Fast Alice Glass

Fast Alice Glass

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Yeah... Hi, it's me

Sorry for the blatant absenteeism. I didn't have any intention of disappearing this last month but disappear I did. I'm not going into gory details but I'm going through some serious shit. Life shit, sucky shit, shit that I don't want to share on this blog. I even did my Charcutapalooza challenge this month, which despite being an epic fail, would have made a great story. But I just didn't have the heart to write about it. I didn't want to disappear into the ether without an explanation. And if your one of the two people who read this blog I'm sorry to the one of you who doesn't know what is going on. Maybe someday I'll feel like sharing openly about this experience but I can't make any promises. I will promise to be back to posting as soon as I feel OK enough. I love this space and writing about my adventures.

xoxo
Fast Alice

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Curry in a not so Hurry...

At first when I was craving crazy varieties of food I though it was due to the bland restaurant scape here. Now with the tease of warm weather, I'm thinking it may just be spring that is making me want crazy spicy food. I LOVE Indian food people.... LOVE!! Yes, with many exclamations. And I always wanted to know how to cook it. But with cheap Indian right off our old subway stop it was hard to get motivated to learn. So now is the time. I had never attempted to make this kind of food before and although it came out great it took my like aaaaalllll day to make everything. However, I did make the paneer and Nann from scratch and the bread takes 4hours to rise...

As I scoured the Internet for recipes I found the most adorable woman on youtube named Manjula. She has a ton of amazing videos and I totally imagine her to be my Indian Grandmother or Great Aunt or something. We laugh and make Nann bread and she teaches me all about reincarnation and where to buy the best Hing. Or at least that is what I pretend when I'm alone in my kitchen puttering around on Saturday. Seriously people... I need to make some friends here and not like the kind you find on youtube and make friends with in your brain.

The first dish I made was Palek Paneer. I made the paneer myself and it came out amazing. Here is a tip to all you amateur cheese makers out there. I bought pasteurised grass fed milk at the health food store and it worked great!! I have had some terrible experiences making cheese from regular pasteurised (Not UHT) milk that failed to make a curd do to heat damage and what not. This milk made the BEST curd. It was very firm and I can't WAIT to make Mozzarella out of it.


The next dish I made was Chicken Tikka Masala. But Ooooooppss I only had one breast of chicken. So I improvised and use the remainder of my paneer and some string beans to fill out the meal. It was actually really tasty. I might make it this way next time weather I have the chicken or not.


The next and last thing was the Naan. Which I had started of course, many MANY hours before. I of course did a garlic Naan which Big D loves. The naan proofed up more than I expected and I'm sure I didn't roll it out thin enough. But by then we were about to to faint with hunger so I just threw it in the oven. Still tasted great.

Even now I'm looking at these pictures and hoping I did Auntie Manjula proud... Sigh.. Hopefully I will meet some real people soon even if they can't cook.

xoxo
Fast Alice

Saturday, March 19, 2011

On the table...

So it occurs to me that I have been doing a lot of cooking and not a lot of blog posting.  I feel guilty about eating all this amazing food and not sharing it with others.  One of the things I loved about the city was the diversity of the food.  Feel like Greek.. No Problem!! Indian?  Just one stop away on the N. Thai?  Order from Thai Elephant anytime until mid-night.  

Up here in the sticks we just don't have as many options.  There is a pretty good Pizza place, a cute Italian restaurant in town that makes great fish dishes and we just discovered "The Horse and Hound Inn & Pub."  Which is the closest to our house and made hands down the best fried oyster sandwich I have ever had... and I've been to New Orleans people, a few times so that is saying a LOT!!  The oysters were perfectly fried with a corn meal crust and they literally would squirt briny delicious oystery heaven in your mouth when you bit one.  A little too much info but it was just as orgasmic as it sounds.  Big D and I have dreams of taking the canoe across the lake in the summer and walking to get beers and oyster sandwiches which is needless to say... Awesome. 

What was I saying?? Oh yeah.. Despite the good eats.  There is a distinct lack of diversity up here.  At least in our limited wanderings from Fort Fraley.  I totally admit perhaps all the Indian, Thai, Chinese, and Greek places are here but yet to be discovered.  So in lieu of fast food I pulled together this dish with satisfied my craving for Thai and ramen at the same time a big win in my book....


Fast Alice's Thai Soba Soup
Please note that each bowl is made individually to taste like a taco or something.  Feel free to add or subtract what you will.  Some nice additions would be shitake mushrooms which I totally forgot to buy that night.  I also wanted to put some chili paste in for a little more heat but the store didn't have it. 

Needed:
4 soft boiled eggs
1lb box of soba noodles
1 small onion
5 leaves lacinatto Khale
2 cloves garlic minced
Hot Sesame Chili oil
Sesame oil
Sesame Seeds
1 bunch scallions
1 bunch Cilantro
1 lime
1tsp red pepper flakes
fish sauce
tamari
1 container miso paste
6-8 cups boiled water


Chop the Khale and onions and saute over med/high heat in sesame oil.  Once the onions start to brown add the garlic.  When the garlic is brown turn off the heat and let pan sit on the warm burner.  Boil off the soba as per the directions on the box and toss gently with a little sesame oil to keep from sticking.  Take a teaspoon of miso and put in a soup bowl.  Add a little of the boiled water (make sure that the water is no longer boiling to preserve the cultures in the miso).  Mix until the miso is dissolved then add 1-2 cups of water to taste, depending on how strong you would like the broth.  Add 1Tbs of tamari and 1tsp of fish sauce (taste and make sure it is salty enough for you).  Put a heaping pile of soba noodles in the center of the bowl.  Add the sauteed greens to one side of the noodles and the soft boiled egg.  Sprinkle chopped scallions, cilantro, and crushed red pepper over the top.  Finish with a drizzle of the hot chili sesame oil and a squeeze of fresh lime. 

