Changing blog name and going to actually blog

Okay so I am going to change the blog name to Jim's Kitchen @ Cafe 7000. First blog will post as soon as Nick doesn't need to be all over me.

A Puddle of Mud

I attempted to make the Baked French Potatoes (p 224) if you can find it. Jamie’s book has an annoying style in which tens of pages in a row do not have numbers on them. The section with this recipe goes for nineteen unnumbered pages. What the point is to lack of pagination, I have no idea—maybe a little extra proof in the tea on proof day. Bottoms up!

So I made the French Potatoes, but they didn’t turn out like they were supposed to turn out but thankfully, we had a whole bunch of other stuff to nibble on. . . . We were nibbling. That was basically what dinner was a bunch of nibble foods (Sometimes me wife and I will only order appetizers for dinner--you get so many different tastes--go ahead try it), and the potatoes were going to be a hot side dish to some cheeses and meats and veggies and wine and beer and good times with some friends (Carol, Vince, Dawn, John, Grandma Theresa, Erin) that we invited for an impromptu meal. Me wife suggested that I make something from the book and pass on the recipe. Well, we passed on it alright and stuck to the nibblies. (I’m ignoring spell check and sticking with nibblies.)

At first I didn’t know what baking dish to use. I couldn’t quite see what size was in the picture and it only says large—quite vague. Then I didn’t know how much onion or potato I should cut. It would be nice to get a ballpark figure on the measurements of 1 and 3/4 pounds of potatoes and one pound of onions. I do not have a little scale for food and to make another purchase for another kitchen gadget really adds up and isn’t this supposed to be easy. Huh Jamie? Isn’t this thing supposed to make non-cooks screaming mad, loony tunes, bonkers about the culinary arts. I ended up with way too many potatoes and not enough onion. I eyeballed it and was totally wrong.

Well, in addition to my lack of measurement skills, one problem I realized after it was over was that when I poured the broth in the dish to ‘just cover the top of the potatoes”, they began to float, so I had way too much broth and I didn’t even come close to using all the broth and so I wondered again if the dish was the right one. Maybe the distractions of conviviality and cork popping took away from my studied effort.

In the end, it all came out wet and bland and no one ate any, and Joe wouldn’t even try it because he is anti-onion at the moment, but I thought that I might make it a mash or a soup and that is what you see in the picture, not the nice golden brown scallop type rounds. . . . Yeah, I whipped it up and ended up with a puddle of mud.

P.S. The book calls for poundsof potatoes. . . . Must have been more proof in the tea than I thought.

Perfect Roast . . . Almost

So Joe is getting into the whole Jamie revolution thing and we have only watched like one and a half shows and now its over for the year, but Joe is enthused and wants to eat fresh and healthy and so I made a roast beef: Perfect Roast Beef (192). Healthy . . . right

The butcher at Jim's market, a local butcher shop on Fallbrook Ave., told me not to use beef top round that the recipe called for, but to use a sirloin tip, so I followed his suggestion. I think it turned out above average, but Joe wanted it hot and then cold and then hot again and his beef came out tough. Then he didn’t want any of the roast.

Now the sirloin tip was a bit bigger than what was called for and it came out rare—even a purple hue in the middle, but enough on the outside was ready to savor. Another thing to savor was the whole garlic cloves that were in the pot; they were like butter, and we used them like butter on some par-baked bread from Trader Joe's, but it gave me wife a mean case and let me just say that I was almost blown into the wall when one let loose: Beware--Gastronomical Anomalies!!!

I must say that the first three efforts have been enjoyable. I do look forward to the Indian section and Joe has tried/retried tomatoes, Italian parsley, and loves those steamed potatoes which of course are my recipe and not Oliver's. Pat on the back for me. . . .

Jamie is a Nutter!

What a Nutter!

These burgers of which I will speak are satisfactory, but one suggestion from Jamie has me still scratching my head, my nicely thick coif of a head—like most of my food, just a sprinkle of salt.

So for our second night of this revolution we had the Cracking Burger (p 146). I used turkey meat that we buy at Costco. We have kind of gone away from a lot of red meat at home . . . just because. Joe was hoping that the cracker part would stay cracking, but it just was incorporated into the meat moisture—that’s blood—do a Homer ‘Ummm, blood.” It makes it seem just right.

The recipe calls for a cream or a Jacob's cracker. What the schnikies is a Jacob’s cracker; I still don’t know.

An aside I am sick of my scrunched up Apple keyboard. Why is their standard keyboard made for fairy and leprechaun hands and why do they not sell their own ergonomic board—ugh!!!

Back to the crackers, these Jacob things are probably British and remain suspicious . . . I remain suspicious as well--remember the redcoats?

I used water crackers and some pita chips. The burger is basically a meatloaf portioned off and grilled. Use the condiments you like and it’s a burger—nothing special.

Now to the Nutter—Jamie. Jamie, and I quote says: “PS I’d still make this quantity even if it was just for 4 people. I’d wrap the extra 2 burgers in plastic wrap and put them into the freezer.” Let me bypass the incorrect construction of ‘if I was’--should be were--and move onto the culinary calamity. Jamie, Jamie the Nutter, says to make the two extra burgers and freeze them. He is nuts!!! Reheated burgers are about the worst things in the world. A burger needs to be juicy (remember the blood) and flavorful and not a warmed up day old hockey puck.

Reheat a burger—you might as well go get school cafeteria food—Nutter!

Was that Chicken Good or What?

Here it goes. I am starting a blog ala Julie and Julia and taking on the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution with his book Jamie’s Food Revolution in which everyone in the book is “passed on” . . . a recipe that is. At first I thought, wow those Brits really are dying to get some decent food--ah, separated by a common language.

So I am not challenging myself to do recipes almost every day from Jamie's book, and I am not going to study that loose lipped Limey's life :>), but my eight year old son, Joe, is so into it that I probably will be doing more than Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday which I planned to do after his “cool down” walk post-karate practice to the store to get fresh ingredients for dinner because Joe has looked through the cookbook and keeps requesting new meals.

So here we go and here are the first results:

The first was the Crunchy Garlic Chicken (p 241). We had ours with a baked potato. I call it a baked potato, even though it is cooked in the microwave and is really steamed. I put in three or four ice cubes right on the plate, place a microwave cover over and cook the desired time. They come out nice and fluffy with no hard skin. Joe loves them and eats every ort, so I am happy with it. I was able to get him to try these potatoes by saying the inside was mashed just like the inside of a French fry. It worked.

Okay, what the hell is a Jacob’s cracker and further more cream crackers? Maybe tea sippin’ toffee crunchin’ little cake nibblin’ folks know more about crackers or are more crackers. I used water crackers, but three times as much as what was called for in the recipe. I needed it, but it must be that American breasts are much bigger than British breasts.

It was fun to smash the chicken flat with the cast iron skillet, but when I tired to take a picture of Joe doing it, we got into an argument and he sequestered himself in his room for ten minutes. These modern kids give themselves time-outs.

Hey, but the first recipe was a hit and Joe told mom as he was getting in bed: "Was that chicken good or what?" Now that is something you want to hear. Joe's buddy Haris on the other hand ate the chicken and potato, but pushed the crust to the side and left the potato skin.

Not going to please them all, but hopefully this will be a tasty ride as we join the revolution . . . the revolution? . . . a Brit and a revolution . . . sounds a bit odd.