Cooking

I took a bit of a break from cooking these last few weeks. To be honest, I just haven't been inspired. I think I've mastered the dishes that have been staples and it's time for something new. I've also been in the mood for more varied cooking than in the past.

I read a NYT article from this Sunday's Magazine about the new Julie movie and what impact Julie Child had on cooking. I was a wee one when she was at the height of her popularity. The article talks – at length – about where we are as a country with regard to food. The popularity of the Food Network glosses over the fact that most of us rarely cook and that what defines 'cooking' nowadays is really more like assembly. Not much is prepared from scratch. The Food Network is more about the consumption of food than learning to prepare it.

I've come full circle on cooking. At the height of my cooking this winter, I put in some serious work – beating things by hand etc. That's so far removed from our food processors and bread makers, the former I recently acquired. Do those devices help us by taking away the 'I want X but I don't feel like doing A to get it' factor? Or are they a further abstraction, separating us from the work involved in putting a meal together?

Unfortunately our time starved lives necessitate that we get more from less. We don't have time to do the work it takes to prepare many of the dishes Julie cooked. Which is a shame. A good home cooked meal is like nothing else. I'm glad I know.

Everybody's cooking

Seems as though I'm not the only one hitting the recipe sites and cooking more frequently. 

EMarketer reported today that traffic to recipe sites was up 10% in 2008. One of the great things about sites like AllReceipes.com and other similar sites is the ability to enter in core ingredients and have the site spit out recipes. The site has noticed an increase in people searching for recipes that use fewer ingredients or use cheaper cuts of meat. One theory is people are buying whatever is on sale and then using the sites to find uses for their purchases. 

Fascinating data points in the most documented recession ever. 

Hat tip [eMarketer]

The Geek uses his hands

Everyone that knows me well knows how much of a geek I can be. Hell just looking at this blog, nearly half of the entries are about technology in some way. 

However, as I detailed in an earlier post – The Butcher, the Baker – I'm beginning to spend more time on manual pursuits, namely cooking and DIY. I ran into an interesting dilemma that I wanted to discuss. 

This all started with the instructions for the Sprinkles cupcake recipe. The instructions assumed the presence of an electric mixer. It's probably a safe bet that the majority of cooks have one. I don't. So I had three choices – 1) buy one, 2) borrow one and 3) do without. I investigated option one but just didn't want to spend the money and have no space to store it. Option two was a dead end since no one I asked had a mixer; most of my friends don't cook or don't do a lot of baking. 

I went with option 3 – do without. I arrived there thanks to swift kick in the pants from a friend of mine. She said, and I'm paraphrasing, "A mixer? Just use a whisk! You're a strong healthy boy. That's how my Mom did it."

I reflected upon that. When faced with a problem, I'll usually take the tech path first and then circle back to the non-tech solution. Not using technology – and mixers aren't exactly the cutting edge of technology – seemed strange. How would I know when the batter is done if there's no indicator light or warning signal? Yes I'm sick and need help. Nevertheless I powered through it. To be sure, mixing by hand is a lot of work. But I turned on one of my favorite audio podcasts – Design and Architecture by KCRW's Frances Anderton – and wisked away. The most interesting thing is I knew when it was done. The instructions helped since they described the state it should be in when done. But it felt great to see for myself – yep, good job. 

Judging by my friends' reactions to the cupcakes, option three was the right one. My luddite conversion is underway. 

The butcher the baker

I haven't spoken much about the New Year. I have a lot in store for the year, some of which will be detailed here. 

In 2009, I'm [re]connecting with my domestic and DIY self thanks to a number of personal projects that are on the docket. 

My television seems to be conspiring against me since it's always on the DIY channel, even when I could have sworn I changed it. I'm really enjoying Deconstruction with Matt Blashaw. I'm new to all of this and his show really illustrates how materials work, which ones are the best and why. It's very helpful and reinforces a 'penny wise pound foolish' ethic that I'll be keeping in mind. Plus the show has just enough 'guy silliness' to make it fun. Every show has at least one segment where the material in question gets set alit, dropped, smashed, flung and shot at. Jackass, staring Pell Windows. And I feel very Beevis as I hear myself say – woah, that was cool. 

One of my resolutions from roughly the middle of Q4 has been to cook more frequently. It's healthier, more economical and is a rewarding process. At least in theory. In practice the first and second are optional and the third is debatable when the dish doesn't turn out well. 

It all started with preparing seasoned uncooked dishes from Fresh Direct. Now I want to cook my own stuff. At my local Bed Bath, I recently purchased a Dutch oven [cast-iron pot] and a panini maker/grill to broaden my meal selection.

I have resolved to cook an entrée meal at least three times a week and have leftovers to fill in at least a few of the remaining meals. I'm starting with simple recipes that have short ingredient lists, larder stocking basics, fast prep time and minimal pot watching. 

One thing about these old recipes. They sure use a lot of butter. I'll be looking for lighter versions but at least I know the benchmark. Besides, it's a nice guilty pleasure.

Anyway, so far so good. Just made some Red Velvet cakes using a mix from the infamous Sprinkles. It was a gift from a friend of mine. Yum. But I have a lot of excess frosting. There's no way I am going to put as much frosting on the cupcake shown here.