Enjoy guys!! On to making Indian food :)

xoxo
Fast Alice

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I am the GREAT Cornholio!!! Charcutapalooza 3!

I had to wait all month just to use that title... Whfeewwww. Glad to get that out of my system. So the Ides of March has finally arrived. Which means two things, it is my parents aniversary today and I can blog about insane corn beefy goodness. I have a nasty habit of doing my Charcutapalooza projects waaaaaay ahead of schedule and the corn beef was no exception. The corn beef was made and consumed in its entirtly like three weeks ago.. whooops!! But it was soooo good people there was no way it was gonna last until St. Patty's day. The good news is with the corned beef out of the way I don't feel guilty making shepheard's pie and soda bread on St. Patrick's day. I also had ample time to experiment with different corn beef masterpieces. But back to the BEEF!!
This was hands down the easiest cure yet. Five days in a fridge brine... no problem. I have a confession to make however. I did not make my own pickling spice... GASP!!! I know.. I know. I REALLY wanted to people. But it was a question of economy. I could either buy all natural Beef for $40, from happy cows not pumped full of hormones or spend $40 on the spices I lacked from my shelf to make the pickling spice. I couldn't afford both that week. So the beef won for humanitarian reasons and I chose a pickling spice made by Ancona's Market, a family run grocery store down here. It was totally satisfactory and I got a HUGE container of it for 1/2 the price of the McCormick spices. The outcome was divine, as you can see above. Big D and I could hardly wait and we started nibbling on the beef as soon as it was done simmering...
Later that evening we had a splendid meal of Corn beef and cabbage. Although the cabbage was a little camera shy in this photo. I assure you it was fabulous. I will never buy a corned beef from the store again. The meat was juicy and delicious, perfectly seasoned. Didn't have any of that rubbery bloated quality that some corned beef has.

The next morning we wanted more!!! I had used two, 2 and 1/2 lb pieces of brisket for our beef so I took the remainder of one piece and made the most amazing hash. See the recipe below which includes my secret trick :) You would think we had had enough of eating the same thing meal after meal but NOPE.. later that night we broke out the Reubens.

To make the Reubens we decided to use the slicer to cut the beef.. and holy Hell it was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The meat was very cold when I sliced it which kept it together. My only regret was that this was the last of it and I couldn't fry up just one or two more slices for breakfast the next day. But with a tear in my eye I continued on with sandwich making.

Big D prefers a more traditional open faced Reuben. All the better to cram more meat and cheese on my dear. This was also made with our homemade saurkraut. Which I helped along with a little vineger (if you saw my earlier post).

This is my personal idea of perfection. With tosty crunch on both sides. If I died and this sandwich floated up to meet me I would be completely confident that I was headed directly to heaven and a world of white truffels, pancetta, risotto, and more crispy sandwiches.

This months challenge was awesome and it gave us enough food for days. For people who are non-pigs I'm sure these goodies would have fed you for at least a week instead of (errr.. two days). With a minimum of effort to boot. Can't wait to see what is next!!

xoxo
Fast Alice


Easy Corned Beef Hash

After making the corned beef reserve about 2 cups worth of the potatoes that have been boiled with the beef. (This recipe if specifically for people who like the dogfoody goodness of canned hash. Not appealing, I know, but lets not lie it totally looks and smells like that.) Mince a small onion and add to a skillet over med heat. Once slightly brown add about 2 cups minced corned beef and brown with the onions. Now the secret.... rough chop the already boiled potatoes. Add a tiny bit more oil to the skillet then add the potatoes. Use a wooden spoon to smush up the potatoes and mix in the meat and onions. Continue to fry until you start to see little brown bits on the potatoes. (It was basically start to look like the outside of a potato pancake). Once it is brown enough to your taste season with pepper (salt too if you like) and serve with a fried or poached egg on top.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Burrrrrrrrrr Blanc...

So winter seems to have finally let up on us and instead of massive amounts of snow it is now drenching us in rain. So much rain in fact that there has been a ton of flooding up here in the country. Not to mention that the ground is so soggy the trees have little to hold on too and are toppling over... good times. Especially when they topple over on.. um... your house!!! Don't worry folks everything is just fine. The tree wasn't one of the huge ones in our yard thank GOD.. just one of the skinny yet extremely tall ones right next to the house and power lines. Big D, using his superhuman strength, managed to get it off the house without hitting the power lines, fence, or himself. I wish I had taken a picture but I was off to work in a hurry and he had it down before I got back. So we have muddled through another trial of home ownership relatively unscathed (we have a bent gutter but hey..)

In honor of the season passing I wanted to celebrate with a farewell to winter meal. I was in the middle of reading "My Life in France," the Julia Child memoir and Beurre Blanc sounded like just the ticket.

Poached Tilapia with Beurre Blanc and Sauteed Green Beans


Click here for the Beurre Blanc recipe. I modified it a little bit. I added capers in addition to the shallots in the recipe. I also only used 1 1/2 sticks of butter. I like very tart butter sauces, Beurre Blanc or Hollandaise, and also prefer to keep my girlish figure so I add just enough butter to satisfy. In terms of keeping the sauce from separating I basically held the sauce pan above the gas heat. Despite being on super-Super low if I left the pan on the stove itself I could tell it would be too hot. The Tilapia, I simply poached in simmering water with 1/4 cup vinegar, a few pepper corns, and bay leaves for 7 minutes until cooked through. The beans are sauteed in olive oil with garlic and fresh frozen basil. Overall a very tasty meal.

xoxo
Fast Alice

Monday, February 21, 2011

Not so Krauty Kraut...

