Start a Love Train, Love Train!!! and Chicago BBQ

Hyde Park is "MAKING SOME NOISE" with the Hyde Park Arts Festival this weekend and that means Barbecue! This is not some small circle grill barbecue but legitimate "feed a city"-sized, visible smoke, soul food barbecue. Hyde Park showed up with tons of Obama gear, dreadlocks, sun dresses, and do-wooping blues, hip hop fusioned groups that blasted through my apartment.

Saturday was jerk chicken, collard greens, mac 'n cheese (of course!), corn bread with hot sauce from Stella's Market & Catering. OK, chicken was a little dry, but everything else was solid. I'l probably hit up this scene when I get back to Philly.


My roommates were pretty shifty on some of the Caribbean food options around our apartment, and I've had some bad experiences myself, but I would recommend this stuff.

this was way at the beginning, in 10 minutes a lot of this was blown away

Sunday, it was insanely hot and I was grabbing some corn on the cob (more on that later) when a golf cart zoomed through the tents: "Storm in 10 minutes." It did not take 10 minutes for the 60 mph winds to whip through the street ripping tents sideways and down the sidewalks. I joined a bunch of other people who lived in the area who ran down to help hold tarps over books, dresses, jewelry and soaps. 
After an hour and a half of flash flood rains and helping out different vendors with a pretty cool chica named Kathy, I finally got back to my apartment to dry off, see some of the EuroCup, and try that corn. 


Let me start by saying I hate mayonnaise. The Deutsch Dude is a big proponent of the German style fries smothered in mayonnaise. Even in my sandwiches I'm always a little....eh....
So, when I ordered my corn Chicago style, and said "Absolutely" when asked if I wanted everything on it, I was a bit apprehensive when the guy in the back grabbed my corn of the grill and simultaneously opened a giant Miracle-Whip container.

So based off what I saw this is how you dress up some corn on the cob Chicago-style:

      1) Slather a fair coat of mayo on the corn 

      2) Cover that with some grated parmesan on top 

      3) Sprinkle that with chili powder 

      4) Take a hefty lime wedge and squeeze it over
      everything

The guy handed it to me with a smile and a "hope you stay outta the rain." Well, we know how that turned out. But, after I got back and changed I snapped some photos and took a bite. 

Oh my god. This corn was incredible. Absolutely incredible. I can never imagine eating corn any other way.

My message to you guys, this Fourth eat your corn Chicago style.
Oh, and listen to some smooth disco, bluesy hits, which is exactly what Hyde Park and I did when the sun came up. Happy Fourth, everybody!!!!

Aprikosenkuchen (say that five times fast)

Before anything else I just have to say FORZA AZZURI! Which is Italy's soccer team cheer. Italy played an AMAZING game today and a lot of the cred goes to this guy Buffon the goalie for Italy. Italy now moves on to the semi-finals against Germany on Thursday. As it just so happens Germany is where today's recipe originated (see what I did there?)


In my time traveling around I spent a decent period in Germany chilling with a super-special friend, who I will call the Deutsch Dude (with his blessings). Deutsch Dude and I were caught in a spot of rain given that it was the middle of that transition period between (*^@*$& cold winter and beautiful frosty spring. What better way to pass the time than to make some food?

Our scientific, and the best, way to decide just what kind of food to make was done by the following simple steps:

1. Open up all food related cabinets in the house
2. Pull out everything that seems remotely appetizing OR that could be transformed into something remotely appetizing (cans of fruits and vegetables, noodles, seasonings, flour, etc.)  A warning those who have too grand an imagination should delegate this step to friends because the things creative people find usually get stomped upon by Step 4.
3. Google in your specific items with generic terms like "stir-fry" or "cake" along with "recipe" and review your results
4. Determine your level of dedication to making good food (are you really looking to make a wedding cake here? or is this a temporary fix of boredom?)
5. Determine your level of dedication to cleaning up after making the food (we may have overlooked this step in our planning...)
6. Weight all levels of dedication against the desire for the food, until you find that optimal recipe for something yum

We found some cans of apricot halves and searched the interwebs, in both English and German so as to get the most bang for our techno-buck. We came up with some wonderful recipes, absolutely astronishingly complicated recipes, all of which I was saying "oh my gosh let's do that!!!"  But Steps 4 and 5 curtailed my outlandish enthusiasm. Deutsch Dude then found this recipe from user Nike2046 for Aprikosenkuchen which is literally translated to Apricot Cake (gotta love the German language). 

my breakfast every morning last August

Easy-Peasy Baking

German cakes are easy, easy, easy. I think (not positive), but I think that this is because the historic love that Germany has for baked goods. But, Germany also has a large working population (women and men), so there can't be a ton of time available for baking from scratch. Therefore the companies like Dr. Oetker have created a standard for baking based off of packets of yeast, sugar, and flavorings. One of my roommates in Shanghai actually worked for one of these German companies and would go around Asia demonstrating the simplicity of using their products when making breads and cakes. This was THE BEST, because he would come home every night with a box of fresh baked German bread. 

