I found the charger for my camera at last – it was in my luggage!  Now when I spot those hogs I can go so far as to document the sightings.  Unfortunately, there are no hogs around this morning – not live ones, anyway, only those that were raised, slaughtered and dismembered so that my neighbors could have hangover food – so for now I have only a blurry photo of the Bookmark Cafe, at the library, to prove that my camera has a fully charged battery inside it.

I love baking, but I’m not the hugest fan of following directions. As a result, I often end up mis-measuring things or adding my own little touches to otherwise boring recipes. Hey, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Anywho, there is nothing that works better with my “add this, throw in that” cooking style than pancakes. Plain pancakes are good, but chocolate chip granola pancakes are fantastic. And pancakes that look like cupcakes? Could there be anything more amazing? I found this recipe on katin cooks and I can’t get enough. It’s simple and delicious, the perfect canvas for fun add-ins and has fool proof instructions that even I can follow. Plus, these little babies make great hangover food!

Ingredients:

2 cups Original Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter
12 tbsp filling: try Nutella, fruit jam, or cream cheese
Confectioners sugar for sprinkling
Maple syrup for serving

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Generously coat the bottom & sides of a 12-muffin tin with butter.

3. Make Bisquick pancakes per instructions on the box.

4. Fill each cup in the muffin tin half-way.

5. Add 1 tbsp of filling to the middle of each muffin, then cover with the remaining pancake mix.

6. Bake 20 minutes.

7. Remove from oven, place on serving dish & use a flour sifter to sprinkle with sugar.

8. Serve with warm syrup.

Are you drooling yet? Want to see more? Check this out!

Phonatic

I got a bit lost on a jog (slog, run, trudge…) around Brown University in Providence RI today.  As I was walking back to the hotel, I saw the best.Vietnamese.restaurant.name.ever….”Phonatic”

There’s nothing better than waking up on a Sunday morning to the smell of bacon, then enjoying a steaming heap of the greasy goodness with a hot cup of coffee on the side.

However, we all have busy lives, and we can’t always commit the time and energy necessary to alternate between stuffing bacon in our faces and sipping coffee. Which is why I have invented a time-saving and delicious way to enjoy your whole breakfast in one mug: bacon coffee. You, too, can enjoy this groundbreaking innovation; simply follow these steps:

1. Make some bacon.

2. Add cream and sweetener. Always sweetener. Think of your heart.

3. Add coffee.

4. Enjoy!

This project was a little daunting at first. The world of meat-based coffee additives is, as far as we could tell, completely unexplored. It could have turned out disgusting. But to be honest, it wasn’t. The bacon added a subtle smokey flavour that did not clash at all with the dark roasted coffee. The bacon grease left a beautiful sparkly film on top and gave the coffee a creamier texture than usual.

At the bottom of the mug is a beautiful puddle of bacon-wrapped coffee.

The only problem is that you’re left with a large chunk of bacon sitting there, which makes it hard to drink the last bit. And what do you do with the bacon? While bacon flavoured coffee is quite delicious, coffee flavoured bacon is bland at best. I will continue to research different ways of combining coffee with bacon, such as adding bacon bits in with the coffee grounds, and blended bacon-coffee smoothies, and report back.

See also:

The Royal Bacon Society

Pre-Made Maple Bacon Coffee

Candied Bacon Coffee Ice Cream

Added Apr 20: Look, an official Bacon Maple Latte!

It’s the day after my hometown team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, won the Super Bowl. Clearly, I made the most of my Super Bowl party, with tons of Yuengling Premium. After drinking lots of water today, I needed to eat. I’m running low on food, except for really random things, so I threw together this meal:

Fake sausage, cheese, and baked bean quesadilla and mini pierogies

Sound gross? Hangover food, for sure. Before you dismiss it as too disgusting, let me explain why this meal makes sense.

For one, it’s less than 1000 calories. Kind of hard to find in diner-style or fast food hangover food.
Secondly, vegetarian baked beans are fat free and extremely low calories. All of these foods equate to a rich amount of protein and iron, which is good for vegetarian me.

