Tag Archives: Rick Bayless

The Balloon and the Tether

Posted on February 14, 2011 | 1 comment

Even before we married, Jim’s mother gave me a beautiful woodcut of a hot air balloon. She told me Jim was the dreamer and I was what grounded him. I like to think of myself up in the balloon working with him to make our lives and the world a better place.

Possibly because they don’t understand many of Jim’s ideas, people tend to think they’re “pie in the sky.” When I first met Jim, he said he wanted to change the world. He started implementing his ideas at home years ago (like a micro-switch for the grain bin) then learned not to re-invent the wheel. After a long talk with his mom this morning it is confirmed that I’m in the balloon and she’s the tether. No word on father or brother. I think brother will be in the balloon, father tethering to protect Mom and their smart and successful boys. They were never expected to stay on the farm, and were never forced to do so. So they both went their own ways.

I am married to one of the smartest and most honest persons on the planet. Yes, his ideas have always been on the cutting edge but his latest idea has been noticed, not that anything will come of it but it is recognition. I will take the Chautauqua of my mind and assist in taking this idea to fruition.

Yes, this is an obtuse post. There are many things going on right now and I don’t even know what I’m making for dinner. Since I brought no cookbooks with me (my security blanket) I now have a library card and now know why it took Rick Bayless 20 years to perfect a mole. I cooked corn tortillas last night and they were terrible. Luckily my chicken, onion and peppers, guacamole and other add-ins made up for my mistakes.

Dear Rick Bayless, your recipes are deceptively simple. Cheers, Dee

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Netflix

Posted on January 31, 2011 | 3 comments

Every once in a while my dear husband tucks in a video I may like and now that is Julia Child: The French Chef, disc 3. I remember why I loved her on TV and in her books, and I have many of them, all in storage. Now I have a library card and am eyeing The Way To Cook just to get the recipe in my book for scrapple (I believe it is Uncle Hans City Scrapple). I moved here with none of my cookbooks, which are literary material for me as well as ideas for recipes.

Omelets are next, I skipped the cakes as I don’t bake. Then we’ll send the disc back to Netflix and Julia will be gone. I’d love to think that several chefs are with me on my culinary journey: Julia Child; Simone “Simca” Beck; and James Beard. As to chefs that live today it would be Eric Ripert and Rick Bayless for their tireless efforts to improve their craft. What they do is excellent but they still want to be better and if I was that gifted I’d be flying right now.

My husband endures my culinary passions because he loves dinner, the fact that I actually cook him breakfast and dinner, and that he gets to talk about tech stuff too. He loves Alton Brown because it’s science, so he thinks a robot can cook his dinner. He is learning more about food and cooking, and no robots are involved. Cheers! Dee

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Mothers’ Day Drive

Posted on May 10, 2010 | 3 comments

We took a jaunt yesterday, even for ten miles or so on a closed road and saw some beautiful scenery. Jim drove the first third of the trip then I took over. That way he got to call his grandmother and wish her a wonderful day, as she was at church earlier.

The dog enjoyed the trip, sleeping whenever the speed limit was constant and sitting up in back (cargo net over the folded-down seat with 4″ orthopedic mattress and a tie-down, plus water.

We stopped at my favorite grocery and Jim was surprised that I had not one but three butchers waiting on me and the aged ribeye we bought (after I said, “what are you making me tonight, honey?”) was expensive but worth every bite. It’s the best steak I’ve had since Italy a few years ago. Let’s just say that we would’ve spent 3-4 times that much with one evening at a prime steakhouse because the potato and corn/red bell pepper salad were included.

Tonight it’s fajitas and I’m dipping a knife tip into Rick Bayless’ pool. Tomatillos are out so I’m going to manufacture an avocado and tomatillo salsa, but I got one pasilla that I’ll roast and I don’t have any cilantro, just did it on the fly so we’ll see what happens. I do have a white onion and will rinse it under cold water to tame the sting.