I have not tried this recipe in the microwave, but have it on the list and am sure it's possible given the success of the microwave chocolate cake. So, if you are home or somewhere with an oven, or even if you want to give this a go in the microwave (let me know if you succeed and I'll post your recipe with your credit etc.), then here is the lightly sweet, juicy and warmly buttery Aprikosenkuchen.

Here is my and Google's (decently) translated recipe for your apricot cake:

Ingredients

1 1/4 sticks of butter

5/8 cup of sugar 

1 half a lemon's zest

3 eggs

1 cup and 2 teaspoons of flour

1 packet baking powder*

3 cups of apricot halves (if canned strained and somewhat patted dry)

1 packet vanilla sugar*

*for the baking powder and sugar you're looking for the Dr.Oetker or similar brand of packets which can be found in a decent number of grocery stores. They look like the pic above. You can substitute for them, but the mix will be slightly different.

Directions

- Grease the cake tin, sprinkle with flour! (I kept the original exclamation mark)

- Cream the butter and then add the sugar with the vanilla sugar and the eggs alternating between the two.  

- Beat in the lemon zest. 

- Sift the flour and baking powder together.

- Then mix the flour into the butter mixture along with (this part is kinda unclear) some milk? They don't give a measurement here, so I would say splash some milk in until the batter is spreadable.

- Spread across a baking pan (I think 9x9 would be about the right size, but use your judgement) 

- Place the apricot halves, pit-side down evenly spaced on top of the batter. Do no press on them, as the halves will sink during baking. 

- Bake at 325 degrees 30 minutes (roughly) 

- Remove cake once baked, and allow to cool. Before serving sprinkle the top with powdered sugar.

This is the original cake that the Deutsch Dude and I made with two-ish recipes worth of batter/apricots. We ate some with tea that afternoon, left for a day, and when we returned 3/4s of it had disappeared. The rest of the household didn't even try to pretend they hadn't decimated our cake, and finished it off later that day. What I'm trying to say is that this simple cake is a winner, so go make yo'self some!

Dragons in the Water

photo credit: absolutechinatours.com

As you all know, I'm returning from a two year delinquency. Know that I took photos with the intention of blogging here, but more often than not was blogging about things not food here. But I'm back and here is the first of many recaps of the great food experiences I've had in the somewhat recent past.

The Story:
Last spring I was in Shanghai and happened to get there just in time for the Dragon Boat Festival, a big to do that spans the fifth week of the fifth month of the lunar calendar. There are a lot of stories about the origin of the festival, or 端午节, but the story I was told was that there was a poet of significant importance who was exiled during a political upheaval. Distraught and set by a duty of defeat, the poet threw himself into a river next to his town to commit suicide. But, the poet was greatly loved by the people in the town, so they set out after him in dragon boats to save him. The boats did not get there in time, and the poet drowned. Therefore, every year dragon boats are raced out to save the poet drowned hundreds of years ago. (checkout Philly's festival from last year here)

The Yum:
Which brings us to this blog's favorite thing about festivals: the food. The Dragon Boat Festival really only has one traditional food called the zongzi (the z is pronounced kind of like "ts") or 粽子. Zongzi are made of glutinous rice typically filled with pork, but I've seen them with salmon, beans, or sometimes nothing. I'll quickly clarify so that you aren't surprised if you go to China and try these: pork is more often than not pork fat. Actual meat is kind of rare, in part because the fat is considered the really good part of the pig. If someone gives you the pork fat from a dish, recognize that it's a kind act and you should eat it. Probably it will be kind of weird to eat at first. For example, it took me weeks to be able to swallow pork fat, because I was raised in such a low fat, low salt household (I write that while eating a Chicago deep dish stuffed pizza, but still...)

How It's Done:
I have never made zongzi, but here's the basic idea: You take a bamboo leaf, which is a pretty long thin thing, and fold the corners in at the end so that you have a kind cone/pyramid scene going on. Holding that pyramid so that it stays in that form, fill it with raw glutinous rice and your filling until you hit around the top of the pyramid. Then you fold the leaf around the the filling keeping the pyramid form. When you reach the end of the leaf, tie and knot a string around it so that everything stays put. You then boil them to get the final product.

