come back to a boil, and cook for two minutes. 

As I went to shuck the corn, I saw that most of the ears were a nice yellow color - Maggie: 1, Corn: 0 I followed the cooking instructions diligently, hoping the corn would turn out like sweet corn always turns out: cooked to a soft consistency, piping hot, and a good sweet taste to it. I started the pot of water when I started the chicken...following all instructions to a tee, about five minutes before the chicken was finished, my corn was ready to eat. I drained my water and kept a lid on my pot o' corn. It stayed warm until I finished my corn...thankfully! Maggie: 2, Corn 0. Victory!!

Whilst my corn was cooking, I prepared my chicken. I started my slicing my leeks, from white root to the start of the dark green leaves. I cut this chunk lengthwise then sliced every quarter inch or so. I put these in a bowl and rinsed with water. The water helps any sand/dirt/gunk get out of the leeks so it's an edible product. After rinsing and draining my leeks, I set aside.


I warmed a skillet with evoo and gently placed my two seasoned chicken breasts in the skillet. Afraid they would stick to the pan, I lifted the chicken once or twice to ensure nonstickage. I cooked the first side three minutes and flipped to the other side and cooked that for three minutes. CAREFUL! The flying oil will catch your wrist and leave little sting marks. Unfortunately, the chicken cooks so fast, that you are unable to put a splatter screen on. Cook the chicken until it they are a nice golden color. Remove from heat and set aside for now.

After the chicken has been removed from the skillet, pour a little more evoo in the same pan and add your drained leeks and saute them until they are soft - five minutes, or in my case, a little brown. Pour the wine in the same skillet and add the chicken back. Lower the heat to a low simmer, making sure all the ingredients are nestled in with each other. Give the chicken a flip or two, to make there they coat everything evenly and can continue to cook.

The End Result:

What ended up being a simple chicken recipe, ended up being really flavorful. The chicken really takes on the wine and the leeks towards the end and all those flavors join together. The sweet corn really added to the simpleness of the dish, making these an easy cooking evening.

And therein lies the downfall. Sometimes recipes can be too easy and leaving the meal somewhat bland. As I was cooking the chicken, I was thinking about adding some more spices to add more of a kick, but I was rather nervous deviating from the original recipe. I hope to one day know what spices to add to a dish and make it great, rather than being good. But for now, I'll just be up for a challenge that Tyler throws my way.

Thank you Maggie. She hit the nail right on the head there - this dish did have a simple, clean flavor. A nice touch of white wine with a hint of leek made this dish feel very basic (not necessarily in a bad way) and clean.  Adding a dash of tarragon to the chicken would have made this dish. Perhaps a tarragon parsley blend would be the best combination. It is amazing how a little dash of herbs here and there can morph something from simple and clean to out of this world. Maggie thought about adding these herbs - it would have been a great call. As it stands, her recipe was delicious, but a little bold move here and there would have really knocked this one out of the park. If you're going to try this one for yourself - get bold and throw some tarragon on top of the chicken too. I promise, it'll taste great.

There is nothing wrong with a simple dish, however - especially if you are short on time and want something delicious in a hurry. Tonight's recipe is certainly worth a shot due to the great end flavor and the overall simplicity of everything.

Perhaps, that's what our great readers have come to expect and enjoy from Maggie's Wednesday recipes. So, that's why we're putting the next recipe up to you. (This would be the week of August 9th's recipe - that way we give the poll a solid week for good results). Do you enjoy Maggie's quick and easy recipes, or would you like to see her step out once in a while and get bold? I'll put it up to vote. Let us know.

That's all we have for you tonight. I apologize for the overly simple presentation. Once again, the Google blogger tool is busted. We can't upload pictures (Edit: that part is now fixed) or do much editing. Sadly, this problem has been persisting over the past few days. I haven't been able to edit old posts (thus some of the typos that made it through to the 'final cut' over the past two days.) Hopefully everything will be back in order soon. I'm back in the kitchen tomorrow, so stop back tomorrow night to see what I'm cooking up. Until then,

~Cheers

This Is One Cheesy Recipe (In A Good Way!)

