Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I promise to post some kitchen loot and, obviously, some new recipes in the coming days!

Buffy's Bacon Biscuits

Our dog, Buffy, is a wonderful little dog! She's a rat terrier mix and definitely has a lot of dachshund in her, considering her length and that cute little face. Buffy, like most other dogs, loves treats. She also has a fairly sensitive stomach, so I figured making some relatively healthy dog treats from scratch might be a good idea. This recipe has bacon and bacon fat (the less healthy part), as well as whole wheat flour, which is filling and somewhat nutritious, at least.

Buffy's Bacon Biscuits

5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
1 lb bacon
1/2 cup cold water

Start by heating the oven to 350 degrees F. In a cast iron pan (or other frying pan if you don't have one), cook the bacon in batches over medium low heat. Make sure you do not empty the pan - save those drippings! Crumble the bacon into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer if you have one. Add the flour and milk and mix well (use the paddle attachment if you're using the stand mixer). Switch to the dough hook and stir in the bacon drippings. While kneading, add as much cold water as needed to make a moist dough.

At this point, grease a cookie sheet. Roll the dough out until it's about 1/4 of an inch thick, in batches if necessary. Use cookie cutters or a knife to shape the biscuits. Place them about 1 inch apart on the cookie sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container. Note that bacon fat goes rancid faster than other fats, so you may want to store these treats in the fridge.

So did she like them? I think so:

I Started Early

This is me, a "few" years ago. As you can tell, I enjoyed cooking (or at least wearing hats) and drinking (or at least holding wine glasses) from a young age! I usually tell people that I grew up under my dad's stove (not literally, though) when they ask about my interest in cooking. Well, call this proof, or something. My sister found this picture in an old photo album and uploaded it to Facebook, which is why I'm posting it here in the first place.

Poll is finished! I'll be trying to get some dishes that match the top cuisine styles (Italian, Japanese and a tie for American and Mexican in third) in the next few posts. The lemon & almond biscotti is Italian, so let's count that as the first post for the winner. New poll coming up later today, as well as a new recipe - I made fish and chips!

Poll 1: Results

The first poll has closed, and the results are in!

More advanced food recipes	4 (20%)
More basic food recipes	7 (35%)
Instructional videos	8 (40%)
Kitchen gadget reviews	0 (0%)
General musings about food	1 (5%)
Something else (comment on a random blog post!)	0 (0%)

I guess nobody cares about kitchen gadgets and only one person is interested in general musings about food (although I do talk about food in general in pretty much all posts). The winner, by one vote, is videos. Thanks, guys, gee, now I have to pull out the video camera and make an ass of myself on the internet. Great!

Just kidding, I've been planning to make some videos for a while, and it's not a bad idea at all. Easier to show than to type out what you need to do in order to succeed, right?

Basic food recipes is the runner-up, so maybe I'll combine those two...we'll see. Expect the poll results to affect the blog in the coming weeks. And don't worry, people who wanted to see more advanced recipes, I'm not tied to the poll results like a boat to a dock (for lack of a better analogy), I'll be posting some more advanced stuff too for sure!

New poll posted. What's your favorite cuisine (out of those posted)?

Overhaul...and let's try a poll

Dear readers,

This blog may have a lot of interesting recipes and decent food photography - but the layout is pretty plain. I'm working with a friend to spice it up a little bit, so expect to see some major updates in the coming days/weeks.

I've also decided to start polling my loyal readers (and random visitors) on various things. First up: what would you like to see more of on the blog? The poll is on the right, and I'll listen to your answers. If you want to comment specifically, let me know in this post, or any random post!

Bread and Blogs and Booty (in the pirate sense)

I just put two batches of dough in the fridge to rise overnight: one to make ciabatta, the other to make cinnamon rolls. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I'll tell you that much. Cinnamon roll recipe to follow, of course.

A cool thing happened today: A good friend of mine was reading an old high school friend's "tweet" (he hates that word) about a food blog she enjoys reading. It just so happens that the blog she was referring to is this one, and it's purely coincidental. She originally came upon it searching for a tzatziki recipe. Pretty cool!