This food is not completely weird. There is a chain restaurant called the Boston Beanery, which has the “Boston Beanwich”, a baked bean sandwich. http://www.bostonbeanery.com/menu.html#yQuincy

This meal uses cheap ingredients that can be used for MANY other things. Here’s a breakdown of what you will buy at the store:
Can of beans – $1 – $2
24 slices of cheese – $5
8 tortilla shells – $2.50
Box of 6 veggie sausage patties – $4
Box of 28 mini pierogies – $3.50
See? Good, cheap things to invest in.

This meal took me about 10 minutes to make.

Here’s how to make this spectacular meal:

Quesadilla thing:
-A small can of baked beans. I used Bush’s Best Vegetarian Baked Beans, but other beans would probably also be good
-2 Morningstar Farms maple flavored veggie sausage patties. Other fake sausage would work, too
-2 slices of cheese. or shredded cheese.
-A soft tortilla shell/burrito shell
-Butter or oil to cook in

1. Heat oil in a skillet on medium-low heat
2. Microwave veggie sausage for 1 1/2 minutes or until thawed
3. Cut veggie sausage into small pieces
4. Place veggie sausage on one half of the tortilla shell. Cover with baked beans and cheese

5. Fold other half over half with ingredients.
6. Place in skillet and heat until cheese is melted and each side is brown.
Remember to flip it

For pierogies:

1. Microwave water in a bowl on high for 2-4 minutes or until hot.
2. Place pierogies in the water for 4 minutes or until thawed.
3. Heat 1/2 to 1 tbsp of butter or margarine in skillet on medium heat
4. Fry pierogies in butter until golden

Voila! Quick, satisfying meal. Serve with water and ibuprofen.

Let’s not beat around the bush. I’m just going to come right out and say it, OCCASIONALLY I WAKE UP IN THE MORNING WITH A POUNDING HEADACHE AND IT IS SOMETIMES RELATED TO ALCOHOL CONSUMED THE NIGHT BEFORE. No matter if it is two beers, or two glasses of wine, two seems to be the maximum I can drink. I may feel like poop the next day, or I may not. It’s a big crap shoot. But I must continue to test the fermented waters, so to speak. I have few vices left as a semi-responsible, parent-type person, and if I can’t have the occasional two beers without a disaster happening, I’m in big trouble. So I endure.

For instance, I had two, maybe three glasses (I wasn’t counting, which may have been the problem) of white wine at a wedding I attended with my husband this past Saturday night. It was a steamy evening to say the least, and I drank plenty of water alongside my wine, and ate dinner and had wedding cake. The next morning my head was awash in sinus and brain pain. Popped a decongestant and some acetaminophen right away, then waited for my brother and his lady-friend to show up to take me out for a little Sunday brunch at the Ambassador Dining Room.

Have you been there? Have I already written about this place? It is worth writing about twice, then, if I have. It is a strange and wonderful setting, nestled deep in the Ambassador Apartment/Condo building in Charles Village. Enter through the gothic lobby of the apartment building, follow the delicious smells of curry and end up in a dark, cool restaurant that opens up into a porchy outdoorsy area that opens onto a garden of sorts. Weekends and lunchtime on weekdays there is a delicious Indian food buffet, and they have a proper, seated dinner, no sharing, in the evenings.

After some fish, spinach, lamb, chicken and lentils, all in their own creamy or curried or tamarindy sauces, my sinuses cleared up and so did my fuzzy head. This food is not greasy. The selection of vegetables, lentils, fish and meats is fresh and clean tasting, and like any good Indian buffet, there is a bit of a palate cleansing rice pudding or plain cookie to finish your meal. The weekend buffets also include Mimosa and Screwdriver fixin’s, though I’m not big on booze early in the day. I recommend The Ambassador Dining Room if you have relatives or friends you want to impress, or just to get your Indian food fix. Apparently it is also good hangover food.

So the past couple weeks we have been slackers for our CSA members and haven’t included recipes with our CSA boxes, and we have said we would put them on the website. So, here are a few for you to try:

Salsa Verde

Put your oven on broil. Dehusk your tomatillos, rough chop a quantity of onion (about 1/2 the quantity of your tomatillos), and enough hot peppers to make your salsa as spicy as you want. Toss them in some oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and put under the broiler.

