Make Dinner, Not Nuclear War

This post goes out to my co-worker, Josh. Josh is half Korean, but was raised in the booming metropolis of Luverne, AL, and therefore, 100% country (Josh, I love ya, man. You know work would be 10x more lame if you weren’t here). Anyways, Josh says the only Korean food he’d ever try is his grandmother’s, but I bet he’d like this, too.

This recipe is from Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee’s Quick & Easy Korean Cooking (via the May issue of Gourmet magazine) and just like Gourmet’s writer, I was surprised it used ONE CUP of cornstarch!!! Also, the thought of ketchup in Asian food doesn’t really get me excited, but if you think about it, ketchup is just tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and spices. That doesn’t sound too freaky, right?? **

Korean Seasoned Fried Chicken
3 chicken breasts, cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces (yes, there were leftovers)
½ onion, grated
1 clove garlic, minced (with my handy new SLAP CHOP!!)
1 large egg
1 C cold water
1 C cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable Oil (I added some Sesame Oil)
3 Tbs Korean chile paste (I used Sriracha)
5 Tbs sugar
4 Tbs ketchup
2 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
Juice of ½ lemon (I forgot to get a lemon, so I substituted ½ C of OJ – I realize this totally changes the flavor, but in a good way)

First I marinated the chicken with the onion and garlic for about 30 minutes in the fridge. While the chicken was marinating, I made the sauce/glaze by combining Sriracha, sugar, ketchup, sesame seeds, and OJ in two separate bowls. Since the pregnant LOML is extra sensitive to strongly spiced foods, I made one bowl without the Sriracha, and one with (PS – If you do use the Sriracha, you will get a tasty sauce, but it has some HEAT!!). I added a little soy sauce and garlic powder to hers to help “Asian” it up.

For the batter/breading, you combine the egg, water, cornstarch, salt, and pepper together until just moist. I’m not sure how to combine until “just moist” because my batter was completely wet. Was there a phantom dry ingredient I missed??

After the chicken had marinated, and the sauce and batter complete, I heated the vegetable/sesame oil over medium heat, until a drop of water sizzled. Then I dumped the chicken pieces into the cornstarch mixture, and dropped them in the hot oil, making sure the pieces didn’t touch each other.

I imagined the batter would cling to the chicken a little better to make light and crispy breaded chicken, but honestly a lot of the batter came off in the frying pan. Maybe I should have kept that deep fryer JD gave me two years ago??? Anyhow, basically you fry the chicken on both sides (maybe 10-12 minutes total) and then drain on a paper towel. Afterwards, toss the chicken with your sauce and BOOM, dinner is served.

** Speaking of freaky, did anyone ever see that Kids in the Hall sketch where the two guys ate nothing but Kraft Macaroni & cheese and ketchup?? Now that made me a little queasy . . .

Happy Anniversary

I love you, dear!!

07.07.07

Man vs. Blog

Does anyone else watch Man vs. Food on the Travel channel?? Although it seems like a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives rip-off, I’ll admit I’ve been sucked into an episode (or seven) this past year. When host Adam Richman visited Minneapolis, and tried a “Jucy Lucy” I thought to myself, I must try one!!

The LOML and I had our 2nd annual Fourth of July Party on Saturday, and while the general admission guests had regular hamburgers and hot dogs (and chips, watermelon, cherry cobbler, etc.), I had reserved one “special” hamburger for myself . . . the TMF’H Lucy!!

Ok, so basically, a Jucy Lucy is just two hamburger patties with cheese in the middle that melts whilst you cook it. I took two 1/6 patties, and squashed them pretty thin using a meat mallet, before putting them in the freezer to firm up. Next I took a slice of cheddar cheese and folded it over twice (that’s a thickness of 4 slices) to get a nice square block of cheesy goodness! After “crimping” the edges, it went back into the freezer to firm up some more.

(Note: I’m such an idiot, and took a really sweet “Before” picture of the two hamburger patties and the cheddar cheese all set out separately before assembly. What did I do when reviewing my photographic achievement?? Deleted it!! Doh!!)

Here is what the TMF’H Lucy looked like after assembly!

Here is the TMF’H Lucy grilling up nicely. I think “freezing” the hamburger for an hour or two before hand helped to keep it from over-cooking on the grill.

And finally the finished product!

What did my old roommate, lil mane Andy think??

GREAT SUCCESS!!