This does make me curious, though! I know I have a pretty steady stream of new readers every day/week/month, yet the comments sections of these posts are pretty empty. Maybe I should just offer a prize - a randomly chosen reader who comments during the month of March gets a...batch of cookies? A cool kitchen gadget? A couple of original recipes before everyone else? We'll see, suggestions are welcome. You may post them in the comments section below (and you won't be winning a prize for it, because it ain't March yet)!

A Year of Blogging

So here we are, one year and exactly 56 posts later (including this one). I've learned a few lessons about blogging, one being the concept of feast or famine. I posted 19 times in January of '09, and a total of 10 times between May and November. This year, I will do my best to post a little more evenly - the goal is about two posts per week (so roughly twice the rate of last year).

There will be a break in late July/early August because my parents are coming to visit for a week, and then I'm getting married!

I have a multitude of recipes and things I want to try and write about, and I can't wait to get started. Tonight, I'll be attempting some middle eastern food with some Greek food thrown in for good measure - kofta (or kafta, or kufta, depending on who you ask) baked in the oven with potatoes and tomatoes, tzatziki, pita bread (that I baked last night), hummus, and feta cheese. Looking forward to it. And tomorrow is probably going to involve both bread baking and potentially baking something sweet. We'll see, I'll be attempting some new recipes so I can post them here instead of just doing what I've done in the past. Hmm, maybe I should revisit the focaccia - I've made it twice (once very successfully, once very unsuccessfully). I am definitely on a baking spree right now, and I don't see that stopping anytime soon, especially since it's had pretty decent results as of late!

Another anniversary, by the way: I'm celebrating 5 years at work next week. Not shabby - especially since I've been promoted a few times and got to move to a new country as well!

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Mountain of Cookies

I just had to share my mountain of cookies. Now I want one, and I'm all out :(

Sweden Trip!

I'm going to my native Sweden in a few days, and will spend two weeks trying to do as much as possible. Hopefully I'll bring back some Swedish goodies that will end up on the blog at some point :)

I won't be updating for about three weeks, starting now.

Pizza, oh Pizza

Made some pizza tonight, with Italian sausage and some wonderful Mozzarella. It was wonderful, and I'm so happy I have leftovers.

Scotch Pancakes with Caramel Bananas and Rum

My good friend Luke just sent a link to this video and I just had to post it. Wow.

Perfect Scrambled Eggs

I can't believe I haven't posted this yet. Gordon Ramsay shows us how to create the best scrambled eggs you've ever had. Enjoy.



And here's some I made a while back:

More pizza

I made pizza recently, and decided that it was time to post a picture since I didn't have time to take one last time. Yum yum.

Movie Night

We're having some people over tonight to watch The Big Lebowski - hopefully the first of many movie nights. We've decided to try to pair the movie with food and drinks, so we're naturally making White Russians, grilled cheese sandwiches (bowling alley food) and french fries (also bowling alley food).

I'm curious to see what food and drink pairings we can come up with for future movies. I think we're planning to have a "watch party" - seeing the two movies Night Watch and Day Watch - and I suppose we'll just have to go for Russian food with those two. And vodka, neat. Of course :)

Pizza

I made pizza last night, from scratch. Actually, I started with the dough on Saturday afternoon, because Alton Brown said so!

After watching the above video and reading the recipe a few times, I felt ready to toss my own dough and create one of my favorite dishes (and, I'm assuming, Jacquie's absolute favorite). I even went as far as to go pick up a pizza stone ($10 at Target - will definitely replace it with something "nicer" in the future) and today I bought a pizza peel! Either way, Saturday afternoon, I quickly mixed up the ingredients in the stand mixer and let the dough hook do its magic for 15 or so minutes. Once it was finished, I could stretch the dough out to see the "window pane" and I was pretty amazed that I managed to get it that good my first time around.

