Let me hear you say "ahhh"

I have been mulling over what to write about this week and just been hitting a wall. A big writer's blocky wall. All thick with gooey-ness keeping me from spluttering brilliance for all to read. I debated talking about the lull you feel after a long vacation, the splendors of not traveling with children, and I think I even kicked around the idea of talking about unusual hotels again... But I went to an outside source and tapped into my dear beloved's brain and he gave me a fun topic I don't think I've touched on, comfort foods.

Ahhh comfort foods. They can really be anything. I think mine is whatever is fun to cook. In all honesty for me, it's more fun to prepare a gorgeous meal that's going to be delicious. Now there's certain foods I excel at preparing, asparagus, yep we are a good team, and chicken. But the one dish I think I make that's a generic comfort food that makes everyone happy is one taught to my by my best friend, and chef. It's a simply casserole of squash, and gooey cheese. It is so fattening, and god bless your soul if you are lactose intolerant, but damn it's so good.

I needed another reference for someone's comfort so I asked the brilliant Harold, and he said two simple words, Peanut Butter. Two simple decadent words oozing with luscious promise, because when it comes to peanut butter pretty much any food is made better in it's company. It comes in so many different shapes and forms and no matter what it's delicious splendor whisking you away from all your worries and stress. For those blissful moments you devour the scrumptious treat from heaven.

Seeing as an outside source gave me this topic to discuss I decided to keep going with that avenue and asked another outside source what was their chosen comfort. Needless to say my idea that savory was a great method of comfort dining, I was off. Harold had his love for the buttery composition of the peanut, and a friend of mine with candy, well gummy bears was the example given. Yet another hat tip to the world of sweet when it comes to nomming your way into the thralls of comfort, who knew.

I think it breaks down to this. Comfort food is what you reach for when you're feeling like a kicked puppy and all you want to do is curl up on the couch with your favorite *fill in the blank* get snuggly under a blanket and then veg out, be it with a good book or a something on TV  It's food that makes you let out a sigh, and when you bite into it, you feel that moment of tranquility where all your worries about the world and stress drip away and you're filled the deliciousness of your favorite dish, and all you say is "ahhh".

Why does this taste so good?....

Hello my favorite readers. I have returned from my fantastic vacation in Montana (I like to pronounce "Mon-ton-ya" because it makes it sound much more distinguished). I went there for the majestic mountains, and fancy pants national park, but was wowed but something that I often praise but I don't believe I truly appreciated until my recent venture.

You see my gnomes, my main squeeze is from the great state of Montana and when we visit there (all two times) I depend on him to be my Experience Director for the area seeing as I know nothing about it (however I see to know my way around much faster than he does). He knew where the great food was and where ever we ate and I was wow'd by the awe inspired food I noticed a sign in the window, it was a farm to restaurant sign explaining that the food I was eating was locally grown and raised near by. Now I have always given a "raise the roof" to restaurants who do that but it was the first time I noticed that the real good stuff was the local stuff. The best meals I had in Montana came from the food we bought at the local coop, and from this wonderful place called the Nova Cafe.

• Preservatives are bad. They are, the chemicals break down the nutrients in your food, and it adds CHEMICALS that serve you no benefit in your food. There's a reason your grandmother's recipe for apple pie doesn't require you to add yellow #5, it's not natural.
• It tastes better when you eat something local. There's a huge difference with something picked and cooked the next day verses something flash frozen and driven for days and stored for weeks before you even see it in your kitchen.
• Helps the community, you're not dishing out cash that doesn't help somewhere you have never seen, the money goes back into your community benefiting those around you and helps to improve your local way of life.
• Not to mention, all the cool kids are doing it.

Maybe we as Texans need to really start looking into where we can get some truly down home food of our own....

.... and that's exactly what I'll be posting about next time.

Food so good, you need to ask for forgiveness.

Well it's Tuesday, just a few days to get all my ingredients for my delicious dish of Ropa Vieja for my Cuban dish party. I cannot wait. Every time I think about how wonderful it's going to be my mouth starts watering. All those slow cooked dishes... It's sinful. Cuban's have mastered the art of making food divine in two very spectacular methods. The first (I'm making it first because this is how the dish I'm making... is made) is slow cooking. It is this art of putting all the most savory ingredients in a pot (or crock pot) and letting them do the cooking nasty all day till it's like tasty velvet. It's WONDERFUL! You can't go wrong, and unless you cook it for days you can't burn it, it just gets smoother and yummier. It looks a little scary I will admit but you quickly forgive the appearance once you taste it. Just pour over some rice and devour, I mean it! If it wasn't frowned upon to shove food in your face with your bare hands I would with Ropa Vieja... Oh how I would.

Now the second method is a very true and very Cuban method of making sure whatever it is you are cooking has the utmost delicious factor. It's the thought that if you smoosh something as flat as it can go the taste will reach it's most delicious potential. I was always amazed at how wide my Abuelita's dinner plates were. Now I realize that it wasn't because it was due to us receiving so much food, we got the same size dinner as anyone else was getting served by there families, but rather our food was so wide and so flat. The flatness seemed to bring out the rich garlic flavors and Caribbean feel to all our favorite dishes. It's the kind of food that makes you moan in happiness when you can smell it coming from the kitchen.

