My inspiration came from Surly Blog, A blog from the guys at Surly Bikes. They make steel frames and forks that I can personally recommend as some of the best-built frames for the money. (If you are into bikes... If not... suck eggs.)
Speaking of eggs, The Surly boys were in Scotland for the SSWC-07 at the beginning of this month, and blogged about being on the hunt for 'Scottish Eggs'. My interest piqued, I Google'd Scottish (or Scotch eggs as they are properly referred to...) and found a recipe only a drunken bike-riding idiot could love. (Well, we shall see about that.)
Scotch Eggs are a hard-boiled egg, wrapped in sausage meat, breaded and then deep-fried. Sound good? You're on your way to cholesterol heaven.
It starts off easily enough. Hard-boil some eggs, let them cool, then shell them. Mix your ground meat of choice with various spices, etc. I used a mix of 50% pork 50% cow. Mix in some salt, pepper, red chili for pop and a bit of 'Italian seasoning' and you're ready to go. I powdered my eggs with flour before packing them in a meat cocoon. Then stick them in the fridge so they can firm a bit up. After about 15 min, take them out, and cover them well with breadcrumbs. (One recipe says to coat the meat with egg yolk to make them stick better. I did not do this, but can see the advantage of it.)
Heat up a pan with a decent helping of oil and fry them till deep golden brown. Depending on your cocooning you may have to leave them in longer or shorter.
Once finished, you can cut them in half or 3rds and serve hot. A ranch dip is good, or and variation of hot mustard. Make sure your phone has 911 on speed dial.
—Christian
[ 5 comments ] ( 2631 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
I feel like I'm in with the cool kids now. LOL I've been tagged by Sue at Food Network Musings to play this little game. Now, I hope I'm not too awful for doing this, but since I share this site with a bunch of people, and since Quinn is the one who's most active, I thought we'd split the job between us. That means that we'll each post 4 facts and tag 4 people. I'd hate to leave him out of the fun. =)
Rules
1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Steen's facts:
1) It's obvious that I adore food, with few exceptions. I've got some really fond memories of eating mushrooms when I was a child, most often sautéed in some butter and then doused in milk or cream. It's probably still my favorite way to enjoy them.
My ex husband had a long long list of vegetables he despised (shoulda been my first clue...) including zucchini, some other squashes, cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, etc., etc. And, yes, my beloved fungus. It took me eight long years to finally get him to like mushrooms, then we promptly split up.
I've upgraded. Newer. Cuter. Better in every way. Likes most veg. But no mushrooms. <sob> Still, I am so counting my blessings.
2) I'm a solid cook. I know my way around a kitchen and usually feel confident winging it or following a recipe. I cooked at my grandmother's side when I was a child, so I've grown up in the kitchen. And yet, baking scares me. Literally. I get butterflies and heartburn and who knows what else at the very thought. But I've been making progress. Baby steps. I'm determined to conquer my fear and get fat(ter) on home-made bread.
3) Here's a non-food related fact. I'm covered in tattoos. If you had to pick me out of a lineup, I'd be the last one you'd guess was a food nerd.
4) I am super easygoing. Really. Very even keel. I don't tend to get depressed, I'm not one for mood swings. I am a generally happy person who really loves her friends, her boyfriend, her dogs, and appreciates how good life can be. That being said, I've found myself just a hair shy of angry at Bob's kitchen behavior. He refuses to use recipes. Literally. Even when he doesn't know how to make something, he'll just try and figure it out. That's all well and good, but come on! Just a wee little peak. Just to nudge you in the right direction.... How is one to learn? To avoid mistakes? To recreate genius? <sigh>
Apparently, years ago, he managed to construct the ultimate meatloaf. There's no record of it. His subsequent attempts to delight my palate have failed. You know... If he'd written it down somewhere... LOL
Quinn's facts: (Waiting on you, Q!)