Keep it in the oven until it starts to blacken–but just barely. Take out and blend with a few cloves of garlic.

Chilaquiles

This is a traditional Mexican dish that a co-worker of Chad and Gabe’s in Chicago taught them to make. It is delicious as breakfast, but can be eaten any time of day. GREAT hangover food! Here is a picture of the version we made last week.

Chilaquiles

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

2 large handfuls of tortilla chips, preferably on the stale side

1/2-3/4 c salsa verde (or your favorite brand)

4 eggs, scrambled

1/2 c grated cheese

Preheat a pan on your stove top–it helps if this is a pan that can go straight into the oven. Saute onions, bell pepper, zucchini. Add tortilla chips, then salsa verde. If you want it really spicy, add lots of salsa, if not, cut your salsa with water. Cook until chips are almost completely soggy.

In a seperate pan, make scrambled eggs. When they are more underdone than you usually eat them, put in same pan as chips, and top with cheese. Put in your oven (if you are eating immediately, just broil. If you need to wait a few minutes; 350) and let all bake together. We topped ours with sour cream, and this really yummy pickled pepper relish we made.

Pear Galette–great served with vanilla ice cream!

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. In a medium bowl, toss the flour with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and the salt. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
2. In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg over the flour mixture and stir. Working quickly, gather the dough into a smooth mass, squeezing it gently. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and pat it into a 5-inch disk. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate until firm but not hard, about 30 minutes.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a 9 1/2 -inch round, turning it clockwise an inch or two each time you roll to maintain an even shape. Transfer the dough to a heavy flat baking sheet. Fold up 1/4 inch of the edge of the dough to form a neat rim. Using a knife, score the rim in a decorative pattern. Brush the rim with a little of the remaining beaten egg. Brush 1 tablespoon of the apricot preserves over the bottom of the dough and refrigerate while you prepare the pears.
4. Peel, quarter and core the pears. Slice each quarter lengthwise into 5 thin wedges. Arrange all but 6 of the pear wedges on the dough in a spoke pattern, overlapping them slightly. Cut the remaining pear wedges and arrange them in the center of the tart to form a decorative rose. Brush the pear slices with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar.
5. Bake the galette in the middle of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the pears are tender and the pastry is crisp and golden. Carefully slide the galette onto a rack to cool slightly.
6. Stir the hot water into the remaining 1 tablespoon of apricot preserves and brush on the pears. Serve the galette at room temperature.

The Pita Pit
2404 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
773-935-7482
http://www.pitapitusa.com
www.pitapit.com

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Check these babies out:

Cupcakes

So cupcakes are getting a bit trendy these days. So I thought I’d shamelessly jump on the bandwagon and make some of my own. When it comes to cupcakes it probably goes without saying that you have to forego any concerns about fat or sugar content and just get on with using the best ingredients to get the best results. 

As you can see from the photo, icing is really what makes the cupcake, so I thought I’d go to town, and it was a nice way to pass the time as Mr Rice nursed his monumental hangover.

Recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes
125g unsalted butter (room temperature)
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g self raising flour
25g plain flour
3 tbsps skimmed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Butter cream
150g unsalted butter (room temperature)
300g caster sugar 

Preheat the oven to 200ºC and put 16 bun cases into a muffin or bun tin. Then beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a food mixer until well combined, followed by the sifted flour and beat again until it’s all smooth. Then add the milk 1 tbsp at a time, with the mixer on, until the mixture is soft but not runny.

Get two teaspoons and get a heaped spoonful of the mixture on one, and carefully push it off the spoon and into the bun cases with the other until all the bun cases are equally filled. Make sure they are no more than half full or they will overflow when they cook.

Cook the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes until the tops are golden brown and then let them cool fully on a wire cooling tray before you ice them.

I used good old butter cream to ice my cupcakes. It has a lovely, luxurious, velvety texture and is solid enough to cover any uneven tops on your cupcakes. Flatter tops are also the reason I’ve used 25g plain flour, so they don’t rise up too high.

