Coffee

Today, I must reflect on the meaninglessness of decaf. Really? Really?? What we're the inventors of decaffeinated coffee hoping to accomplish when they first extracted the caffeine from the coffee bean. What's the freakin' point?

This morning in my apartment we were out of regular coffee because we haven't been grocery shopping in a couple weeks. One day a few months back Miss Ava mistakenly bought some decaf grounds so that's all we had on hand. Erin made the coffee just the same as always, but it's not the same.

I apologize to all the decaf coffee drinkers in this world, but I must ask why? How does a cup of flavored, hot water wake you up in the morning. If I wanted decaf, I'd drink tea. This is why I must agree with the Sugar House Coffee slogan "Death to Decaf."

That's all.

Home Cooked Mac and Cheese

I promised mac and cheese, and I delivered mac and cheese.
So here's the story: my whole life I never liked mac and cheese. I was a weird little kid who would rather eat ramen raw than a bowl of out-of-the-box mac.

When Ava and I became roommates, she worked at Noodles and Company. One day, she insisted I try their Wisconsin Cheddar with broccoli and cavatapi noodles. I was shocked! I liked macaroni and cheese.

The discovery led me to search out different recipes for mac and cheese. The recipe below is a combination of many recipes, a lot of test trials and some personal preferences.

MAC & CHEESE

Software:

• 2 Tbs. Flour
• 2 Tbs. Unsalted butter
• 1 C. Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1/2 C. Mozzarella, shredded
• 1/2 C. Colby Jack, shredded
• 1 C. Cheddar, shredded (divided into two 1/2 cups)
• 3 C. Water
• 1/2 Lb. Penne pasta
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper

Hardware:

• Sauce pan or skillet
• 4-quart pot
• Fork
• Wooden spoon

Directions:
I like to start by boiling my three cups of water with a pinch of Kosher salt in a pot on the stove top over medium high heat. Next, I warm up my skillet over a medium flame. Just as the pan begins to smoke, add two tablespoons butter. Let the butter melt slowly. Now, slowly add two tablespoons flour to the melted butter. Using your fork, blend together the flour and butter creating a roux.

When the roux is smooth and just beginning to thicken, add one cup heavy whipping cream. Continue whisking the mixture with the fork so the flour remains smooth.

Add the 1/2 pound of Penne pasta to the boiling water. Let boil for seven minutes. Stir occasionally with the wooden spoon.

Add 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1/2 cup Colby Jack and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese to the sauce in the skillet. Continue stirring as cheese melts. Let the sauce cook for approximately five minutes until it is thick and creamy.

Drain the pasta and put back in pot. When the sauce is thick enough it sticks to the back of a spoon, add to the pasta. Stir pasta and cheese sauce together. Top with remaining cheddar and serve.

Now doesn't that sound mmm, mmm, good?

An Eastern Weekend

Oh yes, my friends that's what I said. This weekend Ava, Erin and I sampled cuisine from China, Japan and Thailand.

China
First stop on this train: China. Okay, I'll admit this isn't authentic Chinese food, but it's my favorite. Once again, I was feeling lazy and ordered delivery from the Dragon Diner. That wonderfully fabulous restaurant delivered again with egg rolls, fried rice, sweet and sour pork and sesame chicken.

The egg rolls were good, but a little dry. The fried rice was full of flavor with ham, shrimp, carrots and peas with a good helping of teriyaki sauce mixed in. The sweet and sour pork was pretty good, the sauce had a little less sour and more sweet than I anticipated. The big chuncks of pineapple with the deep fried pork bites were a great combination.

My favorite dish is the sesame chicken. It's always excellent from the Dragon. The chicken is tender and full of flavor, deep-fried and coated in sauce .I love this chicken. For $30 it was a great night in with my best friends.

Japan
Next stop: Japan. On Friday night, we went to Sapporo in Downtown. Ava and I love this place, but it was Erin's first visit. We sat at the sushi bar where John was the chef. John actually remembered us from our last visit and once again was friendly and talkative.

I ordered the Montoc roll for $12.95. It was a little much for me. The wasabi tobiko was way more wasabi than I can handle. I like spice, but I can't handle that much heat. Luckily, John had used the tobiko as a garnish across the top of the sushi roll and I was able to scrape it off and enjoy the asparagus and yellowtail.

Ava ordered the Rainbow Roll. This roll had a combination of several fish giving it it's name and color. It must have been delicious because she devoured it in about 20 minutes. And using chopsticks. I am so impressed by her Japanese skills.

Erin ordered the Chef's choice shashimi roll. And for the undecided this is a great option. John created eight rolls using eight different ingredients. There was salmon, shrimp, mackrel and yellowtail along with the other ingredients I couldn't identify or don't remember. It's like a sample tray of sushi.

Thailand
Last stop: Thailand. On Saturday night we were treated to homemade Thai food. Pau made a wonderful meal. It was amazing! I haven't had much Thai before and I have never been impressed, but this meal changed my mind. For the first course we had a chicken coconut soup with big chuncks of carrots and mushrooms. It was very rich and hearty. Pau said it is a traditional winter dish in Thailand.

For the main course we had a very spicy curry with shrimp. Apparently, the shrimp head is a delicacy. It's kind of crunchy and a little bit stringier than I expected. It tests gamier than the rest of the shrimp. Almost like an oyster, it was surprisingly good. It also came from the most giant shrimp I have ever seen in my life.

The curry was very hot. Pau said it was medium high heat. I'm pretty sure I coudn't survive what she would consider hot. It was great flavor, but the heat was nearly overwhelming. I had to have water close at hand.

For dessert we had deep-fried bananas and ice cream. Yum, yum, yummy! Pau used a mixture of flour and water for the breading then rolled the banana in bread crumbs. It tasted like there was honey drizzled on top, as well. It was sweet and delicious.

In three days, we had three great meals three different countries. Each meal was it's own unique experience and I can't wait to eat some more. This weekend, I'm looking forward to another adventure in cuisine. How was your food weekend?

Big E's

In this holiday season, it's easy to spend a lot of time with family and friends. So I spent the weekend with my super-awesome sister and her adorable family. Her husband, Big E requested I write a post on them. So here it is!

Over at Big E's they've done a lot of work to teach me about food. We have them to thank for my love of alcohol, too. Big E has loved to cook since the first day I met him and he made me a fabulous steak dinner. (Six years later and I still remember it.)

Well, this weekend they treated me to some delicious chili. It simmered for about three hours in the crock-pot and was full of flavor. The recipe calls for hamburger and sausage which blend really well with the spicy tomato sauce. I also saw some beer go into the pot and it was delicious.

Oh we also had some delicious margaritas. These guys are so good they even have margarita salt in their cupboards. Plus, they're more than happy to cut the alcohol content for the light-weights in the room.

Let's see what other yummy goodness did we have? Oh yeah, lemon spaghetti and salmon. I'll post the recipe for lemon spaghetti shortly. It's very good, it's a nice taste of summer in the middle of a snowstorm. I don't have the recipe for the salmon or the sauce that goes with, but I promise they were very good. The salmon was flaky and moist while the sauce added a nice kick of flavor.

Well, that sums up my weekend at Big E's. And with a promise of financial backing they might open up a restaurant so everyone can enjoy their hospitality and excellent food.