I'm a huge lavender fan. Lavender shampoo, conditioner, soap, chapstick, etc... I can't get enough of it. When it gets warm out, I might even try growing it. But you know what I've never considered doing? Cooking with it.

Last class, our very own "Jane Austen" was kind enough to share with me an Orange-Lavender cookie from Eat Unique on Craig St. The idea baffled me. Floral cookie? Does not compute! But let me tell you, readers... it was delicious. Seriously. A quick Google search for "cooking with lavender" brought up all kinds of intriguing possibilities. Blue Mountain Lavender Farm says "cooking with lavender seems new and mysterious when one first entertains the idea, but it isn’t much different than adding mint or rosemary to other culinary blends." Maybe so, but mint and rosemary aren't flowers. Still, I think I need to look into lavender as a valid culinary option. How about lavender tea cakes with jasmine tea? Sounds like the perfect menu for a spring tea party. I guess the next step is figuring out where on earth one procures lavender for cooking purposes. Whole Foods, I suppose; maybe the East End Co-op? I believe an expedition is in order.



(Lavender Creme Brulee picture stolen shamelessly from a Google image search. Isn't it pretty?)

Eating Bambi

I was visiting my parents in Central PA over the weekend, and managed to come home with several pounds of venison courtesy of my uncle the hunter. I've got steaks, ground meat, jerky, and three different types of sausage. Here's the thing: I've never cooked with venison before and have no idea what to do with it. Any hunters or friends/family of hunters out there? Got any tips or recipes to share? I've heard it cooks a little differently than beef, so I'm a little nervous. For the time being I am just working my way through the stash of jerky, which is quite tasty.

Note: I'm really hoping that at least some of this meat is from the deer that mangled my sister's car. Sweet, delicious revenge...

Anthony Bourdain: I Have No Reservations About My Undying Love For Him

I can't talk about food without bringing up Anthony Bourdain. I love him. No, really. Absolutely adore him. The snarky humor, the rock n' roll persona, the deep reflections on food, culture, and life... not to mention he's looking pretty good for a guy in his fifties. (Yeah yeah, he's happily married with a toddler. Do I tear down your dreams?)

Maybe you've seen him on the Travel Channel. His show, No Reservations, follows him around the world, where he interacts with locals, learns cultural customs, eats whatever's there for the eating, and drinks. A lot. It is, to my mind, the perfect vicarious travel show. If you like the show, I have to insist that you read his book, A Cook's Tour. There's a lot more going on during these trips than what makes it in the final cut. But the place to start is with his break-out book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. It's not just the shocking truths he reveals about restaurant life. The book is also a memoir of his life in the business -- and it is not all pretty. Tony's been through some dark stuff, which makes his success all the more inspiring. The man is extremely intelligent (he went to Vassar for a time), and his insights make for pretty absorbing reading.

I don't really go for the whole "celebrity chef" thing. I don't watch Hell's Kitchen or any other food-themed reality show. I feel guilty for kind of liking Rachel Ray. But Tony is different. He's a step above. Seriously, read his books, watch his show. You can't but love him. And I will NEVER EVER forgive myself for missing the chance to see him speak in Pittsburgh last year.

Oh yeah, and that "Bizarre Foods" dude who's recently reared his gimmicky head on the Travel Channel? He can suck it. Tony eats people like him for breakfast.


Here's a quote from the New Jersey episode of No Reservations (which will never cease to strike me as an amazingly clever title). It pretty much sums up what I love about him.

The beauty of the grilled cheese sandwich in its classic form is that neither the shaped carbohydrate slabs nor the processed orange food product have any relationship to a living, organic nutrient system. Being therefore incapable of sustaining life in any form, they presumably can't make you sick. It exists merely to provide a warm, savory, viscous sensation in the mouth, and so fool the stomach into believing it is receiving actual food.

Anthony Bourdain, ladies and gentlemen. He tells it like it is.