And More:
The zongzi I have here were given to me by my absolutely amazing roommate in Shangahai, who is the sweetest girl you will ever meet. Her mother like many Chinese mothers feared that her daughter, a victim of her generation and therefore unable to cook many classic Chinese foods, would be without zongzi that year and thus sent her tons of them frozen. Which meant that I ate a lot of zongzi. That was fine by me, as glutinous rice is one of my favorite foods. I don't know how to describe glutinous rice if you've never had it,  but know that it is kind of chewy and that it sticks to absolutely everything. I tried to eat a zongzi a few weeks ago while totally jetlagged and end up with rice on my chair, the table, my sleeves, a bit in my hair... not a proud moment of dining, but that stuff is really good at gluing itself everywhere.

I will see if I have time to try and make this microwave style later this week (though don't hold your breath) and will report back if I do. This year's Dragon Boat Festival runs from June 22 to June 29, so if you can, find or make some zongzi and join China in celebrating 

Blues Chews

It's only been...not quite 2 years, right? Not terrible.

My excuse is that I've been traveling around the world a lot. That means that I'll be catching you all up with food available in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Thailand, Germany and more. Right now though a quick intro to the bluesy world of Chicago and two Soul Food items I picked up at the Chicago Blues Festival.

So first a bit about Blues and Chicago. Blues is Chicago, Chicago is Blues. They go hand in hand as the blues poster and blues harmonica-playing-roommate sitting next to me attest. Chicago is where blues really was born in the swinging jazzy 20s when the Great Migration began from the south. The smooth, super sexy saxes and heart-yanking bass with the simple tskdadadsk of drums, poured over with gospel shouts of problems with my man, and you've got blues.

What to eat with your Blues you ask? Soul food, baby.

Started with some Mustard Fried Catfish from BJ's Market & Bakery. I lucked out with just outta the fryer hot, hot, hot catfish. It was AMAZING. That crust was that rough, crunchy, salty, and full of flavor all over sweet and just soft catfish. Smothered in hot sauce and honey-mustard.  My vote is for the honey-mustard. So, if you're in Chicago check BJ's Market out.

OK, next up from Reggies (not sure if this is the 

right website) the classic, the one, the only mac and cheese.  Alright, when I first got it, especially because I had just gotten that exceptional catfish for the same price, I was thinking this was not a good investment. It was watery, and only kinda warm, and I wasn't really sure what the red was. 

BUT, a few bites in I was sold. This is not your thick and totally melted to liquid cheese M&C. This was sweet cream with gooey still tangible cheese with, still not sure but I think, paprika on top. If I had it again, I might throw some hot sauce on top, but all in all very solid soul. 

I'll be updating some more, and before two years have passed again, to give you the tasty bits of my trips around the world. In the meantime, what have you been up to recently? Let me know in the comments. 

Funky Foods: Wineberries and Finding the Motivation to Weed

My mother is brilliant. No, seriously, the woman figured out how to get me to weed, to intensely, energetically. How you ask? what secret weapon did she acquire to finally get me to spend hours in the yard and sun? The answer is wineberries. A whole new set of questions just came up didn't it?

Wineberries? what are those? Well, funny should you ask.

Not quite raspberries not really blackberries, wineberries are sweet-tart bramble berries. They are apparently from Japan, Korea, and China, so I'm guessing these delectable loves of my life are unfortunately invasive. Last year a bush took over part of our yard. By took over I mean spanned roughly a 7 foot dome. But, that was last year and now new ...friends have entered the fray. Not excluding the two 15 foot saplings and patches of poison ivy, there are wild thornless blackberries, pokeberries, wild roses, Virginia creeper, wild grape, ramps, and many other things that I couldn't even name, including that which is pictured in third image.

My mom doesn't want any of it there,

so she figured that once wineberries came into season (for about 2-3 weeks towards the end of June and beginning of July) that she had

her angle. You see the really good plump, juicy, sunwarmed, and sweet wineberries are always in those clumps just out of reach ... and just beyond the hundred of impeding weeds.

My rules for weeding are simple. Unless you:

1. were deliberately planted
2. can feed me goodness (wild thornless blackberries are really seedy)

you're out.

So, I ripped out branches longer than I. It's not all just fun and games though. See this thing to the left? That mystery plant is VICIOUS. It has thorns 1/4-1/2" long which break off once they get into you. It hurts like crazy and then once you take them out, you bleed (also like crazy). Please understand, these berries were sweet for many reasons.

