Baconalia!

I'm not sure I'm proud to announce this, or thoroughly shocked, but Denny's has just rolled out its new campaign. Baconalia! That's right, seven new items that are built around that saltly, greasy breakfast meat we all love and salivate over: bacon. There is even a dessert that has bacon.

Here's the greasy spread:

Ultimate Bacon Breakfast – Six strips of bacon served with sides

Bacon Flapjacks – Two pancakes with crumbled bacon in them, served with sides

Pepper Bacon & Eggs – Two strips of peppery bacon served with sides

Triple Bacon Sampler – That's right - turkey, pepper and smoked bacon served with sides

BBBLT – A BLT stacked with eight strips of bacon served with fries or onion rings

Bacon Meatloaf –The original meatloaf, just with added bacon. Along with two sides

And... The one that takes the cake...

Maple Bacon Sundae – You read that right correctly. Start with maple syrup, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, bacon, more maple syrup, another scoop of vanilla ice cream, more bacon and more syrup. Yeah, about that...

It really just re-affirms the idea that Denny's is contributing to the obesity of America. Each plate comes with a side of hash browns and eggs for the breakfast plates, fries with the BBBLT and choice of two sides for the dinner, and all items are priced under $8.99. Not only is it a grip of eats, but its affordable. And in this economy, that's a big lure. To be honest I seldom see a plate go to the dishwasher with anything left on it, and that is not counting the people that take home eats for the the next morning.

I love food. Don't get me wrong, I really love my eats, but all this bacon is just going to add extra pounds to the waistline of America's consumers and the wallets of heart surgeons and the various branches of the medical industry everywhere. Too strong a statement to stomach, maybe? But its true, no?

Guest Topic: Splenda

"Because it's kinda food, and it's kinda not." – Nick Rogers

I don't know what's come over me, but I could not think of anything food-related to write about. I was thinking about what I had for dinner, but I didn't think that it was very exciting (I had a pork chop with browned mushrooms and onions with couscous). So, I sought some assistance. I asked Nick to give me any topic related to food. Splenda, eh?

The topic of Splenda got me thinking about alternative sweeteners – being that it is exactly that. People think about alternative sweeteners when drinking coffee, tea or other drinks, but there are other uses for it. There are also a number of cookbooks made specifically for use with Splenda, which benefit people with diabetes or people watching their sugar intake for specific diets.

Personally, I don't use Splenda. The only sugar I have at home is the raw, turbinado sugar. You know the kind that is all chunky and light brown. I decided I liked that particular kind of sugar better just because it wasn't as refined or processed as much as the the typical sugar that adorns our table tops and kitchen cabinets. However, after reading one of Michael Pollan's books, he made the point of mentioning that sugar is sugar not matter what form, and in excess will always be bad for your body.

But, I have seen people use other methods of sweetening drinks or other consumables without the powdery confections that come in pink, blue, yellow, brown or white packets. These alternatives include honey, agave nectar, corn syrup and other similar concoctions. They sell a lot of these kinds of products in natural food stores and places including Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. I've even heard that honey in your morning coffee will help take away from the bitterness of strong, roasted coffees.

Sweet, no?

I heart old beer

It may sound gross, but alas, there is good reason behind saving a little bit of the dregs.

For instance, when cooking some greens, a little bit of beer can make a wonderful difference in the flavor put out by them. Depending on the greens you choose to cook – there are much more than than just spinach and cabbage – some have subtle flavors while others have metallic or spicy flavors. Adding a little bit of beer can dull down the bite and add a little bit of sweetness.

The last few days I've been on a spinach kick. It's inexpensive, good for you and easily made into a side. I bought some fresh packed fish from the local H-E-B and figured I could plan ahead for the week with some cooked brown rice and some veggies. Here's a new favorite of mine, it's quick and tasty.

I'm trying to save my monies for an upcoming trip to Guatemala to visit an awesome friend who is doing documentary work there and pursing personal projects, so I am trying not to buy fast food on my breaks. I only have an hour break, so I have found myself cooking on my break, which helps take the mind off of the deadline grind, and wrapping up a plate to take back to the office. Today, I decided to go with some couscous, spinach with mushrooms and pan-seared salmon.