Steen tags:
1) ChubbyPanda at The Epicurious Wanderer
2) Recipe Tweaker
3) Kayoko at Umami Mart
4) And, just cuz I know how to suck... I tag Christian, aka The Gimp at Rottenmac, who also happens to be one of us Ham-sters. Come on, pal... It's your time to shine!
Quinn tags:
1) ?
2) ?
3) ?
4) ?
[ 2 comments ] ( 758 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
-Quinn
[ 4 comments ] ( 1121 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
I love butter. (Don't we all?) I really and truly do. Perhaps not quite as much as Paula Deen does, and I'm grateful for that, but still... Case in point: I have very fond memories of a terrible trip to Paris. The trip sucked and I spent a lot of time in my shitty hotel room. My so-called friend turned out to be a worthless skank. Meanwhile, back at home, my piece-of-shit brother robbed someone at gunpoint and then got caught by the cops in MY CAR (which he didn't have permission to use), and my trip money went to bailing his sorry ass out of jail. I did mention a fond memory, though, and that was baguettes and the most delicious butter which is what kept me fed and reasonably content for the duration of my stay.
Having said all that, I was truly excited to stumble across a blog post on The Traveler's Lunchbox about making your own cultured butter like they've got over there in France. The description had my mouth watering and I was all over it. I figured that since I've been making bread here and there, my labor deserved to be crowned by magic.
So, I trucked over to Whole Foods to buy the most ridiculously expensive raw cream (the butter would only be as good as what went into it, right?). Because each pint of cream cost $13 (yes, that's THIRTEEN DOLLARS), I decided to halve the original recipe. I just wasn't willing to spend 26 bucks on butter, even if it's the best butter ever.
Well, I got the ingredients home, printed out the recipe and set to work. For some reason, I decided to measure out the cream and I'm glad I did. I purchased a pint bottle labeled as 470 mL. Upon measuring, I found it to contain only 420 mL. I adjusted the rest of the recipe but I was not pleased. In fact, for the first time ever, I contacted a food producer. I emailed them politely and suggested that they might want to check on their packaging operation. The guy that answered was not amused. In fact, he was downright icky to me saying that I was lucky to be able to buy raw cream and did I know what it takes for them to get it into markets, etc.
Please check The Traveler's Lunchbox for the recipe and photos. The butter came together perfectly and I'm pretty happy to be able to say that I made butter. I've got to say, though, that I wasn't blown away. The loving description had me expecting butter beyond compare, like real earth-shattering, life-changing butter. I got butter. It's good, but I don't think any better than any of the higher-end butters I can find around LA. As costly as the cream was, I don't think it's worth the expense either.
Still, I've got butter under my belt (in more ways than one!) and that's pretty cool.
-steen
tags: home-made+butter
[ 1 comment ] ( 875 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
I ran across this video on You Tube. They call it Cheddarvision, the first three months of a 42 pound wheel of cheddar's life. Evan Klineman has a great interview with the man responsible, Dom Lane, in this archive of Good Food.
-steen
tags: cheesemaking, cheddarvision, cheddar+cheese
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
The so-busy-how-do-they-find-the-time folks over at 5 Minutes for Mom are throwing a big ol' party and all us food-lovin' blogger types are invited! Weeee!
Head on over and check it out. And, sign their Mr. Linky to enroll in their prize drawing.
Here's the skinny, but all the details, list of prizes, and good times can be found at 5 Minutes for Mom.
March 2-9
The party is all about meeting and mingling, so if you've come here from 5MFM, or another blog, be sure to post a comment and say "Hi".
SideOrderofHam.com is made up of a small group of friends with a common interest in food and blogging. I'm one of them.
My name's Steen.
I'm self-employed.
I have two miniature Dachshunds, Belly and Peanut.
Bob's my boyfriend.
He's got two dogs, Marvin (a sheltie) and Barry (a whippet).
We live in Los Angeles.
We have a lot of visitors to our backyard (2 squirrels, 2 scrub jays, 9 mourning doves, a TON of goldfinches, several hummingbirds), and we keep them coming back with peanuts, nectar, flowers, and bird seed.
