eG Foodblog: Foodman - A man with no plan...sort of

[FoodMan]

Ok, so it’s on me to try and log my daily food habits. I am not sure how interesting how they will be. The problem is I really hardly ever plan my weekly meals, I more or less have a general idea of what we might have. Something along the lines of “hmm…I have not had any Indian at home in a while AND I have some yogurt, I need to do something with that” or “that basil is getting out of hand, I think some pesto might be in order” and so on. I honestly always envied the planners, you know those who have a set menu for everyday of the week. I tried that a couple of times, never works for us. The main hurdle is that I am pretty much the only cook in the house and both my wife and I work. We also have a one year old who needs to be dropped off and picked up from daycare. So by the time I get home which could be as late as 8PM dinner plans might have to be seriously re-vamped.

This week, here’s what I am “planning” on:

-I want to enter a recipe into the Food and Wine burger contest and I have a vision of a chicken burger with some type of Lebanese twist on it. Thought it might be fun.

-I DO have a tree of basil so pesto might make an appearance in some form or shape.

-I’ve been meaning to test a braised short ribs recipe with mushrooms. Hopefully it will happen this week.

-A homebaked bread is a weekly must have.

I also plan on having some pictures posted, mainly of dinner items. Since lunch is usually at my desk in the office and breakfast is usually nothing more than a cup of coffee except on some weekends.

So, hopefully my log is half as enjoyable as the other ones have been so far and I look forward to some interesting discussions.

Elie

[GG Mora]

Welcome® to Blogworld™. Where's home base?

[Jake]

Looking forward to the blog!

Are their any meals that tend to be staples in your home, or favourites that you always turn to in a rush?

[FoodMan]

Looking forward to the blog!

Are their any meals that tend to be staples in your home, or favourites that you always turn to in a rush?

I guess I should’ve mentioned this, my home base is Houston, TX. However, I was born and raised in Lebanon.

My Quick meals in a rush tend to be some sort of pasta with herbs, evoo, parmesan and whatever else is available in the fridge/pantry. Other quick favorites include my mom’s scrambled eggs with potatoes and mint and anything rolled in or spread inside pita bread.

Elie

[Jason Perlow]

I want to enter a recipe into the Food and Wine burger contest and I have a vision of a chicken burger with some type of Lebanese twist on it. Thought it might be fun.

Elie, thats a brilliant idea. How 'bout some kind of chicken kofta kebab burger?

We could call it Kofte Keburger! Although of course a lamb burger would be natural for kofte. Maybe a Lamb and Chicken hybrid, so it wouldnt be so dry? Chicken and Pork would work too, but then it wouldnt be in the spirit of the Halal dietary tradition. Chazzir kofte doesnt sound right

I'd go spicy, with chiles in it. Maybe some sort of sauce made with tahini. Or a spicy eggplant salsa.

[FoodMan]

I want to enter a recipe into the Food and Wine burger contest and I have a vision of a chicken burger with some type of Lebanese twist on it. Thought it might be fun.

Elie, thats a brilliant idea. How 'bout some kind of chicken kofta kebab burger?

We could call it Kofte Keburger! Although of course a lamb burger would be natural for kofte. Maybe a Lamb and Chicken hybrid, so it wouldnt be so dry? Chicken and Pork would work too, but then it wouldnt be in the spirit of the Halal dietary tradition. Chazzir kofte doesnt sound right

I'd go spicy, with chiles in it. Maybe some sort of sauce made with tahini. Or a spicy eggplant salsa.

You pretty much read my mind. I was thinking a “Shish Tawook” marinade (fresh oregano, garlic, tomato paste, olive oil and lemon juice). The patty made of ground dark chicken meat or at least a mixture of white and dark The sauce will be a Hummus aioli made with a proportion of regular hummus ingredients to egg and olive oil. We’ll see how it turns out, and I do like the idea of a lamb/chicken combo. But for the sake of keeping this thread on topic maybe we’ll start a new thread about this since I am sure many will have suggestions and ideas.

Elie

[nessa]

This blog is gonna absolutely ROCK!

Elie, I just can't wait! Is Houston getting a cool spell like we are up here in Dallas?

[Pumpkin Lover]

Oh man, this is gonna be a good one.

Can't wait to follow the blog!

[Monica Bhide]

I am thrilled you are doing this! Cannot wait to read more

[Susan in FL]

I'm looking forward to your blog, too. Thanks for taking the time to do it... It's just been for the past month or two that I've been following the blogs so closely, and I am impressed, and appreciative of the time and effort that goes into them. Have fun!

[tejon]

Those chicken burgers sound delicious - even in the planning stages. I'm really looking forward to reading along this week .

[sacre_bleu]

Are you going to make yogurt?

I tried to follow your Lebanese class recipe for yogurt last night, but got up this morning and it was only about a quarter yogurt. Does it matter if you double the recipe (and amount of starter?)