I’m going to marinate my chicken and roast the pepper and let you know what happens later. Cheers, Dee

ps And cheers to the butchers. Maybe I can convince them to order a capon for me this year because I found an organic provider. If its’ castration they have a problem with, what do they think of letting them live twice as long without breeding? D

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Tacos al Pastor

Posted on March 12, 2010 | Leave a comment

Last night, while deciding not to cook dinner and waiting for my husband to arrive home, I turned on Create TV and ‘Mexico: One Plate at a Time’ with Rick Bayless. He explained tacos (no, not the kind you get at a fast food US “Mexican” restaurant).

One preparation really interested me, Tacos al Pastor, with thinly sliced, marinated grilled pork, onions, and pineapple on small, soft corn tortillas. When Jim got home I asked where he wanted to go to dinner, knowing the answer. Our local Mexican joint.

In the past few weeks they’ve re-vamped their menu and right in the center, staring me in the face, was Tacos al Pastor! I mentioned to our Mexican waiter that sure enough, Rick Bayless had talked about and prepared that dish a couple of hours before! He evidently knew who Rick Bayless is. My husband asked, as expected, “Who’s Rick Bayless?”

Since we’re regulars and have had this waiter a number of times before, I asked if I could explain and he agreed. I told Jim, “he’s arguably the best gringo chef of Mexican cuisine in El Norte.” Our waiter laughed. I loved the dish! Folding up mini corn tortillas with pork, onions and pineapple and dunking it in a tomatillo salsa. Yum!

Find the recipe on http://www.rickbayless.com. Enjoy! Dee

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Editing

Posted on March 8, 2010 | 2 comments

aka “Why I Don’t Twitter.” Yes, I edit myself and try to provide you with the best copy/stories I come up with. But hear this. I’ve been bothered by a recent episode of Rick Bayless’ One Plate at a Time.

Permit me a setup. Twenty years ago I slaved in the kitchens of Margaret Fox at Cafe Beaujolais, in Mendocino, CA. It was a month-long unpaid internship and I wasn’t even allowed a portion of the kitchen’s share of the tip money, which I could have used for firewood because it was freezing in my unheated cabin. I’d spent all my savings on cooking school and a rental car to drive to and from work. Luckily the subletter left a mattress and several blankets, and flying termites by the thousands.

The infamous Diana Kennedy was coming to visit, doyenne of Mexican cooking. One cook was caught rinsing a painstakingly roasted chili to rid it of seeds and skin. NO! Diana Kennedy is coming! She came and went, I got to spend three hours driving her to the airport (I was the only one with a day off, new car and insurance) and she made us some lovely shrimp with garlic, and picked fruit and made us berry ice cream.

I very much enjoy chef Rick Bayless, can’t wait to go to Chicago to visit his restaurants, and am a new devotee of Create. I love Mexico: One Plate at a Time. He makes his dishes sound so easy for the home cook. Recently I watched him rinse off a roasted chili pepper to get rid of seeds and skin. I was told 20+ years ago that was a no-no because you lose all the flavor you imparted through the roasting process.

So I asked him, and congratulated him on winning Top Chef Masters. If there’s any top chef I’d like to apprentice with, it’s him, because he’s a perfectionist, an innovator, a classicist and seems to value the people who work for him. And his website made me make it 300 characters. That took four edits. Perhaps they just want to weed out people without the patience to whittle down to 300 meaningful characters. Anyway, this is MY blog and hopefully you’re still reading.

I love getting inspiration from others, moms who bake, cooks/chefs with other styles of food and ethnic traditions. Right now I just wanted to know if it’s OK to rinse the pepper and retain the flavor! It’s a pain not to use water except to get the skin pieces off my hands. I’ll let you know if he answers. In advance I’ll say Thanks, Rick Bayless, for being the creative chef you are and I’ll see you in Chicago! Cheers, Dee

p.s. 452 words, and I do this as a hobby! I would’ve been horrified to get this assignment in high school…

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