Duck Tales (woo-ooo!)

The Alton Brown educational experiment continues.

Chapter 1: Searing

I am completely loving Brown's I Just Came Here for the Food because I am learning a lot, but also gaining a healthy dose of confidence (which I am finding is a critical ingredient to this whole cooking thing). Chapter 1 of the book is about searing, which, being a meat lover, I feel that I know a good deal about. Heck, before Kel and I moved into our home and got a grill my favorite way to cook a steak was a quick sear on the stove top and finish it in the oven for that perfect medium rare. I was almost to the point of skipping on to Chapter 2 (yes, I was overly cocky) until a recipe that caught my eye: Cast-iron seared duck.

I figured that it was time to challenge myself, time to take the bull by the horns (the duck by the feathers?) and try something I have 1. never cooked and 2. never eaten before. Let's do this!

So off to the West Side Market we go. 90 minutes later we leave with duck breasts, acorn squash, and some apple cider (along with other WSM essentials like a beautiful skirt steak and some Chinese Five Spice). The feeling I had leaving the market was sublime- I can't remember the last time I was so excited to cook something that was new to me. I knew that this was step one of my culinary education and I couldn't wait to get it started.

I was ready to cook. I had read the recipe for the duck and the side dish (apple cider roasted acorn squash) about 100 times so I knew them both backwards and forwards. Kelly has always told me that this was essential, but it wasn't until I read it in Alton's book that I took it to heart (sorry about the Kel). I figured out the timing of the dishes so they would both be done around the same time, I made sure the mise en plas was done before I started any cooking, and I checked the recipes one more time to make sure there would be no curve balls. I had never been so prepared for a meal in my life and that showed in the and product. Sure the squash cooked a little faster than what the recipe said, sure the hot skillet shot even hotter oil on my hand, and maybe a doubted myself for a brief moment before Kelly cut into the duck- but I never lost composure and I never once thought that we would be ordering pizza that night.

In the end we had a lovely meal - local duck, local squash (recipe found here), even the wine we drank was from a local winery. I thoroughly enjoyed the duck - oh my god is that crispy skin the best - and can't wait to make it again.

Maybe this halfway gourmet is taking a step closer to not-so-halfway. Only time, and a few more cooking adventures, will tell.

The curse of the defined palette (or Ignorance is Bliss)

Damn you good quality food!

I never thought it would come to this, but it seems that my palette has changed. For the better? You tell me.

I went through most of my years on this planet with a very limited culinary view. Orange juice comes from a can. You can add anything to ground beef, throw it on a bun, and it will be delicious. Seasoning? What seasoning? And what the hell is a Yorkshire pudding anyway? I didn't know, I didn't care, and I was fine with it. But now everything is different and it took a quick dinner fix a few weeks ago to remind me of that fact.

My little brothers are sophomores at John Carroll and since it's only half a mile away from our house, we like to have them over from time to time. This time they wanted to bring over their PS3 and play some video games with me (an activity I will never turn down), so I decided to have them over for dinner as well. Not only would I make dinner, but it would be a dinner that we all grew up with and absolutely loved...the famous Souper Burger. It is a simple recipe: brown some ground beef with onion, add a can of cream of mushroom soup, squirt in a little yellow mustard, throw it all on a bun and you are good to go.

Jeff, Jon, and I were all ridiculously excited since we hadn't eaten Souper Burger for years, but Kelly was much more suspicious. As it turns out, Kelly was right. It looked and tasted exactly like my mom's Souper Burger so why did I have such a problem with it? Probably because the taste was nothing to write home about and the texture was like I mixed a pound of ground beef with a bowl full of snot.

This actually made me really sad. It was one of those moments where you realize that sometimes the simple things just don't make you as happy as they used to; another reminder that you are an adult.

But that still didn't stop me from eating two servings.

Recipe Edition of Zucchini: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Because this is a food blog, I suspect you don't just want us to write about how fun it is to eat. "For the love of God," you might cry "What on earth is a zucchini fry and how does one even go about conceptualizing such a thing?!"

So my friends, I give you the following zucchini recipes. Not Kelly originals, but carefully (and sometimes carelessly) edited and tweaked. Kevin can tell you that it takes great restraint on my part not to alter or change any recipe I come across. Some people enjoy the exhilaration and danger of skydiving. Me? I like to add a teaspoon of cinnamon or some mustard powder and see what happens. To each his own, right?

I know, I know. Quit rambling and on with the recipes already!

