NPR's The World aired this segment on the world wide appeal of Guinness beer, and credited The Irish Pub Company with the brew's globalized success. Boasting 1,800 bars in more than 50 countries, the company markets the "Irish brand" to consumers from Nigeria to Dubai.
Cool!
In classic NPR style, the spot congratulates the corporation for their remarkable ability to sell tasteless, high calorie beer to brown people all over the world.
The story piqued my interest because I spent a week in Santa Cruz, Bolivia this summer at a conference, and one of our Bolivian hosts took us to an Irish Pub for drinks. I saw particularly weirded out by this manifestation of culinary imperialism, because Santa Cruz seemed to have a pretty thriving local economy. Aside from a KFC and a Subway, most of the restaurants were owned and run by Bolivians.
The Irish Pub phenomena is disturbing to me a number of levels. Food and drink are fundamental elements of culture, and the proliferation of western food chains in the global south is one example of globalization causing systematic cultural genocide. Furthermore, if I was Irish, I'd be pretty f-en sick of my heritage sold as a "brand". Riverdance was bad enough, but decorating trashy bars with knick-knacks that were probably harvested from Irish yard sales, slapping a logo on it and calling it "authentically Irish" must be terribly insulting.
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Friday, August 31, 2007
Thursday, August 30, 2007
3 heavenly popcorn recipes
I hosted a craft night at my house last night [isn't that so bohemian of me?] and so agonized over what I would make, that I did zero to prepare ahead of time. I needed something snacky, but hearty, and fun to eat, but not messy.
So, I had a half hour after I got off work and $1.35 in my pocket. My fridge contained a bag of spinach and thawing pizza rolls, neither of which were getting me anywhere. I said a prayer to Saint Martha and, I'm not making this up, a bag of popcorn fell right off my shelf.
Ok..in truth, I was rummaging around the cupboard looking for ideas, and the bag ended up on the floor after I hit it with my elbow. It still seemed slightly miraculous.
Twenty minutes later, I had the following concoctions waiting on the table when the doorbell rang. Hungry crafters, yarn in tow, gobbled it up within moments of sitting down.
*******************
Popcorn: pop using a little bit of oil. I think I always burn it because I try and drench every kernel. Turn off the fire as soon as there is a two second gap in the pops. You really only need about 1/4 cup uncooked for a very large amount of popcorn.
Lemon-Pepper Popcorn
drizzle popped corn generously with olive oil [far superior to butter, in my opinion].
I used 4 capfuls of lemon juice for a medium-sized bowl of popcorn. Use lots of fresh ground pepper, enough to coat all the corn and enough salt to make it tasty. Mix well.
If I had more time to care about what it looked like, I would tossed in a few drops of yellow food coloring, spread it in a roasting pan, and dried the whole mixture out in the oven for about 3-5 minutes.
Honeyed Apricot and Pistachio Popcorn
This would be like if kettle corn and cracker jax got married on the shores of the Mediterranean....
I chopped up some amardine, apricot fruit leather. [I have vivid memories of elementary school, being totally embarrassed about this stuff packed away in my New Kids on the Block lunch box, failing to convince the inquiring children that it was a Fruit Roll-Up just like they had.]
Dried apricots would work, but soak them over night and chop them very small.
Crush the pistachios, not so much that they are mealy, but so they are not too chunky. Mix in the fruit and nuts so that there is enough of each ingredient to make small clumps.
Drizzle with honey, but don't mix it yet or you will have a big, sticky mess. Put a few big hunks of salted butter [for the kettle corn effect] on top and pop it in the microwave for 1 minute. Take it out and mix. Allow to cool. It's much better cold!
Za'atar Popcorn
This was not that creative, but it is very good. Just head to your favorite arabic grocery, pick up a bag of Za'atar, a spice mix made out of thyme, oregano, sumac, and sesame seeds. Coat your corn in olive oil and sprinkle enough za'atar to coat each piece. Balance is key...don't overdo it!
So, I had a half hour after I got off work and $1.35 in my pocket. My fridge contained a bag of spinach and thawing pizza rolls, neither of which were getting me anywhere. I said a prayer to Saint Martha and, I'm not making this up, a bag of popcorn fell right off my shelf.
Ok..in truth, I was rummaging around the cupboard looking for ideas, and the bag ended up on the floor after I hit it with my elbow. It still seemed slightly miraculous.
Twenty minutes later, I had the following concoctions waiting on the table when the doorbell rang. Hungry crafters, yarn in tow, gobbled it up within moments of sitting down.