Good evening everyone! Welcome back to a new week of recipes here at Out Of The Culinary! Today was another scorching hot day here in the Des Moines area - which must have caused most people to stay inside today. My particular financial institution was deathly quiet today. That left me a lot of extra time to mentally plan my recipe tonight. What can I say, this cooking thing is a great hobby...and I'm a little weird.

I used to never be a fan of pasta. That's because I've always held this 'image' in my mind of what pasta is. Spaghetti, canned tomato sauce and parmesan cheese...'pasta'. As we've been diving into the multiple cookbooks that now line our shelves, I'm come to realize that pasta is so much more. It's penne with vodka sauce, it's a base for great french chicken and it can even be naked! Not to mention, most pasta dishes seem to be fast and easy to prepare, with fantastic results.

I decided to try another unique pasta recipe tonight; 'Baked Cheesy Pasta Casserole'. My normal association with that phrasing is boxed noodles that come with some dried cheese (I.E. 'just add milk') concoction that is all too perfectly yellow and doesn't really taste like cheese. Unfortunately, the common casserole has become so mass produced and 'easy' that what you can find from Hamburger Helper and in the freezer section has just become 'acceptable'. Well, with tonight's recipe - I'm hoping to dispel that myth. My recipe tonight is quick, easy and (hopefully) delicious.

The Recipe: Baked Pasta Casserole
Original Recipe Found In: The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook

What You'll Need:

2 Slices High Quality Bread (White or Wheat)
1 Ounce Parmesan Cheese, Grated (About 1/2 Cup)
4 Ounces Italian Fontina Cheese, Shredded (About 1 Cup)
3 Ounces Gorgonzola Cheese, Crumbled (About 3/4 Cup)
1 Ounce Pecorino Romano Cheese (Or Substitute) *
1 Pound Penne
2 Teaspoons Unsalted Butter
2 Teaspoons All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream

As always, pre-measure before you begin

*Pecorino Romano cheese proved a little tricky for us to track down this week. We did find some, but it came in large quantities (when we only needed an ounce, it seemed like overkill). Pecorino Romano, also called 'Romano' cheese is made from goat's milk in Italy. However, the North American version comes from cow's milk - meaning substitutes for this cheese are fairly simple to find. Pecorino Romano is a sharper cheese, with a salty finish. This means you can substitute with cheeses such as parmesan, asiago or any pecorino cheese.  In our situation, I simply substituted the spendy Italian cheese with the relatively cheap parmesan cheese.

The cheeses!

Begin by taking two high quality slices of white or wheat bread (this can be bread you've made yourself - or if you don't want to take the extra effort, by buying some higher end bread. Pepperidge Farms' Whole Wheat bread is a very high quality bread that works well here) and slice them into quarters. Our slices of bread had extra crumbly and tough crust, so I opted to remove the crust and break them down separately. Place these strips of bread into a food processor and pulse until the bread has been reduced to crumbs. This should take about 15 to 30 seconds.

Who knew it was so easy to make breadcrumbs? 

Add the bread crumbs into a small bowl and mix in 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese along with a dash of salt and pepper. Set this bowl aside for later.

Mixing the cheese and breadcrumbs 

Set your oven rack to the middle spot, and preheat the oven to 'full whack' 475-500 degrees (depending on the range of your oven). Next, place of large pot (roughly 4 quarts) of water on high heat and bring it to a boil.

While you are waiting for the water to come to a boil, you can get a head start on shredding your cheeses. Once shredded, mix all three (pecorino, fontina and gorgonzola) in a large bowl and set aside.

Adding the cheese together

Once your water is boiling, add the penne along with a pinch of salt. Stir often and cook until al dente.

While your penne is cooking, melt two tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, slowly whisk in your flour and stir until all the lumps are gone. Next, slowly pour in your heavy cream, whisking it in with the butter/flour mixture until everything is well blended. Turn the heat up to medium and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. (It doesn't so much 'boil' as does 'foam'. Once the surface of the mixture starts to solidify and rise up, you have reach the boiling point.) Reduce the heat to low immediately and allow to simmer for another minute.