First, I cooked the couscous. Such an easy side to go with fish, or pork or chicken. Its really light and cooks in just a few minutes. Then in a second pan, I sauteed some garlic in butter and oil and then added some rough-chopped mushrooms to brown. All the while, I seasoned some salmon with salt and pepper and dropped it in a buttered pan skin-side down. I love crispy skin. I think that is the only reason people don't like fish skin, because they don't cook it so that it's crispy.

I flipped my fish, and squeezed the juice of a half a small lemon on it to help it cook and add some flavor. I then added s healthy handful of spinach to the mushrooms and garlic, poured in some old Miller Lite and covered the pan with a lid. This way it steams and cooks the spinach, melds the flavors of the browned mushrooms and garlic too. The beer brings out a nice added flavor note to the veggies. I dig it.

Bon appetite.

Tomato Soup for the Soul

The weather is beginning its transition from thick, nearly palpable air to its frigid winds that cut like knives. It’s the kind of weather that calls for hearty soups and hot cocoa topped with homemade whipped cream. It will be my first winter here in Victoria. And from the looks of it, it may be a cold one. Despite the climate and location further south, its nearness to the coast and humidity will affect the dew point and therefore the way that it feels. The digital thermometer that so commonly comes with newer model cars may read 52°F outside, but I am pretty sure that you’ll take a step outside and wonder why you didn’t grab a heavier jacket and maybe even that wool scarf your sister got you last Christmas.

With that said, I had a hankering to make some tomato basil soup for the past week and I finally did, tonight. I got out of work later than I had hoped to, ran into a few glitches in the works and am now questioning my ability as a professional – but that’s a different entry. It was a quarter after midnight when I stepped in the door to my apartment and I already had the gears greased and fully in motion about how to go about it. I knew that I wanted to make a tomato basil soup, so I had already purchased everything that I was going to need to get cooking, literally. I don’t quite have the access or the funds to use all fresh ingredients, I have three student loan payments and a healthy serving of credit card debt, so I had to settle for some canned goods and dried herbs. The quality of canned and dried ingredients is also questionable because of said budget.

So I started with some slivered garlic sautéed just slightly in a small pat of butter. To that I added some dried herbs: basil, oregano, parsley and a bay leaf. I let the garlic infuse a little and then poured some chicken broth in the pot. The pork fried rice that I cooked earlier on my break used some broth, so there wasn’t as much as I would have liked to have had in the soup for a base and some depth. I let the flavors meld for a few minutes and then I added a can of diced tomatoes.

In stride with the ever-changing habits of consumers, the variety of canned goods has grown in the last decade. Choices of cream soups, canned vegetables, even canned meats, have evolved and nearly every label wears a recipe or offers a variety of vitamins or other important substances for healthy lifestyles. Case in point, H-E-B specifically has “canned tomatoes” on one of its signs directing consumers to an array of canned tomatoes. You may think to yourself, “And?” Well my friend, as I assume you are since you’re reading my blog, allow me to spill the tomato sauce and stain that brain of yours with the variety of canned tomatoes out there.

Let me start by saying that tomatoes are included in a vast list of culinary cuisines that require tomatoes as the base. There are soups (tomato basil), pastas (spaghetti), chili (Tex-Mex), casseroles dishes (eggplant Parmesan), rice dishes (paella),et cetera. I won’t even touch on the number of brands out there, I solely shop according to price. If its inexpensive, its in the basket. OK, so let us begin.

First off, there is the style of canned tomato. There are the whole, diced, halved, pureed, pasted, sauced, crushed, quartered and stewed kinds. Then the consumer gets into the specifics: seasoned or left alone; salt-added or no salt-added; are other ingredients added, like garlic, parsley, mushrooms, et cetera; or how they are canned, in water, oil, or other liquids. And the seasoning alone can be a tricky one. You only have a label to go by, so I say you follow your gut and go with the product that resembles its natural self as closely as possible. I go with the diced or halved variety with no salt-added, or even low-sodium, variety in water. If you follow the route that I've chosen, you can chose your spices and adjust that as you like.

To eliminate the larger pieces of tomato. I used my immersion blender to puree the soup some and create a more bisque-like texture. I don't like my soups so creamy, because I like the idea of having some texture, otherwise I feel like I should be drinking it through a straw.