Life's Worth Living in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Hello from beautiful Fort Smith, Arkansas!!! That’s right, nine years after I came to “Hell on the Border” for a CUTCO regional training; I am back . . . And ready to count some fishing lures (seriously)!!! Now for those of you who haven’t been to the Ft. Smith Regional Airport, it is straight out of a 1980’s Southern Baptist church foyer. But I shouldn’t rag on Ft. Smith. Janice at the Budget rental car was super friendly. And the Courtyard here seems well kept and relatively new.

If I had more time to explore, I might visit Miss Laura’s Social Club, the only former “house of ill-repute” that is on the National Register of Historic Places!! Somehow, I don’t think a souvenir t-shirt would be appropriate at the next church family picnic.

I had a brief layover in Memphis and treated myself to half a rack of ribs at Jim Neely’s Interstate BBQ (I usually opt for pulled pork). I love me some BBQ. If someone asks me where to eat BBQ in Memphis, I’ll recommend Interstate over Rendezvous (OVERRATED!) every time.

I know people say this all the time, but the meat fell off the bone! I’m no BBQ expert, but apparently you don’t want your BBQ to fall off the bone?? I still thought they tasted great. The slaw was chopped fine, a bit runny, but still got me a little nostalgic. The baked beans (with smoky pieces of pulled pork) were awesome. The sweet tea, ehhh . . . sorry Memphis, Birmingham has ya beat.

Also on the flight from BHM to Memphis, was University of Wisconsin’s head wrestling coach, Barry Davis. Very nice gentleman, and we had a good discussion about Malcolm Gladwell (I started Blink on the flight . . . finished Moneyball last Friday). I guess you never know when you’re going to sit next to an Olympic Medalist???

Surin of Homewood

The Mrs. and I are big Thai food fans. Our first date was actually at Surin West almost five years ago. I’ve been itching to use the Coconut Milk that’s been sitting in our pantry for an embarrassingly too long amount of time (it had two months until expiration!!) and last week I did a bit of experimenting to create my first Thai Peanut Chicken Stir Fry. Here’s what I used:

Chicken breast
Green Pepper, Zucchini, Onion, Mushrooms
Coconut Milk
Peanut Butter
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Rice Vinegar
Honey
Salt/Pepper

In one skillet I heated about a tablespoon of sesame oil over medium high heat and cooked the chicken for a minute or two, before adding half a can of Coconut Milk and the Mushrooms. I didn’t want to have COMPLETELY raw chicken cooking in the coconut milk, but it may not have been necessary. I covered and cooked that on medium heat for maybe 10 minutes or so.

I decided to stir fry the other vegetables in a separate skillet before adding to the chicken and mushrooms (I wanted a little crunch left and didn’t want to “boil” them). While the peppers, zucchini and onions were cooking, I combined maybe a tablespoon each of Peanut Butter, Soy Sauce, and Rice Vinegar in a bowl and micro-waved for 30 seconds. Stir it around and it looks like this:

After the chicken looked good and cooked, I stirred in the peanut mixture and let it simmer for a few more minutes before adding the vegetables. At this point, I tasted it and realized it needed salt and something sweet (maybe a tablespoon of honey).

All in all, it was a pretty tasty dish, but I definitely could have used some extra ingredients to “tie” it up (get it??? Tie/Thai).

Things I would have liked to Add:
Lime
Mint
Ginger
Bean Sprouts
Jalapenos
Curry Powder
Garlic (duh, I totally should have added Garlic Powder)

Any blog stalkers out there have any suggestions for Thai Cooking at Home??

Happy Father's Day

In case you haven't seen the LOML or my FB status today, we're finally revealing to the internetz world we're PREGGERS!!!*

Baby TMF'H set to drop mid-January 2k10 (doesn't that look weird with two numerals after the k??)

Hope everyone had a GREAT weekend!!! I spent the afternoon FINALLY finishing the backyard patio (so fatherly, I know)!

* I knew I'd need an exciting topic for my 100th post!

Chillin' at the Hampton Inn

In addition to hanging out with Mimi & Op last weekend, the LOML and I also went to see Brad & Elle in the Big Apple!! We actually drove into NYC Saturday morning and then rode with BLEE to the Hamptons (cue P. Diddy). That’s right; we were rubbing elbows with Billy & Katie Lee (ooops!!) and rolling 26’s on the Bentley!!

