Ramblings on Food

We had two more yummy and unexpected food successes this week. On Thursday I made a shrimp curry, without even really intending to, and last night we had turkey burgers for the first time. Both dishes were paired with different wines from our wedding wine.

The shrimp curry was extremely easy and was just curry powder, coconut milk, onions, garlic and spices. SOOO good and very fast. We both love curry, but it always struck me as a dish that was difficult to make until I Googled "coconut curry shrimp" and realized that we already had all of the ingredients anyway. Instead of pairing it with rice (which I would do next time), we put it with a salad that had a made-up Asian dressing which was awesome. It was also the first time either one of us had had Gewurztraminer, which is a crisp white wine. It was so different from anything we ever drink - very floral. I swear, you could actually taste the rose flavors in there. I don't think it's something we would buy again, but it was good to finally try it after hearing about it for years.

Then last night was Turkey Burger night. B's sister made us some great turkey burgers a few weeks ago when we were home, so she was my inspiration (she used Oprah's recipe, but I used a different one I found online). I'm trying to slowly veer away from red meat. Now, before you go throwing your steaks at me, calm down! No one is turning into a vegetarian - just exhale. But the studies are pretty overwhelming and pretty clear that eating a lot of red meat is directly linked to negative health effects and shorter lives. And it's not that we even eat that much red meat anyway, but if there are other options that we're both perfectly happy with, I'd prefer to go in that direction. Plus, we both agreed that we'd much rather save our Red Meat Points for amazing dishes like this one rather than waste them on burgers.

Not to MENTION - did you know that pork is red meat?? There was a whole series of emails a few months ago between me, Feather Nester, Toddler Tamer, Ouiser, and I don't even remember who else because I had heard on NPR that pork was actually red meat, despite their extremely effective marketing campaign of being "the other white meat." Total lie, apparently. And again, it wasn't meant to freak anyone out, they were just saying that you need to be aware that pork is red meat.

And now that I'm on the red meat tangent, let me just say that I'm completely and intentionally ignoring bacon in all of this. Bacon comes straight from heaven and it's made by angels and is the yummiest thing I've ever had the pleasure to eat. So bacon doesn't count. We buy the uncured bacon so it doesn't have nitrates, so we'll just say that that makes up for everything. But here's the real point - I'm not about deprivation, just moderation, so we're becoming a touch more moderate.

Back to the turkey burgers.... Again, super easy (onions, garlic, Worcester sauce, parsley, and s&p) and very moist and delicious. We paired them with an Unoaked Chardonnay (again from the wedding wine) which was yet another new wine and very different for us. It didn't have that typical buttery chardonnay taste, it was closer to a Pinot Grigio and tasted a lot like a tart green apple. It was a great pairing with the burgers.

B used the occasion to break in both the mandolin and the oil thermometer to make us some homemade french fries. His exact quote was "I'm having a kitchen gadget orgasm!" The fries were amazing. He used to make fries all the time, but after watching a Food Network program we learned that he was making a few big mistakes: vegetable oil and no oil thermometer.

The vegetable oil thing used to cause WARS in this household. When you fry with vegetable oil it creates a stink that I can't even describe and permeates EVERYTHING. EV-ER-Y-THING. All of the clothes that happen to not be in drawers (like all the clean laundry on the couch I'm about to fold), curtains, skin, your nose, everything. One night of frying causes your house to smell like a diner for an entire week. But B has a huge love affair with all things fried so I was unsuccessful at my attempts to get him to stop. Thankfully our relationship was saved by Alton Brown. And you know what the answer is? Peanut oil. According to Alton "peanut oil is perfect for frying because it has a neutral flavor, no stink, and a high smoke point." Genius.

Turns out that homemade fries done the right way are pretty time consuming. Cut the fries on the mandolin, heat the oil to 320, fry in batches for 3 minutes, bring fries up to room temperature while the oil heats back up to 375, fry again for another 3 minutes, salt, and keep warm in the oven until dinner is ready. It was totally worth it though - they were heavenly. A little crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Just like McDonald's fries, but without all the shit that turns your intestines inside out.

I really enjoy making as much of our food from scratch as we have the time for. Of course it's easier to buy it and that's very often necessary, but it's nice to know that when you make something yourself, there are none of the preservatives and other horrible ingredients that are in so many foods these days. Have you ever really looked at the ingredients in a seemingly simple food such as frozen french fries? It's scary. At least this way you can be sure that the only ingredients are potatoes, oil, and salt.

B and I frequently talk about how nice it was to grow up with mothers who were such great cooks. So much so that neither of us even realized that certain foods could be bought. I never had any idea that applesauce came in jars or that chicken nuggets were in the frozen section because the only thing I knew were the home made versions. It was great and I hope we can give the same thing to our own family one day.

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We're headed to Philly tomorrow as part of our Goodbye New England series of road trips, so I won't see you 'til Monday.