Zucchini Cake

ingredients:
4 large eggs
2C white sugar
1/3C canola oil
2/3C unsweetened apple sauce (This is a subsitute for oil in an attempt to make a cake that was slightly less evil)
2C all purpose flour
1tsp salt
2tsp cinnamon
2tsp baking powder
8oz canned crushed pineapple, drained
1C chopped pecans (can use walnuts too, I just had pecans on hand)
2C grated zucchini (minimum--if you have more to add, you can back off the pineapple); I do this in my food processor with the shredder blade on clean-up is a bitch, but it sure is fast!
2tsp vanilla extract

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a pan. This can be done in a bundt, tube, or 9x13 pan--just have the confidence to change it up AND check on it about 10-15 minutes before the cooking time is up to make sure it doesn't burn. You can also make cupcakes if you so desired!
2. Measure out dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisk a few times to incorporate and break up any lumps, etc. You can also add the nuts to the flour and stir to coat. Coating the nuts before you add them to the batter will keep them from sinking down to the bottom of your cake as it bakes.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat eggs and sugar until pale in color. Add oil, applesauce and mix again.
4. Add dry ingredients and mix just until flour is incorporated. Add pineapple, zucchini, and vanilla extract. Mix until combined and pour into prepared pan.
5. Bake for about 80 minutes (if using bundt or tube pan) and probably about an hour for the 9x13 pan. Check after 45 minutes. A skewer or toothpick should come out clean when it is done.
6. Decorate with your favorite glaze, frosting, etc. I confess that I was too lazy to make my own, so I used a store bought whipped cream cheese frosting and it was perfectly delicious.

Result: This makes a lot of cake so great for a party or family gathering. Mine was dense because I subsituted applesauce for most of the oil but I liked it because it felt substantial and since it was covered in cream cheese frosting, I wanted every bite to feel like a big one. Ever eaten a piece of cake and it just didn't do it for you? So sad...

Oven Zucchini Fries (an awesome way to eat veggies with your burgers in the summer time)

Ingredients:
2 small/medium zucchini
1 large egg
1C panko bread crumbs
flour
salt
pepper
3/4 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp garlic powder
non-stick cooking spray

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
1. Don't peel, but trim and cut the zucchini into sticks (or I suspect you could probably do rounds if you really wanted to--then they'd be chips!) Season with salt and pepper and put into a ziplock bag. Add 1-2 Tbsp flour to the bag, seal and shake to coat the zucchini sticks with flour. Set aside.
2. In a separate low bowl, beat the egg with a Tbsp or so of water. Set aside. In another separate low bowl, mix breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder. Set aside.
3. Make an assembly line for yourself starting with the flour dredged zucchini, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. Get a cookie sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray ready.
4. Roll the zucchini sticks in the egg mixture, then press in the breadcrumbs so they stick (do the best you can and know that they won't be completely coated, no matter what)
5. Lay the sticks so they do not touch (but close together so as to maximize on pan space) and give a final generous spray of non-stick spray before popping in the oven. This may also be a great time to do a sprinkling of parmesan if you so desired.
5. Bake for abot 20-25 minutes until browned and slightly tender.

Results: a delicious addition to a turkey burger (or regular burger, for that matter). I also made a delicious dipping sauce consisting of horseradish, sour cream, salt, pepper, and a generous pinch or three of ground mustard powder. I was inspired by this great horseradish dipping sauce that is served with the deep fried zucchini fries at one of our favorite pubs near our house. I felt like I was being bad, but without actually being bad. Who needs to be weighed down with badness when there's some summer enjoyment to be had?

Savory Zucchini Cakes (as in Latkes, not as in cupcakes)
ingredients:
2-1/2C grated zucchini
1 beaten egg
2Tbsp melted butter
1C breadcrumbs
1/4C onion, grated (I grated mine in the food processor along with the zucchini)
1 tsp Old Bay (I didn't have this, so I just threw in my garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and that was it since my breadcrumbs were already seasoned)
1/4C flour
Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil

Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine zucchini, beaten egg, and butter. Stir in breadcrumbs, onion, and seasoning. If it is too wet, add additional breadcrumbs. You are looking for something like a meatball consistency.
2. Have the flower in a low bowl. In a non stick skillet heat a small amount of olive oil and an equally small amount of vegetable oil--enough to coat the bottom of the pan. The veg oil will keep the olive oil from burning, but the olive oil is better for you than the veg oil, so you are cutting bad stuff AND increasing the cooking ability of the good stuff. Not a horrible deal.
3. Form the zucchini mixture into patties, dredge patties in the flour. My patties were very wet, so I made very loose balls and pressed them down into the flour. Some people say I have the patience of a saint, so I was able to carefully place the falling apart patties into the pan. Much easier to deal with once one side is golden and fabulous.

Results: Crispy/crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Like a crab cake without the crab. Had these with grilled steak and potatoes. YUMMMMMY!

I highly recommend trying these recipes before you give away all of your garden's green lusciousness.

The Trials & Tribulations of a Man in the Kitchen

I'm terrified of cooking.