Saturday we went to the Barefoot Contessa’s favorite Farmer’s Market (no lie), hung out at the pool, walked around downtown East Hampton, had $5 ice cream cones, and caught up on all our Condé Nast publications. BLEE is renting their house (in Amagansett) with another couple and the wife is a kitchen manager for Martha Stewart. We quickly tricked her into cooking dinner for us Saturday night. OMG, I could have eaten this Chimichurri sauce on my Top-Siders for dinner, it was that good (don’t worry; I’ll recreate it for yall later in the summer)!!!

Sunday we drove up to Montauk and had lunch at Lunch (while Lunch may be world famous for the Lobster Rolls, their website is HTML-lame!). When in Rome, I decided to do as the Hamptonians do and had one of their world famous Lobster Rolls.

Can I be honest?? The roll was the best part (hot, buttery and delicious) of the sandwich. Maybe I was expecting it to be the best food I ever put in my mouth, but the Lobster was really just alright for me, dawg. I mean, I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t get all the hype?? After lunch, we walked on the beach, took various awkward family photos, and then went for a drink and people watching at the Surf Lodge.

The thing that struck me about the Hamptons was how LUSH and GREEN everything was! It’s not like the usual beach towns you’re used to. Everything is covered in thick hedges and tall trees (no palm trees). It’s very New England-y and a bit Euro-rustic. We saw some crazy big houses (mostly covered in those thick 20 ft hedges), but I think everyone would be just as happy on the Florida or Carolina coast.

The LOML and I had a great time and loved hanging out with BLEE (along with Boston Rob and Alison!!). Thank yall again for having us and hopefully it won’t be 2 years before we fellowship again!!! OMK!!

Greetings from TMF'H

So last weekend, the LOML and I took a mini-vacation to the Tri-State Region. We haven’t been up to see my grandparents since their 50th Wedding Celebration (a little over two years ago) and really wanted to fly up to the Garden State for a visit. We had a FANTASTIC dinner at Reggiano’s Thursday night (I really want to recreate the prosciutto and fontina wrapped asparagus) and also went to my Aunt & Uncle’s Friday night for a cook-out with my cousins.

In addition to being two kind, generous, and loving people, Mimi & Op are both really hip and “with it” (Mim is an avid Facebooker (and Blog commenter!), and although Op can’t stand Conan or Dave, he thinks Craig Ferguson is pretty funny). Friday afternoon, Mimi took the LOML and me on a tour of NJ (Montclair, Glenn Ridge, Livingston, etc.) where we drove past my grandparents’ old homes, and also stopped at a Border’s (Mim said we could each pick out two items). I don’t care if you’re 7 or 27, it’s still exciting to pick out a toy (or book, rather) with your grandmother. I picked up When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris and A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg.

This was my first foray into David Sedaris, but I’m sure everyone else has been reading him for years (Did you know his sister was Amy Sedaris from Strangers with Candy??). I was walking through the store, contemplating my next choice, when I told the LOML I was thinking of getting this book, because I heard he was funny. One of the Border’s employees was like “OMG, he is hilarious, you have to get this book!” so I took the plunge and picked it up. He is known for his dry, self-depricating humour and reminds me a lot of Larry David. As a bonus, Mim also gave me her old copies of Barrel Fever, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Naked!!! (I told you she was “with it”)

Molly Wizenberg is the author of the popular Orangette food blog. I added her to my Google Reader last Fall, and although she’s taken a hiatus from blogging (as of 5/18/09), you should still poke around there for some good reading. I didn’t really know if this book was going to be a memoir or a cook book (it’s kind of both), but after the food blogging community was raving about it a few months ago, I thought I’d check it out. I read the first 4 or 5 recipes (each has a 2-3 page background story) and I’ll try and post some recipes here in the (near?) future. Also, if you’re (blog-stalkers) ever in Seattle, Molly and her husband are set to open a sweet pizza joint, Delancey, in the “late spring”??

Thanks again for everything, Mimi & Op!! We love you!!

Anybody Seen Michael Jordan??

Last night we went to a Birmingham Barons baseball game with our church small group. It was $.25 Hot Dog night, and the perfect example of “You get what you pay for” (I had three).

In addition to a rousing AA baseball game (the Barons lost 1-6), we also noticed a number of “old timers” in front of us scribbling down minor league stats in spiral notebooks. Having finished about 80% of Moneyball (I’ll finish it by July!) I assumed these sabermetrics were scouts (looking for the next Jeremy Brown???). Various members of the Baron’s staff came over throughout the game to discuss players, the MLB Draft (started last night), and one of the old guy’s sweet baseball card shirt!

There's a Magazine Called Sunset

Last night whilst the LOML was watching the Bachelorette (no, I was not paying attention), I was catching up on a magazine when it hit me . . . we subscribe to a TON of magazines!!