*******************
Popcorn: pop using a little bit of oil. I think I always burn it because I try and drench every kernel. Turn off the fire as soon as there is a two second gap in the pops. You really only need about 1/4 cup uncooked for a very large amount of popcorn.
Lemon-Pepper Popcorn
drizzle popped corn generously with olive oil [far superior to butter, in my opinion].
I used 4 capfuls of lemon juice for a medium-sized bowl of popcorn. Use lots of fresh ground pepper, enough to coat all the corn and enough salt to make it tasty. Mix well.
If I had more time to care about what it looked like, I would tossed in a few drops of yellow food coloring, spread it in a roasting pan, and dried the whole mixture out in the oven for about 3-5 minutes.
Honeyed Apricot and Pistachio Popcorn
This would be like if kettle corn and cracker jax got married on the shores of the Mediterranean....
I chopped up some amardine, apricot fruit leather. [I have vivid memories of elementary school, being totally embarrassed about this stuff packed away in my New Kids on the Block lunch box, failing to convince the inquiring children that it was a Fruit Roll-Up just like they had.]
Dried apricots would work, but soak them over night and chop them very small.
Crush the pistachios, not so much that they are mealy, but so they are not too chunky. Mix in the fruit and nuts so that there is enough of each ingredient to make small clumps.
Drizzle with honey, but don't mix it yet or you will have a big, sticky mess. Put a few big hunks of salted butter [for the kettle corn effect] on top and pop it in the microwave for 1 minute. Take it out and mix. Allow to cool. It's much better cold!
Za'atar Popcorn
This was not that creative, but it is very good. Just head to your favorite arabic grocery, pick up a bag of Za'atar, a spice mix made out of thyme, oregano, sumac, and sesame seeds. Coat your corn in olive oil and sprinkle enough za'atar to coat each piece. Balance is key...don't overdo it!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
My new apartment has no air conditioning. My sister and I moved in on July 31, on what was probably the hottest day of the year.
What better time to ignite a dormant cooking hobby! I figure while I'm at it, I might as well sit in my stuffy fan-less room and write about it on the internet. I am so that person who always gets their haircuts in the winter.
Thankfully, the no a/c thing is the only downside to this place, as far as my belly is concerned. I'm right down the street from Supreme [a Dominican-owned grocery store with a mind-boggling selection of spanish cheese], Mecca Market [arabic food], and the infamous produce truck. My kitchen is considerably bigger, and it's no longer in my living room. And the door to the balcony is right next to the stove, so when I burn something we no longer have to dismantle the fire alarm.
To resolve my internal contradiction regarding the hot food/hot weather situation, I've been surviving on a few summer staples that make me feel "chill".
Cucumber with mint yogurt sauce
Last week, I picked up a bunch of baby cukes from the produce truck for a dollar. Oh, they are as sweet as can be! I scored the peel a bit, because otherwise they give me the winds. Usually, this is made as a salad with the cucumber mixed in, but for my snacking purposes, I cut them into spears and use them as a vehicle for the dip.
Thanks to Mecca Market, I have easy access to Romi's lowfat yogurt, my favorite brand of arabic yogurt. It's tart, so you don't need to add as much lemon. The lemon I do add, about a half a cup, I add slowly and carefully, stirring vigorously. I once made the mistake of mixing milk and lemon in my tea and the curdles grossed me out so much, I have a lasting fear of mixing dairy and citrus.
I was feeling lazy, so I used granulated garlic instead up mashing up a clove with salt and lemon like I knew I should. I also used dry mint, though I could have easily swiped some fresh from my neighbor's front yard. No matter, as it is impossible for this dish to not be delicious. A generous sprinkle of salt and my cool cukes are done.
Frozen Canned Cranberry Sauce
What a friggin' concept. Thanks to Micky's mom, I've taken to freezing entire cans of cranberry sauce and eating them like sorbet. Yep, the tubular gelatinous glob that you only eat on Thanksgiving is actually quite the treat in the summer. It has the consistency of a jello pudding pop, and a rich plum color that makes it seem more glamorous than it is. I'm not wild about the high fructose corn syrup listed as the first ingredient, but I figure its better than Ben and Jerrys.
There are endless possibilities to be explored with this transformed bastion of midwest-ery.
I want to float small scoops of the cranberry in sweetened condensed milk, topped with crushed peanuts and lime zest. An attractive idea would be to alternate melon-balled scoops of cranberry and lemon sorbet in a crystal dish and top with a sprig of fresh mint. Or, top a dish with a shot of high-quality, chilled tequila. Its so pretty and refreshing, it seems ideal to serve it to guests. Its so bizarre that at least if they don't like it, you have something to talk about.
