Monthly Archives: January 2009

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Posted on January 25, 2009 | 1 Comment

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With over thirty posts on my food blog, you might think that lunch at my office would be diverse and interesting.  That my leftovers from the night before would offer an exciting mid-day meal.  You’d be wrong.

Though some days offer exceptions, lunch at my office is unabashedly routine – which is not to say it’s bad.  Quite the opposite.  I couldn’t possibly have chicken salad sandwiches with the frequency I do, if I didn’t love my recipe.  And because my recipe provides enough chicken for the week, it’s one less thing I have to account for while I’m at work.  Chicken salad also has the advantage of being relatively light (so no post-lunch siestas), and offering a good source of protein (perfect for those afternoon workouts).

This is my (very) tried and true recipe. Continue reading →

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Posted in Entrees

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Easy Sticky Buns

Posted on January 22, 2009 | 5 Comments

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As part of my college application, I had to provide the usual information – SAT scores, class schedules, teacher references, and essays.  But unlike the common application, my alma mater had a section entitled “Hodgepodge,” which was an effort to gain at least a cursory insight into the applicant’s personality.

The questions in the hodgepodge section ran the gamut – from your favorite songs and television shows, to the books on your mantle.  The Office of Admissions also wanted to know your favorite time of day.  While the former questions gave me some pause, the latter I knew in an instant: Morning – which for me, meant breakfast.

Breakfast might only have been Continue reading →

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Posted in Breakfast

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Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

Posted on January 22, 2009 | 3 Comments

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We live in an era of convenience, where promises of easier and faster abound.  We have drive-through windows for almost every facet of our life – from the pharmacy window, to the bank window, to the fast-food window.  Indeed, the specter of convenience is particularly pernicious when it comes to the kitchen and our collective eating habits.

In the 1950s, one out of three Americans was overweight, and just one out of ten Americans was considered obese.  But with the advent of Jack In the Box (founded in 1951), McDonald’s (1955), and others of its kind, obesity rates have skyrocketed.  At last count, 65% of Americans were overweight, and 30% of Americans were obese.

And hamburgers are not the only culprit. Continue reading →

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Posted in Breakfast

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Michelle Obama’s Shortbread Cookies

Posted on January 20, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Today, the Nation welcomed its 44th President.  Like most, I had to watch the Inauguration from a distance.  But since I could not make the trip to Washington, I decided to see how I might otherwise get a taste of this historic event.

In looking for ideas, I read that the Ritz-Carlton Hotels had decided to forgo putting mints on its guests’ pillows.  In place of the mints, the Ritz-Carlton catered to its Inauguration visitors by serving them the First Lady’s Shortbread Cookies.  These cookies, Continue reading →

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Posted in Desserts

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Home Fries

Posted on January 18, 2009 | 1 Comment

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Whenever I go out to breakfast with my siblings, my two brothers always order hash browns.  No matter where we go or what they order, there is going to be a side of hash browns.  They love their hash browns – or so they think.

What my brothers really love are home fries.  And the confusion is not their fault.  For whatever reason, hash browns, especially outside the South, has become a generic term to describe almost any sort of fried potato.  This is incorrect, and I’m here to set the record straight.

Hash browns are shredded or finely diced potatoes that are pan-fried to a crisp brown.  Typically, hash browns do not have anything added to them.  Home fries, meanwhile, Continue reading →

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Posted in Breakfast

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Homemade Vanilla Extract

Posted on January 14, 2009 | 3 Comments

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The expression “plain vanilla” strikes me as a bit of a misnomer.

The vanilla bean is the fruit of an orchid, and not just any orchid.  Of the hundred or so species of vanilla-producing orchids, only two species produce a vanilla suitable for cooking.  One species, vanilla planifolia, produces Bourbon vanilla, while the other species, vanilla tahitensis, produces Tahitian vanilla.

Bourbon vanilla and Tahitian vanilla are as exotic as they sound.  That is, the  varieties derive their  names from their respective locales.  Bourbon vanilla is produced from planifolia orchids grown on islands in the Indian Ocean, namely Madagascar, Comoros, and Réunion.  Some three hundred years ago, Réunion was named Bourbon Island (Île Bourbon), in honor of the French royal family.  Tahitian vanilla  is produced from tahitensis orchids in French Polynesia (which includes Tahiti).

The different climates of each locale Continue reading →

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Posted in Miscellaneous

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Banana Bread

Posted on January 11, 2009 | 4 Comments

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The modern banana may be a dying breed.

Unlike apples and oranges, supermarkets only carry a single variety of banana – the Vietnamese Cavendish.  And unlike other fruits, domestic production of bananas is virtually nonexistent.  Instead, the vast majority of our bananas come from Latin America; Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Colombia represent three of the four largest banana-exporting nations.

The concentration of a single banana variety in a single area helped popularize the banana by creating large economies of scale with respect to harvest periods, and shipping and distribution routes.  These economies of scale made the banana the cheapest fruit in the produce section – a modern miracle considering that the banana has traveled thousands of miles, in cooled containers, and has a shelf life of but a few weeks.

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This concentration and homogenization may, unfortunately, also lead to the banana’s demise.  In the early 1900s, the banana of choice was the Gros Michel – a banana superior in taste, size, and texture to today’s Cavendish.  Sadly, the Gros Michel was all but wiped out by Panama disease, a resistant fungus.

Today, the Cavendish is threatened Continue reading →

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Posted in Breads

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Gingersnaps

Posted on January 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Sometimes you just need a warm cookie.  Yesterday was one of those days.

Looking through my Cooking Light cookbook, I found a recipe with all the ingredients already on hand.  This recipe does require an hour or two of down-time, so be prepared Continue reading →

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Posted in Desserts

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Sweet Almond Milk Couscous

Posted on January 2, 2009 | 1 Comment

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Not every couscous recipe has to be served with dinner.  Seffa, a couscous sweetened with cinnamon, sugar, and rosewater, is one of the more common couscous-based desserts.  This recipe Continue reading →

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Moroccan Couscous

Posted on January 1, 2009 | Leave a comment

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Couscous is not a grain, as you might think, but a semolina paste.  In fact, couscous is made from the same wheat semolina flour used to make commercial spaghetti.

Couscous originated in the Maghreb, today’s North Africa, and owes its origins to the Berbers, an indigenous people of the region.  The Saracen conquest of Europe in the 7th and 8th Centuries is believed to have introduced the dish to the Western world.

Owing to its origins, couscous is often served Continue reading →

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