So last month I couldn't contain myself and I went ahead and made some Sauerkraut out of the Charcuterie book.  Then Low and behold this month was brining!!! So I saved this post like a little treasure until now..  Sadly my Kraut didn't come out as well as I had hoped.  It was still really REALLY good but not quite Sauer enough for my taste.  I'm positive that this had to to with our house being Effing freezing all the time.  We didn't even come close to that 70 degree mark you have to watch out for to prevent the bad BAC.  In retrospect next time I will leave the cabbage to Kraut in the kitchen or just let it sit longer.  It was still amazing on our hot dogs one night and it will make an appearance later this month on a Reuben or two.    

xoxo
Fast Alice

Sick and Sour.... :(

As you may have guessed it.... I'm sick. Not like have a cold sick but like sucky on the couch sleeping all day coughing my brains out until I puke sick. Good times!! And I am the first to admit that I am a GIANT baby when I am sick. I want blankets and tissues and white instant rice with just a tiny TINY bit of butter please.... and oh can I have some water?? I need an ice pop!! Baby.. I feel so sick... Whaaaaaaaa!! Grummble Grumble grouch GROUCH!!

The good news is I am almost never sick. Thank God! I don't think my poor hubby could take more than a few days of this kind of thing a year. Actually the last time I was sick was in early May 2010. Even this cold I was pretty stubborn succumbing to. I have my arsenal of vitamins and homeopathic remidies to repel you evil one!! You may have won this time but I will triumph in due time... Muahahahahahhhhh. I even managed to squeek out a new recipe last night (at which point I was certain it was just a head cold and needed a little soup, boy was I wrong).

This recipe is courtesy of Krazy for Kazu's, which is a Japanese sauce company. I bought their wares at Gosset's.. Surpise Surprise. And if you are reading Mr. Kazu man forgive me because at first I was just trying your free samples to be nice (and because I can't resist free samples). But after tasting the Ginger dressing and Ponzu Magic sauce, Big D and I realized.. Good God man you are bottling JOY and selling it for $7 a bottle. I was wrong and this recipe made with the Ponzu Magic is Oh.... so right. Enjoy!


Krazy for Kazu's Hot & Sour Soup
(I doubled this recipe to have left overs for lunches)
.5lt water
1 chicken thigh ( I used breast it was what I had handy, it was fine)
1tbsp corn starch (to coat chicken) I added a touch of garlic and chili powder to this for zip
2 large shiitake mushroom (thinly sliced)
2 oz onion (thinly sliced)
2 oz carrot (julienned)
3 oz tofu (bite-sized pieces)
1tsp red pepper
2 oz American Ponzu Magic
1 egg (beat breifly)
1tbsp corn starch (mixed with 1 oz water)
1tsp sesame oil
Any leafy green veggie (I used dried nori)
Scallion

Clean and cut chicken, cut veggies and tofu.
Put water in a pot, bring to boil. Coat chicken with corn starch, place chicken in boiling water. When the chicken is done (floating), put in mushroom, onion, carrot, tofu, red pepper and adjust heat to a simmer.
Add ponzu, egg, corn starch w/water, sesame oil, green veggie and scallion. Once veggies are tender it is ready to serve.

It didn't cure my cold but it cleared my sinuses for a few minutes. Two things the recipe above is pretty mild. Fell free to add more red pepper to taste. I also like mine really sour so I threw a little white wine vinegar in mine with a touch of soy sauce to top it off.

xoxo
Fast Alice

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Ode to Gaia's Breath Farms....


Oh Gaia's breath farm... how do I love thee, let me count the ways. Every time I take a bite of my salty porky delicious pancetta I think of you and your black piggies... I imagine them happily rolling in fields of mud and foraging for acorns in the forest, every minute becoming fatter and sweeter. This vision makes me feel sligtly like the Witch in Hansel and Gretel as all the while I'm imagining eating those same cute happy little piggies... but hey, it is good stuff and if you tasted this pancetta you would we rubbing your hands together and squeezing piggie fingers in your mind to see if they are fat enough too.

In all seriousness I was really overwhelmed with how amazing this product was. It rang in at $8 a pound but I was able to order exactly the poundage I needed without the skin. If you remember, at the regular butcher it was going to be $4 a pound for regular pork but I had to buy the whole belly with skin approx 20lbs!!! Stupid!! So my total cost for 5lbs natural pork belly was $40. In addition to the lower price tag overall I had the most wonderful interactions with Mark, who runs Gaia's Breath. He got back to me super quickly asked what I was making, offered advice, then sent me the most amazingly perfect pretrimmed belly for pancetta. I was left with virtually no waste. When I tied up the pancetta itself I trimmed two small pieces from each end, purely for asthetics and devoured them quickly with my husband for brecky. Mark also answered my many questions about different products, even the price for a whole pig head. Which was very reasonable needless to say, I can't imagine many people ask for it these days. The belly was delivered to Gosset's Farm Market where I picked it up at their booth.

I was so pleased with the results I went back to the Market and had Tara, who runs the Gaia's booth, help me pick out an amazing 60 day aged Jack cheese to make my Saltimbocca recipe with. I can't say enough about my experience with this company!! I def plan to do their farm share. So exciting :)

Mark!!! If you are out there... You must get a booth down in NYC so my friends can try your products. They are too wonderful to miss. Wait... no!! Don't go to NYC.. stay here.. only here... Yes.. so that they have to come and visit me whilst picking up their pork and cheese. Ahhh.. much better.. lol.

xoxo
Fast Alice

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

A Belly to Rub... Charcutapalooza: Challenge 2


Recently, Kim at The Yummy Mummy asked us Charcutapalooza peeps to get deep and make our blogs our memoirs... to tell our ever growing blog community why we have embarked on this challenge and what we are learning.