Ummm...
What else?
I love to cook.
We both love to eat.
I have the raddest kitchen ever.
That's enough for now! There are a bunch of posts to help you get to know us better.
I do hope you'll stick around and come visit again!
-steen
tags: Blog+Party, food+blog, meet+and+greet
[ 9 comments ] ( 536 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
I <3 Tastespotting. Interesting choice of title, since it (for me at least) undoubtedly conjurs up images of junkies and filthy toilets, but...
Such a simple site, but it really grabs you by the eyeballs. Talk about a feast for your eyes! People submit lovely, appetizing photos - their own or others' - and they post them with a link to the originating website. A simple concept, but so right on the money. Go check it out. I dare you to resist the photos.
-steen
tags: tastespotting, food+photography
[ 1 comment ] ( 520 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
Hello All,
I'm new here and I am a self professed foodie- there.. I admitted it. I love good food in any form or at any altitude. Give me hospital food and I will critique it. Tonight I was chatting with Steen about, what else.. food, when I shared with her a much beloved link to a website that I feel NO foodie traveler should be without.
AirlineMeals.net
Are you tired of crappy airline meals? Are you tired of asking for water and getting a little sippy cup sized doling? I say give me the whole bottle dammit! Perhaps you're fed up with paying like $5 for a sandwich sans condiments and donning a layer of neon orange *pasteurized cheese food* that I wouldn't feed my pet rats?
If you agree with any of the aforementioned, then you're a foodie on wings and as such you deserve proper beforehand knowledge of what meals you can expect while trapped in those metal birds. Arm yourselves, take to the skies with a camera. Snap a few shots of the meals you've loved/endured and you can help other foodies on wings become empowered before they confirm that flight.
The days are gone when I could pack myself a cute little plane picnic. Now when I fly, I have to bare my soul in a plastic bag just to get through boarding. Good-bye fair chef salad and umpteen litres of Evian tucked safely away in my carry-on, ready at a moment's notice- waiting to be imbibed. Good-bye lovingly prepared spinach wrap, you are now replaced with sub par vittles peddled at a premium that I begrudgingly pay for.
Economy, Business or First class.. we deserve good food!!
Personally, I love flying Lufthansa, and up until recently, there was internet access aboard most flights. Let's face it, we're all pretty much suckling on the teat of the world wide web, so net access on a plane is a boon on any flight. Also on Lufthansa, not only does the wine and cocktails flow like the river Nile, but the food is actually pretty good. Camembert, Pinot Grigio, a sun-dried tomato pasta and lemon scented linen face towels prior to our meal pretty much sum up my experience on Lufthansa Economy class to Frankfurt from LAX.
We are no longer stuck up there at their mercy. Foodies on wings unite!
-tara
tags: airline+food, eating, dining
[ 3 comments ] ( 572 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
Now, those of us (in NYC at least) who feel as though we missed out on something great finally get to bask in the sterile glow of the Automat. Who knew. So, whattaya think? Will we see them popping up all over the country? Only time will tell.
I'm gonna have to get Chris to swing by there and tell us what she thinks. She hasn't posted yet, but perhaps all she needs is an assignment. LOL
-steen
tags: automat, food, New+York+City
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
I laughed aloud when I saw these Dharma Initiative food labels on the Insanely Great Tees site (followed a link from Brownie Points *thanks!*). The nice folks at IGT clearly have too much time on their hands, but since we all get to benefit from it, I'm not poo-pooing. They are providing printable PDF files and application instructions. So helpful.
These guys are funny. Note the Serving Suggestions:
Crisps = Snack
Cola = Drink
Mayonnaise = Scoop
And, mayonnaise is called "emulsified condiment" on the label. Haha.
Promptly printed and applied. There's a surprise waiting for Bob when he gets home from his recording session tonight. Dharma beer. Nice!
-steen
[ 1 comment ] ( 254 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
Next
Categories
