Bagels - check
Cream Cheese - check
Toaster or Toaster Oven - check
Capers - check
Onion - check
Heaps of Black Pepper - check

What do we need to make this go completely over the top? Hmm,

Leftover Salmon? - check

Bagels and cream cheese are pretty much staples in our house, as are onions; and well, capers never go bad - do they? These are things that we literally always have on hand. On occasion, there is some salmon from the night before and with very little coaxing this can become more delicious than it ever was in a dimly lit restaurant du jour.

Seriously, do capers go bad?

Everyone should have onions on hand. Amy: "Why are you buying onions? We have onions." Me: "What is this? Sour Cream? No, it's an onion. If we keep it long enough, it'll grow another one." I stockpile onions like it were

PostedDecember 21, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesRecipes

Tagsbreakfast, salmon

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Daily Taco:: Lupe's : the bean and cheese burrito search continues

You gonna eat that? Random musings on food and life in Orange County, California » Wake, bake, and bake brownies

Nibble Me This: Corn and Wild Rice Soup With Smoked Sausage

More Lore For An Original Cobb Salad | Sippity Sup

Hoshigaki is a breeze to make | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Just Add Spice « Living Healthy in the Real World

Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash with Broccoli and Raisins — Say Yes to Salad

My First Green Monster « Fit To Indulge

Gallery: The Making of a Prehistoric Brew | Wired Science | Wired.com

pickled bean sprouts dua gia

The Official Site : Micro S'mores®

Lentil and Sausage Stew « Tasty Eats At Home

How to Go Green: Wine : Planet Green

PostedDecember 20, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesLinks

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We are moving from San Francisco and had to clean out the cupboard. What we aren't taking with us we are going to have to toss, donate, or give to friends.

We will donate the non-perishable, canned, sealed, jarred, etc. That which was un-donate-able (opened) but otherwise still quite delicious will be passed on to friends in the neighborhood. Here is a collection of what we will miss.

Oh, contrary to popular belief, chocolate does go bad. Especially white chocolate in this house.

PostedDecember 18, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesVideos

2 CommentsPost a comment

I'm no vegetarian, in fact I firmly believe that if God didn't want us to eat animals, He would not have made them so darn delicious. To compound that, have you seen my canine teeth? They're like razors; and furthermore, I do love me some good-good In-N-Out, crisp bacon wrapped around a tender Fillet Mignon, and some Panko encrusted Veal Parmigiana.

The fact remains, that much of the US meat industry is riddled with problems. Government subsidized corn and soy artificially drive down the price of meat in this country to the point where a double cheeseburger costs less than a large tomato. I love double cheese burgers, but still, that shouldn't be so.

Hormones, antibiotics, animal rights. Cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, obesity. Hinduism, Zen Buddhism - even Catholics abstaining from "meat" on Fridays. Mass production, pollution; there's a new pun in "pork-barrel" corruption. Your own health, the overall health of the animals. The reasons to eat less meat are many, why do we consume so much of it?

It is practically "Un-American" not to have meat at every meal. A wonderful Spanish professor of mine, the late Tim McGovern, told me a story about

PostedDecember 17, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesPolitics

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5-minute Ice Cream

Wasabi Prime: FoodTrek: Cheers to Winter Beers

Ginger Ale Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network

Umm, Steak is Steak is Not Steak | Sippity Sup

Barley + Space = Space Beer! | Wired Science | Wired.com

Saudi Aramco World : The Cardamom Connection

Creamy Red Kuri Squash Soup with Cinnamon | Jane Spice Recipes

Matsutake Gohan (rice) Recipe | Fall

everybody likes sandwiches: napa mustard slaw with apple & walnuts

Colatura | MattBites.com

seven spoons: Hale and hearty

eat make read » happy hour: break out the bubbly

PostedDecember 13, 2009

Authordavid koch

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After about a month of drinking Cardamom Coffee and REALLY REALLY digging it at home I wanted to get my hands on some when I was in the wild. I can't believe I've been drinking coffee regularly for nearly two decades and never knew about this stuff. There's even an eHow about it!