I debated with myself for a long time about writing this post. Most of the time I bill myself as an extremely open person. In fact I often have a penchant for discussing things that most people would find inappropriate. However, I don't usually care to talk about my problems or things that are going on in my life that worry, scare, or intimidate me. Those topics, I tend only to discuss with a very VERY select few. Mostly people who would love me or have to love me no matter what. That said, despite the effortlessly witty blog title that sprung to my mind for this post, I was and still am apprehensive about talking about this on my blog. But I'm going to take our "To the Meat!!.." saying to heart, and make this post about what is really at the center of Charcutapalooza for me.
Not too long ago Big D and I adventured into baby making land.... Blindly, with the notion that in moments we would be blessed with a little Fraley to call our own. But as many of you know getting pregnant sometimes takes a little (or a LOT) longer than you could have expected. True to form, I immediately threw myself into every activity, job, craft, cure, etc in a desperate attempt to keep my mind off this process. A process which is supposed to be fun but at a certain point invariable becomes something stressful instead of joyful.

I didn't want to talk about this for a number of reasons. Um fear.. yeah, that's a big one. Fear about something being wrong with me, that is probably the #1 fear. Which is totally unfounded at this point. But every month that ticks by closer to that one year "Hey You're Infertile :)" mark... the anxiety starts to rise. Fear about other people judging or feeling bad for me, or giving the old "just stop trying advice." Ughghhh, I hate that and at this point if I try any less we will just stop having sex all together. I seriously almost cried when a former client of mine referenced our baby making as "Our little problem." Another fear, and I know it's a stupid one, but I'm sure some of you out there would understand.. is that Big D and I have been blessed, I mean amazingly blessed with material abundance beyond our wildest dreams. My worst fear is that there is some sort of cap on happiness. That of all the things I have been most fortunate to receive in this life I will have to be denied at least one thing. And this is the last thing people... the one little bundle between me and my dream life. It's a big fear.. A gnawing never ending fear in my heart that no amount of prosciutto is going to fix despite my best efforts.
So Charcutapalooza is an escape for me. Something constructive to do with my hands, where I can see results and feel good about a project that is entirely unrelated to baby making at all. In fact it revels in not being pregnant, as cured meats become a "no-no."

I don't know what I expect from writing this. I thought maybe it would help just to get it out of my head. And this pancetta is undoubtedly the most beautiful kitchen creation I have ever mustered. But despite it's beauty the more you try not to think about something the more it pops up... so here is my recipe...

Chicken Impregnated with Pancetta
or
Chicken Saltimbocca with home cured Pancetta
Needed:
Two chicken breasts cut in half the long way. ( I press my palm into the top of the breast and cut evenly down the center with a sharp knife. Risky business, so be careful, but it comes out really even that way.)
2 cups shredded stinky cheese (I used a 60 day aged Jack cheese from Gaia's breath farms. But in the past I have used Asiago cheese. Anything stinky and melty will work)
4 large sage leaves
8 thin cut Pancetta slices
1/2 Cup white Wine
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup flour seasoned with Salt, Garlic Powder, Pepper and Chili powder.
4 toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350 deg:

After slicing the breast in half pound them out until they are very thin. ( I do this between pieces of plastic wrap until the chicken is slightly translucent). Set them aside so they can get to room temp. In a frying pan over med heat cook the pancetta until crisp and put on paper towel to drain. Remove pan from heat but keep bacon fat for frying the Chicken later. Take a piece of chicken (lay it the long way)lay one sage leaf at the narrow end with 2 pieces pancetta on top . Take 1/4 of the grated cheese and place on top of the pancetta (I squeeze it in my palm into a rough log shape so it doesn't escape as much during frying). Roll tightly all the way up and secure with a toothpick. Continue with the other four pieces of chicken. Put the frying pan with the bacon grease back over med heat. Dredge all four Chicken rolls in the seasoned flour then add to the pan when hot. Sear the chicken on all sides then place in the heated oven on a baking sheet. Take the white wine and deglaze the pan making sure to get up all the tasty chicken and bacon bits off the surface. Reduce 2/3 then add the chicken stock. Reduce again by 1/2 and squeeze in the 1/2 lemon. Cook sauce until it thickens. Remove the chicken from the oven and return to the frying pan. Toss gently with the sauce then serve over anything ( I chose Swiss chard and teeny potatoes roasted with shallot)... it will taste awesome :)


xoxo
Fast Alice

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Lil' Bitty Bacon!!


I went to the Gossets Famer's Market on Saturday (as I do most Saturdays) and purchased the most beautiful Cheddar-Chili biscuits. They were just begging for an egg and some duck prosciutto bacon. They came out just sooooooo cute. Itty bitty baby bacon slices... almost too cute to eat. I stress almost because after a snapshot and a sigh this meal was devoured by Big D and I in no time flat.

Also..... our pancetta.. is done!!! I seriously can't wait until the 15th to blog about this. I don't think I have ever made anything I was quite so proud of. Making bacon comes with a satisfaction I just can't describe. I encourage you all to try it for yourself if you haven't already.