To make the butter cream, just beat together the butter and the icing sugar until nice and smooth. Then you can smooth it or pipe it onto the cupcakes however you like, and of course you can add a little colour and other accoutrements too to give them the perfect finish!

I also discovered that these cupcakes were a good cure for Mr Rice’s hangover. 

PS
Special thanks to Mr Lawrence for telling me to get on with blogging – I’ll make you some cupcakes v soon!

© Katheryn Rice 2008

When I read “Could I quit the drinking but keep the hangovers?” at Salon.com’s advice column, I thought I had come across a true crazy, asking nutty questions like that. But then this past weekend, I realized that the pain of a hangover justifies the comfort of hangover food, and so  there is something nice about that after all. I’m not going to quit drinking though! Just so we’re clear…

I actually wasn’t even really hungover this weekend, but sitting in the sun drinking coffee, I managed to convince myself that I was in just enough pain to justify having Belgian Fries’ poutine for lunch. And oh, it was so good! It even would have been worth the feeling of nails behind my eyes, but luckily it didn’t come to that.

At the first bite of hot cheese curd, fries and gravy, I think my heart melted a bit (or it may have just momentarily stalled in horror at the amount of artery clogging food that just entered my mouth). The fries were perfectly cooked and not too oily and the gravy was warm and salty. No complaints whatsoever.

Because I only am allowed to enter the house of poutine about twice a year, that’s all I’ve ever ordered. The cone of chips with various dips (chipotle mayo, roma tomato, chive, etc) look good too and I’ve always wanted to try the War dish. Apparently it’s a Dutch specialty involving fries, peanut satay sauce, mayo and onions. For some reason I can’t seem to find anything else about it, but the photos on the wall look pretty tasty. Deep fried Mars bars are also on the menu, but that is just too much of a heart attack in a dish for my liking.

I always forget that the large size is too big and soggy fries at the bottom of all that gravy doesn’t really make for good leftovers, so I suggest a regular serving accompanied with a glass of the sickeningly sweet peach drink that seems to be the house specialty. Get that down and hit the couch for an hour or two and you’ll forget all about last night’s Jagers.

______________________________

Belgian Fries
1885 Commercial Drive, Vancouver

Despite my Polish heritage, I’d never really had kielbasa and eggs until I met John. Today I made them for us for breakfast the way John does(ish) because, well, we’re both a little hungover and grease seemed like a good thing. This serves about four, as George had some too and we had about a serving of leftovers.

*1/2 package polish Kielbasa

*6 whole eggs and 3 egg whites

*a bit of fresh basil, minced

*about a cup fresh spinach

*salt and pepper

Cut the kielbasa into rounds, and then each round into fours, so you have almost diced kielbasa. Brown in a cast iron skillet (sprayed with a bit of pam). Turn off heat, and add spinach to the mix, stirring around in the grease and letting it wilt.

Beat eggs very well. Turn pan back onto low. Add eggs and scramble. Add basil. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Besides McDonalds, we find Krystal trash the most. We believe that Krystal litter is so abundant because of Krystal’s reputation as hangover food. And as Krystal says:

Well, that’s a matter of opinion.

Another interesting vegetable came from Abel & Cole this week: Kale.

Soup’s a real comfort on a cold day, and making on a chilly afternoon is soothing and satisfying. I’ve made potato and leek soup many times, so what’s to stop it working with kale?

Mr Rice can be a little suspicious of my vegetable soups, but he loved this one as much as me, and I think it’s the best soup I’ve made.

Recipe for Potato and Kale Soup
3 medium potatoes
300g kale
1 stick of celery
½ onion
500 ml vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp creme fraiche
1 pint of milk

Heat a dash of olive oil and a knob of butter in a large pan, then finely chop the onion and add to the pan, cooking until the onions are turning translucent, then finely chop the garlic and cook with the onions for a few minutes. Chop the celery into thin slices and add to the pan, and cook for another five minutes. Meanwhile, scrub the potatoes (peeling is optional) and cut into 5mm slices, then add these to the pan, stir it all together, then cover and cook for ten minutes.