At any rate, glad to be following along. Thanks for the effort.

[FoodMan]

For breakfast this morning:

half of a Raspberry chocolate bagel with peanut butter

Black Coffee

[FoodMan]

Are you going to make yogurt?

I tried to follow your Lebanese class recipe for yogurt last night, but got up this morning and it was only about a quarter yogurt. Does it matter if you double the recipe (and amount of starter?)

At any rate, glad to be following along. Thanks for the effort.

Do you mean the milk was still very liquidy?? this has happened before to me and the best explanation I have is that the temperature was not warm enough.

You can add more starter but you might get a more sour yogurt.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments, I hope this will be interesting to all of you. I'm off to a meeting now.

later,

Elie

edit to add: I did make yogurt this past Sunday.

Edited July 27, 2004 by FoodMan (log)

[FoodMan]

Is Houston getting a cool spell like we are up here in Dallas?

It is relatively mild these past couple days, but I would not call it a cool spell .

Elie

[FoodMan]

lunch at the office:

A bowl, a plastic tupperware bowl, of cold "mtabla". that's a cold refreshing thick yogurt and wheat kernel soup. It's a childhood Lebanese favorite of mine especially during the hot summer months.

Here's a pic I took yesterday of this batch:

Elie

[FoodMan]

I want to enter a recipe into the Food and Wine burger contest and I have a vision of a chicken burger with some type of Lebanese twist on it. Thought it might be fun.

Elie, thats a brilliant idea. How 'bout some kind of chicken kofta kebab burger?

We could call it Kofte Keburger! Although of course a lamb burger would be natural for kofte. Maybe a Lamb and Chicken hybrid, so it wouldnt be so dry? Chicken and Pork would work too, but then it wouldnt be in the spirit of the Halal dietary tradition. Chazzir kofte doesnt sound right

I'd go spicy, with chiles in it. Maybe some sort of sauce made with tahini. Or a spicy eggplant salsa.

You pretty much read my mind. I was thinking a “Shish Tawook” marinade (fresh oregano, garlic, tomato paste, olive oil and lemon juice). The patty made of ground dark chicken meat or at least a mixture of white and dark The sauce will be a Hummus aioli made with a proportion of regular hummus ingredients to egg and olive oil. We’ll see how it turns out, and I do like the idea of a lamb/chicken combo. But for the sake of keeping this thread on topic maybe we’ll start a new thread about this since I am sure many will have suggestions and ideas.

Elie

Link to the thread

[Wolfert]

I know this is going to be a really fun and interesting blog.

I followed your class on Middle Eastern cooking and it was one of the best!

[FoodMan]

Afternoon snack:

The rest of the bagel form this morning

Watermelon

Elie

[FoodMan]

Tonight's dinner:

Southern Chicken and rice. The chicken is browned then cooked in water and aromatics, then the rice is added and cooked along with the chicken pieces in the broth.

this plate was my brother-in-law's, mine had some thin sliced habanero on it .

We have this thing in my house where if someone is not feeling well, the other usually buys/makes some dessert for him/her. I have a mild cold so my wife surprised me with this on her way back from work:

A Creme Brulee tart (my favorite), a Napoleon (hers), a Sacher Torte (she wanted to try it out, turned out pretty lame)

Elie

[slbunge]

What was the source for the treats?

[FoodMan]

What was the source for the treats?

A place called La Madelain (sp?), I believe they are a TX chain. A sort of French bakery, sandwich shop and restaurant.

Elie

[FoodMan]

Breakfast:

My wife asked for homemade buttermilk biscuits, so last night I made the dough and cut the biscuits. This morning all I had to do was heat the oven and bake them.

I had mine with apricot jam and Plugra. My one year old loves his with a scrambled egg. My wife had hers with starwberry preserves.

-Black tea sweetened with honey.

Elie

[fifi]

...homemade buttermilk biscuits, so last night I made the dough and cut the biscuits. This morning all I had to do was heat the oven and bake them.

I have never thought about this. How does it work out? What I mean is, do they rise the same as making and baking right away? What kind of flour did you use? (I am on the hunt for a source of White Lily.)

[FoodMan]

...homemade buttermilk biscuits, so last night I made the dough and cut the biscuits. This morning all I had to do was heat the oven and bake them.

I have never thought about this. How does it work out? What I mean is, do they rise the same as making and baking right away? What kind of flour did you use? (I am on the hunt for a source of White Lily.)

Well, I am not going to lie, there is a small difference, a very small one. They are not as fluffy and do not rise as much as fresh formed and baked ones. For this reason I only make the dough the night before during weekdays when my wife has to be out of the house by 6:15. So, for a non-morning person like myself a little loss in dough rise is a fair trade-off for another hour's worth of sleep.

I use unbleached Gold Medal or King Arthur flour. I've never seen White Lily, so let us know if you find it.

Elie