Valentine's day is just around the corner. Made up holidays always make me feel weird. Part of me wants to indulge and take advantage of any excuse to celebrate in February. The other part says.... Gross comercialism=lame. But at the end of the day I'm a sucker for those Russell-Stoffer chocolates (all dark if you are taking notes). I usually buy them for myself the day after Valentine's Day so I can get one of those HUGE boxes and eat them in bed and whisper.. I love you.. to myself in the mirror...lol. Only half of that is true buy it made me laugh thinking about it.

Happy Valentine's!!

xoxo
Fast Alice

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Duck Prosciutto Take Two :)


Sorry for the radio silence this weekend.  But we had a lot going on here at the ol' Fort.  It was our housewarming party this weekend.  Complete with In-Laws and City friends galore.  Seriously it was awesome... A lot of work.  But awesome.   For the party I decided to revisit the Duck prosciutto for our cheese plate.  This time I did a few things differently.  I did two different seasonings.  One breast was cracked pepper encrusted the other Herbs de Provence.  I used a scale to ensure that the breasts lost between 20-30% weight.  They were much more firm this time and more cured through the center.  I also used our new deli slicer to shave off super thin slices.  Which worked AMAZINGLY well.  We got our slicer at target online for $99 dollars and it was worth every penny.  I already sliced meats for the party which would have cost easily $50 to buy at the deli so it already half paid for itself. 

The prosciutto is hanging in our sun room.  Gently veiled like a bride in cheesecloth. (I was worried it would leave a greasy stain on the wall...lol).  I'm not gonna lie we sampled a little of the prosciutto that I trimmed when I was rolling/tying it... and it was CRACK.  It is taking all my power to keep from running outside and licking it right now... Sigh.  Seven days!!! Arrrghghghhh (shakes fist at the sky).  

But I have this to console myself with..

Hello Lover...
 (Duck Prosciutto and pear)

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Hey.. Shorty!!!

Short Ribs the other day!!! Huge Success.. The Dover sole I made tonight... Fail :( Whaaa Waaaa Mostly because I thought there was some beer (or as a lovingly call it Ghetto white wine) left to deglaze a pan. But lets not dwell on our failures shall we, I'll get to those ribs later.

Big D and I were also very productive today. We went back to our old apartment in Queens to pick up the very last of our stuff. I got pretty choaked up guys.. Not that I'm not happy to be where I am now. Our new home is amazing and I have no regrets. But I was a little overwhelmed at leaving a place where so many big events happened for us. I really loved that space, it was the first home I ever shared with a person I was dating. It was where Big D proposed to me after a beautiful dinner (pork chops, funny enough STL). It was where we returned and lived for the first time as husband and wife. It was where we started our journey together and it was harder to say goodbye than I thought it would be. Not to mention that I have been a total tear machine for the last few days. Ughghggg... hormones I hate you.. hisssssss. So that didn't make it any easier.

Anywho, back to the ribs. I used the Thomas Keller recipe for boneless short ribs. However, the bone in short ribs were on sale so I went with those. Big D is also a bone knawer so I figured old Thom would be cool with it. I'm not gonna lie. This recipe was an afternoon in the making, which I was glad to spare and it was totally worth the time. The meat came out tender and delicious and the reduction from the braising liquid was quite possible the best reduced sauce I have ever made. I also have about a quart and a half of left over braising liquid to use to braise again or reduce at my leisure. Pretty much a big win.


I served the short rib with mashed turnips (one of my favs) and creamed pearl onions (Bid D's fav) For the short Rib Recipe go here. I also substituted fennel for the leeks in the recipe because I didn't have leeks but it was just fine.

Time to go back to spinning and watch Big D play "Fall Out: New Vegas."

xoxo
Fast Alice

PS. I picked up my belly today and it is amazing!! Can't wait to blog about the Salt Cure.. How am I supposed to wait until the 15th.. ARRGGGGG!!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Ho.. Hum... and Ravioli with Duck Prociutto

So I started my two new jobs this past week and so far so good.  The health food store job is really fun.  But everyone there keeps telling me about how much better it was before the owners sold to a big investment company.  Apparently, the small chain of 6 stores was sold a few months ago to some big Canadian investment company and things have been going downhill since.  Not so much in sales but just in ease of day to day operations.  I'm sure sure most of you know the story... great place run by a family, amazing to employees taken over by evil bureaucracy with a new manager every day, nothing getting done, yaada yadda.  Just the general shittyness that ensues when it becomes all about turning a profit and everyone is expendable. 

 So despite liking it in terms of what I'm actually doing all day, it's kinda been a bummer.  I'm not sure if it's just the general moral being down but now I feel really down too.  And believe me folks I have 100% nothing to be upset about.  The biggest tragedy in my life right now is having a gloriously inconsistent e-flat above High C.  It is either totally amazing or completely non existent and I mean like.... whoa.. cry me a river over that one right.  

So in an effort to rally myself out of this totally unnecessary malaise lets talk about things that are great!!  

I found a provider of natural pork and other meats.  It is called Gaia's Breath farm and they have a stand at my local farmers market.  They have a limited variety of items at the market but you can put in an order and they will have it for you the following Saturday for pick up.  They also have a CSA that can be delivered Saturdays to my market too so I'm considering this as well.  Not only am I receiving my belly this weekend but the owner Mark is totally into charcuterie and willing to answer questions and help.  I also purchased 2lbs of pork back fat to freeze for future sausages and confit.  I'll let you know how the curing etc goes once the belly is mine!!   

My ravioli came out great the other night.  The stuffing was a little dry but other than that it was fab.  It was my first time making ravioli solo and I was pretty happy with the outcome.  I used the Thomas Keller recipe for Agnolotti dough.  It worked great.  However, I was really sceptical that it was coming out right.  The dough was REALLY dry.. I mean really.  I was convinced that my eggs, despite being large, were undersized making a less moist dough.  Perhaps I was right or perhaps it was the magic of Thomas Keller and it was totally fine the whole time. 