Runner's World

Real Simple

Cooking Light

Journal of Accountancy

Self

Inc.

Gourmet

Everyday Food

YOU'RE WELCOME, PRINT MEDIA INDUSTRY!!

I will point out that two of these were gift subscriptions, two were reward point subscriptions (expiring United sky miles), one comes free with membership in the AICPA, and one is a trial subscription that ends soon (?)

Anyways, just a boring nuance in the lives of TMF'H . . . thought I'd share since there's not too much else going on right now . . .

Sorry, Ladies

This weekend Handsome Rob is getting hitched. Tonight we'll be at Niffer's doing this:

The e-mail chain that started last week amongst his groomsmen has now topped over 400 (we are all very diligent employees). This weekend will be fun. I know a lot of ladies will be crying in their Pitu Saturday night . . .

On the Back Patio

Over the past couple years, most of the bushery (or shrubbery) in our back yard has gotten away from the LOML and I, leaving our flower beds dead and barren. We talked a few months ago about expanding the little patio area off our back deck (home of dead shrubbery), and this past weekend, we commenced the tackling of this DIY/HGTV/FLN/TLC project.

Our good buddy, Craiger, gave us a tip about Alabama Wholesale Stone Company, and we were able to pick up 3,200 POUNDS (that’s over a ton and a half!) of Blue Flagstone at a pretty reasonable price (at least I thought so). This picture doesn’t do it justice, but we were riding low (and dirty).

I also rented a 5 HP Tiller from Huffstutler’s Hardware to till out the area where we would lay the patio. This thing was a BEAST!! After tilling the Earth, JD came over and helped move 15 or so wheel barrow loads of dirt to the back of our yard. I kinda want a tiller now for my Birthday.

Most of the instructions I read online said you should lay an inch or so of sand before placing your flagstone. I picked up 8 bags of sand (.5 cu ft each) from Lowe’s which was not near enough. The Mrs. and I “sprinkled” what little sand we had, and then started to lay some of the stones to see how it looked (we came to the conclusion, that we really did need that extra sand). Here is what our patio looks like now:

Luckily, Cahaba Heights Hardware Store has a pretty good deal on bulk sand (wish I had known that early Saturday morning!), but it may be a week (or more) before we can finish this project. Don’t worry, we’ll have it ready for the 2nd annual 4th of July Bash. Here is what you missed last year!! (the slide that is)

Boom!!

and by "New" (REMIX)

Hehehe (awkward laughter)

I totally did not check out any cd’s from the library and burn them to my home computer . . . that would be illegal . . . don’t do it, kids!!

When it Comes to Getting Bread I Lost the Keys to the Bakery

Sadly, I am not a Bread Wizard (I don’t even think I’m a half-blood). Sunday was my 2nd attempt at bread baking, and, well, you’ll have to see for yourself . . .

Last year, the LOML and I came back from visiting the Bridgers in Chicago (where Stephen grew up) all psyched about baking bread from a Sourdough Starter. I did a bunch of research online and found multiple websites/instructions for making your own bread starter (obviously, I was too proud to get my starter from someone else). I “fed” my starter according to plans and after a week, tried to bake a loaf. I was pretty excited . . . except the bread didn’t rise and the finished product looked (and tasted) like a bagel brick . . .

A month ago, I looked up Mark Bittman’s recipe after JCCVI said I could impress my friends and become a Bread Wizard. This recipe sound good. I already pictured us getting a larger Le Creuset as obviously, this recipe seemed fail-proof, and we’d soon be baking artisanal bread semi-regularly and supplying Chris Hastings with our home-baked goods.

The recipe starts easy enough: Bread, Water, Salt, and Yeast. After combining, covering and leaving alone for 18 hours, the dough was dotted with bubbles. Sweet!! That meant the yeast worked!!

Next the receipt called for folding over the dough once or twice on a floured work surface and then covering with plastic wrap for 15 minutes. I’m not sure how you can fold over really runny dough, but I did my best. As you can see, the dough ran pretty flat, but I still had hope for our bread.

Since this recipe was supposed to fit in a 6-8 quart Le Creuset (and we were working with a 2 qt) I tried to divide the dough in half and let rise separately. After two hours, I saw no noticeable rise. Oh well, I pulled my dough from the cloth towel (WHY could this not have been something else?? parchment paper, plastic wrap, etc.), poured it in the pre-heated dish, and put it in the 450 degree oven.

