November party part 4: Tea vodka (p. 58), Joy tea (p. 58), Mai tai (p.61), and Planter's punch (p. 66)

Those of you who know me in real life know how much I like to infuse vodka myself--infused vodka makes the best cocktails.  In fact, I was recently told that if I ever need to write a dating profile, I should lead off with my love of vodka infusion (hopefully I never will have to write a dating profile!).  I always use cheap vodka when I test an infusion out because if it's bad I don't want to waste good vodka (and I have had them go bad before [when I say that something "went bad" I always imagine it in a little leather jacket smoking a cigarette and skipping class]).  So feel free to mock my vodka choice, I won't feel bad.

I love iced tea so I was excited to try to try the Tea vodka (p. 58).

I used good Earl Gray tea and dropped a quarter cup of tea leaves into the bottle:

There were a lot of tea leaves in there:

I left the vodka for a couple of days.  Eventually, after I transferred it into another bottle, it looked like this:

So good.  It was absolutely delicious.  I've made it a couple times since then, with good vodka, and it's incredible.  It's a winner with everyone.  I gave Kristin the leftover tea vodka when I moved and she loved it.    

I mixed the tea vodka with water and sugar syrup to make Joy tea (p. 58).  Imagine a picture of a cocktail here because I forgot to take a picture.  Imagine it with the appropriate garnishes, in the appropriate glass, because I'm sure that's what it looked like (rrriiiggghhhttt).  Soooo good.  I don't even like sweet tea normally but this was awesome.  It's also delicious with fresh mint.

I also made a Mai tai (p.61).  I shook dark rum, light rum, curacao, orgeat, grenadine, and lemon juice with ice and then strained it into a mug (rather than an old fashioned glass.  I can only explain this by saying I was drinking a lot by this point).



What a hideous concoction.  I thought mai tais were white.  Although of course it was muddy when it had dark rum, grenadine, and my blue curacao in it.  It was tasty although I just had a sip because I'm allergic to some rums and it's not worth risking it for anything other than a mojito.  Certainly ugly though.

And onto one of my favorite items off this party.  I know most of you like when I fail at cooking endeavors, so this should make you happy.  There are so many punch recipes in TJOC.  I actually dread most of them because they are so expensive to make but I thought "I'm having several people over, perfect time for punch".  I settled on Planter's punch (p. 66) because I've always liked it in the past.

I mixed pineapple juice, orange juice, and light rum.  So far so good.  Attractively orange.  But...dark rum?  Okay...now it's muddy.  It was at this point that I made an idiotic mistake.  Instead of using nice clear Triple Sec, I added blue curacao.  The planter's punch was vaguely the color of swampwater.  I added the lemon juice and sugar syrup.  And then I added a half cub of grenadine, which didn't improve anything.

Look how hideous this punch is:

 Wow.  Perfect for that swamp party you've been thinking of throwing.  Or a Halloween party.  And maybe St. Patrick's Day.  Not particularly appetizing to me.  Fortunately, most of us didn't particularly care.  It was certainly tasty (nice fruity kick) and not nearly as strong as the delicious champagne punch.  I just wish it hadn't been a dirty green.

Making punch is more rewarding now that I have a punch bowl (it also works as a cake dome).

I think this might be the strangest picture of me ever taken:




I decided to add a hat aspect to the party, not knowing that some of my friends have a TON of hats.  I, wisely, decided on the mangy rabbit ears.  Also, I don't know why my apron wasn't tied, it's not very flattering like that--I would imagine the reason is the drink in my hand.  Fun times!

November Party Part 3: Curried apricot chutney (p. 950) and Chutney cheese spread (p. 76)

Make sure to read the first two posts on the November party!  Sadly, I think I have about four more posts to go on this party--I REALLY cooked a lot of food.

It's possible some of you might find this post cheating but that's fine with me--the good thing about writing a blog is that you make your own rules.  I made Curried apricot chutney (p. 950) but since I wanted to use it immediately I made a few changes and didn't bother with the canning aspect.  

I simmered water, dried apricots, onion, and sugar for a half hour:

In another pan I cooked cider vinegar, ginger, curry powder (I used up all of my homemade curry powder--I need to make more), and a cinnamon stick.  I didn't bother with the canning salts because I wasn't going to can the chutney--I just added some actual salt:

I removed the cinnamon stick and added the vinegar mixture to the apricot mixture, stirring in golden raisins: 

It was delicious!  And easy.  It didn't have the 5000 ingredients of the tropical chutney.  I wish I had more exciting stuff to say about this dish but I my brain isn't totally powered on.  I would make it again, which I can't say about all recipes.