In the end, I would call it a successful first attempt. It was tomato soup. Perhaps not exactly what I had envisioned when I first started thinking about the recipe, it was soup, made with tomatoes – which was the goal at hand, right? Right.

The next time I make some soup, however, I am going to purchase a nice sieve. I was chewing – though I took steps to achieve texture – on the dried herbs more than anything else. If I had a sieve I could have eliminated those pieces while retaining the texture that I wanted. If I had a variety of sieves I could even make for a creamier soup, for instances like a potato soup or even a gazpacho.

All in all, it was delicious. I shared it with a friend and even enjoyed a grilled cheese sandwich made with Swiss to help mellow the acidity. Swiss is a more creamy-flavored cheese than cheddar, though cheddar would have provided a different kind of note against the tomatoes. Using an herb-butter for the grilled cheese would have also been a nice complement to the soup, but the soup was well-seasoned as it was.

I'll be trying more soups here in the near future as it continues to get colder and I begin to see less of the sun. I look forward to it.

First try at blueberry pie

Today I made two blueberry pies. Yum. It was my first try at blueberry pie and I had a few ideas that I wanted to try out.

First, I wanted to use sage infused sugar for the sweetening agent. I bought some fresh sage and then placed some sprigs in plastic bag with some sugar. The trick is to rub the sugar with the sage leaves to get pull the natural oils out and into the sugar. Sage has a subtle flavor to it that I thought might go well with the tartness of the fruit.

Second, I wanted to use a different acid source than the typical lemon juice that most pies call for. Last week, I purchased two bottles of red wine – one that I enjoyed and the other, not so much. The kind of wine I enjoyed escapes me, but the second was a petite sirah. It was really acidic. There was quite a bite packed in there. A splash of water would have fixed that, I just opted to use it for cooking versus drinking. Since it was so acidic I figured I could use it in the pie.

Third, I want wanted to make a crumble for this pie instead of using a second crust. The textures of the blueberries is much different those of the apples and parsnips. I also wanted to use the sage sugar in the crumb topping.

On a last-minute decision, I decided to use some plums and an overripe nectarine in the pie as well. The other night, I decided to soak some aging plums in the petite sirah and was planning on eating them up after dinner that evening. Things didn't happen that way so they ended up soaking up the wine for an extra night. I tested a piece of plum this morning when I was preparing to hit the local H-E-B for groceries, and was delighted how the plums had mellowed out the wine. I had a bruised and overripe nectarine on my dinner table, that I wasn't going to eat – a texture thing, it was too soft for my liking – so I through in the wine bath. As Emeril Lagasse would say, they would be getting happy... or is that Mario Batalli. I can't remember, I haven't watched the boob in a few months.

I added the drunken stone fruit to the blueberry mix and they provided some extra body and some contrasting flavors. Yum. I also added a chiffonade of sage to the blueberries to add an additional hint of the herb. It was a success. Everyone in the newsroom enjoyed it. I even served it with the cinnamon whipped cream I made for the apple and parsnip pie.

While I was making this set of pies, I started thinking that it may be nice to open a small dessert bakery with early hours and closing at 1 p.m. so that I can go to work. Maybe I can open my sandwich shop here for a trial run. Then a few other options started to weave their way into the thicket of my thoughts and the daydreams began to develop just as the edges of the crusts were browning.

Another option would be to open a catering business. I could maybe even rent the kitchen here at the Advocate to prepare pies for people that wanted them. However, if I decide to go that route, I have to get a certified to handle and sell food. I can do that at the local college if I really wanted to pursue that. I have a friend, Marc, who wants to open up a pizza in the near future. I could see if he'll let me bake some pies and make some desserts for him. I can make some awesome sweets, let him try them out and see if he would like to give them a try at his pizza eatery. That could be exciting. If only he would let me do that I would be thrilled. Right now, I just have to keep practicing and perfecting my recipes.

In retrospect, I think I may have used a bit too much wine in the first pie or at least I think I could have omitted the lemon juice. The pie was little more runny than the second pie. The first pie was a little more saturated in sugar than the second, which I ended up adding some reserve berries too when I realized there wasn't enough berries in the mix. Also, I think that the crumble could have crunchier. I added some store bought granola to it, it added some texture like I wanted. Next time, I think I'll add some slivered almonds, crushed walnuts, or some oats. That might be nice.

