One of the oldest written recipes in the world...

is for beer.

Gotta love mankind for that. I ran across this little guy wen I did a research project on Home Brewing. I wanted to know a little about the history, and methodology behind making beer itself, and this is one thing I found...

This recipe is the oldest surviving recipe for beer made from barley via bread in a poem about the patron brewing goddess Ninkasi, Sumerian circa 3900 b.c.

Ninkasi, you are the one who bakes the bappir in the big oven,
Puts in order the piles of hulled grains,
You are the one who waters the malt set on the ground...

You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweet wort...

Ninkasi, you are the one who pours out the filtered beer of the collector vat,
It is [like] the onrush of Tigris and Euphrates

*single tear*
that was beautiful.

And this ancient poem/recipe also reminded me that I need to get on the ball with this home brewing business!!! I haven't brewed since the beginning of the year, and there is no excuse for that. So anyone interested in learning the process can come and join me for some brew and "Q" this coming week(most likely Tuesday evening). We'll cook some grub, make a batch of something even old Ninkasi would be proud of, and put a few back in the process.

More coming up on beer and food relations in the near future my skinny pals,

mk

And another!!!

World famous Fatman Cranberries:

this recipe is easy, and makes that jelly can stuff seem(somehow) even more ridiculous...

2 bags fresh cranberries
2 cups water
2.5 cups sugar
4 good sized naval oranges
1 lemon
1 cup toasted and crushed pecans(or any nut really)

Heat the water in a sauce pot.
When it begins to simmer, whisk in your sugar gradually, until all is dissolved. Now zest and juice your oranges, whisk that in. Now juice your lemon, add that and the fresh cranberries. bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to med and cook down the berries. Keep stirring them occasionally and cook until the liquid in the bottom of the pan is a nice syrup consistency. Pour in to ceramic or glass container, and sprinkle with the nuts.

Bon apetit, people!

First in the Series of Holiday Recipes

Here is the fatman's own recipe for grilled sweet potatoes:
makes roughly 16 servings...

4 lb sweet potatoes (8; preferably long)
1/2 pound unsalted REAL butter, melted slowly over low heat
2 tbsp walnut oil
1/2 cup maple syrup(not Mrs. Butterworth's, get the real Vermont stuff)
kosher salt as needed
2-3oz crushed toasted walnuts for garnish



Cover potatoes with cold salted water in a large pot, then bring to a boil. Simmer until slightly resistant in center when pierced with a sharp small knife, 25 to 30 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl of cold ice water to stop cooking(this method is called blanching and shocking by the way). Drain well. When cool enough to handle, peel potatoes with a sharp small knife and quarter lengthwise. Then lightly pat them dry.

Now heat up your grill. you can use gas or charcoal(coal gives a bit more flavor, but takes longer). Either way, make it piping hot, and make sure it is clean and WELL OILED or the potatoes will stick.

While that is heating up, make your dipping sauce. Basically combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk vigorously until in comes together. Then put mixture in a saucepan on low heat to keep warm for service.

When fire is hot (you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 1 to 2 seconds), grill potatoes in 2 or 3 batches, uncovered, turning, until grill marks appear and potatoes are just tender, 3 to 6 minutes total.

Now platter those bad boys up, drizzle a little of your sauce over the top, and reserve some sauce for dipping on the side. Sprinkle with crushed walnuts to finish. Congratulations, you just helped reinvent thanksgiving!

Turkey-Lurkey-DOOOOOO!

Ah, yes, one of the most loved(and simultaneously hated) holidays there is for the culinarian. That rush of piecing it all together in the last minute and kicking people out of your kitchen trying to scavenge. That enjoyment of nourishing those you love with food you made and making them and yourself uncomfortably full. Yes nothing personifies good old American gluttonous feasting like Thanksgiving.

And yet to some chef's, the limits of that "same old dish" every year can seem stagnant. So do something different with your bird this year. It practically screams to messed with. Turkey is a rather bland poultry that offers plenty of moisture and surface area to work with. Try an herb rub, or spice it up with a chipotle cranberry glaze. Hell, barbecue your gobbler this year and surprise your friends and neighbors. Whatever you decide on, it will be memorable, and people will still get their fill i promise you.