What bland puritan Joe we have here in the US. According to these guys: "Arab coffee is heavily flavored with cardamom—sometimes to the point of having more cardamom than coffee. Some preparations use two teaspoons of cardamom seeds for each small cup of the sweet, fragrant coffee."

Two teaspoons may be excessive. My new jar of ground cardamom from McCormick's is far more potent than

PostedDecember 12, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesDrinks, Recipes

Tagscardamom, coffee

1 CommentPost a comment

Deep maroon beets. Bright orange orange wedges. Snowy white fennel slices. Tender green greens. The earthiness of the beets and fennel is balanced with the sweetness of the oranges and of the beets themselves. This hearty salad is both wholesome and healthful; and can be a meal all by itself.

It is really quite easy. Roast the beets (start this at least 45 minutes beforehand). They are ready when they are

PostedDecember 11, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesRecipes

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I'm a big fan of soups. They are usually easy. They can be done quickly. They are often cheap. Who doesn't like cheap, fast, and easy? Only communists. That's who.

This "Tortilla" Soup only requires about 30 minutes when you use one of those pre-cooked chickens from the supermarket. I always stock onions, carrots, and celery and this whole thing, albeit delicious, was an afterthought.

Ingredients:

A half an onion, one rib of celery, a large carrot, salt, pepper, oil, cumin, coriander, paprika, chicken, and water - oh yea, and tortilla chips. A knife, a pot, and a

PostedDecember 10, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesRecipes

TagsMexican, recipe, soup

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Craft Beer?

eat make read » happy hour: break out the bubbly

seven spoons: Hale and hearty

Colatura | MattBites.com

everybody likes sandwiches: napa mustard slaw with apple & walnuts

Matsutake Gohan (rice) Recipe | Fall

Maintenant Me Pardonner J'ai Un Oeuf Pour Manger. | Sippity Sup

Creamy Red Kuri Squash Soup with Cinnamon | Jane Spice Recipes

Lottie + Doof » 12 Days of Cookies: #5 Almond-Anise Cookies

How to Justify a $3,000 Coffee Maker | MintLife Blog | Personal Finance News & Advice

vanilla sugar: toffee-bacon scones

In City Waters, Beds (and a Job) for Oysters - New York Times

When Five Meats Are Not Enough : A fast-food pizza laden with flesh - CHOW

Holly Hadsell - El Hajji

PostedDecember 6, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesLinks

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Artificial pork made from pig's stem cells. Boy that sounds delicious. Don't hold your breath folks, scientists say it will be at least 5 years before the meat is suitable for sausage... but what about bacon? Could that process be expedited?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

We Did It! - Artificial Meat

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

PostedDecember 5, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesHumor, Videos

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I'm nuts. You're nuts. Isn't everything better with peanut butter? Savory Thai dishes command it. Vanilla ice cream is made divine when it is combined with peanut butter and fudge. Bread and jelly are elevated to the heavens when they come together forming the holy sandwich trinity PB&J. Sometimes I wonder why the pious Job was smitten with boils, when he could have simply been cursed with a legume allergy instead.

It may be a Rhode Island thing, or else my mom is a culinary genius. Ever since I've been young, peanut butter was the condiment of choice on our BLT's. While you peons settle for mayonnaise, we have been relishing in the creaminess that the salty, earthy, depth of flavor that peanut butter adds. Nothing else will do.

You think that's nuts?

Try it. Here may be

PostedDecember 3, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesRecipes

2 CommentsPost a comment

photo by richad ling

We've all seen them but for most of us Lionfish seem reserved for aquariums; sometimes in public places, sometimes in the homes of friends bold enough to pull off salt water boxes. Unfortunately for other fish, people have been seeing them in the Atlantic (where they are not native). Unfortunately for us, we are not seeing them enough on our plates.

In a recent article in The Economist called, Eat for the Ecosystem, that's exactly what Sean Dimin, one of the owners of a firm called Sea to Tabl e is proposing. In order to help fend off the invasive species - eat them. Sea to Table "partners with local fishermen from sustainable wild fisheries, finding better markets for their catch."