I figured something fun for my favorite readers would be to give you a couple great recipes to try out at home. Of course this is assuming I have readers...

First comes to you from my Abuelita's cook book.

Congri

• 1 16oz can black beans
• 1 small onion (my grandmother used white, I like sweet yellow)
• 1/2 green pepper (I also like to add yellow and red peppers) seeded and cut into strips or chunks.
• 2 garlic BULBS browned in olive oil.
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups rice

Blend everything together when the water begins to boil. Cover and cook for 30minutes.
On a side note, I like to add bacon too, it gives it a good extra "umph".

Tostones by Hector Rodriguez 

• 2 green plantains
• oil for frying
• salt

1. Heat oil to 350
2. While the oil is heating up, peel the green plantains and cut into 3/4' slices.
3. Fry the slices in the hot oil for 3 mins. They should be a light golden color and semi-soft.
4. Remove the plantain slices with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel.
5. When the plantain slices are cool enough to handle (about 1 minute), smash them into flat rounds.
6. Fry the rounds in the hot oil for 3 minutes. They will turn crisp and golden brown.
7. Remove tostones with the slotted spoon and drain them on a paper towel. Salt to taste.

ENJOY!

The devils are coming!

Ahhh, runaway! I mean no, that's wrong... I mean YAY come on our awesome cruise! I'm funny I know.
My boss, the glorious Harold (cha-ching), gave me an assignment to write up a tour presentation for our website (awe big britches here I come). It was about Tasmania, and like all of us young at heart, I started picturing Kangaroo boxing and running from Tasmanian devils screaming in fear.  But, as I'm learning, I'm learning! I didn't know Tasmania had all these wonderful produce, some of the best wines, and the BEST oysters around.

This whole learning business doesn't bode well for me, you see I already know everything. Like all my cliche Americans I know I am always right and know better than everyone else. Sorry if you disagree with that statement, but allow me to clarify it for you, you're wrong I'm right.

Well perhaps that's not how it is, but I'm only learning that because my boss is helping me learn all this brilliant information. I don't know how I feel about being so informed, how I feel about my eyes being open to all these new worlds. I hate to think I like being the fresh slate, the clean palate ready to taste what the fine gastronomes have laid out for me all over this world.... Damn me for loving to learn, I guess I don't know everything after all.

Harry Potter day is here!

Today is Harry Potter day, the final installment of the great series will hit movie theaters at midnight, and the masses will be out and ready to see if the Chosen One will be capable of taking down the Dark Lord. I love Harry Potter, it's a huge feat for me to love reading a book series, seeing as I have crippling dyslexia. I spend my drive into the office today wondering how I would make a blog about the boy who lived and relate it to work, how is a fantasy series going to tie into culinary tourism? Well hold onto your wizard caps my little muggles I think I have some good ways to spin this. 


I'll start with the suggestion Harold made to me when I brought up my concept for this blog.... 

TADA BUTTERBEER!


There's been quite the debate on several websites on which recipe is the best. As a future brewery tour specialist I thought it was odd that there is no Butterbeer recipe I have found that has actual beer in it (just as a funny side note, I have to keep back spacing because every time I write "beer" I end up writing "bear", goodness I'm a goober sometimes). There is only one JKR approved Butterbeer recipe and it belongs to Universal and only sold at their very own Harry Potter land. Luckily I'm pretty good at fishing around and I found the assumed recipe Universal uses at it's park. 


1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 package Spiced Alpine Instant Apple Cider
8 oz Water
8 oz Cream Soda
Buttershots Schnapps
Dissolve 1/4 cup of Brown Sugar into 8oz hot water. Add one half of 0.74oz Apple Cider package to mixture. Let cool.
Put 1/4 cup of Cider mixture in glass. Add 8oz Cream Soda. Add Buttershots Schnapps to taste.
May reduce 8oz water and Soda to fit into 8oz glass.


Now I'll talk about the travel part of today's blog. London. Gorgeous, inviting, wonderful London. If you haven't caught the drift, I LOVE London. I went there at the end of a very long tour of Europe when I was eighteen, and as homesick as I was, I was just captivated by it's rich fun culture. It is where I truly became a wide eyed traveler. I stood in Trafalgar Square looking around with a gaping mouth staring at the exciting city around me. If you have a chance to visit London, do so. If you need someone to help you book a glorious vacation to see this magnificent city... Call me at Epicopia Culinary Journeys, I'll get you fixed up!


Happy Harry Potter Day Everyone!

When I grow up I want to be a Brewery Guide.

I mean look at the lodging alone.

I was given a list of the top six hotel locations in the world that specialize in breweries. Now I would never take something the wise and brilliant Harold Partain gave me lightly, but I must admit on this day I was a tad sleepy.

It only took a second, a blink of an eye for me to wake up and stare at the first hotel in awe, in total amazement of it's fascinating beauty. The Augustine, the majestic structure that haunts my dreams, I loved it the moment my eyes saw it. It's got this fantastic gothic design with a clean and homey interior. It brings together the feel of a mystical castle, and a hip new culture only Prague can bring to your life.