Another dish that gets overplayed( though comfort foods are great mind you) is the ever present sweet potatoes with piles of meted marshmallows bit. This year, why not suffer through the few wrinkled noses and cautious doubters and go out on a limb. Give scalloped sweet potatoes with Vermont cheddar a try. The sweetness of the yams/sweet potato and the savory of the cheese and cream go really well together. Or make grilled sweet potato wedges and serve it with a maple butter dipping sauce. This is Texas dammit, we can grill anything, any time.

One nice addition that is easy to remedy from the table of the ghost of Thanksgivings past is cranberry sauce. All too often it plops out of a can on to a plate, and is cut in to unappealing rounds of gelatinous goop. The alternative here: make your own with fresh cranberries. Put some orange segments and lemon zest in there. Add some walnuts on top, or even pecans. Get creative and break the Cornucopia of tradition.

I will post the recipes that I mentioned in this entry tonight, but for now, get those imagination machines fired up and ready, because we have a holiday coming up here people!!!

Gobble, Gobble and all that jazz my thin friend,
mk

I'm back!

This has been a crazy time for a lot of us. Things beginning and ending, hurricanes and loss. Yes, my skinny comrades it has been trying, but the Fatman is back now, so fret not.

I just thought I'd share some of the places I have been to in the last few months, briefly, and then get to work on processing all of the different Mexican food places I have been surveying in Houston(I should have the results of my little experiment up by next week).

One place that was pretty cool as far as mom/pop joints here in Tejas I stumbled upon by chance while searching for gas during the recent disaster. Going to Brenham is never a frequent occasion for me, but there is a little pizza place on 290 going through town that was pretty damn good. It is called Rebecca's Cafe, and it serves a variety of home cooked sandwiches and pizzas that are well priced, and well made. The service was friendly, and they had free wifi, which after days with no power or Internet was like drinking spring water in the desert.

Another place that always impresses me is Vespaio in Austin (check out the menu/pics at www.austinvespaio.com). Their take on Italian food is very well executed, and always fresh. Now this place is not for the thrifty-hearted, but the plates are very well designed with food, and cooked perfectly. Another cool aspect of the food was the portion sizes. They were filling, but NOT overcrowded and heavy. One thing about Italian food, is that some places love to kill meats and pasta dishes with sauce, diminishing the effect of some basic skill mastery(ex: tasting the pasta in ravioli, or the subtle nuances of flavor in delicate seafood) The chef at Vespaio is able to bring out very well balanced and powerful meaning in the food without over doing it. I had a hangar steak there, and it was the first time in over a year that I received a perfectly cooked piece of beef when it arrived at the table. Also, though in the middle of the Texas hill country they still had some of the freshest Malpac oysters I have ever been privileged enough to eat. Even the wine list and service were outstanding. In the end, the bill wasn't pretty, but the satisfaction of really being treated like someone special was well worth it.
Hope you all are well, and you will hear from me soon

-mk-

Tore-Tillah Madness

This one goes out to my friend from Buffalo...

When I was a kid, there were few comparisons to the smell of bacon frying just before I got up in the morning. Wafting in through the air, the sweet smokey smell was a sign that someone had gone out of their way to do something special for me, no matter how simple that one action was. The same was and is true for biscuits, or fresh baked cookies, or a number of other pungent comfort foods. Becoming more ideas than food, they are all attached to a pleasing smell that sets off our taste buds and floods our thoughts with pleasant memories past associated with them. (Man I could really go for a fresh baked cookie right now)

Thinking of all this reminded me of a conversation that I had with a friend where I listened to him describe a little taqueria near his house with great enthusiasm(called Taqueria Laredo I believe). The focus of the excitement wasn't based on the main stream type of Mexican food highlights you come to expect, like the salsa, or the so-and-so tacos, or the price of the Margaritas or even Queso(which is Tex-Mex by the way my skinny pals).

