“Restaurants Open On Christmas”
As a chef it disturbs me that so many Americans are afraid of cooking a meal. What am I talking about?
A quick look at Google Trends will reveal that the most popular searches Christmas Day 2009 were “restaurants open on christmas,” “cracker barrel hours,” “huddle house,” “dunkin donuts open on christmas.” Sad.
It is one day, folks, cook something! This trend is very disheartening to anyone like myself who loves to cook – that someone refuses to cook even one meal, even on Christmas Day – they just have to eat out. Mother’s Day is another day that baffles me. I can think of no bigger slap in the face to mom than dragging her to some ubiquitous Olive Garden, making her sit in a crowded lobby for hours and then shoving that carcinogen laced pseudo-food down her throat. Dido for Valentine’s Day.
One of the great experiences in life is for family and loved ones to gather together and share with one another – share their art, their stories, their food and their love. Going to eat at a restaurant on Christmas Day, to me, tells those around you that they are a burden. That you only visit loved ones because society’s folkways suggest you are a heel if you do not, or rather society’s folkways expose you as a heel if you do not.
I understand that some people feel overwhelmed by a lot of the activities during the holidays but how about cutting out all of the trivial stuff and just sit down noshing and sharing with those who love you. But if circumstances dictate that you must go out and consume lethal amounts of additives, saturated fats and hydrogenated oils then here are links to IHOP, Denny’s and Waffle House, but I implore to throw together something easy and spend the rest of your time with the ones you love.
It is one day, cook something!
Hear is a great dish that is ready literally in seconds:
Recipe: Oyster Stew
Ingredients
- 1 quart whole milk
- 1 pint oysters
- 1 stick real butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a sauce pan or even in a large microwaveable bowl combine milk and oysters and heat to a simmer then add butter and season to taste.
- Enjoy!
Recipe: Turkey Queso Soup
This was an improvised soup of the day I did at a restaurant once and our customers liked it so much it went on the permanent menu. It’s called Turkey Queso Soup and it’s easy. It’s perfect for watching the Iron Bowl.
Turkey Queso Soup
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 can evaporated milk
- 8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, shredded or diced
- 1 TBL Cumin
- 1 tsp smoked parika
- 1 tsp Chipotle chili powder
- 1 cup leftover chicken meat, pulled or diced
In a large sauce pan over medium heat, combine the cream of chicken soup, evaporated milk and cheese. Bring slowly to a simmer. Once the cheese has melted into the soup stir in the cumin, then smoked paprika and finally the chili powder. Let simmer for a few minutes then stir in the turkey. Allow to simmer a few minutes more and then serve with tortilla chips on the side. This soup toes the line between chowder and the cheese dip you get at Tex-Mex restaurant. You can bumb up the heat by adding diced chilies or tone it down by using regular chili powder instead of the hotter chipotle powder. You can add as much or as little turkey as you want. Be careful not to let this soup come to a full bowl as it can break.
What’s Cooking for Football Season?
I guess it could be said that my hometown (Mobile, AL) is the epicenter of football. We have our hometown South Alabama Jaguars starting their second season of NCAA play. An hour or so away is the University of Southern Mississippi. Two hours away is New Orleans home of the Super Bowl Champion Saints of the NFL. Mobile also is roughly four hours from LSU, Alabama and Auburn. All three are power houses from the nation’s toughest conference, the SEC.
Suffice it to say, we love our football here. We also love great food so football season is also the height of our party season. But football parties are not solely the domain of Mobile or the state of Alabama or even the South. Starting this weekend football fans across the nation will be breaking out their best recipes to impress their guests and more importantly those who dare to wear the colors of the other team.
In the current issue of Southern Tailgater Magazine I have an article entitled Top 10 Tailgating Trends for 2010. In the course of writing that article I chatted with Carrie Oliver of the Artisan Beef Institute where she offered burgers made from dry aged beef as a coming trend. Unfortunately the constraints of the article kept me from using all of the information Carrie gave me. With football season here I thought it a good time to share with you the rest of her expertise on the subject of grilling, trends and artisan beef.
According to Carrie, fancy condiments are out, dry-aged beef burgers are in. Or as she puts it, “Bland is out, flavor is in. Because when you use top quality beef that’s been dry-aged before you grind it, the burgers themselves have flavor. You won’t even need to use condiments.”
7 Questions with Natalie Slater
7 Questions is a series of interviews with the culinary movers and shakers you want or ought to know better.
The world of food is filled with many colorful characters, most of whom sport personalities that are bigger than life. There are ostentatious French chefs, food critics who wear disguises and even the odd food writer turned TV host. All owe a certain amount of their fame to their inherent quirkiness. Then there are the bloggers.