Fattouch
Fattouch is a Lebanese bread salad, generally made with Romaine lettuce. The good thing about Fattouch is that it can really be whatever the heck you want. I tend to be sort of a purist when it comes to arabic food [spare me your pesto hummus and tabbouleh with avocado...if it ain't broke, don't fix it!] But Fattouch really can include the kitchen sink.
The quintessential ingredients are the dressing [lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper, mint, garlic and sumac] and the pita chips. I even used stale, manufactured barbecue flavored pita chips and had no problem. [Note: normally, I would absolutely not waste my money on pre-fab pita chips, but they were one of the many gifts from my dads store].
My latest batch of Fattouch had base of arugula, spinach and purple lettuce leaves, chopped, not torn. I added roasted corn, cut off the cob, red pepper, chunks of cucumber, carrot, onion, and [this is the weird part] mandarin oranges, walnuts and strawberries. I wasn't sure how the sweet of the fruit would go with the potent garlic flavor of the dressing, but the mellow spiciness of the arugula leveled the flavors.
Sliced Grapefruit topped with Rosewater Cream
The sauce is:
1/2 cup lowfat sour cream
2 Tblsp rosewater
1/4 cup powdered sugar
mix until un-lumpy, adding a bit of milk to thin. drizzle onto sliced grapefruit.
This is good, but it would be amazing if I could figure out how to slice grapefruit in a way that did not make them look like mauled pulpy masses of fruit/skin mess.
What better time to ignite a dormant cooking hobby! I figure while I'm at it, I might as well sit in my stuffy fan-less room and write about it on the internet. I am so that person who always gets their haircuts in the winter.
Thankfully, the no a/c thing is the only downside to this place, as far as my belly is concerned. I'm right down the street from Supreme [a Dominican-owned grocery store with a mind-boggling selection of spanish cheese], Mecca Market [arabic food], and the infamous produce truck. My kitchen is considerably bigger, and it's no longer in my living room. And the door to the balcony is right next to the stove, so when I burn something we no longer have to dismantle the fire alarm.
To resolve my internal contradiction regarding the hot food/hot weather situation, I've been surviving on a few summer staples that make me feel "chill".
Cucumber with mint yogurt sauce
Last week, I picked up a bunch of baby cukes from the produce truck for a dollar. Oh, they are as sweet as can be! I scored the peel a bit, because otherwise they give me the winds. Usually, this is made as a salad with the cucumber mixed in, but for my snacking purposes, I cut them into spears and use them as a vehicle for the dip.
Thanks to Mecca Market, I have easy access to Romi's lowfat yogurt, my favorite brand of arabic yogurt. It's tart, so you don't need to add as much lemon. The lemon I do add, about a half a cup, I add slowly and carefully, stirring vigorously. I once made the mistake of mixing milk and lemon in my tea and the curdles grossed me out so much, I have a lasting fear of mixing dairy and citrus.
I was feeling lazy, so I used granulated garlic instead up mashing up a clove with salt and lemon like I knew I should. I also used dry mint, though I could have easily swiped some fresh from my neighbor's front yard. No matter, as it is impossible for this dish to not be delicious. A generous sprinkle of salt and my cool cukes are done.
Frozen Canned Cranberry Sauce
What a friggin' concept. Thanks to Micky's mom, I've taken to freezing entire cans of cranberry sauce and eating them like sorbet. Yep, the tubular gelatinous glob that you only eat on Thanksgiving is actually quite the treat in the summer. It has the consistency of a jello pudding pop, and a rich plum color that makes it seem more glamorous than it is. I'm not wild about the high fructose corn syrup listed as the first ingredient, but I figure its better than Ben and Jerrys.
There are endless possibilities to be explored with this transformed bastion of midwest-ery.
I want to float small scoops of the cranberry in sweetened condensed milk, topped with crushed peanuts and lime zest. An attractive idea would be to alternate melon-balled scoops of cranberry and lemon sorbet in a crystal dish and top with a sprig of fresh mint. Or, top a dish with a shot of high-quality, chilled tequila. Its so pretty and refreshing, it seems ideal to serve it to guests. Its so bizarre that at least if they don't like it, you have something to talk about.
Fattouch
Fattouch is a Lebanese bread salad, generally made with Romaine lettuce. The good thing about Fattouch is that it can really be whatever the heck you want. I tend to be sort of a purist when it comes to arabic food [spare me your pesto hummus and tabbouleh with avocado...if it ain't broke, don't fix it!] But Fattouch really can include the kitchen sink.