When your penne has reached al dente, drain it. Add the penne to the bowl with your cheese mixture and immediately pour the heavy cream over everything. Cover with aluminum foil and allow to rest for three minutes. You goal here is to melt all of your cheese into one nice, gooey, cheese ball. After three minutes, remove the foil and mix everything together with a rubber spatula. It will take a few folds to get everything mixed, but the longer you spend on mixing, the better the blend - so it's well worth the time.

Finally, transfer the noodles to a 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Press down on the noodles to get them nice and compact. Sprinkle your bread crumb / parmesan mixture evenly over the entire dish and press down once again. Place your baking dish in the 500 degree oven and set the timer for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, your bread crumb topping should be nice and golden brown (if not, add a few minutes). All that is left is to serve and enjoy!

The Results:

Judging by Maggie's satisfied 'gurgle' as she took the first bite of the casserole, it turned out quite well. The three unique cheeses all blended superbly into one delicious (and not too cheesy!) dish. It was surprising that these cheeses worked so well together, actually as they were so diverse before we combined them.

Maggie (my official cheese taste tester) was munching on extra pieces of the fontina cheese as I was grating it. She described it as a 'softer version of mozzarella'. Parmesan is, of course, standard parmesan - a sharper cheese with a slightly saltier finish. Gorgonzola, well...gorgonzola made my cheese loving fiance gag. "Uck, that was strong!" Maggie exclaimed after eating a small piece of the multi-colored cheese. I immediately became concerned that this pungent smelling cheese would bring the demise of my recipe. In fact, I temporarily contemplated removing the cheese altogether. In the end, I decided to leave it in and it was a good thing I did.

The flavor was neither strong nor sweet and none of the cheeses overrode each other in the final dish. The bread crumb topping was a delicious crunchy addition and the extra dash of parmesan cheese mixed into the crumbs was nice flavor boost. All in all, this was one fantastically delicious recipe. Certainly going into our repeat recipe book.

Yesterday, while picking up groceries I made a mental note to compare cooking times of 'pre-made' casserole dishes. Two freezer section casseroles that were comparable to my dish tonight took 45 minutes to cook. One boxed version took 30 minutes, plus you had 'mix the cheese packet'. My recipe tonight, including waiting time for the water to boil: 25 minutes. It's faster, healthier, tastes better AND the cheese isn't neon orange. Why exactly are people buying prepackaged casserole dishes anymore?

That's all we have for your tonight. I have to go nurse a burn on my arm (I now know why my Mom always wanted oven mitts that reached her elbow. While grabbing the baking dish from the oven, I bumped the top of the oven with my mid forearm - OUCH!) Here's hoping you give this recipe a shot for yourself. It simple, quick and very, very delicious. Maggie returns to the kitchen tomorrow night, so be sure to stop back then to see what she's got cooking. Until then,

~Cheers

This Week's Ingredients

Good morning everyone! It's Monday once again (how does this keep happening? Where did the weekend go??). As always, our only upside for Mondays is the fact that it's grocery day! Once again we have a full list of ingredients, a clean slate to start the week and three ideas of what to cook. Here's what we're cooking with this week:

4 Oz. Italian Fontina Cheese
6 X Ears Of Sweet Corn
3 Oz. Gorgonzola
4 X Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
1 Oz. Pecorino Romano Cheese
1 Leek
1 Lb. Penne
2 X Medium Onions
Heavy Cream
Chicken Broth
1 Bag Large Carrots
2 Lbs. Russet Potatoes
2 X Celery Stalks

There you have it. Another week of new and unique ingredients to cook with! There is no theme this week (for those wondering - last week's 'clue' was actually just something to throw you off, although we did have a regional theme that week, there wasn't anything in the list to tip you to that). Sadly, this is my late week at work once again, meaning the blog will be up a little later in the evening. Our recipes this week are fairly quick in preparation time, so hopefully that will keep things moving along a little better than prior weeks.