Last night, it was time for the actual pizza baking (after letting the dough rise for the recommended 24 hours in a fridge). Unfortunately, I didn't have the pizza peel at this time, so I had to build the pizzas on a cutting board and one of them did tear just a little bit when I had to move it around...but the pizzas did come out really well. I topped them with some canned tomato sauce I happened to have in the fridge (nothing spectacular, I'll make my own next time), fresh basil, mozzarella cheese (whole, fresh) and nothing else. It was pretty delicious and I can't wait to do it again to introduce my pizza peel to my 500 degree oven!

No picture today, as I forgot to take one before it was too late and the pizzas were completely devoured. I might add one next time I do this :)

Improving the work environment

I brought a pulled pork sandwich to my colleague at work today. Sourdough bread, coleslaw, pulled pork. The result?

Fritz [11:32 AM]: I believe the word I'd use to describe this sandwich is "heavenly" :P
Fritz [11:32 AM]: Soo good man.
Andreas [11:32 AM]: Oh, you like?
Fritz [11:32 AM]: Yeah it's awesome
Andreas [11:32 AM]: I'm posting that comment in my blog

:)

The Slow Cooker

The slow cooker has gotten a bad reputation over the years, at least that's what I've gathered from reading various recipes, cookbooks and talking to friends who enjoy cooking. Everyone seems to have an older relative who has served them a soggy meatloaf or a dry pot roast that has spent untold hours in a crock pot.

I bought a slow cooker a while back because I read a recipe for pulled pork - and I love pulled pork - that the author promised would be fantastic. Now, a slow cooker (for those lucky enough to not have had grandma make soggy meatloaf in one) is essentially a countertop cooking device that applies low heat to food over a long time and is suitable to leave unattended while off doing more important things, like...well, there are few things as important as cooking, but let's pretend "going to work" is and leave it at that.

After having owned the slow cooker for about six months, I can safely say it was well worth the investment ($20 at Target) and I've made a few dishes in it that were really, really good. The fact that you can take a cheap hunk o' meat, stick in a pot and leave it for 8 hours while at work to come home to a house that smells fantastic is actually not a bad idea at all. Maybe grandma was right after all, but the application was a tad off? (I use the term "grandma generically here, both my grandmothers are great cooks and I've never seen them use a crock pot, nor have they served me soggy meatloaf.)

I generally make the pulled pork or a chili in the pot (the picture above is of my chili on chips with some melted Mexican cheese), but have tried other recipes too and I'm always on the lookout for new things to put in there. We had pulled pork sandwiches tonight (made coleslaw from scratch, served in pita bread) and it was pretty damned great.

So give the crock pot a chance - and share your interesting recipes with me! Here are a few:

Slow Cooker Chili
1 lb ground beef
1 medium yellow onion
5 garlic cloves
2 shallots
2 cans diced tomatoes (or fresh, peeled and seeded)
1 small can tomato paste
2 cans chili beans, black beans or red kidney beans, or any mix thereof (or roughly 2 cups dry beans that you let soak overnight)
2 large jalapeños
salt
black pepper
red pepper flakes
ground cumin

Start by browning the beef in a large skillet. I generally add a little salt and pepper at this point, but it's not necessary. Once browned, drain in a sieve to get rid of most of the liquid (which is basically fat and a little water). Place the browned beef in the slow cooker. Peel and dice the onion, peel and slice the shallots, and peel and finely chop the garlic. Dump it all in the slow cooker.

Next, I highly recommend putting gloves on. No, not the kind you wear when you go outside in North Dakota in January, I mean the disposable plastic gloves you steal when you go to the doctor and get bored in his office. We're chopping jalapeños and trust me - you do not want to touch your nose or eyes after chopping these spicy little peppers. Slice them in half, remove the seeds, chop them up and add to the slow cooker.

Next, open up your cans. Drain and rinse the beans if you're using canned ones. Add everything to the pot. Next, add about half a tablespoon of red pepper flakes and half a tablespoon of cumin. Add a few pinches of kosher salt and some black pepper.

Next, turn the slow cooker on. Aim for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low - a little more than that won't hurt either. If possible, stir occasionally. If you find, when time is up, that the chili appears a bit too "wet", feel free to put it in a large pot and place over medium high heat on the stove, stirring frequently until the liquid is reduced to your preferred consistency.