Pretty nice right!!  They were filled with chestnuts, garlic, parsley, Romano, home made ricotta, salt and pepper.



The finished dish: Chestnut Ravioli with a sauce of duck prociutto, carrots, cherries, and white wine over Khale.

It was pretty tasty, next time I need to get two quarts of milk to make my Ricotta though.  If I had a little more cheese the filling would have had a better texture.  Tonight I'm making the braised short ribs out of the Ad Hoc cookbook.  I'll keep you posted if it comes out great :)

xoxo
Fast Alice

Saturday, January 22, 2011

TailSpin

Thus far I have been very true to my word about projects.  The duck was cured and it was time to begin spinning.  I had been reading the book I bought about spinning.  In fact I read it twice just to be sure I knew what the hell I was doing.  I also watched a few videos on how to spin on  Youtube, check out my fav here.  I was pretty nervous about starting.  

Just as a reminder my Aunt was kind enough to give me a beautiful bunch of wool roving made from the sheep she raises on our family farm.  She told me that it was Shetland wool and was prized among spinners as a great wool to work with.  I didn't want to waist a single fiber I was so honored that she gave me some!!  It takes almost a year to get the wool processed and it costs extra to get back the same wool you put in (think of it like a wool bank but it's cheaper to put in wool and just get back equal weight).  The bag she gave me even has a Ewe number so we know exactly which sheep it came from.  

So I read took notes and decided exactly what I was going to make.  I wanted a thick warm soft yarn to make something cozy.  I chose to make a Woolen double plied (two strands spun together after you spin two singles) with an S twist.  Choosing a plied yarn required more spinning.  First the singles then spinning the two singles together.  Although it is harder I figured it would give me more practice of the mechanics of spinning.  That way even if the outcome wasn't too fantastic I would have felt I truly took advantage of having such great material to work with.  And behold!!!!!.....  I give you... Yarn!



Not bad for a first try right??!!

It isn't totally even, but it did come out better than I expected.  And the Color!!! Who could think of dying this wool it is just soooo pretty.  I love the grey and it has little black fibers too.  

So I was feeling pretty confident folks.. pretty confident indeed.  My Duck came out beautiful, my spinning was great and then I moved on the the pork belly.. and low and behold!!! It is like impossible to get it around here... Whaaaaa Wahhh.  I found one butcher who could get it but I would have to buy the whole belly.  Aprox 20lbs, plus what they wanted per pound just did not make it feasible on our budget.  I went to our local farmer's market today and I may have some success there but I have to wait for the owners to respond to my email.  And I need pancetta right now!!!!  Well, maybe need is a strong word.  I have everything ready to go, salts, juniper berries, deli slicer, but no pork. But I do have a back up plan... Guancialle.  If I can't get or afford a belly I will go with cheek.. So There Universe!! Hah!  You shall not thwart my curing!!  I could also have Big D get one from the meat market in NYC.  But I'm trying so hard to go all natural peeps, so hard.  And it is even more important with a really fatty cut of meat to have good quality.  So if I have to do cheeks, I'll do'em... Sigh.

Now on to home made Chestnut Ravioli.  My Saturday project :)

xoxo
Fast Alice

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Pasta Maven


Glorious success my friends in the pasta department!! OMG.. I had waayy to much fun and my first fettuccini (tear) came out just great. I can't lie I had a couple of practice runs with supervision so I felt pretty confident going solo. Big D was pretty impressed. Although we differ slightly in our idea of ideal doneness in pasta. I like mine very aldente so it has some bite. He prefers more well done. I got my way since I made the meal and it was complete pasta heaven.



My lovely pasta strained and ready for sauce.



I will leave the blogging of this recipe to STL. But all I will say is that is was soooooo good when she made it for us that I had to make it again the next night... Yeah.. that good. Making my own pasta was totally a pretense.



Oh and pork bellies beware.. I am ready for you!! Muahahahahahahaaaa

xoxo
Fast Alice

Sunday, January 16, 2011

My Foot is tapping...

So the festivities of yesterday evening have ended and I'm stuck home with Big D feeling that kind of feeling you get when the run of a show is over.  Not that I have had even the slightest feeling of malaise since we moved here but having my Besties over did make me realize how far away they are :(  But I just remind myself that although there are many more miles between us,  in actual commuting time they are only an extra 20 minutes further on the train than when we lived in Queens.  This idea picked me up enough to gets to house cleaning.  

My wonderful StepMom gave Big D and I the Shark Steam Mop as a house warming gift.  Invariably despite my excitement it has managed to sit in the closet since we moved in until today.  After a grueling hunt for distilled water I was able to use it and the results were very nice!!!  It was light, easy to use, and has washable pads that clean the floor.  We have been really trying to go Green here at Fort Fraley.  The steam kills the bacteria without cleaner and left the floor looking pretty awesome.  My only complaint if I had to make one would be that it was a little more difficult to push than I anticipated.  Not heavy, just the resistance of the floor made it a little tough.  Even writing this I feel like a weenie, I know someone is going.... Um... isn't she a personal trainer... and Yeah!! I AM.. SO WHAT!!  My arms get tired too sometimes.. especially when you are hopelessly right handed.  If I could have switched to my left I wouldn't feel so pooped.  Also, the whole downstairs of the house got cleaned today which is no small feet trust me.  But it only took me maybe 45 minutes, including vacuuming time prior to mopping so not bad.  If you are looking to Green up your house I say go for it.  Now if only I could cure my HORRIBLE addiction to paper towels.  I'm trying people I am!! 