No, this was more sincere and as my culinary mind soaked it all in I thought of those comforting foods and smells from years ago and their profound affect on me. He was talking about the fact that they have a station set up for hand-made tortillas with three or four different ladies cranking them out in some Spanish grandma symphony of movement. My eyes glazed over and I could almost smell the delicious smell of the tortillas toasting to perfection on the hot griddle as he described the process. It was but a fleeting moment in a description of some one else's food fantasy, but I am now motivated to say the least.

So, I have decided to spend the next month or so going to as many REAL Mexican food places in Houston as I possibly can, and will put out my top ten at the end of August/beginning of September. This will include taco carts, Taquerias, and even some in between places that claim to be authentic Mexican food. We're gonna put them on the griddle and see what sizzles, people! It is my duty as a Fatman, as a blogger, and as a lover of frying smells and gooey cookies to succeed in the face of this great task.

Have a place in your hood you think should be included? Know about a "secret" location for the perfect Torta? Found the best taco cart in town?
Write me and let me know. I want to be knee-deep in your ideas, you skinny supporters of mine.

Until next time los Amigos Flacos,

mk

Chopstick Fever

Ok, so we all know that when you go to a Mexican restaurant one of the first signs of quality is based on the chips and salsa they serve, right? So what is the standard early warning sign of Chinese food I wondered recently?

Is it the egg rolls, the rice, or the General chicken? No, too easy.
Maybe it is the cheese puffs\ crab wantons with the horribly sweet but delicious dipping sauce...mmm fried cheese.
Though all of these deserve mention, I finally decided recently that, for me, the biggest hint at the quality of food and ingredients you will receive lies in the murky depths of the Hot & Sour Soup bowl.

The consistency, level of spice, type of mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and quality of tofu all play an integral role in the soup's final outcome. If a restaurant uses dried shiitakes in their soup instead of meaty fresh ones, the whole experience is thrown off. Use pickled or canned bamboo and you turn the foodie frown upside down. Tofu falling apart and flavorless? Your soup comes out looking and tasting a bit pre-chewed.

Something so simple, and yet with so much room for error. One of my favorite places in town is actually a little private owned cafe in a strip center along Studemont. It's called Sam's Cafe, and it is an awesome example of a quality Chinese dive. The decor and size of the place aren't stellar, but the sweet and sour soup is one of the best I've ever tasted, and consistently so. This carries over in to their other foods as well, like the tofu in black bean sauce or the sesame chicken which are both really tasty.

Sometimes I go there just for the soup, when I'm sick, or need a quick bite, or am too hungover for more solid foods. It always hits the spot, and it is as kind to your palette as it is to your wallet($1.50 for a small).

Send me your favorite places for Hot & Sour soup, or favorite Chinese places and why. Think there is something else food-wise that marks the level of quality? let me know...let's get a discussion going here people!

Hamburgler strikes again!

Take a big stack of meat, bread, cheese and condiments and give it a personality. Make it asian, or greek, or vegetarian, or classic with mustard. Make it with secret recipes and extra love and attention. However you do make it, call it a burger.

What is your perfect burger?

Take the poll at the bottom of the screen, and leave comments on this blog entry on what your perfect version is(don't worry you don't have to give away your recipes). I will be writing an article in the future on culture and comfort foods, so your input is invaluable, my skinny friends.

If you don't know what you think the best burger is, here are some links to a couple of articles in the recent food press and or internet world that might help(one costs over five thousand dollars!):

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-23233092;_ylc=X3oDMTFyazc5MG8yBF9TAzI3MTYxNDkEX3MDMjcxOTQ4MQRzZWMDZnAtdG9kYXltb2QEc2xrA2J1cmdlcnMtMjAwOC03LTE1

http://thatsatastyburger.blogspot.com/2005/07/rating-tasty-burger.html

http://www.yelp.com/list_details?list_id=jcGaFKXquJmQ1z2dU8FTmg

File this one under new technologies...

