it's fascinating stuff. Not entirely sure what I think of it. I admit, my approach towards cooking has as a central idea of staying true to a culinary tradition. Indian curries are so good because they have been making them for hundreds of years. Thai curries, the flavors in South American cooking. French technique. Each independent area perfected in its own way, with techniques, flavors and textures maximizing local ingredients. I'm not even a fan of fusion, suddenly throwing ginger into Italian cuisine because I think it might taste good.

That being said, micro gastronomy is so damn fascinating. I first really seriously thought about it besides thinking it was bizarre at a lecture at a university given by Harold McGee, author of great food science books. The first example he gave: A restaurant that made a foam as an amuse buche. The foam was vodka and cucumber. At table side, it was dropped into liquid nitrogen. Then the guests ate it, turning instantly into steam when it hit the heat of the mouth making it look like smoke was coming out of everyone's mouth.

Regardless of whether or not I think it is good food, it's pretty damn cool. Place in chicago that prints its menu with ink that tastes like the dish it represents. Little self contained vinaigrettes made with solidified olive oil. There is some cool stuff there.

The use of science in cooking is a great thing. Knowing how food changes at certain temperatures is vital. Knowing about emulsification, vital. Can't properly do much without those sorts of things in mind. Normally, a lot of this can happen just intuitively without learning the science behind it. I learned how to make a bullet proof Hollandaise well before learning the science behind it.

Not being someone who has the funds to engage in trying these new places, I can only wonder. I imagine that they are fantastic foods. My only real problem, I suppose, is that these sorts of trends seem to start to obsess people to a degree that compromises fundamentals. Concerns about making something "new" leading to doing things in a new way that are actually worse than the old way and assigning it value just because it is "new."

I do think it would be fun to play around with and may soon start looking into some basic equipment. The idea of respecting food while using these new approaches seems entirely doable.

If I go around thinking that something about the world needs to change for me to be happy, I am utterly screwed. Ever try to change things in the world? Control them to your liking?

If I go around thinking that what needs to change for me to be happy is my perception of and attitude towards the world, no one can keep me from being happy except for myself.

filling out those bubble tests with a #2 pencil. Very nostalgic. It was a "food safety manager" program. Highly boring. That was nostalgic too.

Since the last time I took one of those tests, they've added a section on the risk of terrorism to food safety in restaurants. Boy, such paranoia. They could even slip radioactive material into your food! They got an acronym for who were supposed to contact if we see "suspicious" activity. A.L.E.R.T.

Goodness, restaurant workers don't do much besides engage in suspicious activity.

But...I need something to write about and not inspired. If I get ideas, maybe I'll pick one. But it can't be about recipes.

been here since the end of September. It was such a nice surprise, really. Our landlord, who was very "off" to put it nicely, had pulled some more strange stuff on us. Never before had a landlord who acted so contemptuous of their tenants (customers).

So we started looking at other places. Found an apartment that would have been really close to work so I would have been able to bike instead of drive (I miss being able to do that...very peaceful and meditative), but we just missed it. Couldn't find much else, so we decided on a lark to look at places for sale.

Found one right away. Were getting ready to put in an offer. It disappeared. Found another. Getting ready to put in an offer. Disappeared. Really there weren't many that were in our price range at the time...so we said, "okay" and went to look at one we had avoided because it is on the edge of an area that isn't really a nice area.

Man, those first looks at the inside of the house. It was a short sale and the people before us...wow, they trashed it. You could tell instantly that they were angry people. Broken doors, windows, holes in the dry walls clearly from doors being slammed open and closed, holes in the drywall where they had clearly been punched or kicked.. Really feel sorry for those people. It's a sad life.

Anyways, so much bigger than everything else we had looked at. Perfect location for getting to work and the frequent stuff we do in Madison. Eventually, it was a go.

I really didn't figure on being able to get a house for at least another 5 years. But the rates, the price the house sold for as a short sale in the condition it was in...it all conspired to make it doable.

So nice, so peaceful, so permanent to have a place that is ours. The last landlord was tweaky about everything. We had to get clearance to put nails in the walls. Screws were out except for special circumstances. They wouldn't turn the water to the hose on outside so that we could water our plants with it even after we offered to pay for it.