My curing salts don't come in until Tuesday and I really can't stand the wait.  I'm just sooooo eager to get started.  However, I did purchase a food scale at Costco so now I can check weights instead of using a crystal ball to tell when meats are done.  My deli slicer should be coming this week too.  My plan is to kill the anticipation by trying to make home made pasta tonight.... SOLO.  I was lucky enough to have The Boss supervising me the last two times.  But I feel ready.  I'll let you know how it goes.  

Time to go back to the fire and finish reading Emma :)
xoxo
Fast Alice

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Charcutepalooza January!!

Duck Prosciutto
So as I mentioned before I am taking part in Charcutepalooza: The Year of Meat. The first challenge was of course Duck Prosciutto which I have posted on previously.  But the duck... she is a done!!!  I unveiled our pretty duck boobies yesterday afternoon and much to my great excitement they seem to have come out just great.  I was a little concerned that our temporary loss of heat may have affected the outcome so I let them sit in our heated porch (which I left at 50deg)  about 2 extra days.  In all honesty I think they could have perhaps used one more day.  I also don't have a scale so I didn't do any of that useful weighing stuff that may have saved me some anxiety.  I pretty much just went by a.. does it still feel squishy?... methodology.   Hopefully I won't end up with crazy food poisoning.  But who is a real adventurous chef without a little food poisoning....  Another thing was my (duck) breasts were HUGE.  I was wondering why they were so expensive at the Butcher.  

This is a regular size cutting board and you can see they easily take up most of the width... Crazy.  A few things about the outcome.  I was really surprised by how tasty the fat was.  I mean, of course fat usually makes things taste good.  But I'm really much more of a lean meat person.  I get totally turned off by blubbery chewy fat.  It is just not a texture I enjoy.  I was concerned that this recipe would yield a product with a lot of chewy fat and that I wouldn't like it.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that curing the fat made it firm, velvety and delicious.  Not at all what I expected.  Plus, I love that this will keep in my fridge for a few weeks.  This is totally a rich treat and I can't imagine having to gobble it up without sharing with company.  I also have to put it out there that the duck didn't really make me think of eating prosciutto.  It has such a deep minerally taste it really reminded me more of a red meat rather than pork.  Almost like venison.  If you want to get all technical game birds and wild animals usually have more endurance based muscle fibers to help them keep alive in the wild, hence the darker meat with a deeper taste... BAM!!! Personal trainer knowledge!!  

Anywho.. next week is the Salt Cure and I already have my Pink salt and juniper berries on the way. As well as my new meat slicer.  I am just writhing with excitement people.  I just can't wait to make some pancetta, which Big D and friends lovingly call Super-bacon.  Happy Curing and I can't wait to give you more job news soon :)  

xoxo
Fast Alice

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

SNOoooooooowww!!


So crazy CRAZY snow out there people. I have to admit things could be worse though. Being snowed in with my Hubby and crazy kitty are pretty awesome. As was our annual trip to Vermont this past weekend. Holy Hell was that just about the best time ever. Nothing compares with the food, friends and skiing we were privledged enough to enjoy. Big D and I look forward to it all year long and it did not disappoint. Some highlights? Skiing on fresh powder, playing with STL's beautiful baby boy, making pasta with The Boss, and playing a kick ass new version of trivial pursuit. What is not to love.

Not the best time ever was our furnace failing to start yesterday evening when we arrived home from work. Thank God we have a fireplace and had just arrived home with some wood. Also, the heating company was pretty great about getting here and fixing the damn thing. Ahhh Platinum service.. how glad I was to have paid for you. It still doesn't seem to be running totally right but they are coming back in February to clean it out. All things you never knew about as a renter. Along with paying for garbage service, water pumps, septic systems, and how insane taxes really are. Not that I am complaining.. AT ALL. To be honest if we had any idea about all this stuff we would have been totally overwhelmed. Being thrown in the deep end and forced to swim is in my opinion sometimes waaaay better than the alternative. I guess for me the terror of dealing with an new and scary situation is better than the anxiety of knowing and feeling the weight of impending responsibility upon you.. but I digress.

In the world of crazy arts and meat crafts things are going well. The Duck Prociutto seems to be well on its way. Technically it was supposed to be done tonight but the lack of heat I fear may have stunted the drying process a tad. Just to be safe I'm going to give them another 24-36 hours. I'm pretty sure they are close to done though from the texture of the meat. I also ordered a deli meat slicer with a gift card from the wedding as well as other meat curing supplies in anticipation of future pancetta. Mmm.... pancetta. Fingers crossed that it is next on the Charcutapalooza list :) I also read about half of the book on hand spinning today. I managed to totally ignore the laundry and dishes despite the snow and being home all day but whose judging.

I start my first new job on Friday. I'm very excited.. a little too excited. I keep wanting to go in and wander around the store and check things out. But I don't want to seem stalkerish before I even start. I also am dyyyying to know what kind of discount we get on stuff there. The other job, maybe next week. We shall see. I just hope they are fun and low stress. I can't tell you what being out of the city has done for my stress level. Sheesh I feel like a different person. I don't know how I tolerated living at such an excellerated pace for so long. Don't get me wrong there are things I love about NYC. But the little knot of anxiety it put in the center stomach 99% of the time was not one of them.

It's pretty hard to be stressed with this little guy on your lap. Or cold for that matter :)

xoxo,
Fast Alice

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Oh Yee of Little faith

So didn't think I'd be back did you!! Well HA!! Here I am blogging and making good on all my ideas for Fort Fraley.  