I just heard about something today that reminded me of an article I once read. At risk of being the " I read that somewhere" guy, it really did relate to some interesting innovations in present day cookery. It's a relatively new concept(since the 1990's) that is just becoming popular. It's called sous-vide cooking. You place food, braising liquid and herbs and spices in this airtight bag and cook it for long periods of time. The biggest benefit is that it allows the entirety of your food product to absorb the flavors you intend throughout, especially good for tougher meats and stewed items. Recently taken further as just vacuum cooking(especially used in Cantonese cuisine) the food also happens to increase risks for botulism because of it's low temperatures and long cooking times. That's the downside I'm guessing.
This subject intrigues me. I think I'll research it more and do a write-up on it later on. Send me any info you may have/ funny stories about wet grey meat out of a bag. Until then my skinny friends...

MK

Here are some examples on the web of what I'm getting at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_flask_cooking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sous-vide

Late Night Pie-O-My

For those un aware of the Houston pizza scene, Late Night Pie is an establishment dedicated to the late night cravings of two items meant to be together, beer and piping hot pizza pies. And thier take on the old favorite out-lasts the compitition in that it stays open untill two in the morning.
That little explination aside, this general concept has recently been picked up and moved a few blocks away to its new location on Tuam(2 blocks east of Brazos). The space is bigger, cleaner, and offers plenty of entertainment via the many game machines, pool table, and even outdoor ping pong on their giant patio in the back. Luckily for us, the building changed, but the ice cold beer and classic pizza stayed the same.

I recently went back with a small group aound ten at night to find the place scattered here and there with patrons, and the familiar smell of the "Bossman" welcomed me from the kitchen. As a chef, this pizza is up there in my opinion with the best. The crust is thin but not crispy, almost hand tossed style. The toppings make the flavor of each bite meld well together and the slices aren't drowning in over sweet sauce.
Goat cheese, artichokes and spinach are the stars of this pizza, and it even comes with a horribly fattening but oh-so-deliscious garlic and drawn butter dipping sauce. We paired the pie with a slightly fruity, cloudy, Hefeweisen and headed outback to enjoy the open air a decent view of the city.
And as a side note, the service was just as friendly as ever, with the bartender even coming outside to check on us numerous times to make sure we were all satisfied. This was a change from the one aspect of the old location that had some downside(the understaffed service team) and was refreshing to see an attentive and considerate person in charge. The only thing is that like most non-corporate places, because of the better ingredients and fresh dough, the pizza ain't cheap(our large cost about $20 with tax and all) but it fills you up and does not leave you feeling ripped off.
Now I know that pizza and beer is hard to mess up in the overall view of the culinary tradition, but it is the small comforts of neighborhood establishments that set them apart from the chain joints and their cookie-cutter appearance and style.
I have to say, as the first place I am officially reviewing, I was really impressed by the new and improved Late Night Pie and definately reccomend it to anyone who hasn't been. I give it two garlic-butter slathered fatman thumbs up!

The Great Debate

One highlight a lot of people talk about after they visit a restaurant (that I will bring up fairly regularly), is perceived value. That age old test of quantity vs. quality. Some places offer huge portions that most people can't finished in one sitting, but lacks creative integrity. Tipping the other side of the scale, we've all been to the higher end places that wow the chefs and foodies of society by offering rare ingredients and complicated cooking techniques, but then offer you a three ounce steak and two bites of a starch for forty dollars. These examples are a bit extreme, but it none the less strikes a chord with almost every person I meet. So what is your opinion, dear reader? you weigh in and debate, what is better...more lower quality, or less premium quality? Let the Great Debate begin...er...continue!

It begins....

So the purpose of this blog is to provide a little insight in to the area eateries (or wherever else i might eat) and food in general with an objective and culinary trained mindset not usually provided by other review sources like CitySearch and B4-U-Eat. Also, I guess I will use it to start discussions on new technologies and innovations in the culinary field, and, of course for anything else i may find funny, relevant, or entertaining. Hopefully you will enjoy this little project of mine... until next time my skinny friends.