The quintessential ingredients are the dressing [lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper, mint, garlic and sumac] and the pita chips. I even used stale, manufactured barbecue flavored pita chips and had no problem. [Note: normally, I would absolutely not waste my money on pre-fab pita chips, but they were one of the many gifts from my dads store].
My latest batch of Fattouch had base of arugula, spinach and purple lettuce leaves, chopped, not torn. I added roasted corn, cut off the cob, red pepper, chunks of cucumber, carrot, onion, and [this is the weird part] mandarin oranges, walnuts and strawberries. I wasn't sure how the sweet of the fruit would go with the potent garlic flavor of the dressing, but the mellow spiciness of the arugula leveled the flavors.
Sliced Grapefruit topped with Rosewater Cream
The sauce is:
1/2 cup lowfat sour cream
2 Tblsp rosewater
1/4 cup powdered sugar
mix until un-lumpy, adding a bit of milk to thin. drizzle onto sliced grapefruit.
This is good, but it would be amazing if I could figure out how to slice grapefruit in a way that did not make them look like mauled pulpy masses of fruit/skin mess.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Wild Thyme Kitchen Recipes
Breakfast
Apple Hashbrowns
Arabic Recipes
Tahini Salad with Spicy Potato Croutons
Moroccan Style Couscous
Loubieh Bi Zeit bi bizr
Sabanakh Harra
Apple Recipes
Apple Cloud Cake
Shredded Collards with Pickled Apples
Apple Curry Baked Beans
Veggies, casseroles and main courses
Cincinnati Corn Bread Bake
Sweet Beet Roast
Breads
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Drinks
Flower Child Fizz
Snacks
Popcorn recipes
Apple Hashbrowns
Arabic Recipes
Tahini Salad with Spicy Potato Croutons
Moroccan Style Couscous
Loubieh Bi Zeit bi bizr
Sabanakh Harra
Apple Recipes
Apple Cloud Cake
Shredded Collards with Pickled Apples
Apple Curry Baked Beans
Veggies, casseroles and main courses
Cincinnati Corn Bread Bake
Sweet Beet Roast
Breads
Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Drinks
Flower Child Fizz
Snacks
Popcorn recipes
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Mistakes I'll hopefully never make again
It consistently amazes/disturbs me that an entire dish can be all ruined by one small mistake. A dash too much pepper or an extra large drizzle of oil can throw the whole thing off entirely of what would otherwise be a delightful meal.
Trial and error is a particularly useful method for cooks like myself. While bakers are bound by precision and accuracy, a cooks world is a veritable free-for-all, with endless possibilities of ingredients to combine. But the reality is that about 45% of the dishes that I make come out exactly like I wanted them to. While there is something to be said for recipes that surprise you, I'd like to try and bump that number up to 65% or so.
Whenever I encounter a problem in life, I like to invent a little “chart-based” solution of some kind…things that are often suggested in self-help and pop psychology audio books. Sometimes when I’m bored, I just browse the Franklin-Covey website, looking at all their different templates for enabling greatness through improved organization. This “living” post is one such attempt.
In an effort to advance my cooking skills beyond mediocre" to "pretty good", I will document common goofs, snafus and [my personal favorite] mushkilas (problems in arabic...quite possibly the worlds cutest word] in this post, not only for my personal reference, but for the collective good of the internet food writing community and all other interested parties…
Good luck! These are in no particular order, just as they arise:
Trial and error is a particularly useful method for cooks like myself. While bakers are bound by precision and accuracy, a cooks world is a veritable free-for-all, with endless possibilities of ingredients to combine. But the reality is that about 45% of the dishes that I make come out exactly like I wanted them to. While there is something to be said for recipes that surprise you, I'd like to try and bump that number up to 65% or so.
Whenever I encounter a problem in life, I like to invent a little “chart-based” solution of some kind…things that are often suggested in self-help and pop psychology audio books. Sometimes when I’m bored, I just browse the Franklin-Covey website, looking at all their different templates for enabling greatness through improved organization. This “living” post is one such attempt.
In an effort to advance my cooking skills beyond mediocre" to "pretty good", I will document common goofs, snafus and [my personal favorite] mushkilas (problems in arabic...quite possibly the worlds cutest word] in this post, not only for my personal reference, but for the collective good of the internet food writing community and all other interested parties…
Good luck! These are in no particular order, just as they arise:
- If you want crispy asparagus, never blanche them. Sauté them. Any other method renders them to mush.
- There is such a thing as too much olive oil, salt, onions and garlic. They set the stage, but are rarely star the show.
- If you want to BAKE, you HAVE to MEASURE! Get that through your thick skull!
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