Serve with rice, or over chips with shredded cheese (cheddar or provolone are good, I use a Mexican tri-cheese for this). The chili will freeze well, and be fine in the fridge for up to about a week. I usually freeze mine in smaller batches to be brought out and heated for a quick dinner or snack.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Cole Slaw

Pork:

1 large pork shoulder or "Boston butt" (bone-in or not, your choice)
1 yellow onion
8 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
brown sugar

Coleslaw:

4 cups shredded white cabbage (or red, but that will color the mayo and make pink coleslaw)
1 carrot, shredded
1/3 cup mayonaise (light, if you must)
1 tbsp white wine vingegar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Start by coating the pork with brown sugar. If there is a large piece of fat at the bottom, feel free to cut it out now (although leaving it on won't hurt, you can just remove it later). Quarter the onion and place in the bottom of the pot. Place the pork on top of the onion - if it does not fit, you can cut the pork in half to be able to squeeze it in there. Next, pour the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce over the pork, cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. If possible, flip the pork halfway through cooking.

Once finished, remove the pork from the pot and shred. I usually use two forks to do this. Throw out excess fat when shredding.

To make the coleslaw, shred the cabbage and carrot into a bowl. Add the mayo, vinegar, oil, salt and sugar and stir. Taste it and add more salt/sugar as needed.

Serve the pork with the coleslaw on a soft bun or in a pita bread or just eat it straight out of the bowl if you want to. I usually mix a bunch of BBQ sauce with the meat too, which gives it some extra flavor.

I was going to post a picture of the pulled pork sandwiches I made tonight in this blog, but once I checked them and found they were out of focus, we had already consumed them. I might add one later, if I make more (since I still have plenty of pork left in the fridge, where it will last up to a week).

KitchenAid Stand Mixer and other Christmas Loot

Since the day that I first saw it, the KitchenAid Artisan Series Tilt-Head 5qt Stand Mixer has been on my mental wish list. A while back, I decided to also add it to my Amazon.com wishlist and - what do you know - Jacquie's parents decided that I should have one, so they got me one. Jacquie, for the record, is my loving girlfriend who loves my cooking almost as much as I love to cook. The box arrived a few weeks before Christmas, and since I had completely forgotten that I wanted one, I had no idea what was in this huge box addressed to me. Come the day after Christmas (when her parents arrived), I went to town on the wrapping and was pretty stunned when I opened it, for two reasons: a) it was a KitchenAid Artisan Series Tilt-Head 5qt Stand Mixer (Empire Red) and b) it wasn't something with the New York Yankees logo on it.

I have so far made four things in it (over the course of five days since I first started using it): white bread, pita bread, macaroons and more pita bread.

My parents obviously also checked my Amazon.com wish list and got me the Global G2 20cm Chef's Knife - a fantastic piece of metal, that I have no idea how I've lived without until I got to try it. This thing is so sharp, I'm afraid I'll slice atoms in half, and that can't be good. Or can it? Either way, I'm loving it.

Jacquie gave me a Le Creuset 9" square dish (red) and another 5" dish with that, wonderful!

Yeah - our kitchen will definitely have a lot of red tings in it, considering that's the KitchenAid standard color, as well as the Le Creuset one.

Other food-related loot: a "multi-purpose chop & lift" blade with measurements on it, a KitchenAid black spatula, some nice hand-painted espresso cups and espresso coffee beans. And a couple of bottles of rum. Rum is food, right?

I also got a subscription to the food magazines Gourmet (from my parents) and Louisiana Cookin' (from Jacquie's parents.)

All in all, a pretty damn fantastic pile of stuff, and while I generally love to give gifts more than receive them, this year was amazing.

Foooood

Hola!

I'm Andreas and this is my food blog. I intend to write about food and drinks, post some recipes of what I make, and post pictures of my food, drinks, cookware, and other food-related things.

I will try to update a few times a week and we'll see how well that works. Disregarding my blogging past (where I get really excited, post a bunch and then...forget about it), I'm confident this will work, since I love food.

All right, take it away...me!