{wordless wednesday} Creepy Mickey Mouse I Saw in an Antique Store

karen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:49:11 +0000

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{recycling?} How To: Turn Dinner Leftovers Into Breakfast Gold

karen — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:25:36 +0000

Got leftover steaks and baked potatoes from last night’s dinner? Turn them into breakfast GOLD by making an easy, delicious hash.

Here’s the how to: Chop potatoes and steak (or chicken, pork chop, meat loaf, whatev) into roughly equal size cubes (1/2 inch-ish). Chop a couple shallots or onions finely. If you’re like me, then for some odd reason your leftovers also fortuitously include a ziploc containing 5 cooked bacon slices and you should definitely chop those up as well. If you’re lucky enough to own a vegetable, like a bell pepper or broccoli or something, well then your fridge is better stocked than mine. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back, then give that the chop chop as well.

Heat some butter (or lard, duck fat, olive oil, whatev) in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the potatoes- those should get crispy so they need to cook the longest. If you have some hard vegetable like broccoli then throw that in with the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Toss or stir to brown the potatoes on multiple sides. When you’ve got some nice browning on at least a couple of sides, add the shallots (and your softer vegetable if you’re using one: I’m talking bell pepper or zucchini-type stuff) and cook another couple minutes until the shallots soften but not so long that they brown. Add the meat(s) and cook just until heated through, tossing or stirring, a couple minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust. If you really want to clog your family’s arteries, fry some eggs and put ‘em over the top. What the hell. You only live once.

I like to eat this with some Greek yogurt mixed in, but then again, I’m weird like that.

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{epic win} French Laundry Rickroll

karen — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:40:48 +0000

I could tell you about my experience eating at The French Laundry last month,, but so many people on the internetz have done that already. I mean what new information or insights about the food and service do I really have to add to the conversation? Meh, not that much. What I do have to add is this: a picture I took of the guestbook in the front entrance when I first arrived.

I couldn’t believe my eyes! The balls on this guy. French Laundry Rickroll FTW!!!

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{from the mags} British Flapjacks

karen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:33:08 +0000

Think I’m talking about pancakes? Think again. I’m talking about one of the best and easiest sweet treats I’ve come across in a long time: the flapjack. It’s a tantalizing triangle o’ tasty.

I received an issue of Bon Appetit in the mail the other day. I have no idea why since I don’t subscribe to it or any other food magazines because if I did, then what would I read at my Mom’s house? I thank the magazine gods because in this particular issue Molly from Orangette wrote a story about British flapjacks and included a recipe. I give it four thumbs up: 2 for the story and 2 for the recipe.

To quote the article: “…about two chews in, the flavor came: deep and hearty, the way good oatmeal can be . . . You take a bite, and it tastes good, if a little wholesome. But you keep chewing, and in a second or two, the flavor opens up threefold, big and toasty and rich, and your salivary glands start going, and you think, This is delicious. I don’t know what this thing is, but I’m going to need another.” Amen, sister. That is so not hyperbole, either. It’s a great description of the experience.

Next time I’m going to adulterate them with dried cherries or chopped dates or coconut or nuts or all of the above.

Here’s the recipe.

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karen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:34:45 +0000

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{recipe} Red Velvet Cupcakes

karen — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:15:54 +0000

My aunt Sherrie and I made these together. I think it’s kind of weird that red velvet everything is in vogue right now. It must be some irony-induced backlash to the organic/natural movement that makes us want to pump our bodies full of whole bottles of evil red food coloring. Or maybe it’s just because they are so pretty!

They weren’t quite as dark red as we wanted but they sure were velvety! They were kind of dense and pound cake-y. Yum! The recipe is adapted from a Paula Deen recipe- I mean, how can you NOT trust a woman who puts Velveeta in chocolate fudge?

Red Velvet Cupcakes
Makes about 16 cupcakes.

Ingredients:

1 stick butter at room temp
1/4 cup crisco
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1/2 ounce of liquid red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups pastry/cake flour
pinch salt
1/2 cup milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 and prepare cupcake pan with papers.
Cream butter, crisco, and sugar in a mixer until fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, beating after each time.
Add food coloring and vanilla and mix.
Add half the flour and half the milk and mix well. Add the rest of the flour and milk, and the salt, and mix until blended together.
Pour or ladle into cupcake papers. Bake about 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool before frosting.

Frosting:

Ingredients:

3 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter at room temp
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 pound powdered sugar plus a little more if needed

Method:

Mix butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in a mixer til smooth.
Add the sugar about a cup at a time, beating until creamy. Add more sugar if too thin or add a little bit of milk if too thick.

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{recipe} Avgolemono (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup)

karen — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:35:51 +0000

My friend Brian taught me this recipe. Well, actually, funny story. It’s more truthful to say that my friend Brian was making this recipe, and luckily I came for dinner early because he was about to royally screw it up. Although this recipe is really easy, you do have to separate the eggs and whip the whites, then yolks, to soft peak. He didn’t really get what that was all about so he was just planning to dump them all in there a little stirred up. Crisis averted, dusty hand mixer pulled from back of cabinet, teamwork prevailed!

This soup has a very interesting, almost mousse-like texture. It is really rich tasting, lemony, and frothy. A definite hit that’s one of my go-to recipes. The chicken flavor reeeeeally does it for me but you could go vegetarian with a mushroom or vegetable broth.

Avgolemono
this amount will serve 6-8, depending on what else you’re going to serve with it.

