Thursday, April 18, 2013

The One About Food (Eura Cool to me #6)

Culinary skills are important...in a restaurant.  For me?  Not so much.  I try, and things go well.  Then I get excited, and lose interest simultaneously.  This does not stop me from amassing recipes.  One day I will be in some random city with horrible restaurants and I will have to cook for myself (because it's the endoftheworld).

Baking is enjoyable.  Flour is dusty.  Eating is delightful.  Cooking is messy.  Fire is warm.  I don't like sweating.  Delicious foods make me happy.  It's a conundrum.  Why can't life be simple, like shopping???

Here's a few of my favorites that I have tried (either in reality or in my imagination).

...Baking (Chocolate Chip Walnut Mini-Cookies) - The reason I stopped baking with butter (after very few attempts) is that I am waiting averse (that other word is too harsh).  Butter needs to be soft and malleable before use.  I don't really care about that, so I figured...what about using olive oil (seemed like a Meditteranean option, and they know their food)??  It's easy, but will it taste guh-ross?  Answer: Nope.  How do I know?  Answer: I tested them on the masses (12people = masses).  Supreme test...my butter-lovin paternal colonel.  He eats any cookie I make with olive oil, and does not comment on the lack of butter (commenting is his sport of choice).  However, there is a delicate balance between flour and oil.  Too much flour will create a blandness.  You will figure it out (hint: If you are combining the flour and it seems to be too much.  Do not force it.  Just leave out the excess)  Add flour slowly, and use this recipe, but TWEAK with with this conversion chart.  Last thing, I use semi-sweet chocolate chips.  In my mind, this is healthy-er.  I have no proof.  I don't want any.  Yummy is the GOAL!!
Chocolate chip/Walnut Cookie Bites (made w/olive oil)


The far left is a Chocochip/Cranberry, and the rest are Chocochip/Walnut from small to bite-size

...More BAKING (Crawfish Cornbread) - I want to try this.  Nothing is better than comfort food.  Except, SOUTHERN comfort food.  If you weren't raised in the South, my condolences.  It is quite possible that I will eat anything described as cornbread.  Food sins exist, but this is not one of them...


Crawfish Cornbread

...Frying (French fries, GOOP Style) - To eat, or not to eat...FRENCH FRIES.  Letterman or Leno.  SUV or Sedan.  You are either on one side or the other.  This is exactly why I respect Gwyneth Paltrow-Martin.  She eats FRENCH FRIES.  People who eat fries are aware of the consequences, but they enjoy them anyway.  GOOD people.  This will be one of my methods because a healthy-er (I realize there is another spelling) version of a food from Team Fattening is a winner to me.

Gwyneth Paltrow recipe for French Fries

Food is a happy experience.  This is my PINterest board dedicated to FOOD.