Chutney cheese spread (p. 76) sounded good.  Instead of mango chutney (which I would be severely allergic to) I used the apricot chutney I had just made.  I mixed chutney with cream cheese:

I sprinkled walnuts on the top and called it a day.  It was delicious.  I love cream cheese spreads and the chutney had a nice sweetness to it.  I really like chutney but I think it's under-appreciated by Americans.  Tell me, do you eat chutney?  Can I work chutney into this paragraph a few more times?  

November party post 2: Waldorf salad (p. 169), Carrot and raisin salad (p. 166), Texas caviar (p. 73), and Rosemary pecan butter (p. 179)

This is the second post in a series so make sure to read Post 1 (especially if you like whipped fish [and who doesn't]!).

I hate Waldorf salad (p. 169). I always have. In fact, I hate it so much that it amazes me that anyone likes it. But people must like it because it's everywhere.

Like all Waldorf salads, I mixed celery, apples, walnuts, and grapes with mayonnaise. *Gag*

Why would anyone voluntarily eat fruit covered in mayonnaise? Look, I like mayonnaise, but that's just going too far. TJOC recommended that you can include marshmallows too--that's horrifying. It tasted just like it looks--crunchy things covered in mayo. If you like Waldorf salad, I would love for you to explain why in the comments. Please.

Texas caviar (p. 73) is one of those items that I had seen on menus before but never ordered. To be honest, I had no idea what was actually in it. It turns out that I don't like real caviar and I don't really like Texas caviar either.

I combined black eyed peas, pimientos, jalapenos, tomatoes, garlic, bell pepper, garlic, scallions, parsley, oregano, cilantro, Tabasco sauce, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and some vinaigrette:

This recipe makes a TON of food so make sure you have a crowd. I don't really like bean salads but it was a pretty solid salad if you're into that. The vinaigrette really soaked into everything and it was nicely flavored. This is one of those dishes that gets better the longer it sits so if you are going to make it for a party, make it a day or two early.

Carrot and raisin salad (p. 166) is a strange recipe. I combined grated carrots, raisins, pecans, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and tossed that with sour cream and mayonnaise:

It was certainly a simple recipe but, again, I don't understand all the mayonnaise love in the salad chapter of TJOC. I don't really like raisins in savory dishes but that's a personal thing. It was a sweet salad and it would be a good choice if you were going to a potluck and wanted to bring something a little different.

Rosemary pecan butter (p. 179) sounded interesting. I kind of like the idea of savory nut butters (yeah, yeah ::insert innuendo here::) as a spread that's a little different than the norm and I really like rosemary.

I combined toasted pecan pieces, cold butter, rosemary, and brown sugar in my food processor:

Certainly easy. It was good. The rosemary went really well with the pecans. It was particularly tasty on my bagel the next day. I always have trouble with spreads because I can never tell exactly what you are supposed to spread them on--crackers? Bread? Veggies? I think I overthink these things.

There are many more posts coming up about this party so keep checking!

November Party Post 1: Salmon pate (p. 85), Salmon mousse (p. 85), and Smoked salmon rolls (p. 85)

My cousin Erica and her boyfriend Patrick came to visit me in Colorado one last time before I moved to Washington DC. Erica is one of my most food adventurous friends (or maybe just adventurous friends in general) and is always down for trying strange TJOC foods, which is a great feature in my friends. It occurred to me that I could throw a party and make a lot of the weird TJOC foods and make a lot of progress on the list. I also invited Julieanna and her boyfriend, as well as Heidi and Ryan. And I cooked a lot. A LOT. In fact, somewhere around the middle of this marathon cooking, I realized that I was cooking a truly stupid amount for someone with a friend in town who she could barely talk to because she was cooking like a maniac. My picture taking suffered, too, because I was cooking so many things at the same time.

That being said, the night was incredibly successful. I managed to have everything finished and on the table within ten minutes of guests arriving, which was perfect, because some of the dishes needed to be served hot. The food was plentiful and tasty and everyone had fun.

I really would like to knock out an entire TJOC chapter. So I set my sights on "Appetizers and Hors D'Oeuvres" as the most likely first chapter to be finished. And I started knocking out appetizers.

I started with Salmon pate (p. 85). In a small saucepan I combined salmon fillet, white wine, olive oil, Cognac, and a little salt and pepper:

This was brought to a boil and cooked until the salmon was opaque. I drained the salmon and threw the liquid away. In another pan I melted butter and added a little sliced smoked salmon, cooking until opaque. This went into the food processor with some butter. Using a fork I combined the two and refrigerated the concoction overnight:

Cat food. It totally looked like cat food. Not very appetizing, right? It tasted okay but I would never bother making it again. It's also possible I'm just not a pate type of girl because I've never found a pate that I've particularly enjoyed. But I would rather just eat the smoked salmon by itself and that's certainly a lot less work.