First news of the day.  I got a job!  Hoooraaay!  And not one job but two.. my goodness!  I was hired at the personal training place.  It seems great and the hours are of course flexible.  The health food store also hired me to work in there vitamin isle and do some part time cashiering.  Not very glam but $ is $ and a discount on health food is a big eff-Yeah for me so it will be a good gig.  

Now I have to tell my old job I'm leaving :(  I feel pretty sad about it.  I've really enjoyed working at the Health Club I'm at right now.  I've made some great friends and love LOVE my clients.  It will be very sad for me to leave.  But it will be for the best, one of us needs to be near the house.  It is just easier that way.  I also have to find another day to see my amazing voice teacher Deb.  I have been singing up a storm these last few months and I have a list of competitions I want to do this year, so for you city dwellers I will be around at least one day a week still.

On to the projects.  Spin your own yarn you say??  Really.. Well Yeah and I have the book to prove it.
That's right!! I should have taken a picture of the beautiful wool I got from my Aunt but alas I forgot.

And now my Spindle of awesomeness... I don't know how to use it yet.  But I will friends.. I will.


Curing meats, my new hobby as outlined by this amazing book.  I can't tell you how I nerded out when I opened this.  Home made sauerkraut people!! and sausage!!

The duck prosciutto I already started.  Hanging in the hallway next to the garage.  I'm a little worried about it being too chilly in there but we shall see.


The ideal costume for the day.. Can you hear the banjo's playing?  Hello Country!  I'm here to stay!

Next on the agenda, pack for Vermont.  Oh Man... soooooo excited.


Monday, January 3, 2011

My Breasts are Salted...



Alright, well, my duck breasts are salted.  As we discussed earlier curing  meats was on my to do list of new house fantasies and thanks to STL my first project is on the way!!  I am proudly taking part in Charcutapalooza.  In fact I was so excited about Charcutapalooza that I started this project without the book I actually ordered from Amazon to be part of the fun.  It will be here on Thursday, approximately three days into my cure.  What am I making you ask???? Duck Prosciutto.. only the most delicious sounding thing ever!!

This was only a teeny tiny portion of my day however.  I somehow managed to job hunt applying at three different places.  A new age book store, a health food store, and a personal training facility.  All three looked awesome and I have an interview Wednesday about the personal training job, which is cool.  I also did laundry, made some stock, went to the post office...  
A note on the post office.  Our post office is like something in a Norman Rockwell painting.  It is run by one guy named Charlie who remembers every ones name and address.  He is always slightly red faced and smiling with all those little boxy thingies behind him.  The first time I went in to inquire as to why we don't have a mail box (something I will discuss along with a ton of other things you don't know until you live in a house) I almost fell over with amazement and joy.  Especially since the last post office I was in was on 42nd and 8th and a postwoman was walking through the place screaming "We ARe Closing, get all your Christmas shit filled out Now because we will NOT wait for you."  A more apparent contrast between city and country I have yet to see.

Anywho.. it was a very productive day.  Aaaaaaand I blogged.  Sweet... check that one off the list and now I only have to make tacos :)

xoxo
Fast Alice

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Once in a Lifetime...

I'm BAAAAAaaaaaack!!! 
 You know I debated with myself about writing that.  I figured I was truly in some way jinxing myself.  I know...super classy to have two posts in a row, over a year apart hailing my glorious return.  Hopefully, this one will be for reals.  Well, it is at least my intention and I feel like I have tons of stuff to talk about!! Yay!

So I'm almost certain at this point I have only 1 reader left.  STL.. here's looking at you kid. Aaaaad you already know every detail of my life right now.  But lets just overlook this as an exercise in futility and chock it up to blogging practice.
Ok.. for beginners lets start where I left off.  The fairy tale goes something like this..
On October 22, 2009 a mere 2 months after my last post Big D, distracted me long enough from my domestic bliss to propose to me.  I of course in a moment of lady like glory accepted while using the F word approximately 37 times.  Truly a story to tell the grand kids.. AWESOME!



Then in great haste we began to plan our wedding.  In such haste in fact that along with becoming a personal trainer prob killed the little blogging time I had. We had lots of good times planing with exciting things like our wedding venue cancelling on us two months before the wedding... Awesome!! But it was truly all for the best as the venue we ended up using was just perfect.  And on May 30, 2010 we began our journey as married peeps.

AWwwwwwwww :)

We then spent 10 days in Costa Rica which was just about the most amazing thing ever...
I will post our honeymoon video for your enjoyment at a later date..  Don't worry. Nothing expicit.. sheeesh.  Although, I don't blame you for thinking so with my history.

And about six months into our married life we were afforded a most amazing opportunity to be home owners. To which we said... um.. Hell Yeah!!!! And we moved up to Westchester into our beautiful new home.

Fort Fraley under the snow.

So that pretty much catches you up.  We moved in on the 22 of December and have just started to get ourselves acclimated.  Which pretty much means that we are occasionally able to stop ourselves from walking around the house blubbering with amazement long enough to make a coherent sentence.
Let me  just tell you peeps.  I have plans... BIG plans for Fort Fraley.  In my imagination I envision a world of green living, planting, harvesting, curing meats, raising chickens, spinning yarn, making stock, entertaining, singing, needle working and much much more.  How far along I get on these projects is yet to be seen but I honestly have started doing all of these things.  Well at least the first steps to doing these things... and while I'm looking for a new job up here in the burbs I will have time to work on projects.  That is provided I am able to stop smoking the new house crack long enough to get anything done...  

I will post again!!!
xoxo
Fast Alice