There are the Julie Powell’s who blog simply to bring the chaos of the modern world into focus and in so doing attain fame and fortune with a book followed by a movie. Her name is now a verb. EX: I’m going to start a blog about Popsicles and then I’m going to Julie Powell that sucker. There are the Kamran Siddiqui’s who’s keen eye for food photography, gentle spirit and taste for exotic flavors have earned him a great deal of international notoriety; not bad for a high school student. Who knows what the futures holds for this brilliant young man?
Then there is Natalie Slater of Chicago, a marketer by day and blogger by night. Slater is unique, boisterous and infused with rock & roll intensity. She owns no bakery, doesn’t work at a restaurant, has no fancy grand deplome from a stuffy French culinary academy. What she does have, in addition to her sexcentric haircut and sleeves of ink, is an unapologetic sweet tooth.
Slater’s blog, Bake and Destroy, is an extension of her personality. It is a hot pink and black leopard print of heavy metal cupcakery. Just as Slater kicks in the door of the starched white world of baking with stiletto heels and fishnet stockings, B&D takes the light and delicate idea of dessert and straps it into the passenger seat of a ’67 Pontiac GTO, forces it to shotgun a Natty Light while outrunning the fuzz as Immortal blasts at an unhealthy volume. Slater makes cake cool.
B&D is filled with recipes for Goth-themed pies and cupcakes brimming with sexual innuendo. There is a call to arms to fight diseases, “Do you love cake, but hate cancer?” And there are plenty of pictures of Slater modeling sexy and sassy aprons for her pals at Cupcake Provocateur. It’s a horror picture with sprinkles and a chocolate pudding center.
Now that you have learned a little bit about the petit four pocket hottie now it’s time for her to answer 7 Questions:
1. How old were you when your self-proclaimed cake obsession started?
My grandma bought me an EZ Bake Oven for my birthday one year – I’m guessing I was about four. My birthday is two weeks before Christmas and here was this little kid making everyone stop what they were doing to taste a cake she baked with a light-bulb. My gram suggested I bake one for baby Jesus’ birthday, and when it was done we left it out for him – it disappeared. I really believed he floated down and gobbled up the cake I made him. I guess I impressed myself at that point – Jesus likes my baking! From that point on my mom couldn’t bake so much as a blueberry muffin without me insisting on breaking the eggs or measuring the flour.
2. When did you start your blog, Bake and Destroy?
I started Bake and Destroy over four years ago when my son was newborn and I was working as a nanny. I was home all the time and baked to keep my sanity. The blog was a way for me to keep in touch with my friends – none of which had kids yet. I never imagined anyone besides those few people would read it.
3. You were a judge in the pilot episode of Cupcake Wars. Can we expect to see you in future episodes?
I really doubt it. Originally they wanted me to compete and I told them they were nuts. 1000 cupcakes? No way dude! Then one night I had my son in the tub and one of the producers called me. She was like, “Natalie, this is boring, we need you.” I flew out the next morning. Unfortunately they felt the need to cover up all my tattoos for the show – no one knows why! One of the contestants had tons of tattoos! Anyway I just felt sweaty and uncomfortable, it was a bummer. I’d do it again if they asked on the condition that I can wear short sleeves. I’m from Chicago – it’s hot in LA!
4. I’m a savory guy so I am a little perplexed by the sheer volume of cake decorating shows on television. To what do you attribute their phenomenal success?
I think, like tattoo shows, it’s a peek into a world that has existed forever but not many people were involved in. In the same vein, you get to watch people do things that you yourself may never be able to do. I do think they can move on now, though. I’m looking forward to Just Desserts- the pastry competition on Bravo. I’m ready for flavor to matter again.
5. Other than Cupcake Wars what cake shows do you enjoy?
6. So which would you rather have a cake decorated like a tattoo or a tattoo of a cake?
A cake tattoo! I’ve noticed that tattoo artists can render a great looking cake tattoo but cake artists aren’t so hot at tattoo cakes.
7. Your look, your personality and even your blog scream personality; what inspires you?
Well thank you. I have been told I burst from the womb shouting “Hey everyone! Look at me!” I draw from so many places – my beautiful city, my fearless son, all the classy TV shows I grew up on like pro wrestling, Married with Children and Headbangers Ball. My friends and family are a huge inspiration, I’m always looking to make them laugh or to embarrass them. So it’s easy- endless inspiration.
