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Cooking For Newbies: Eggs

Sep 3rd, 2010 by admin

A good friend of ours, Adam, just moved in to our apartment. Up until that point I have lived with my roommate, and the lead singer of my band, Tim, for 6 years. It was incredible living with him but you can probably imagine after six years of being in a band together and in close living quarters that  it was time for us to live apart. Our new roommate, Adam, is a great dude and a brilliant film maker so expect to see some video content coming to Y-I-Eat-N soon enough… (Check out his stuff here)

Tonight I met his buddy, Sean, at the apartment and Sean seemed interested in food but claimed he could not cook at all. He said that he would love to learn how to cook but that he had no idea where to start and wondered  if he did not have that innate passion within him if it would be possible to learn at all. Just the sheer fact that he wanted to learn was all I needed to hear. Upon asking me what cook books I recommended for a beginner, and after coming up short on an answer, we came up with an idea.

I am going to start a section on this blog to offer really basic cooking tips for someone just getting started. I will attempt to write recipes that are thoroughly detailed and try to hit on the things I usually look over as a cook, the simple stuff. Please feel free to write in with your basic cooking questions, tips, and thoughts. I am going to try to remember back to the old days when I was still not yet a virgin and I made simple food (did you read that last line right?). When I started cooking I pretty much cooked everything on the George Forman grill. The “Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine.” Boy was that thing classic. It was little more than a panini press on a slant, and what better way to suck out all of the flavor and juices in your meat, overcook it, and dry it out?

As for what to start teaching someone, well, I have to start back with the first thing that I remember making. Eggs. Omlettees, scrambled eggs, eggs over easy, sunny side up, all that fun stuff, they are all so damn good! Not much better than an egg cooked properly. I am still working on the format but for now the instructions are in bold and I have added liner notes in italics. These are simple instructions, do not be turned off by the liner notes, they are simply things I have learned over the years that may help.

Scramble Eggs Recipe

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Food Wheelers

Sep 2nd, 2010 by admin

“Middle Eastern” Feast

When often asked what I “do” for a living I can’t help but think that the word caterer is a harsh misrepresentation of what goes on at Brothers Green (my brother and I cook). For one, when you think of caterer you might be expecting a group of people wearing the white button down bow tie combination hidden behind a bunch of reheated chafing dishes. This is often the immediate picture that is painted in my head when I hear that someone is involved in catering and not that there is anything wrong with that, but that isn’t exactly what we do over here. Also, we do not have an official business and so it has taken us some time to fully understand why we do what we do, but like all things in life, we have to learn as we go.

With the help of some friends I have invented a new term to properly identify what we do at Brothers Green. We are Food Wheelers. What is a Food Wheeler? A Food Wheeler is no more than a friend who wants to help you with all of your food related needs. There is no official company. We are two “chefs,” and brothers ,who love to cook and who have realized how important it is for your overall being to be eating well prepared and cared for meals. We personalize each and every meal, whether it be; dinner party, home delivery (meals on wheels), cooking lessons, large events, or anything beyond, we want nothing more than to help fulfill your wants and needs.

I have come to understand that a large portion of New York City dwellers do not have the time and/or the ability to eat home cooked meals and so this is where Brothers Green can be of some help to you. We really do love food, we love preparing it, shopping for it, serving it, making it taste different than anything you could otherwise imagine, and we love helping out where others might come up a bit short. It is not all that different from asking a muscular friend of yours who works out often to take you to the gym and show you how to tune up your body. You asked him because you trust that he knows what he is doing and can help you achieve your goals. Sure, you could go hire a professional trainer, but what better way to learn about the body than from friend with whom you trust? That is all we hope for at Brothers Green, to be a friend who, like all friends, is here to help you in your life long journey.

(A Wheeler is also a “Master Pimp” so I am sure you can only imagine how we loved that tie in to the name)

As pictured above (Sample of Home Delivery Options)

  • Jicima, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad with a Balsamic Honey Dijon Vinaigrette
  • Tofu Spiced Fried Rice
  • Whole Wheat Pita
  • Cucumber Tzatziki Sauce
  • Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
  • Grilled Veggies
  • Potato, Carrot, and Corn Soup

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Ciabatta Recipe

Sep 1st, 2010 by admin

Somewhere between chef who hates recipes and Baker who is bound by the laws of nature to follow them there exists a world where the two can collide. This world seems to be looked over when the war between baker and chef collide, but it is out there, oh yes, it is out there.