I will say it had a good crust. I’ll give it that. But it was small. And it was dense. And it kind of tasted like a bagel. As you can see, there were some pockets of air in the bread, but still dense. Very dense.

What did I do wrong?

Will I try this again?

Will any blog-stalkers out there give me bread-baking tips?

** Unbeknownst to me, there is an on-line Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge that just started over at Pinch my Salt. While I don’t have the book, I’ll be following along and may (or probably not) try a loaf or two along the way????

TV ON THE RADIO

I can’t say I was that familiar with their music before the show (I burned a couple cd’s from Stephen and D, and saw them on SNL and the Colbert Report earlier this year), but TV on the Radio put on a ROCKING good time Wednesday night.* This band oozes New York City cool and makes you want to move to Brooklyn and participate in a literary collective or slow food co-op. Kyp Malone also makes you want to grow a very, very large beard.

Any blog post re: this show wouldn't be complete without mentioning the fact that TVOTR played before an intimate crowd of 300 at Bottletree (tickets sold out back in February) whereas they've been accustomed to playing shows to audiences of hundreds (thousands?) more! The sign on the door said no photography or video equipment allowed, so you’ll have to settle for this really blurry/crappy camera pict!

* If you’ve got an extra $.99 on an old iTunes gift card, go ahead and download "Staring at the Sun," last night’s closer!

Fried Oysters and Remoulade

So a few months ago I stumbled upon this post on Friday Oysters. The LOML and I always enjoy a good Fried Oyster appetizer if we’re at a “nice” (Little Savannah, etc.) restaurant, and since reading that post, I’ve been itching to fry up some ourselves (Note: we fried these up about 3 weeks ago)

First, I have to say that the Fish Monger at Whole Foods was very friendly/helpful when I went to buy these oysters, but he didn’t know about how many were in a Pint. I told him, they’d be for about 10 folks, and he said there were “probably a dozen (12) or two (24)” in a pint??? I think in the future, I’m going to double quantities if I’m not sure.

How much time do you need to finish up the audit?

Oh, probably 5 or 10 days.

But I digest. Being overly ambitious, I thought I’d make my own breadcrumbs from a loaf of French bread . . . except when we got back from Publix, I picked up a whole wheat loaf!! I threw in a little corn meal as well, and you could definitely see it in the batter, but I agree with C&L that breadcrumbs were a good choice (and the whole wheat tasted pretty good, too). The blending Wondra flour was worth the investment, and I’m looking forward to battering and frying something else in the near future (Mmmmmm, CFS). I had not heard of this kind of super-fine flour before, but I think it helped with the Crispiness.

To go along with these ambitious oyster appetizers, I also wanted to make my own remoulade. I couldn’t really find a recipe on the interweb I liked, so I winged it and threw this little beauty together. I would have loved to throw in some chopped capers, but didn’t have any in the fridge :( All in all, I thought it was pretty authentic and tasted good with the Oysters.

TMF’H Remoulade
1.25 C Mayo
.5 C Sour Cream
Lemon Juice (.5)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
.25 C Ketchup
10 shakes Tabasco/Texas Pete’s
Chives

Directions: Combine/Mix, Chill, Serve

We took these to our church’s Small Group as an appetizer and I thought they turned out well . . . BUT, our kitchen/house smelled like Captain D’s for a solid 36 hours afterwards!!!

I Will Possess Your Blog

Catching up on the ole blog (blah, blah, blah) . . .

Went to Death Cab for Cutie last Tuesday night. Scored a photo pass and took some close-up picts. Still waiting for Zooey Deschanel to confirm my Facebook friendship request . . . You know the drill . . . head over to BHAM.FM for more

PS – In case you were wondering what else I do besides cook, go to concerts, and take pictures of both, I’ve got two more shows to look forward to (this month):

Wednesday (5/13/09) – TV ON THE RADIO
Monday (5/18/09) – COLDLPAY (with the LOML)

Pork Barrel Spending

The LOML and I met our friends for drinks (don’t we sound so cosmopolitan?) Friday Night at the new Dram Whiskey Bar in Mountain Brook Village. The Menu/Drink list was pretty impressive (pricey, but impressive) and I ordered the Smokehouse (Bacon-infused Early Times, Honey, and a Bacon Garnish) . . .

Although I couldn’t taste any sweetness/honey, you could definitely detect a smokey bacon scent in the bourbon. Looks like someone in Mountain Brook has been watching Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives????

Check out Bhamsandwich for some other thoughts/photos on Dram/AVO.