Apple and Parsnip Pie

Hurrah! It was a hit. It was something that I had been wanting to test for a while, and I finally had a chance to make it before work. I'm so glad. I brought it into work for some feedback and to feed my co-workers – journalists love free eats, I told you that didn't I? They enjoyed it so much, I didn't even get a chance to taste it. I'm excited about perfecting it. Or at least getting the texture down. I think that I need to try some different apples next time. I don't think that they Gala apples have enough pectin in them to produce the nice gelatinous consistency found in those Blue-ribbon winners.

I know that I can add some gelatin to the apple mixture, but I would love to be able to rely solely on the apple's natural integrity. I didn't add a lot of other ingredients to it, since I didn't want to adulterate the flavors too much. though I think that the parsnips hold more moisture than they look like they do, or at least they don't contain any pectin to provide body for the filling..

I even made a cinnamon whipped cream to go with it, but I forgot it at home. When I got home though, I tried it and realized I put too much sugar in the container, however, I now have some cinnamon frosting to use for cookies or cupcakes. I think a Chai pumpkin pie will be in the works coming up..

Last Thanksgiving I made a simply, scrumptious pumpkin pie with an almond cookie crust and a Chai ice cream. I think that would be perfect for the whipped cream, if I can salvage it. I don't know if adding more cream will transform the frosting into a whipped cream. I'll let you know how the cookies, or cupcakes, or possibly, pies come out.

Kolache Fest, a Date with Gretchen and more

I had the pleasure of enjoying a kolache last weekend during a shift at the newspaper. I guess the presentation editor had a hankering, so she left and returned with a box of assorted fruit Kolaches.

Kolache, eh? When I first heard the word, I imagined a custard-like dessert. Like a flan or something like that.

So here is a box of these little pastry delights, and my editor sends out an e-mail to the newsroom saying she brought some kolaches. Before I could get my paws on them, the multimedia cats were taking their pick and everything was nearly gone. Journalists – of every profession: photographers, reporters, copy editors, designers, etc. – love anything free. So when the goodies arrive – literature, tickets to a local show, kolaches – they don't last long. However, I was able to snag me a piece of a strawberry one, and boy was it good. I enjoyed every minute of its sticky, strawberry, sweetness.

According to the short preview piece that ran in our paper, they are Czech pastries with fruit fillings. I guess they remind me of Danishes, but lighter in texture and oozing with gooey fruit and syrupy, sugar coating. They literally glisten in the light with all the sugar liberally applied.

Well, this weekend, Halletsville is holding its 16th annual Kolache Fest Friday and Saturday. If I can play my cards right, I'll be heading that way after work in the morning after my shift at Denny's. It starts at eight o'clock with a 42 tournament and then the food and regular festivities start at 9. So, I really want to go. The only thing is that I have to go to work at 2 p.m. for the paper and then work at Denny's when I get off. It will be a long few days to come.

But what can I say, the little fat kid in me wants to go and check it out. I also want to learn how to make them. They'll have two demonstrations that day, one at noon and again at 2 p.m. I invited a friend to come with, but he has to be at work by o1 p.m., and I want to stay and see what its like and to photograph the event. I haven't picked up Gretchen (my D80) in a while so I want to get back into the swing of things. I can't have her, or my brain, developing cobwebs where there was once an abundance of activity.

To get back into the habit (of cruising on my board as well), I took my longboard out and I popped Gretchen in my bag and took a cruise around the downtown area. It was chill. I broke a sweat, took some artsy fartsy photographs and I even had some time to read and grub down on a sub. Currently, I'm reading "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair, but am hoping to bring it to the killing beds this next week. I want to read more about food. I was thinking about picking up a book from M.F.K. Fisher or Rachel Reichl. Both authors wrote/write about their adventures in the culinary world. Also, one of my good friends, Paul O'Connell, recommended I read anything by Fisher.

My list is growing and I need to get going on it. And by list, I'm talking about list of things to do with my life: read like "Fahrenheit 451" were coming to fruition, capture beautiful things on my camera and share them, get out and cruise (by foot, car, longboard, surf board or snowboard), experience life, and cook and eat well. I'll get there soon enough. I'll get there and when I do, it's going to be awesome.