As usual, our schedule for this week is for me to cook Tuesday and Thursday with Maggie taking Wednesday. We will have a Saturday post and perhaps a Sunday breakfast post as well. (Busy week!) Be sure to stop back tomorrow night to see what's cooking. Until then,

~Cheers

Things Of Note

Good morning everyone! I hope all of your weekends have been enjoyable so far. Today's blog post is a quick one. We just have a few things that we feel are worth your time to check out, read or look into. These are a collection of books and websites that are full of interesting information or part of a good cause.

Books Worth Looking Into:

Food: A Handbook Of Terminology, Purchasing & Preparation

We found this little guy in our local Half Priced Books over the weekend. It's a collection of nearly anything you want or need to know about food. It has tips ranging from defining a certain cut of meat, telling you how to purchase said cut of meat, how long that cut of meat can be stored (and how it should be stored) all the way down to what temperature to cook that cut of meat at to guarantee the best result for your recipe. It covers everything from grains, fruits, vegetables, poultry, fish, shellfish, meat, to herbs and spices. You can pick up a copy at the link posted above, or at Amazon. It's an interesting (and useful) book if you plan to get serious about cooking. 

Creating Chefs: A Journey Through Culinary School With Recipes And Lessons

This book is was written and photographed by a culinary school professor. Recipes are approached the same way they would be in a culinary school. Each section begins with a description of flavors, combinations and preparation techniques for the given recipes, along with thorough descriptions of the recipes. The recipes themselves, while admittedly few in the book, are very detailed and are accompanied with notes from the author about things to watch out for and tips. It's a completely unique way to read a cookbook (in fact, I'd argue it's not really a cookbook - more of a 'leisure read...with recipes'). However, it is worth a look if you enjoy cooking. Grab it from Amazon by clicking the link above.


The Man Who Ate Everything 

Falling under the 'something completely different' category is 'The Man Who Ate Everything'. The book follows Jeffery Steingarten as he "systematically sets out to overcome his distaste for such things as kimehi, lard, greek cuisine and blue food". Steingarten had just become the food critic for Vogue and decided that he needed to cleanse himself of all outside food prejudices in order to be truly great at his job. This journey takes him around the world as he samples different cuisine and even tires to perfect his own recipes. It's entertaining, it's offbeat and it's hilarious. A great read for a food lover. Grab it off of Amazon using the above link. 

Recommended Websites: 

Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution 

If you're a regular reader of our blog, you know I am a champion of chef Jaime Oliver. First of all, I love his recipes, but secondly (and perhaps more importantly) I love his cause. Jaime's Food Revolution is a simple concept; he believes that the start to a healthier country, a healthier planet begins at a young age. His mission is straightforward, start the revolution at the school level. Feed children, good - healthy, fresh food and watch them grow up healthier and make better decisions. His ABC series over the summer was a great showcase of how this concept worked. Children, he proved, will eat whatever you put in front of them even if it's (gasp!) healthy. Go to ABC and watch full episodes of the show if you missed them this summer (they are worth it!)

I'll quote Jaime directly here to give you a better idea of what this whole movement is about: 

My philosophy to food and healthy eating has always been about enjoying everything in a balanced, and sane way. Food is one of life's greatest joys yet we've reached this really sad point where we're turning food into the enemy, and something to be afraid of. I believe that when you use good ingredients to make pasta dishes, salads, stews, burgers, grilled vegetables, fruit salads, and even outrageous cakes, they all have a place in our diets. We just need to rediscover our common sense: if you want to curl up and eat macaroni and cheese every once in a while – that's alright! Just have a sensible portion next to a fresh salad, and don't eat a big old helping of chocolate cake afterwards.

Knowing how to cook means you'll be able to turn all sorts of fresh ingredients into meals when they're in season, at their best, and cheapest! Cooking this way will always be cheaper than buying processed food, not to mention better for you. And because you'll be cooking a variety of lovely things, you'll naturally start to find a sensible balance. Some days you'll feel like making something light, and fresh, other days you'll want something warming and hearty. If you've got to snack between meals, try to go for something healthy rather than loading up on chocolate or potato crisps. Basically, as long as we all recognize that treats should be treats, not a daily occurrence, we'll be in a good place. So when I talk about having a 'healthy' approach to food, and eating better I'm talking about achieving that sense of balance: lots of the good stuff, loads of variety, and the odd indulgence every now and then.

