Anna and I carved jack-o-lanterns tonight. She did the one of Jack and I did the one of Oogie (from the Nightmare Before Christmas, of course!). We found some patterns on the intraweb, and an hour or two later, bam.
Happy Halloween!
Something to cheer us all up
Monday, October 30, 2006 at 02:30:11 PMChinese Food, Japanese Knives, and Belgian Beer
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 12:19:54 AMWe have finally discovered a hunan/szechaun/americanized-chinese restaurant in Champaign that we really like. Its called Green Jade, and its located in the same shopping center as Sun Singer. I had a good feeling about the place that was confirmed by our very first experience there. While we were in line, the owner/operator was talking to the people in line ahead of us telling them that the difference between him and other places in town was that they used very fresh ingredients and that they actually cared. He emphasized that he took great pride in his work and that he had feeling in his cooking for you. I can really understand that. More often than not, the meals that I have the most carefree and happy mood with end up being the best tasting meals. When it was our turn in line, the man was very friendly. The menu is a lot like China Kitchen in Columbia, MO, but the food is much better. The prices are very reasonable, cheaper than the other place that we thought was ok. I definitely hope to be a repeat customer for him, if nothing else to insure that he stays around.
A few months ago, I was in the market for a new set of knives. It was the peak of the harvest season and I was throughly frustrated by our dull knives. Obsessed with getting something that was higher quality and less frustrating, I set out on a long research project. I quickly learned that there are two main schools of kitchen knives: east and west, namely German knives and Japanese knives. German knives tend to be heavier, softer steel, and a little more durable. Japanese knives tend to be somewhat lighter, hard steel, very sharp, but somewhat less durable because their beveled edge can get chipped. Another big debate is forged versus stamped. Forged blades are made the old school way. A long process beginning with a chunk of steel ending with a very sharp instrument. Stamped blades are made by rolling out a large sheet of steel, laser cutting out the basic knife shape, and sharpening that shape to a sharp instrument. Personally, I enjoy a lot of cooking because of its ceremonial nature. There is something satisfying about the ritual of cooking and only a forged blade would properly perform those ritualistic rites (in my mind anyways :p). This led me to Shun knives. Shun knives are a brand under Kershaw knives (now owned by KAI knives, a Japanese knife maker), manufactured with the traditional Japanese style in mind. Shun knives have a unique ebony Pakka wood (a manufactured wood product of sorts, used for knife handles) handle following a 'D' shape so that they sit in the palm of your hand very comfortably. The blades are made from VG10 steel with additional layers of Nickel steel over that. I ended up getting three of them, an 8-inch chef knife, a 6-inch utility knife, and a 3-1/2-inch paring knife. The knives weren't cheap, but if I add up all of the kitchen knives I've bought over the last few years, its really just a drop in the bucket. Plus, these knives have a lifetime warranty and a lifetime sharpening offer. Anyways, if you're looking for some new forged knives, I highly recommend Shun blades, they're even available on Amazon.
Speaking of cooking rituals, Chimay Ale is a great example of something very traditional, very ritualistic, and very tasty. Chimay Ale is brewed in Chimay, Belgium. It is a trappist ale, meaning its actually brewed by trappist monks. For any belgium beer to be labeled trappist, it has to be brewed in one of these monasteries (there are only seven trappist beer producers, Achel, Chimay, La Trappe, Orval, Rochefort, Westmalle, and Westvleteren). Trappist monks are a Catholic sect that spends their days praying and working. The Notre-Dame de Scourmont monastery started brewing beer 144 years ago! The basic idea was to bring work and commerce to an area that was once the most poor in Belgium. Its interesting to think that the yeast in use at their brewery has been going strong for nearly 150 years. Trappist ale is a top-fermented ale that actually gets fermented multiple times with different strains of yeast. Almost all trappist ales age very well, unfortunately around my house, it rarely has the chance! If you can find some Chimay around your area, I very much recommend it. But two suggestions: One, let it warm up a bit before drinking it, 50 degrees fahrenheit seems to be about ideal. The second suggestion: serve it in a glass that can breathe, Chimay in particular (along with all trappist ales) are meant for sipping, enjoy the aroma, take your time and enjoy the flavor as well.
Matt & Kate come to visit!