Showing Love the Delicious Way

My love of food is inextricably linked with my love of family. I don't know if it's the Italian heritage or just a common human quality, but we're not very vocal about our affection for each other -- we express love through food.

Exhibit A: my two sisters and I are, for the time being, perpetually broke. So we don't get our parents fancy gifts for Christmas. Instead, the tradition has become making an extravagant gourmet meal of their choice, doing the best we can with whatever budget we can scrape together between the three of us. My older sister has been working in the restaurant business for about seven years now, and recently completed her culinary degree. Naturally she is the chef de cuisine of the operation, while I, being next in line, am the sous chef (okay, let's face it, I'm more of a line cook). The youngest is the expediter/server/whatever we need her to do.


The Menu:

Salad
Escarole with Mixed Citrus and Red Onions

Main Course
Roasted Lamb Chops with Shallots and Rosemary Pan Sauce
Buttered Fingerling Potatoes with Chives
Roasted Asparagus, Cherry Tomatoes, and Mushrooms with Garlic

Dessert
Mint and Chocolate Baileys Parfait

Wine
Quara (Argentinian Malbec)


Kim is in her element, deglazing away.


Kara thinks she's adorable in her little hat and apron. I am working on the ill-fated parfait, which, due to time constraints, ended up being more of a custard. We put the leftovers in the freezer overnight and they were perfect in the morning. Ah, poor planning...


Contemplating the salad...


Yeah, we're hella cheesy -- silly hats and all. But hey, if you're gonna do a thing, do it all the way. Right? And really, it was all worth it for the masterpiece that emerged:




...Yeah, he's pretty much obligated to love us now. <3

Guest Post: Tales From Hungary

My best friend of many years has been living it up in Budapest for the past several months, working as a Bulgarian head-hunter (yeah, I know -- what??). I asked him if he'd be interested in doing a guest post, thinking maybe he'd whip up some authentic Hungarian goulash or other local dish. He obliged, but the meal? Italian pasta. Hey, I'm not here to judge! I'm here to eat. John's story is as follows, yoinked from his LiveJournal:

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So when you find something like "homemade Italian pasta" fresh from Italy... you know you have to buy it. You might not know what the hell you're going to do with it, but you have to get it anyway. You'll figure the rest out later. If someone offered you a 30 carat diamond for $5 bucks, would you know what to do with it? Would you know where to sell it? Probably not. In a food related vein, I bought the pasta.

I may not have done it justice, but it was delicious. So... while it may not be exactly a recipe to repeat easily, I think you should be prepared to try, should you come across it. That... and it was so ridiculously delicious that I wanted to brag about it. Deal.

So first... I went to see if I had onions... and MAN I had onions. But... they weren't the most useful ones:

So I got new onions... Then the pasta made an appearance:


Sadly this was just for me. I have more left over so... there will be more made hopefully including others along with the pasta.

Next... I cut up an onion (one that wasn't practically flowering)


Then... then came the garlic.


I thought it would be better with a red pepper... but I didn't have one. I did however have a green one. It was still pretty awesome:


Then I put the onions, garlic, and peppers in a pan with some olive oil:


I only have a gas stove. If you use one, beware, they heat up waaaaay quicker than electric ones. I have some experiences with omelets that went seriously awry:


mmmmmMMMMMMMmmmm grill that stuff gooooooood:


I wanted to put on some parmesan cheese, but I was foiled. I couldn't find any. So... I got some random ass cheese (it was in Hungarian... who knows what it is?) but... let me stress this... it was AWESOME.


While all of this was going on, I boiled that pasta.


and a side of bread and butter needed to happen too


Finished product?


and with it all mixed in:


It was awesome. One of the best dinners I've had since coming to Europe. I done made it myself. One recommendation: make sure if you use this method that you use a lot of oil or butter because the cheese melted and turned the supposed pasta into more of a casserole consistency. Now, I don't care too much, because it was delicious, but people with better taste in food might.

Thanks to Teirk for the posting... Also thanks to her for teaching me how to cook. So... y'know... I can feed myself out here.