Do I cook? Yes. Do I like to cook? Yes, I love the feeling of creating something delicious from a hodgepodge of different ingredients. So why am I scared of cooking? It's because, well, my wife is just so damn good at it. Kelly has that innate ability to look in the fridge, pick out a few things, go to the cupboard and grab some spices, mix it all together and make something phenomenal. That, my friends, is not me. If I go to the cupboard in search of a meal, I'll end up with a bowl of cereal for dinner (which has happened).

No, I'm a recipe cook. You know the kind...anxiously locked in to a recipe, carefully measuring, never (and I mean NEVER) straying from the print on the card, and dirtying most of the dishes, pots, and pans in the kitchen (if you happen to live with a recipe cook, I am sorry...truly I am). Most of what I make turns out pretty well, but we all have our failures; the worst of which landed me in the hospital with a partially reattached thumb tip (buy me a drink, set aside an hour, and I'll tell you the story).

Lately, I have grown a bit in my culinary confidence. This summer I have made my own hot sauce and cooked scallops for the first time while making (very) minor tweaks the those recipes. I'm not going to win The Next Food Network Star any time soon, but if I make something that Kelly and I truly like that's a big enough victory for me.

My journey begins here

I recall very vividly my first solo attempt in the kitchen. I was about 8 years old and had been pouring over the Peter Rabbit's Natural Food Cookbook. There was a recipe for Mrs. McGregor's Fudge Cake that I was dying to try (of course).

My mother was working on some new silk designs in her studio next door and I convinced her that I could and would be the responsible young woman she had raised and could handle making this cake "all by my self". Thinking I would stay out of her hair so she could perfect the batik she was working on, she agreed.

She advised me to read the recipe carefully so I would understand the steps and know what ingredients were necessary. Standing in the kitchen with bowls, measuring spoons, cups, and the usual suspects (flour, eggs, butter, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder) I was ready for the adventure set before me. I thoughtfully sifted flour. I timidly cracked open each egg. I whisked, blended, mixed and folded. Each ingredient was so carefully measured. Finally, I poured the mixture into the 8x8 pan greased just like the recipe called for. I knew this was going to be the ultimate masterpiece. The perfect book end to a delicious family dinner.

My mother helped me put the pan in the oven and set the timer. Only 35 minutes to transform the buttery batter into heaven on a fork. When the timer dinged, it was all I could do to distract myself until dinner. On the back of the stove, cooling, Mrs. McGregor and her fudgy goodness sat. Oh glorious cake! When would you be mine?

I can't to this day recall what was served for dinner that evening. But I can tell you how much I beamed when the plates were cleared and my fudge cake came to the table. Everyone was served a piece. All afternoon, I was awaiting this very moment. But I was too nervous! I paused to wait for the applause, the enraptured "mmmmm" signaling that this was the most decadent of decadent desserts. It was, afterall, Mrs. McGregor's Fudge Cake.

My eyes were on my mother as she, too, anticipated the sweet delicacy before her. She took the first bite. This was it! Her lips pursed and her eyes rolled in what I was sure was the ultimate compliment. And then she spit the cake back out into her napkin and took a huge gulp of milk from the frosty glass.

I was devastated. It looked just like I thought it should look. I read the recipe 3 times over. I did everything right. Thoughtfully, my mother went through everything step by step with me asking me to show her exactly what I had used to measure each and every ingredient. It then became clear to her (and later to me) that she and I had very different ideas about what careful measuring was. To me, careful measuring was leveling the flour in a measuring cup or making sure the liquid was just to the line. I was a precocious child so it never occured to my mother that fractions hadn't been introduced to me yet, that I was unsure of when to use a "T" or a "tsp" and definitely that I hadn't grasped how many "tsp" are in a "T" or vice versa.

Still, it's kitchen tradgedies like this that have made me who I am as a cook. I have loved to bake since I can remember and of all things I can do in the kitchen, it is one of my favorite things to do. Mistakes and success are all a part of the culinary journey. Julia Child is famous for her mistakes and I doubt Hubert Keller made a perfect omlette right out the womb either.

This blog is about halfway gourmet. Halfway because I can say without pause that I have a long way to go before anyone calls me a gourmet. Sure, I can throw in a little bit of this, a touch of that, and top it with some pine nuts and it comes out looking like something you'd pay alot more to eat someplace else. But what makes a true gourmet? White linens, fine wine and flickering candles, fancy plating with foams, essences, and reductions? Whatever it is, we don't even eat our meals at a real table, so I can't possibly be there.

This is also halfway gourmet because I will be the first to admit that there are days when I would rather (and actually have) eaten a bag of Doritos for dinner. Can you imagine Alice Waters with nacho cheese fingers?

Lastly, it is halfway gourmet because I represent one half of this project. Along with my husband and fellow contributor to this blog, we will be sharing our experiences through the food that we eat. Afterall, a dish worth serving is a dish worth sharing.