Wednesday, October 4, 2006 at 09:14:39 PMThis past weekend Matt & Kate came to visit. On Friday night, we went out for dinner at a bar called Murphy's located downtown in campustown. Its a great greasy burger / Leinenkugel's on tap kind of place. We also scored some great Leine's Oktoberfest mugs and T-Shirts with our beer. On Saturday morning I took a shot at replicating my great pancake success of late, of course, under pressure I cracked and the pancakes weren't very good. They were immensely dense, almost unleavened. I have some theories of what went wrong, but the number one suspect at the moment is an unrelated Murphy. After breakfast, we left Anna to do her homework and we went to the Farmer's Market in Urbana. Lots and lots of good things there, as usual. This time we left with some roma tomatoes and bell peppers (intent on making salsa). We drove around town for a little bit, taking in all of the sights of Chambana and headed home to make salsa and get ready for the Beer tasting / Chili cooking event in Urbana. The salsa I made was alright, overall it was kind of bland, a combination of a short integration time, and somewhat lackluster ingredients I think... (probably more of Murphy poking his head in on my cooking). We had a very nice lunch at a place called Sunsinger Cafe, after Kate requested we find a place that had a pile of vegetables. I think they fit the bill, and everything we had looked and tasted fantastic. I would definitely recommend the place to others looking for a quiet lunch spot... My only complaint would be the somewhat small tables, but other than that, everything was great. After that, we went to a huge wine/beer store called Friar Tuck's and got some beer and bourbon for the weekend. Then we headed off to the festival in Urbana.
First the bad: when we got there, the chili was pretty much gone. There were two places still serving it, so we got in one of the lines. As we got to the very front, the astute Kate noticed they were just serving Hormel chili out of a can! So, we jumped into the other line and had some of their chili instead. It was alright... but overall, the chili experience was a little disappointing. The beer experience was a little more interesting, but I think it was kind of crowded. They had 30+ tables of different beers (each table had 10-12 beers on it) that you paid a ticket or two to get a small cup's worth to taste. We tasted quite a few, including some of the local home brewing club's stuff (it was alright, there were definitely better ones that we tasted, but that doesn't discourage me from starting my own home brew adventure... that is definitely another post!). After we had our fill of beer, we headed home for a night of tolerable mint juleps (dang Murphy! interesting side note: mint juleps don't scale well, just make them one at a time. I think our downfall was trying to make four simultaneously), some beers, and an absolutely awful premier of SNL.
Sunday's breakfast was very good. Sunday's breakfast was eaten out at Merry Ann's diner in Champaign. The food was excellent, the service was quick and polite (as always), and the check was very reasonable. Merry Ann's is definitely our most favorite breakfast spot in town. After breakfast, we dropped Anna off for .. you guessed it.. more homework! And then we set out on our own assignment... Let's find Kate an Erector set. We searched everywhere in Urbana, and nearly everywhere in Champaign... and unfortunately came up empty handed. In the end, we decided some Tapenade would probably be just as satisfying as building something, so we went to Meijer and got the ingredients we needed for that and dinner.
The Tapenade actually came out pretty decent. Suprising enough, Matt, who insists olives are soaked in camel piss, actually ate some of the tapenade and appeared to tolerate.. maybe even like it! While we consumed tapenade in the backyard, I fired up the smoker for some smoked chicken. I butterflied and rubbed down the chicken as I normally do, and smoked it for the rest of the afternoon while we had our libations. We paired the smoked chicken with sautéd green beans and baked acorn squash (ala Matt & Kate). I think the meal was a big hit. The chicken was moist and smoky, the squash was warm and squishy, and the green beans were firm and tasty. Perhaps the most interesting thing was that Anna and I have never really had baked squash (not since we were kids anyways) and were pleasantly suprised to find that we both really liked it.
We had a really nice visit with Matt & Kate, and hope they come back soon. It is nice to visit with friends that you have shared many good times with. Plus Matt & I always seem to have something to jabber about (computers, photography, etc.!)
Well, that's all for now. It seems like I've now promised entries about my Japanese knives (which Matt saw and even got to cut with, so he may have to jump in and comment on them) and my growing plans for home brewing my own ales (and eventually lagers)... those will have to come later.