THE PERFECT CROISSANT

When I was young I thought croissants were the triangular pieces of dough inside the cylinder containers found in the cold section of the supermarket next to the yogurt and juice. My mom often used the dough to wrap around little vienna sausages to create a version of pigs in a blanket. While my sister loved this, the way the dough seemed gooey and raw around the sausage still leaves me with haunting memories. For a long time I associated croissants with what I now realize are Pillsbury cresent rolls. It wasn't until many years later that I realized what a real croissant tasted like, and again years after that until I had my first taste of a croissant that was actually good.
I am now happy to say that I am in love with croissants. Let me take that back. I am in love with the idea of the perfect croissant. I have yet to find it, maybe it doesn't even exist... But I like to think its out there somewhere. It's kind of like being in love with the idea of the perfect man.
I have had a couple of pretty good croissants. One was at my school's cafe and the other was at the Ritz. And honestly, they were really pretty good. Unfortunately, I am looking for perfection. I don't know what it will taste like, but I will know it when I find it.

Pain au chocolat - Croissant dough wrapped around a piece of chocolate. I made this dough in my makeshift bakery, located in the back of my mom's Japanese restaurant. Because croissant dough contains yeast, it has to be given time to rise.

This is the end product. This was my first time making croissants on my own. The croissant is a little denser than I had wished.

This is a chocolate croissant from the Ritz. It is very light and flaky, and as you can see, there are many visible layers.

NOT YOUR AVERAGE CAFETERIA FOOD

These are a couple of the desserts that were available at the the dining hall during lunch. I had the layered chocolate dessert (go figure) on the bottom right. My new friend, Jamie, had the other thing. After the main dessert, we stuffed our faces with an assortment of chocolates. Life is good.

READER CREATES CHICKEN IN MUSTARD SAUCE

Another reader creates chicken in mustard sauce. Thanks for the picture Lindsay :D To get the recipe, look to the right and go under the June archive.

BREAKFAST - EGGS AND FRENCH TOAST

Not my best photographic work, but I was still in the process of cooking so I had to hurry and take the picture... This is the breakfast I made for Father's day. I didn't know what to buy my dad, so I had to resort to cooking... again. Fortunately for me, I love making breakfast (although I'm not very fond of eating it) and wanted to try a couple of recipies that I developed while I was away from home.

I got the idea of putting sour cream in eggs from Ralphie Cifaretto, the guy who was killed off by Tony in the fifth season of the Sopranos because of a dead horse. Ralphie was actually cooking scrambled eggs with sour cream right before Tony attacked him. Sad for Ralphie, even sadder for the eggs that never got eaten...

I think Ralphie used milk and sour cream in his eggs but I prefer to use just sour cream, otherwise its a little too watery for my taste. I made an omelet for my dad's breakfast, but I also made scrambled eggs for my mom and I think that tasted better. So here is a recipe for scrambled eggs... Feel free to switch up the ingredients: ham, different types of cheese, green onions, yellow onions, tomatoes, mushrooms... There is one thing you must do, however, and that is to make sure you honor Ralphie's life by using the sour cream. Otherwise, he might as well have not lived at all.

SCRAMBLED EGGS, RALPHIE CIFARETTO-STYLE

Have Ready:

• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 teaspoon chopped chives
• 1 tablespoon grated cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon butter

Add butter to nonstick pan and heat on medium high. In bowl, scramble eggs with sour cream. Once most of the sour cream has been incorporated into the eggs, season with salt and pepper. Add chives and grated cheddar. When pan becomes hot (make sure butter doesn't brown) add eggs. Let sit for a few seconds then begin to scramble. Cook to desired doneness.

* * *

The first time I can remember making french toast, although I'm pretty sure I had made it before, was about two years ago. It was the morning after a house party and my friend being the gracious host that he is, bought lots of eggs and Texas toast-style bread so that everyone could have breakfast in the morning. I made eggs and french toast for everyone with the ability to wake from their drunken slumber, and I guess it was a hit because it now proudly bears the name "crack toast." Originally I used thick slices of bread (Texas toast) and milk, but I've slightly modified the recipe after watching an episode of Good Eats. Hopefully my drunk friends will still approve.

