I is for Iron Foodie Ingredient Sampling

Two of the items in The Marx Foods Mystery Box were
- Dried Wild Porcini Mushrooms
and
- Dried Aji Panca Chilies

Neither of which I had ever, to my knowledge, eaten. Yay for new food!

First things first, before I could really taste them, I had to macerate them...

...in this case, with boiling water.

And then wait 15-20 minutes.

The porcini mushroom had a nice intense flavor that, in weight, reminded me a bit of chicken liver. The texture was a bit chewy, so it's clear that I can't use these "raw".

The chili bits were, ummm, weeeeeell, I considered them spicy, but I tend to order a one-star at Thai and Indian restaurants. Even I can admit they were not really painful. And I could actually taste the red chili flavor. So "mild" is probably an accurate description.

Odds are good that we will find both of these ingredients in my Signature Recipe. :)

T is for Tech Week

The show I'm rehearsing is heading into Tech Week. (For those of you not in theatrrr, this means every waking moment, which will include more of those than usual, will be focused towards getting together a performance-ready piece by the end of the week.)

So I'm spending the evening working on my Iron Foodie recipe. Stay tuned.

T is for Egyptian Turkey

The way I do the thanksgiving turkey winds up looking like I'm preparing it for the afterlife.

Which I guess I am, in a way.

As I said last year, I get my turkey method from The Joy of Cooking and, after 8 years, I'm a true believer. I know a lot of people are becoming converts to The Church of Brining, but the barding/basting 1-2 punch has never let me down, so I don't see changing it up any time soon.

But I can live in harmony with my brining brethren. 'Cause, really, isn't that what The Thanksgivinging is all about?

T is for Egyptian Turkey

I is for Iron Foodie Thoughts

Not to give too much away before the actual recipe, but I've been chewing on the contest a bit (pun intended) and here's where I am:

- Everything in the box is essentially a spice (not technically, granted, but due to the dried-ness of things that would otherwise be more feature-able). This is both a great thing and a scary thing. (Yay, I can do anything! Whoa, I could do anything. Like that.)

- What do I like to cook? I ask myself, in order to narrow things down a bit. Answer: breakfast, dessert, Italian food, meat. I'm likely to do something in one or more of those categories.

- The fennel pollen is The Ingredient Least Likely to be Used. It's basically a more intense fennel experience. And, well, I kind of hate fennel. Not bell pepper level hate, but.....it reminds me of licorice (they're not related), which reminds me of NyQuil, which reminds me of unpleasant times.....you see the problem.

- Next up will be some ingredient tastings. Every time a cheftestant on a cooking reality show doesn't do this, I get very indignant at them (from the safety of my couch; yeah, I'm totally an armchair sous chef). So it's be pretty stupid of me not to. I'll keep you posted.

I is for I still -heart- South Park

I'm sitting here watching the episode of South Park mocking the Food Network (and Food Network addicts...er, like me) and it's just so wrong but oh-so-right at the same time.

They had me at the late-nite Food Network HOTline:

"Do you want to deglaze this pan with me?"
"Oh yeah, I'm gonna deglaze that pan with you so good."
"It's searing hot..."
"Oh yeah. Do you have a wooden spoon?"
"Yeah, baby, I have a spoon and it's really hard."

hee!

W is for What's In The Box??!? part 2

Other items in The Mysterious Marx Foods Box of Mystery:

~ Dried Aji Panca Chilies ~
The label says they are "mild". Being a spice wuss, I'm betting a more accurate assessment is "comparatively mild".

~ Dried Wild Porcini Mushrooms ~
Massive score!

~ Tellicherry Peppercorns ~
I did some pepper taste experiments a few years back, which is what led me to the wonderfulness that is White Pepper. I look forward to seeing how this one compares.

~ Dulse Seaweed ~
Reply hazy. Try again later.

~ Maple Sugar ~
Oh baby. This ingredient is in serious danger of not making it into recipe consideration because I may just have to eat it. I'll put it in one of those giant straws like I used to get at the roller skating rink and then ride the sugar high for the next 12 hours.