Weird food experiments

A couple people have mentioned Kale Chips or Crispy Kale recently, going on about how un-healthy it tastes and how it's the perfect substitute for potato chips. It sounded easy enough to make - rip up kale and toss with olive oil and salt, then bake on a cookie sheet about 20 min. I bought a bag of curly kale at the farmers market this weekend to try. I got the garnish-style kale, rather than the somewhat scary dinosaur kale - just look at this picture and tell me it doesn't creep you out.

It was easy to make, although the kale tended to leap out of my bowl as I tossed it with oil. Perhaps because of the hyperbolic potential energy in the leaves? I baked it at 325 for 20 min, which turned out to be a touch too long. Still, it came out super crispy and instantly addictive. I ate probably a quart size bag without thinking.   The only problem I found is that it was too light and airy crispy. Once you bit a piece it exploded in your mouth into a puff of nothingness. As scary as the dinosaur kale looks, it might pack more tooth-wallop than the dainty-textured curly kale. But I'm definitely going to make it again, and if I ever go to a potluck I'll have to bring it as a snack for people. I think it would also be really good with spices instead of the salt. So, 3 cheers for food experimentation!

Awesomest cookies ever!

I just made a trial batch of Southwestern Thumbprint cookies - shortbread cookies made with blue cornmeal and jalapeno jelly filling the thumbprint dent. They have totally surpassed any other cookie to be my #1 favoritest cookie OF ALL TIME. When you bite one, your teeth cut right through the jelly dollop and the shocking heat of the jalapeno jelly really wakes you up. It also cuts down on the icky-sweet feeling of eating too many cookies. The cookie itself, without the jelly, is pretty damn tasty too. It's a rich tasting shortbread (brown sugar, flour, and too much butter for heart health) made slightly chewy by the cornmeal. I found the recipe in the new Better Homes & Gardens magazine called '100 Best Cookies: Love on a Sheetpan' that's out in stores now. I thought I'd try it on a lark to eat with a pot of chili, it sounded interesting and fairly easy to make. I *never* expected it to be so snarfable. I'm totally bringing them to my company's cookie tasting (akin to a wine tasting) party in a couple weeks. Admittedly they're not for everyone (I think a little kid might start crying if they bit one), but we have so many pepper lovers there I'm sure they'll be a hit. Now all I have to do is avoid eating any more than I already have tonight...I kind of lost count...there was the first one hot from the oven, a second to make sure it really was as good as I thought, one to see what they're like cooled, one nibbled around the edges to see what the dough alone was like...um...I'm going to pretend that's all I had. It might be, I don't remember any others...

Finally, some cookie baking

About 3 years ago (must be that long ago, my hair was still too short to do anything with) my friend Jan & I got together to bake xmas cookies. We had a fantastic time, learned that 2 people adding ingredients to 1 recipe is a recipe for disaster, ended up with far too many cookies, and agreed to do it next year. Since then every time we plan to make cookies some crisis occurs that makes us cancel. Serious crises like detached retinas. But every year we make the plans. It's become a bit of a running joke. So we were a bit shocked and excited that we successfully got together to make cookies this year. Her son was home from college and agreed to help us. It was all going smoothly until we started cutting out the eggnog rollout cookies. There was a gingerbread man cutter and her son & I had a terrific time producing mangled and mutated cookies. Every dismemberment was accented with red sugar sprinkles. I remember doing the same type of thing as a kid, with the same reaction from the "mom" - quiet laughter and head shaking. Here's the final batch of freak men cooling. Can you find: Siamese twins, Tiny Tim, the one with Gangrene, the amputee, Antennapedia man (gotta love the drosophila genetics), the one with IBD, the vampire victim, The one who's boggling at the horror of it all, and the Frenchman? Brilliant!

Who needs teflon?

I've made some fancy meals, or desserts that take a lot of manipulation, like baklava. But they don't give the same satisfaction as perfectly preparing a basic down-home recipe, the kind that everyone's grandma or mom makes better than anyone else. Tonight's conquest was sausage gravy cooked in my cast iron skillet. I'm sure you're thinking, what's the big deal? But really, it's one of those dishes that women around here have spent decades preparing, so when you get it right, it's a great thing. And my cast iron pan finally has that fantastic teflon-like coating to it. Check out how clean the pan bottom is where I dragged the spoon through it. (The color in the photo is a bit off because of the light we have over the stove.) A quick wipedown with hot water and it's ready for use again.

Speaking of cast iron, I need to season the bake kettle (dutch oven) I got for camping. It's got the little feet underneath and the raised rim on the lid for coals, and is wide enough to bake a pie in.
It was used, but I removed the years of gunky buildup (lye-based oven cleaner, spray and leave in a trashbag for 2-3 days) and now it's back to bare metal and ready for seasoning. Thankfully I have a half-pint of cooled bacon grease ready for the job. Hmm...I wonder how this is going to smell?