In the end, a perfect prior scenario to illuminate the wonderful distinctions between renting and owning! Tons of work to do around the house, but it feels soooooo much better and exciting to be able to slowly make the house over to the way we want it. I guarantee that one thing it won't be...standardized boring.

Such fun!

been here since the end of September. It was such a nice surprise, really. Our landlord, who was very "off" to put it nicely, had pulled some more strange stuff on us. Never before had a landlord who acted so contemptuous of their tenants (customers).

So we started looking at other places. Found an apartment that would have been really close to work so I would have been able to bike instead of drive (I miss being able to do that...very peaceful and meditative), but we just missed it. Couldn't find much else, so we decided on a lark to look at places for sale.

Found one right away. Were getting ready to put in an offer. It disappeared. Found another. Getting ready to put in an offer. Disappeared. Really there weren't many that were in our price range at the time...so we said, "okay" and went to look at one we had avoided because it is on the edge of an area that isn't really a nice area.

Man, those first looks at the inside of the house. It was a short sale and the people before us...wow, they trashed it. You could tell instantly that they were angry people. Broken doors, windows, holes in the dry walls clearly from doors being slammed open and closed, holes in the drywall where they had clearly been punched or kicked.. Really feel sorry for those people. It's a sad life.

Anyways, so much bigger than everything else we had looked at. Perfect location for getting to work and the frequent stuff we do in Madison. Eventually, it was a go.

I really didn't figure on being able to get a house for at least another 5 years. But the rates, the price the house sold for as a short sale in the condition it was in...it all conspired to make it doable.

So nice, so peaceful, so permanent to have a place that is ours. The last landlord was tweaky about everything. We had to get clearance to put nails in the walls. Screws were out except for special circumstances. They wouldn't turn the water to the hose on outside so that we could water our plants with it even after we offered to pay for it.

In the end, a perfect prior scenario to illuminate the wonderful distinctions between renting and owning! Tons of work to do around the house, but it feels soooooo much better and exciting to be able to slowly make the house over to the way we want it. I guarantee that one thing it won't be...standardized boring.

Such fun!

on NN its feeling more normal now and that's good...great actually.

Starting to get a feel for who is on these days, who posts pics that I really like, who some of the real people are, how people are interacting on NN, what people aren't engaging in that they used too...

With so many of my old friends and favorites gone, It's been all new so I've often felt a little bit of an obsessive urge (What? Me, a non-drinking alcoholic being obsessive?) to get through all the pics so I don't miss people that I don't know. That has faded greatly. Also the notion of having to "re-introduce myself" has faded. Good stuff!

I have been surprised to find how much I really like teasing and partially clothed pics. Maybe my memory is faulty, maybe it is an aspect of changing tastes as I get older, maybe it is because I am in a very sexually satisfying relationship rather than a very unsatisfying sexual relationship...but I don't remember liking those sorts of pics as much as I do now. Seems like the scale used to be tilted a lot more toward full nudity. Interesting.

But, anyways, I was going to cull my bookmark list today because I'm already at over 40 pages...but I was going through to start doing it and I found that I really like my taste. I'm a keeping them!

The recipes aren't that simple or quick. That's the nature of the xxxxx.

I really think that the best way to go about becoming a better cook, making better food is playing around with food. Don't be scared.

Some basic cookbooks that go into fundamental of cooking...a must. Joy of Cooking, Le Cordon Bleu's Complete Cooking Techniques, The Professional Chef by The Culinary Institute of America (CIA)...good picks. The Flavor Bible is also a great resource to have for people wanting to become better cooks.

Mind you, I'm not opposed to the idea of sexy people paying (thought I'd pick up that tab myself?) for me to travel over the world to cook for them and to spend some private time tasting exotic goodies...

Blackened Pork Loin with Collard Greens (with bacon of course) and cheddar grits

Forgot to mention the mustard sauce that came with it.
This will actually be different than the way it was done at work.

Start off by preparing collard greens. They take a LONG time to cook until they are soft enough. Remove the stems. Chop them into large pieces. WASH!!! I'll do this on the assumption of two standard bunches of collard greens.