When it comes to making bread, while there are certain “rules” that should be followed, there is a lot of space for one to play around with the recipe. If I am going to make a basic white dough I always use either a packet of yeast or 2-2.5 teaspoons of my instant yeast. If you use active dry yeast you have to soak it in warm water around 110ºF for 5-10 minutes before continuing on. But that aside, once the yeast is activated you can really add whatever you want. At this point I will add some sugar to help feed the yeast, holding off on salt until I add flour so as to not kill the yeast, and whatever other seasonings I would like to have in my bread. Then, depending on how much water you added, I just keep adding flour, about 1/2 at a time and mix until the dough comes together and it is sticky but not too watery where it would stick to my hand. You can learn, by simple practice, what the dough should feel like avoiding exact measurements and making this process a bit more enjoyable and free.

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Y-I-Rarely Write Recipes (How To Follow A Recipe)

Aug 31st, 2010 by admin

Plum Pie with a Cream Cheese Crust, Granola, Caramel Fudge and Nectarine Sorbet

When I cook I am experimenting, constantly. Over the years I have developed enough knowledge to be able to cook well enough (and safe enough) to the point where I don’t worry about the risk of completely destroying a dish all that often. Sure it happens as often as it needs to, I screw up big time and must start over, but I can usually save my chaotic cooking efforts and turn them in to something new and unexpected.

This is why I rarely follow the recipe. Recipe’s are a great way to start out understanding how cooking works, to see basic details as to how you cook something, what pairs well with it, how long it has to marinade for, etc. But what are the long term effects of recipe following? Dependence? Withdrawal? Loss of self? Robotic Love? Uncontrollable urination? There was one night a few years ago when I was making cookies for a halloween party, and for the sake of the story, lets just say I wasn’t in the same head I am usually in,  and so I skipped a “critical” direction. “Shit, I have to start over again”.

“Wait, how do I know that the recipe I am following is right? For all I know this “mistake” that I made may turn out to create the worlds perfect cookie. But all this time I had listened to what Mr. Micookerton said in his recipe and assumed HE was right” (All of this conversation happened in my head). Point is, how do I KNOW he is right?

Sure, this blog will continue to house recipe’s, tips, and all things cooking, but there are plenty of blogs out there, with plenty of delicious recipes, for you to search for and figure out yourself. Between the amount of stuff on the internet and the various places saying “my recipe is the best”, “No mine is the best” “no trust me, this one is the best”, you have enough on your plate as is, why not try to take in what they all say and rationally figure out what makes the most sense? Stealing from parts of each. It is not unlike starting a band. You have yet to find “your sound” yet and so you grab bits and pieces from all the bands that you like and see where that gets you. This is how I learned how to “borrow” from recipes, housing as much knowledge as I could to create something unique and special to my own understanding.

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Everyday Appetite: Pita Pita!

Aug 30th, 2010 by admin

Whole Wheat Pita stuffed with Tofu Friend Rice served with Fresh Tzatziki sauce, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Grilled Veggies

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“Cooking And Meditation” Are Like “Love and Basketball”

Aug 30th, 2010 by admin

Over the past few years I have noticed a new trend in the spiritual marketplace. Maybe it is simply a fad that is going on in NYC that keeps getting shoved in my face, or perhaps it is something more. Between the spike in the popularity of Yoga, Buddhism, and Julia Roberts starring in a movie called “Eat Pray Love”, who knows what will be next?

I will tell you what comes next. “Meditation and Cooking”. The name sounds as obvious as “Love and Basketball” (which I couldn’t stand when I saw it years ago), but that is because I thought it up myself. So what is meditation and what is all this fuss about it? It seems to be getting more and more popular amongst the common folk these days. Meditation, from my experience, is great, if followed and understood correctly. But there are a few things that most people seem to miss out when attempting to meditate and because of this they rarely give it enough of a shot to significantly affect their life.

You can; sit in your room, in lotus position, turn off the lights, light a candle and some incense, put on tibetan chant prayer music, and try to clear your mind and relax. After months of hard and focused practice you might even get somewhere.  Might achieve some level of inner peace or clarity. But let me offer up one piece of advice that most people seem to miss on out. While clarity and inner peace might seem like a nice idea, it can only take you so far. How do you really know that you are making personal progress? Maybe you are simply learning how to block out your problems while in a relaxed and controlled environment. Perhaps you are just slapping a band aid over that deep cut of yours hoping that it will just take care of itself.