Roughly chop the kale and add this and the bay leaf to the rest of the ingredients. Give it a good stir, then cover for five minutes, then add the stock, bring to the boil, and cover and cook for 40 minutes.

Once everything has softened, remove the bay leaf, add the creme fraiche and half the milk and stir roughly, to begin breaking everything up. Next, you have to blend it all together, so remove the pan from the heat. I use a hand blender and gradually work my way round the pan until it is all liquidised and smooth. You can also transfer it into a blender in batches and then back into the pan, but this takes a little bit longer.

Once you’re happy with the texture, return the soup to the heat, and stir in the rest of the milk until you get a thickness you are happy with. If you want a thinner soup, or want to make it go further, add more milk. Just keep tasting it to make sure you don’t dilute the flavour too much.

Tips

• The butter and creme fraiche are both optional, but help to give the soup its rich taste
• Leeks and cabbage can be substituted for the kale. Add the leeks after the onions, or the cabbage at the same time as the kale.
• Skimmed, semi-skimmed or full fat milk can be used
• Grate some cheese onto the soup when you serve it for extra richness

© Katheryn Rice 2007

If you’ve never been, you must.  Right up there with the National Monument is visiting Ben’s Chili Bowl.  I’m telling you this as a person who took 2 years to visit.  I have such regret and remorse that it took me this long to visit. 

You must visit this 2004 James Beard Foundation winner.  Words cannot describe my friend.  Here is their menu:

• Food: If you’ve never been, you must order Ben’s Original Chili Half-smoke with everything with a side order of cheese (or chili cheese) fries.  It’s got great flavor and it’s so filling.  The fries aren’t super crispy, but they are good.  Warning though — you won’t eat for hours.  I’ve never ordered anything other than these, but considering they’re almost always packed, I’m sure everything else is good. 
• Service: Courteous and speedy.  And they give you a lot of napkins.  You’ll thank them for that.
• Atmosphere: It’s got the diner feel with the stools, bar, booths, and metal tables and chairs.  It’s uber casual. 
• Attire: Casual
• Price: $
• Overall: Amazing.  Truly fantastic.  Can’t say enough good things, but you’ll definitely want to eat a salad for dinner afterwards.  And you will crave this food.

If I go, I go at “off-hours” because the line winds out the door.   And then forget getting a seat.  I honestly have never gone after bar closing, but I’ve heard stories.  It’s apparently crazy packed but perfect food for those late evenings.  I can understand why.

Oh, and they also say that when Bill Clinton was in office, he’d call late at night and order a bunch of these half-smokes and fries. 

Details:

• Hours: 11 am-2 am M-Thurs; 11-4  am Fri-Sat; Noon-8 PM Sun. 
• Address:1213 U Street NW; Washington, DC 20009
• Ph: 202-667-0909

Yum, definitely some of the best burgers ever are made at Five Guys.  The beef, unlike some places, is fresh and never frozen.  The menu is simple — burgers, fries, shakes, and soda.  Click on the photo below for the menu (with prices)!

It’s been rated as some of the best burgers in the area.  And they’re expanding so there may be one by you soon! 

• Food: Burgers, fries, shakes, and soda.  The burgers are absolutely fantastic with any toppings you want for free.  The fries are made fresh, but are not crispy.  While I prefer crispy fries, they do have good flavor.  On their board, they always tell you which kind of potato (and where it’s from) was used to make the fries.  I always ask for the Bay Seasonings while others prefer (I think) the vinegar. 

• Service: Quick, efficient, and pleasant.
• Atmosphere: It’s a very casual checkered burger joint.  While you’re waiting for your burger to cook, they have these huge boxes of peanuts in their shell to munch on. 
• Attire: Casual
• Price: $
• Overall: Fantastic burgers that you will find yourself drooling for when you’re looking at your empty fridge.  The fries can sometimes leave something to be desired though (not always crispy).  Click

Details:

• Hours: Vary by location
• Address: All over the Mid-Atlantic area
• Ph: Vary by location