Dice some bacon. About a third of a pound. Dice one onion. Chop 10 cloves of garlic. Saute the bacon (starting with bacon fat if possible) until it starts to crisp up. Add in the onions. Saute until becoming translucent. Add in the garlic. Let cook for a minute or two. Add in the Collard greens. Add in about a cup of chicken stock, 1/2 c of apple cider vinegar. Let it cook and cook and cook. When they are finally soft, add in about 1/3 c sugar, 2T salt, 2T black pepper.

Mustard Sauce: Saute 2 diced shallots (onion if need be). Allow it to start carmelizing a little (turning brown on bottom of pan), add in 4 chopped cloves of garlic. Cook for another minute or two then deglaze the pan with a 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar. Add in 3 cups of chicken stock. Reduce until it is half volume. Add in 1/2 c sugar. Add in 2/3 cup whole grain mustard. Maybe some chopped tarragon or simply parsley. Salt and pepper to taste, probably 2T salt, 1 T black pepper. Finish with 1/4 c of butter after taken off the heat but while still hot.

Grits: White hominy grits. Start heating 8 cups of water. When near a boil, stir in 2 cups of grits. Turn heat to low, let cook for approximately an hour, stirring often. When soft remove from heat. Should be a nice thick oatmeal like consistency. Add in 1/2 c heavy cream, 1/4 c butter, 2T salt, 1T black pepper. Add in 1 C cheddar.

2# of pork loin. Cut into roughly 1/3 pound portions. Coat lightly with oil (peanut is great!!!) Coat liberally with blackening spice. Go ahead, just buy it. Heat up a dry heavy pan to RAGING hot. No oil. Sear all sides of the pork loin, you don't really want black black, but a nice dark brown is great! If your pan is hot enough, it will not take long to sear. Less than half a minute per surface. Repeat with other portions of pork, do not overload the pan!!! With no so nice pans, I would do one at a time. With great pans (large cast iron) perhaps four...but has to be RAGING hot first. Finish pork in oven at 350 degrees. I like to take my pork out of the oven at about 140 degrees. Medium rare/medium pork is the way to go. Let is rest.

Serve whichever way you please. Mustard sauce will go great with both the pork and the greens.

Good luck if anyone does it. Always go by taste (salt, pepper, vinegar, sugar levels. Don't be afraid to not add so much at the start and taste it as you go along to get it the way you like it.)

Maybe surprised, maybe not. Food is a very sensual thing! During times when I have needed a boost to get through the day, one of the things I often do is remind myself that I get paid money to play with food. That's not a bad deal.

Unfortunately, recipes are hard. I could come up with some guesses, but I do cook a lot by instinct and experience. Plus...the stuff I cook at work is in amounts that are pretty insane...and requires techniques that I wouldn't use at home. For example, I'll go through the Marchand du Vin aux champignons sauce:

Add 20 bay leaves and 4 oz fresh thyme to 6 gallons of beef stock, reduce the beef stock to 3 (for something similar to a glace de viande).

Sautee 30 pounds of mushrooms, 5 pounds of shallots (minced in food processor), 2 pounds of garlic (minced in food processor) in olive oil. Deglaze the pan with 1 gallon of red wine. Reduce to about 1/2.

Remove bay leaves and thyme from reduced stock, add to the mushroom/wine mix. Season with salt and pepper (about 1 c salt, 1/2 c black pepper). Add a touch of red wine vinegar (about 1/3 cup). Thicken to sauce consistency with corn starch (about 1 c stirred into 3c cold water). Stir in two pounds of butter to finish.

I love the term used for finishing with butter..."mount." Mount the butter.

So it's not precise but the real difficulty is that the most important part is the small variations. It's why I don't like following recipes much. Different brands of ingredients. Differences between stocks. Different aspects of vegetables dependent upon their quality. Figuring out balance which can only truly be done by taste and adjustment.

So it's hard to really do good recipes like that, especially since when I am allowed to do what I want to do an awful lot of it is done by intuition rather than precise measurement.

Best recipe to do what I do? Work in professional kitchens that do scratch cooking for 10+ years...