If you happen to find them, I highly encourage you to go pick some and enjoy them yourself. Here are some

tips and warnings:

• Look out for poison ivy, it grows where bramble berries grow, but is not as fun.
• We love berries, but mice also love berries, and snakes love mice. For this reason and for the poison ivy, wear long pants or boots if you can.
• Mosquitoes!!!! 'Nuff said.
• Thorns, be dexterous, there is an art in berry picking and it requires precision
  
• If you find wineberries, be forewarned that the berries are sticky on the outside, so don't be too surprised
• Not all berries are edible, so don't just go eating whatever...please don't

While I will put up a recipe or two relating to wineberries, don't feel that they have to be eaten with other things. Wineberries are great just by themselves.

So go find some berries and Om Nom!

Frozen Treats: Korean Edition (Bing Soo!)

The shopping trip started out as a collection of smoothie ingredients, but as so often happens in Asian supermarkets before breakfast, I quickly ended up with items not really for smoothie making....You see, the fresh fruit got me thinking, what I really wanted wasn't a drink at all, but a frozen fruit salad of epic proportions; what I really wanted was Bing Soo.

Bing Soo (or bingsu, or patbingsu, or paht bing soo, any combination of those really) is a Korean dessert often compared to a snow cone (although I have yet to see any snow cone that comes

even near to the complexity of bing soo). The basic ingredients are shaved ice, milk, sweetened condensed milk, and rice

cake. Depending on personal taste then, one can add fruits, fresh or canned, red beans, syrups, nuts, marshmallows and small candies, and sometimes ice cream. Normally this concoctions are served in big bowls and tower above the table. Bing Soo is essentially my favorite dessert of all time.

To make this bing soo you will need:

• 2-3 cups of ice
• 1.5 cups milk
• 2-3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• rice cake
• strawberries
• bananas
• canned mandarin oranges
• red beans (yude azuki)

Cut up all of your fruit in bite size

pieces and strain your oranges. If you have dehydrated rice cake then put some balls/slices/pieces in a microwavable bowl and add water until there is about 1.5" above the cake. Microwave the bowl on high for 3-4 minutes until the cake is gummy; drain and let cool.

Now, be careful, if you have a really intense blender then you can add your ice and milks and blend everything until you have a slushy like mixture, add milk if it starts freezing though. If you don't have a strong enough blender, or if your mix starts freezing, then you run a high chance of burning out your blender's motor. Been there, done that, it sucks, avoid at all costs. Usually, bing soo is made with and ice shaving machine (ice is shaved and milks poured on top). However, if you have neither of this things nor a refrigerator with an chipped ice setting, then you can always use the mallet and bag method. Fill a ziploc bag with ice and smash it (preferably on a not important surface) with a rubber mallet. If you lack this item, then go for a heavy pan. Put the ice in a bowl and add milks.

Once your ice and milks are in a bowl, then add the fruits, rice cakes, and the red beans. Ready set? Om Nom! So good...and despite its dessert status, awesome breakfast.

Frozen Treats: Some Other Fruits Edition

Ah! have you ever been driving at a good clip above the speed limit and someone decides that what they want to do more than anything is to tail you??! Isn't it infuriating?!!? The answer is yes, yes it is. Well, past that rant, if that does happen to you ... you could probably really use some refreshing frozen treats (coming up with segues, just one of my many talents).

I know that frozen grapes are classic. Nearly everyone has made them, marveled at their gorgeous ice crystaled skin, and crunched through one before. However, most people eat them alone, when they could be enjoying them in a whole new way. You see that green that kind of looks like mint in the picture? Le

mon Balm. Just take a leaf of the lemon balm and eat it with a grape. Delicious. This discovery courtesy of my friend who got bored one summer in a kitchen near an herb garden.

If you have not made frozen grapes here are the directions:1) Wash red grapes
2) Pick off all the grapes
3) IMPORTANT: Dry the grapes
4) Put the grapes in the plastic bag and freeze till hard
It's complicated, I know.

In honor of those distant and delici

ous Pina Colada pops, I've started trying making new popsicles with fruit. My first attempt was Cantaloupe and Mint. You will need: a cantaloupe (or musk melon or tuscan melon...one of

those orange fragrant melons), several spring of mint, yogurt. Take 75% of your stock of melon and throw it in the blender with the mint and yogurt. You want a fairly thick consistency with a balanced melon and mint flavor, the yogurt should not be the prevailing taste.

Cut up the rest of the melon into cubes and stack them loosely in the popsicle containers. We didn't have popsicle molds, so we used juice glasses...which worked, but were HUGE. Also, if you don't have popsicle sticks, as seen in the frozen bananas, you can use plastic silverware. Pour the melon yogurt mixture in around the melon cubes and freeze. Om nom!!

Also, completely not made in the microwave, but it was the first time I'd ever made nachos and I am really excited.

I had very few of the required ingredients, so these were made with mozzarella, American, and Dubliner cheeses with pickled pepperoncini peppers. Somehow though these nachos fought through all of that and became delicious!