I also made Salmon mousse (p. 85). This recipe has been bothering me for a while because it looked incredibly disgusting. The combination of whipped cream and seafood just turns me off.

I combined lemon juice and unflavored gelatin in a small pan. I let it sit for about five minutes to soften the gelatin and dissolved it over low heat. After it cooled to lukewarm I stirred mayonnaise and sour cream into the gelatin mixture.

I combined canned red salmon (CANNED red salmon. Again, cat food. Honestly, canned seafood is nauseating), dill, shallot, capers, sweet paprika, and white pepper in the tiny food processor and pulsed it until just combined.

I added the gelatin mixture and pulsed a couple more times. In another bowl I whipped cream. I folded the cream into the salmon mixture:

TJOC recommends using a mold shaped like a fish, which, bizarrely, I own but couldn't find the one time I needed it. So I just used a stainless steel bowl. The finished mousse looked like this (the white streaks are from the butter I used to oil the bowl):

I bet you are getting hungry, right? You wish you could dive right into that deliciousness, right? No? At least it unmolded cleanly.

Actually, it wasn't bad. I still think it would be a thousand times better with fresh salmon rather than canned and I wish my mold was shaped like a fish. Even so, it had a nice subtle flavor and tasted delicious on bread or crackers. TJOC mentions that the mousse can be pipped into cucumber cups and that is so incredibly retro. I think that would be another excellent choice for your upcoming Mad Men party.

I had a little bit of smoked salmon left over so I thought I would make Smoked salmon rolls (p. 85) too. I combined cream cheese, dill, minced scallion, and lemon juice. That was spread thinly over sliced smoked salmon and it was rolled up:

Not pretty because of the terrible salmon-slicing job but really delicious. I'm a big fan of dill and cream cheese combinations so it had good odds of being a winner in my book. I would definitely make these again and actually put the effort in to make them attractive.

Shrimp scampi (p. 386)

Loyal fans. I apologize. I apologize so much for the break. It was not intentional. But I REALLY needed to finish my PhD. It now (barring any bureaucratic problems) is finished! I'm Dr. Jessica Lynn! I have a new job and I'm living in Washington DC, so it's been a time of big changes! Time to enjoy some of this awesome East Coast seafood!

And I'm at least 50 recipes behind on TJOTJOC. Yes, FIFTY. So there will be a LOT of posts happening soon. But I'm going to break my normal routine and I'm not going to backdate most of them (other than Thanksgiving, which, of course, I didn't write about when it happened). So they should show up mostly as new.

Also, I've been told that some people can't comment on the blog. Has anyone else had any trouble trying to comment? That makes me so sad! Everyone knows that bloggers get all their self-esteem through comments and Facebook likes.

Shrimp scampi (p. 386) is a recipe I'm really familiar with as I'm Italian-American and my family made it relatively often. That being said almost all scampi recipes are different. And this one was totally different than my family's recipe.

It was certainly easy. I sauteed minced garlic in olive oil over very low heat until it was golden (don't rush this, you'll be sorry if you do, because the garlic will burn and you'll have to start over). I added about two lbs of shrimp. I cooked the shrimp until they started to turn pink and added minced parsley. When the shrimp were fully cooked I sprinkled with lemon juice and it was done:

It was a nice, simple scampi. Nothing amazingly special but easy and simple. I recommend this for a fast shrimp dish. You could easily put it on spaghetti if you wanted, too, and pump up the meal. Make sure to add the lemon juice because it really brightens the dish.

For those of you confused about the point of this blog aka My Second Nasty Comment

As many of you know, I've been powering through finishing my PhD but I have a ton of blog posts to write so March should be a big month for TJOTJOC!

But what motivated me to write this post was a comment I just received:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Fettuccine with Salmon and Asparagus (p. 327)":

this is not a recipe. you kind of just cooked something and it seems alot like this http://www.thejoykitchen.com/recipe.lasso?recipe=1180 but you left out real instructions. thief

I found this comment rather hilarious. If you have managed to not figure out the whole point of this blog, I assume through functional illiteracy, I am cooking my way through the cookbook The Joy of Cooking. See those numbers in the parenthesis? That is the page number the recipe appears on in The Joy of Cooking. Sometimes I link the recipe back to the very website you quoted, although I haven't gone back and done it for all recipes. I don't post the recipe because THAT would be thievery, IMO, since you should just go buy the book yourself.

And, if you feel the need to "out" me, feel free. Josh and I enjoyed the laugh this morning.

I'm still around!

Don't worry, fans! I am still around! I have so many posts in the hopper you will all be amazed--I've had two HUGE cooking extravaganzas in the meantime.

I've been desperately trying to finish my dissertation, wish me luck!