The problem is not just that Lionfish are non-native, it is that they eat nearly everything.

Mark Hixon, an Oregon State University professor of

PostedNovember 30, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesPolitics

Tagscooking, dinner, food, politics, restaurants

1 CommentPost a comment

PostedNovember 29, 2009

Authordavid koch

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Wow! I don't think Rachael Ray herself could have thought of a lame-er name for a recipe, I'm gloating. With such a poor choice of words constructing a name for this pumpkin bread, it does taste quite delicious. The recipe filled up a small baking pan and a muffin tin. Dan and Heather were stoked that we had extra.

I got the starter recipe from the Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread recipe at allrecipies.com. I can't bake to save my life so there will always be a starter recipe when it comes to flour, egg, sugar, etc...

The instructions were followed more-or-less with the following minor changes:

1) I didn't have a full cup of vegetable oil so

PostedNovember 23, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesRecipes

Tagsbread, breakfast, recipe

4 CommentsPost a comment

PostedNovember 22, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesLinks

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A little background is necessary to explain this. I'm a HUGE fan of Alton Brown's Tofu Mousse Pie; it's easy, it's pretty healthful, it's chocolate, and it's delicious. What more do you want? A holiday variation? Well, that's where I got the idea.

Disclaimer: This is not the most delicious dessert I've ever made. With that being said, it is still healthful, easy, inexpensive, and not that bad. If you like Pumpkin Pie, this is similar and is a drop in the bucket in comparing their prep times. You should have not problem giving the kiddies seconds of this stuff, it is low in sugar, high in protein, and packs a wallop of vitamin A.

One could crumble some ginger snaps

PostedNovember 21, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesRecipes

Tagsdessert, recipe, tofu

2 CommentsPost a comment

I was reading Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking the other night about spices. While many people know that Saffron's sweet earthy stigmas are the most expensive spice, commanding up to $5,000 USD/pound - I didn't know that Vanilla was the second at $200/pound and Cardamom was the third at $22/pound.

McGee mentions how Nordic countries often use Cardamom in baked goods. Supposedly the Vikings fell in love with the stuff a very very long time ago. I thought briefly. I know it goes in Chai Tea, and Garam Masala... but what else has Cardamom in it?

Apparently, 80% of the annual Cardamom crop (which is picked by hand - ergo the price) goes to Arab countries mostly for use in Gahwa, Cardamom Coffee. This is a big part of the culture, which was hitherto unbeknownst to me. From MapsofWorld.com:

The ritual of presenting gahwa begins when the host places a set of four coffee pots, called della. Next to an open fire he pours the coffee beans onto a mahmasa,

PostedNovember 18, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesDrinks, Recipes

Tagscardamom, coffee, drinks, spices

5 CommentsPost a comment

PostedNovember 16, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesLinks

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I was inspired by a canister of sprinkles. Inspired to make 6 dozen cookies for a Halloween party we were hosting. Inspired because my daughter is 19 months old and I figured she'd love the colorful sprinkles upon the adorably shaped cookies. So, with the sprinkles, I purchased cookie cutouts and a rolling pin.

I found a sugar cookie recipe on epicurious.com, made sure I had the ingredients and then procrastinated. Luckily, the night before Halloween, as I was making some pumpkin muffins (from a box, thank you Trader Joe's!).

I scanned the sugar cookie recipe and noticed that

PostedNovember 10, 2009

AuthorHeather Ward

CategoriesBaking, Desserts, Recipes

Tagsbaking, cookies, dessert, recipes

1 CommentPost a comment

Starbucks is making a big hoopla about their new instant coffee called VIA which they rolled out nationwide recently. They claim it is an instant coffee that tastes like freshly brewed. They use a proprietary process they are calling a microgrind, and by looking at, making the stuff, and tasting it I'm thinking there's some dehydrated and/or freeze-dried coffee in there too.

Nevertheless, it's VIA VIA VIA everywhere you look inside your local Starbucks right now

PostedNovember 9, 2009

Authordavid koch

CategoriesDrinks, Humor

Tagscoffee, drinks, energy drinks, vitamins

4 CommentsPost a comment