What I am getting at here is that meditation is not simply something that you do in your room with the lights off (though I can think of a few things that one would do DO in this fashion). It is actually something that you can be doing at any moment. While having a conversation with someone, while playing an instrument, and even, while cooking. Meditation is not much different than a deep state of thought and awareness, with the “goal” of no-thought. It has little to nothing to do with sitting, eyes closed, in the lotus position surrounded by candles and statues of the smiling Buddha. Sure, that is one way to meditate, but it is not the only ONE WAY. In order for that aspect of meditation to really work you have to go out in to life and confront yourself, face your fears. Then, when you have time, you can come back and relax, in whatever comfortable pose you would like, to reflect on the situation and put your mind at ease.

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Posted in Wise Man Food | 2 Comments »

Star Tomato Sauce (Recipe)

Aug 27th, 2010 by admin

I was working on a post for today but it may have been a little too weird for all you Friday heads out there trying to survive the last day of the week and get your weekend on, so I will save the weirdness for monday. In other news I just woke up and remembered that through most of my dream I was running from bombs. Ever have those?

Yesterday I hit the jackpot. I didn’t win the lottery but I might as well have. Since it has been raining for the past few days I decided to let my plants do their thing with the hopes of coming back to them full of surprises. Thing about change is that it is really hard to notice when you see the same thing, or the same person, day after day. We tend to take snapshots of things and solidify them in our minds as being a certain way. I like to call this the hair growing principal. If you see a person everyday you might not notice that they are growing their hair out. But take that same person, have them out of your life for a month, and upon returning you might just be surprised at how long their hair has grown.

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More Free Stuff!!! Riddle Me This

Aug 26th, 2010 by admin

Since my last giveaway was only for the NYC area, I thought I would do one for anyone living in this great big place we call Earth. I was asked to host a giveaway for my readers by the people over at CSN. The winner will receive a $40 gift certificate to the CSN website where you can buy all kinds of stuff like a dutch oven amongst other things.

All you have to do to win the gift certificate is answer me this:

“You throw away the outside, and then you cook the inside. Then, you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?”

(Hint* not all cultures would throw away the outside, some would use it for other cooking purposes)

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Truth Be Told

Aug 25th, 2010 by admin

“OH MY GOD, IT REALLY IS TRUE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT YOU!!!”

It was almost as if it was a real person, the Japanese 8′ Chef’s blade we had just bought. The minute we brought it up to the apartment we grabbed a fresh tomato and began slicing. Moments later, eyes lit up, I said the words above. How could I have been so freaking stupid all of these years? I knew that a good knife was all a chef really needed, but I didn’t fully respect the knowledge until that first slice. As the blade cut through that tomato as if it was a stick of butter my heart received a quick jolt of ecstasy (not that I would know what ecstasy feels like, I swear…).

Upon using the knife I came to a quick realization. My knife skills were pretty damn good. You know they say it’s not the clubs it is the player, when referring to a man and his golf game, but with the knife, it is something far different. Both man and knife are connected, are both one with the universe of cutting when placed properly together. I was shocked at how quickly, precisely, and thinly I was able to slice the tomato. Like I had been training in the army with a paintball gun and was now ready to kill.

Perhaps that last part was a bit to harsh. But if you are a daily reader of my words then you know what I am talking about. And besides, I like harsh. Which brings me to my next point. Do not be afraid to cut yourself. What? Cut myself? Yes, cut yourself. All wounds heal. In one way or another. If you are too afraid of using a knife out of fear of hurting yourself then you just might miss out on all the good things that a knife can bring. It is no different than anything else that you might fear whether it be playing a sport, hiking a mountain, or taking off a girls bra. Maybe it is just me, maybe I get off on taking a risk whenever the situation presents itself. But there is something so exciting about locking that bathroom door and sitting down on the toilet knowing that you only have a few sheets of toilet paper to work with…

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Posted in Wise Man Food | 3 Comments »

Bi-weekly Free Pie Contest!

Aug 24th, 2010 by admin

Ever since we signed up for the Red Jacket Orchards CSA fruit share we have had a plethora of delicious fruit. Because of that we are going to do a bi-weekly giveaway. Every other week we are going to hold a simple contest and the winner gets a personally delivered treat that has fresh fruit from our CSA in it. Unless you are willing to drive far, NYC only please. As long as you are within traveling distance we will personally deliver it to you!

For the first weeks winner, tell us what this delicious berry tree is below. If no one gets it midway through the day I will offer a nice hint.

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