Asparagus I (p. 249)

I make asparagus all the time because both Josh and I love it. Even so, I haven't made most of the TJOC asparagus recipes (I usually just steam it). I decided to go ahead and make Asparagus I (p. 249).

I steamed the asparagus, like I normally do:



I always just snap off the ends. Josh always snaps off far more than I do (and my mom seems to throw away most of the asparagus!)--where do you guys consider the ends? Do you cut or snap?



I melted butter in a saucepan and added breadcrumbs. I cooked it for about a minute:



I sprinkled the breadcrumbs over the asparagus:



Believe it or not I loved it! The breadcrumbs were delicious on the asparagus! This is definately an extremely easy way to improve an already delicious veggie. The breadcrumbs were pretty much delicious on everything they were sprinkled on.

Story time! Growing up I absolutely hated asparagus. HATED it. This was very unfortuante for my mother because asparagus was her favorite vegetable but I would not eat it. Somehow in the following years my tastes must have changed because when I tried it again at about 21 or so, I love it, and have loved it ever since. Have you ever had a food that you hated as a child but love as an adult?

Chicken breasts baked on a bed of mushrooms (p. 425)

Some of you are probably wondering why I was at my mother's house for so long (although you are far too polite to ask). I went home to Iowa for a few days to have a simple mechanical error looked at by a trusted mechanic, had my car dramatically break down, and spent well over a month trying to get it figured out. It was terribly stressful because I kept thinking I was going to leave within a week and then something else would go wrong on my car. It's one of the joys of owning an aging car. I also happened to have the puppy with me. You wouldn't think that a small dog like Lestat (who weighs less than 10 pounds) could bring down a screen door but you would be wrong. He's like a little whirling dervish of destruction. I think my mom was glad to see him go.

On the bright side, I was able to cook a whole bunch of things that Josh was not interested in eating or that I suspected I wouldn't like, which is why a lot of chicken recipes and bell pepper recipes have been cooked.

Chicken breasts baked on a bed of mushrooms (p. 425) doesn't fit in either of those categories but mom happened to have chicken. It looked easy but I haven't had great luck with TJOC's chicken recipes.

I cut up cremini and button mushrooms and spread them out on the bottom of a roasting pan. I added white wine, minced garlic, and salt and pepper to the pan:



I placed the chicken breasts (which had been seasoned with salt, pepper, and thyme) on top of the mushrooms:



And it was cooked for about twenty minutes:



I removed the chicken and poured the pan juices in to a pot, along with chicken stock and heavy cream, and boiled the sauce until there was only about one cup of juice. It went from this:



To this:



I should have taken a final picture of the whole dish. You will have to use your imagination.

I wasn't in love with this recipe. It was okay. The sauce was tasty but could have used a little more kick (more garlic, more pepper, a little cayenne, something more). The whole thing was a little boring. I think it would have been slightly better if it had been baked in a really tiny pan so the mushrooms could be infused with chicken-y flavor but the pan I used was actually quite small. I would recommend this recipe to people who don't like heavily seasoned food.

Bacon cornmeal waffles (p. 647)

Bacon cornmeal waffles (p. 647). Mmmmm....even the name sounds delicious.

This recipe is essentially the same as the basic cornmeal waffle recipe but includes everyone's favorite meat product, BACON.

I'm not going to go into much detail in this post because it's already been covered in the previous post on cornmeal waffles.

I mixed buttermilk, butter, maple syrup, and egg yolks together in one bowl, flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in another bowl, and I combined them (Don't overmix! Overmixing is your enemy!).



I whipped egg whites and folded them into the batter:



TJOC give a couple of options for how to incorporate the bacon. You can either place the bacon on top of the batter:



Or crumble it and mix it INTO the batter:



I do realize that not everyone can have a waffle iron as amazing as the one I got for my mother at a garage sale:



But hopefully you have a waffle iron that works just as well.

The waffles were good but they weren't as amazing as I wanted them to be. Granted, I wanted fireworks to explode, dogs to howl, and random strangers to break in to dance, so maybe my expectations should have been lower. Make sure to crisp your bacon as much as possible because floppy bacon is your enemy in this recipe. I thought the waffles with the bacon incorporated were better than the ones with the bacon just sitting on the top of the waffle.

There is something extra delicious about cornmeal waffles. Or maybe there is something extra delicious about cornmeal in general. These waffles are sweet enough that they don't need added maple syrup (which I don't like anyway) but not so sweet that they taste like a dessert. And they are certainly easy to make.

So, dearest readers, I have two questions for you:
1. Waffles or pancakes? Which do you prefer? There is an active debate going on the TJOTJOC Facebook page.

2. What is your favorite waffle topping? I just like butter on mine.