For the past couple of years I’ve been campaigning to ban the junk in schools and get kids eating fresh, tasty nutritious food instead. I can’t do it without your help though – so start a revolution in your school and help us prove that school meals can be better.

It’s all about making radical changes to the school meals system and challenging the junk food culture by showing schools they can serve fresh nutritious meals that kids enjoy eating.

What we eat affects everything: our mood, behaviour, health, growth, even our ability to concentrate. A lunchtime school meal should provide a growing child with one third of their daily nutritional intake. 

Local and national government need to come up with a ten-year strategy and some real money to re-educate people about proper eating habits. This is what I think needs to happen now:

1. In schools: make cooking and life skills classes compulsory for all kids so they learn about food and good eating habits while they're young.

2. For teachers: recruit and train new cookery teachers, otherwise the new right that kids have to cookery lessons just isn’t going to happen.

3. For heads: empower heads to make every school a junk food free zone.

4. For parents: educate parents and help them to understand the basics of family cooking and responsible nutrition.

5. For dinner ladies: invest in dinner ladies with proper training and enough paid hours to cook their food with fresh ingredients.

6. Commit to a ten-year strategic plan and fund a long-term public campaign to get people back on to a proper diet and empower/persuade (and possibly scare, if needed) the public to make better choices. With obesity costing the NHS more than smoking, it seems logical that a similar campaign should be appropriate. 

It sounds so simple doesn't it? That's because it is. The problem is, the government subsidizes school food programs, and as most of you now - anything that the government is involved in becomes corrupted by lobbyists. In this case, major corporations have a death grip over the school lunch programs across the country because they are allowed to influence the guidelines (French fries count as a vegetable serving under these rules!) and can undersell nearly everyone on the market. Chicken tenders for 35 cents? Of course they win against fresh chicken. Here's where you can come in. Click this link, sign the petition and let the country know that you believe children should be eating fresh meals instead of processed junk for school lunches. There is a ton of information on Jaime's website if you are not convinced yet. Read it, take it all in and make an informed decision. You can always click the 'sign the petition' badge on the side of our website as well. 

That's all we have for you today. I really hope you give Jaime's Food Revolution a read, and sign the petition. A healthy country has to start somewhere after all! At the very least, here's hoping you enjoy one of the books we shared with you today. They are all worth a look! We're back tomorrow with a list of our ingredients for the week. Until then, 

~Cheers 

Can I See Some ID?

Good evening everyone! Welcome back to Out Of The Culinary! Tonight, as we've not so subtly alluded to all week, we're cooking with vodka! One of my favorite things about cooking is how easily one can utilized alcohol in a dish to take advantages of its great flavor (and usually avoid the 'downfalls' of alcohol at the same time!)

So, when I was browsing our cookbooks for this week's recipes - I stumbled upon my recipe tonight. I was actually heading to the page across from it (a recipe I will do NEXT week) when this one caught my eye: 'Penne With Vodka Sauce' As I said, I love using alcohol's flavor in a recipe (I have a couple stored away for this fall/winter when I can make a stew using Guinness - I'm excited for that one) so this recipe was an instant pick for the coming week.

Quick disclaimer here, although most of the recipe's alcohol should (SHOULD) be cooked off by the time you are ready to eat, it may still be wise to avoid sharing this meal with the kids. Women who are nursing or pregnant - best steer clear as well. For those of us not currently holding a tike in their tummy (and over 21 years of age) let's get started on this recipe!

Tasty! 

The Recipe: Penne With Vodka Sauce
Original Recipe Found In: The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook

What You'll Need:

1 (28 Oz.) Can Whole Tomatoes, Drained
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1/2 Small Onion (Minced)
1 Tbs. Tomato Paste
2 Medium Garlic Cloves
1/4 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
1/3 Cup Vodka
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
1 Lb. Penne
2 Tbs. Fresh Basil (3/4 - 1 tsp. dried)

Begin by placing a large pot of water (roughly 4 quarts) on high heat to bring to a boil. While you are waiting for this, you should begin pre-measuring and cutting your ingredients.

