Orange Roasted Chicken

All chicken photos courtesy the Bon Vivant de Roommates

Among my favorite things to make is roasted chicken, and the simplicity of it appeals to me like few other things manage. One yard bird, a couple of aromatics, and you've got yourself a knockout dinner that everyone enjoys. I made this one on a regular basis, and at a dinner party recently someone asked for the oh-so-simple recipe. Roasted chicken is very versatile; these things, your favorite things, or nothing except a little salt and pepper can be used. 

Buttermilk Truffle Popovers

Popovers, and My Cluttered Countertop

Like a lot of the food I love, popovers are forever tied to my grandma in my mind. When I was a kid, there was nothing better than getting to spend the night at her house either with my cousins or (if I was really lucky) all by myself. We would stay up late, her telling silly stories including one about a clumsy witch who repeatedly fell off her broom and busted her butt, all of us giggling until we fell asleep. The mornings were the best though. We'd get up early, and she would make a breakfast of foods we never got at home while we sipped Grandad's pineapple-orange-banana juice, one I never liked outside of their house. She would make three minute eggs with nice runny yolks, bacon in the trusty cast-iron skillet, and hot popovers slathered with butter and apple butter she'd "put up" the fall before. Surely, this was the food of gods.

Blarg Burgers, or A Lesson in Editing

Well, they looked good, anyway.

I went into these black eyed pea burgers with very high hopes. I wanted something delicious to go on a bun with lettuce and some beautiful tomatoes that I had hanging around. Black eyed peas and tomatoes, the only thing missing, as far as I could tell, was some green chiles. I picked up a couple of cans from TJ's, and was on my way.

I had borrowed this recipe (Hi, Drew!) a while back to make some tasty little black eyed pea cakes, and they were a dream! I used black eyed peas that I had leftover which I had made myself, and I think that made a big difference between that experiment and this one. One thing I've learned while cooking is that you have to season some things from the get-go; you can't fudge it as you go. The canned ones needed more seasoning that I could manage, and it all just went wonky, one ingredient after another.

Barracuda Tavern

This is my first beer at Barracuda Tavern. It's a Samuel Adams Noble Pils, which you're not supposed to be able to get after spring, but it's almost fall. And it's delicious. Congratulations, Luka and Beth!

Going Away Cake

A friend from work who makes AMAZING cakes (by amazing we're talking cute little things cut out of fondant and deliciously lovely layers of heaven) was moving on to bigger and better things. I volunteered to make the cake for the going away party. I lack any and all skills related to arts and crafts and making things cute, so I decided I had to make it at least taste super-awesome. It may look like a pile of weirdness, but it proved to be a hit. I got more than one request for the recipe, and at least one homosexual marriage proposal. Which brings my homosexual marriage proposal record up to one, but that's for a different blog.

(I hope you can't tell much from the picture that it's lopsided. My oven is tilted, and everything cooks at a slight angle. I can line them up with two layers so you can't tell, but with three, it's just going to be a little tilty.)



So I figured the cake to go with was a coconut cake. My grandma used to make coconut cakes, and my mom says they was her favorite. I know that coconut is one of those divisive foods; people love it or loathe it. I am a fan, and I was making the cake, so coconut it was.. For this recipe, I decided to make one of those old-fashioned frostings that are a little harder to find. IT IS TOTALLY WORTH THE EFFORT. The cake itself is sort of like an angel food cake, I think, and I don't remember coconut cakes being like that. I think it worked, though, especially with the textures of the filling, icing, and coconut. This recipe is a mishmash of recipes from my favorite cookbook, Calling All Cooks, minus the booze. That's all me.

Wherefore art thou blog?

Like most of my cooking, this blog is an experiment. I've never been much of a taker of photos, but I have this shiny red camera that just needs to be used. So, there will be pictures. As far as the cooking goes, my mom and grandma taught me the basics; cooking for someone is a way to say I love you in my family. What they didn't teach me I've learned through trial and many, many errors.

I'm not always a particularly creative person, but cooking is a way for me to get to exercise that part of my brain. My favorite way to cook is to get inspired by something and then let creativity run its course. Inspiration can be a particularly tempting tomato at the farmer's market, something I see one of my favorites like Alton or Ina or Tyler on tv do, or a yearning for home and times gone by that I can reminisce about with a fork. Then, either I whip up something based on tried-and-true recipes, or I turn to the interwebs. I'll google a recipe, read six or seven or eight or nine of them, and then just mash them together into a new one based on what I have on hand, can find at the rather limited grocery stores nearby, or just from what I know I like. The results are usually edible, but sometimes they are food for the disposal. I'll share them both, hopefully for your enjoyment, or at least your amusement. Enjoy!

Pasta Night

So begins my foray into a month of vegetarianism. This move is based on a desire to gain a sense of awareness over what I'm doing with my body. Also, I've eliminated processed sugar and artificial sweeteners, as well as alcohol. I'm not sure what's going to be the toughest: the meat, the sugar, or the booze. But it's only a month, and I've done at least the vegetarian aspect of this before. (Way back in college. Everyone experiments in college, right? I rebelled by giving up meat. I can't really think of anything more transgressive in Texas than that.)

I had some nice, acidic heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market that I bought last Thursday and needed to use. I was going to make a sort of panzanella salad, but I changed my mind when I found Trader Joe's Garlic Basil Linguine. The tomatoes were a little on the soft side, so I roasted them before tossing with the other ingredients. The higher acidity of the tomatoes allowed for a great concentration of flavors without them becoming too sweet from roasting. I'm not big on the super-sweet, sundried tomato flavor. Next time I make this, I might throw in a bit of lemon juice and zest at the end, but it worked well without it. All in all, I was very pleased with this pasta attempt and will certainly make it again.