Ingredients:

8 cups chicken broth (best quality you can find, or homemade ideally*)
1 cup orzo or rice
4 eggs, separated
juice of 3 lemons
salt to taste
chopped mint or cilantro for garnish

Method:

Heat the broth until it boils, then add the orzo or rice and simmer until tender, about 20 min.
Meanwhile, whip the egg whites until they hold medium peaks.
While beating continuously add the yolks and then the lemon juice.
Temper the egg mixture by adding 2 cups of the hot chicken broth in a slow, constant stream while continuing to beat so that you do not curdle the eggs.
Add the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining broth and combine. Taste and add salt if needed.
Garnish with mint or cilantro.
You can make it ahead, but heat it up slowly over low heat so the eggs don’t cook too much.

* Here is a link to a recipe for homemade chicken stock. But don’t get me wrong. I never make chicken stock because I am LAZY. Occasionally I buy fancy stock from a fancy store but also I am CHEAP so that’s not my norm. For those of you who make stock, GOOD JOB. You are better than me and I bow to you. For those of you who are lazy and cheap, here is my secret to success: I like Pacific organic chicken stock (from Whole Foods, NOT reduced sodium, iww) with a couple of those semi-weird liquid concentrated chicken stock packet thingies (also from Whole Foods, or Trader Joes).

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{atonement and new beginnings}

karen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:03:30 +0000

So! I have been a rather neglectful blogger of late, and I wish to atone and be re-born, like a phoenix. You know, that bird who hangs out with Dumbledore. It’s true, a mythical dead bird on fire is what I aspire to. The funny thing is I have BRILLIANT (I tell you frickin’ crazy brilliant!) ideas for this blog all the time. The pictures, the stories, the witticisms, the recipes, they dance in my head and pause on my lips. But then, I sit at the laptop and I’m like, oh shoot, did they just put Season 1 of “The O.C.” on Hulu yesterday? And the rest is just… dead bird. No fire. No ashes. No rising. Just, you know, reliving the good years with Ryan and Summer, and, god, after all this time I still hate Marissa! The show was SO much better when Tate Donovan was on. But I digress.

You see, the thing is, I never really started this blog thinking that people would actually READ it. I mostly just wanted a place to store recipes and stories for myself and like 3 other people who always ask me for recipes. So If you look at my 1.0 version of Off The (Meat)Hook you will see that it’s very… um… experimental. Partly that’s because I had basically only even READ like 3 food blogs before I started so I didn’t even know what to do with it. I know, hubris, right? Who DOES that? Apparently me. HUGE learning curve there. It’s so great though, because I have learned to love taking pretty pictures and I have gotten about a million times better at doing it. I have been able to share travel stories and suggestions that used to just live in my mind or in the ether. I have gotten to codify food experiments that I would otherwise never be able to re-create. I have actually MET other food bloggers that I like and became friends with? I put a question mark because really, I never expected that at all and I’m still happily surprised by it. The food blogging community pretty much poops rainbows. With very few exceptions they are some of the nicest and most welcoming, supportive, helpful people in the world. If they were a$$holes I would have given this up looooooooong ago. Seriously. If you meet one, try to be their friend. Not only are they nice and stuff, remember, most of them are pretty good cooks too.

ANYWAY… let’s not let this become a “Jerry Maguire”-style manifesto, because I freaking HATE that movie, but that’s for another time. While it’s not like there are legions of screaming fans, I have reason to believe there are literally TENS of people reading this site. Sometimes, dare I say, even DOZENS. When I do something super cool that can get to HUNDREDS. Are you kidding me? Hundreds? Sheeee-it. That’s some pressure. So here is what I’m going to do:

Take your post suggestions from facebook and twitter (there are some doozies! Prepare yourselves for embarrassing stories. Everyone wants embarrassing stories.) And feel free to send more along as you think of them.
Post recipes from the 1.0 site but new and improved-ly, along with new recipes.
Post more photos without feeling the need to add lots of text and context.
Post more kitchen how-tos: suggestions welcome for what you want to know.
Post more about restaurants and cool places to go. I always WANT to do this but it seems overwhelming so it’s a rarity. I’m brewing a plan though so stay tuned.
Post more random stuff. You can’t pin me down, man! I won’t do it anymore!
Post more pictures and recipes of things made by other people, like when I go to their house for dinner and such. This will mean I might be one of those d-bags who brings my camera to your house and then the next day emails you to make you send me the recipe. In exchange I promise to bring a slightly better bottle of wine than I would normally bring. Which means I will up my price ceiling from $10 to maybe $12.99. But $12.99 at BevMo is really like $15.99 somewhere else so, in advance, you’re welcome for the great wine I brought and by the way may I please have your recipe from last night?

So feel free to keep suggestions for posts coming. I want to do more “how-to” posts so tell me what you want to know and I will do it. I actually know a surprising amount about cooking and such. And please tell me what you want to know how to make and I will make it. I didn’t expect you, but now that you’re here I want to please you. Help me be the dead bird on fire which is so much less gross than just a dead bird, like, on the sidewalk. By the way, have you ever run over a pigeon and then cooked it and ate it? Me neither but that would be insanely gross. Don’t suggest that. I’m not doing that. Keep it reasonable. And if you’re still reading this- gold star! I owe you a dollar, and 10 minutes of your life back. But also don’t suggest I make a time machine because a lot of people have tried that, and it doesn’t usually work out too well.

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{wordless wednesday, er, thursday} Kappabashi Street in Tokyo

karen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:17:12 +0000

OK, not entirely wordless. But then, it’s not even Wednesday. Kappabashi is the restaurant supply street of Tokyo. Everyone tells you to go and marvel at the many stores full of plastic food. But nobody warns you about the giant chef head and the gigantor coffee cups. To see them yourself: Tokyo metro to Asakusa station.

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{I heart SF} Bike-Powered Mics

karen — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:59:25 +0000

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