Next, puree half of the tomatoes in a food processor until well blended. Dice the other half until they are about 1/2 inch pieces. You can use a food processor for both processes, just monitor the diced tomatoes to make sure they don't become overly smooth.

The recipe calls for you to store the pureed and diced tomatoes in a liquid measuring cup. They claim that you should have about 1 2/3 cups of tomatoes at this time. Now, I ran into a different situation here. Our Hy-Vee didn't sell 28 Oz. canned whole tomatoes. They did sell 14 oz. cans. So, we opted for two 14 oz. cans of whole tomatoes. Now, my plan was to puree one can and simply diced the other. However, after pureeing the first can and pouring the contents into my measuring cup I came to a startling conclusion; I already had 1 2/3 cups of tomatoes. So, Instead of two forms of tomatoes, I simply used the first batch of pureed and continued on with the recipe. Obviously, this is going to vary based on what brand of tomatoes you buy among other things - just be sure to monitor the amount before continuing on in the recipe.

Next, heat your oil in a large frying pan or skillet until the oil begins to shimmer. Then, on medium heat, add your onion and tomato paste and stir until mixed together. Cook until your onions begin to brown (roughly 3 to 4 minutes). Add your garlic and red pepper flakes, making sure to stir constantly until fragrant (you will know, once you start to smell garlic, it's perfect) this should take roughly 30 seconds.

Onions and tomato paste. Smells good actually! 

Add your pureed and diced tomatoes to the pan along with a pinch of salt. Bring them to a simmer before removing the pan from heat and adding your vodka.  Now, don't be tempted to do a "One shot for the recipe, one shot for me" with the vodka here. I cannot guarantee results if you start 'taste testing' the vodka as you cook. You've been warned.

It's so...red

Return the pan to medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. You want to cook off the alcohol here, so a good vigorous simmer is desired. This should take about 10 minutes. By now, your pot of water is likely boiling as well. Add in your penne, making sure to stir every few minutes.

Now THAT is a vigorous simmer!

After 10 minutes have passed, your penne should be very, very close to al dente. Add your heavy cream to the tomatoes and stir well. Bring the pan back to simmer (this should take about a minute) be sure not too leave the pan on the heat for too long, however, as the heavy cream will burn. I'd recommend not leaving the pan on the heat for any longer than a minute and a half.

Drain the water from your pasta and then return the penne to the pot. Pour your sauce in with the penne as well. Stir in your basil and cover all the noodles evenly. On low heat, mix everything together well. Allow to simmer for about 2 to 4 minutes, until the penne starts to absorb some of the sauce. All that is left is to dish up and serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

Adding the sauce 

The Results:

I bet this isn't the first thing that comes to mind when I say "check out this steamy picture!" 

I was very happy with the results of this recipe. I typically don't like overly 'tomato-y' sauces with my pasta. Luckily, this sauce was very light and just clung to the noodles slightly. (That is courtesy of the tomato paste & pureed tomato combination).

The sauce itself held a great flavor. The vodka provided a nice 'bite' to the sauce (not in a bad way at all, simply a light flavoring of vodka - don't be scared away by the word bite) with complemented the sweet flavoring of the heavy cream and the tangy flavors of the tomatoes nicely. When served up with a little parmesan cheese, this recipe truly shined as a showcase of simple, clean - delicious flavors.

All in all, this was a great recipe. What is even better about this recipe is the fact that it was so simple to make. It took about 20 minutes to prepare and even that time was fairly straightforward and hassle free. For those of you who use "I don't have time to cook" as an excuse for not making fresh homemade meals, you've just run out of excuses. In no time at all, you can have a delicious pasta recipe on the table for the whole family. Here's hoping you give this one a try yourself!

That's all we have for you tonight. Thank you all for stopping by and sharing another week of recipes with us! As always, we're off tomorrow and Saturday. I'm brainstorming another 'quick hit' idea for a Sunday post - but that is still flexible. Watch our twitter or facebook feeds for a heads up on the next post.  Until next time,

~Cheers