CRACK TOAST (slightly modified)

Have ready:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup half and half
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinammon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt
• Loaf of eggy bread (challah or brioche), rustic bread, or Texas toast
• butter for frying pan
• powdered sugar or maple syrup (optional)

Bread contains a lot of moisture within its crumb, and since it has to soak up a lot of liquid its best to let the bread dry out overnight. To do this, just leave the sliced bread uncovered on a plate before you go to sleep.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In bowl mix eggs, half and half, brown and white sugars, cinammon, vanilla and salt. Pour into a shallow pan. Place slices of bread into custard mixture, preferably two at a time. Let sit for two minutes then flip over so that the other side gets coated with the custard. Heat frying pan on medium heat and add enough butter to coat the pan. When the butter begins to sizzle (take care not to brown), add bread to pan. When the bread turns golden, flip and brown the other side. Remove the french toast from pan and set on baking sheet. Continue to coat bread in custard and cook in frying pan until all the custard is used up. When all the french toast is placed on the baking sheet, place it in the oven and bake for five minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar or serve with maple syrup.

MY TRIP TO SEATTLE

I wait for the ferry... Its another cloudy day in Washington.
Sitting in front of the window at Dahlia bakery, owned by Seattle chef Tom Douglas. They had cupcakes, coconut cream pie bites, coconut macroons (only in the display case, I guess they were sold out), pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant), and a variety of cookies, breads and sandwiches. My sister bought me a roast beef sandwich on french bread and a mini lemon meringue pie. A lady asked if she could take a picture of the bakery with us sitting in front of it. I giggled like an idiot as she snapped the photos... The mini lemon meringue pie that's still sitting in the fridge... I wasn't hungry for it after I ate my sandwich so it sat in a hot car for a few hours. I'm not a fan of lemon meringue, but I had to get it because it was cute. The view from my sister's boyfriends house. If you don't know, that's the Space Needle in the background. After dinner, we sat around watching Oprah while her boyfriend played World of Warcraft. There was something oddly familiar about that whole situation... My sister and her boyfriend outstide the restaurant we ate at that night. I had chicken fajitas and they ordered some sort of shredded pork taco thing.

RED BEANS AND RICE

1. Sweat garlic, onions, celery and bell pepper in oil until garlic and onions become translucent. Add thyme, cayenne and black pepper. If using bacon, cook before adding vegetables. Use bacon greese instead of oil to sweat vegetables.





2. Add smoked neck bone or smoked ham hock (pictured)








3. Add enough water to cover contents of pot.








4. Simmer until water is reduced by about half and pork meat becomes tender. Remove pork from pot, set aside to cool. Add beans to pot and continue to simmer. Once ham hock/neck cools, remove the meat from the bone, shred and add to pot. Keep cooking over low heat until there is only enough liquid to barely cover contents of the pot (as pictured).




5. Mash half the beans against pot with a wooden spoon. It should have the consistency of stew. If it seems too watery, keep cooking over low heat until some of the water evaporates and the beans become thick (make sure to keep stirring, because once mashed, the beans will burn easily). Adjust seasonings and serve with rice.



This recipe is nothing fancy, but makes for a pretty good side dish. I think it goes well with fried catfish and a piece of homemade cornbread. You can add as little or as much cayenne as you'd like... Just remember, cayenne is VERY spicy so add in a little at a time or you might find yourself choking down a gallon of water or even worse... sitting on the toilet for days.
I've made this dish a couple of ways, a couple of times with the pork neck and bacon and once with just the ham hock. While the ham hock yields more meat, I have to say I think it tastes better with the neck bone and bacon. The ham hock has a lot of fat, so if you're going to use it remember to skim off the grease that floats to the top of the pot.

Have ready...

2 cans red beans
1 smoked pork neck bone or smoked ham hock
3 piece of bacon (cut into 1/2" pieces)
1/2 c each onion, celery, bell pepper (1/4" dice)
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, over medium heat, cook bacon. Once most of the fat has rendered out of the bacon, add the onion, celery, bell pepper and garlic. Cook vegetables until onions become translucent. Add thyme and cayenne and mix with the bacon-vegetable mixture. Put neck bone into pot and add enough water to cover entire contents of pot. Turn heat on high. When the water begins to boil, turn heat down to a medium low (the water should be simmering). Cook for about an hour and a half, taking care not to let too much of the water evaporate. Add more water if necessary. Remove neck bone from pot, but continue to keep pot of vegetables on heat. With a fork, remove meat from neck bone (there won't be much of it). Add meat to pot. Season to taste with salt, pepper and cayenne (if necessary). Add red beans and cook until beans are heated through. If it seems that there is a lot more liquid than beans, continue to cook until some of that liquid evaporates. With a large spoon, mash half the beans in the pot. Season to taste. Serve with rice.

I've been a little lazy about posting blogs lately... Since I've been home, I have become spoiled by my mom. I think she likes to feed me and I have to admit, I like being fed. This was tonight's dinner- Albacore tuna, Ahi tuna and salmon sashimi on steamed rice.