Devil's in the Details: Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki chicken by itself is a pretty simple dish. On the surface, there's not a whole lot to it - sauce and chicken, cooked, probably served over rice. Maybe with a side of veggies. However, it is in the application of these simple elements that things often go amok, the result being a lackluster chicken. I know we talked about another application of this delicious sauce not all that long ago, but my love for a good teriyaki chicken makes me feel the need to share my tips with you.

The Basics: What is Teriyaki?
Well, Wikipedia tells us that:

The word teriyaki derives from the noun teri (照り, teri), which refers to a shine or luster given by the sugar content in the tare (sauce), and yaki (焼き, yaki), which refers to the cooking method of grilling or broiling.

What does this tell us about teriyaki? Well, first it tells us that we are looking for some delicious caramelization of the sauce on the outside of the meat, and it even goes so far as to tell us how to get that - through grilling or broiling the marinated meat. Teriyaki chicken is not baked! This is an important distinction to make. I've seen chicken marinated in a perfectly fine teriyaki sauce baked in the oven as one would with many other marinated chicken dishes, and the result, while somewhat tasty, is definitely not teriyaki chicken. Without the caramelization and slight char on the chicken, you do not experience the same combination of flavors that teriyaki was made for.

Let's break down the three components of the process that determine our end result in order to create a truly hassle-free and delicious teriyaki chicken:

The Chicken
Good eats start with good meats, and good meats are often very subjective. It is a matter of preference whether you like white or dark meat, and I'm not going to tell you what's right here. Skin and bones, however, are important to discuss. Now, bone-in chicken will take longer to cook, and is often better if you plan to be grilling your chicken as it can impart a flavor all its own as it cooks. Some purists will tell you that your chicken must have skin in order to be real teriyaki chicken, but skin-on chicken has a lot more potential for screw-ups. While a crispy skin can add a wonderful flavor to the chicken, a soggy, flabby skin takes so much more away. If you're comfortable working with skin-on chicken, then by all means go for it! I personally recommend boneless, skinless chicken breasts to the cook just learning to make teriyaki chicken. They're foolproof and very tasty!
If you are using frozen chicken, make sure the chicken is at least slightly thawed before marinating in order to have it soak up the flavor faster. Speaking of which!

The Sauce
Now I talked a bit about sauce when I talked about teriyaki burgers. In case you missed it:

Teriyaki Sauce: You will either find this in the "Asian Foods" aisle or with the BBQ sauces and Marinades. A good teriyaki sauce is nice and thick, and coats the sides of the bottle like cough syrup. A common brand that I recommend is 'Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce' - and it's Kosher, too!

This all applies here, too. Okay, so I got a bit lazy on the sauce part. But trust me, this is important to remember! Marinate your chicken for at least two hours for the best flavor.

Cooking
While grilling and broiling are most certainly the most traditional methods of making teriyaki chicken, the home cook with less experience will find cooking in a pan on stovetop much easier. Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat with a small amount of vegetable oil, no more than 1-2 tablespoons. When the skillet is hot, add your chicken breasts. Spoon a bit of sauce over the breast, let cook 2-3 minutes, then flip and spoon sauce over the other side. Continue applying sauce and flipping until you get a nice dark caramelization and slight char on the outside of each breast. If you cut open the breast, the meat should be white all the way through and the juices should run clear. I recommend you cut open the breast to check done-ness until you get the hang of what a "done" breast looks like.

Serve over sticky rice with some extra sauce from the bottle, if desired. Goes great with a bit of blanched broccoli.

Continued...

Cheap Food Mods 2: Wrath of Pasta

In our last installment of Cheap Food Mods, I told you how to make ramen extra tasty. After a very successful, very cheap pasta dinner for six last night, I thought I would share with you some of the easy and cheap ways to make your pasta extra delicious. Pasta is one of the great three cheap college staples (pasta, ramen and rice) and is super cheap - even after the added cost of toying with it and adding stuff to it.

Sauce!
When shopping for sauce, if you can afford it it's always better to get one of the slightly more expensive and tastier brands rather than settling for the bargain brands. In fact, while we're on the subject of shopping, it's always a good idea to have plenty of pasta on hand, since it's a good "what-the-hell-else-is-in-the-kitchen?" meal. If you see pasta or pasta sauce on sale, stock up!

By the by, if you're not all that into your average pasta sauce and you're a bit sick of butter or olive oil, try Italian Dressing or a vinaigrette of some kind. It's yummy! You may also be into pesto. Yes, I know, it looks funky. It's basically just a bit of cheese, basil and olive oil, though, so it's really good!

Back on the topic of normal sauces, if you need to buy the bargain brand (or even if you buy the good brand), you can easily augment your sauces to make them your own and very tasty, to boot. Always taste your sauce warm before adding anything to it, as without knowing how it tastes you won't know what to add. Salt and pepper are often the first things that people think of adding, and you'll probably know when to add that. A touch of cayenne can add a nice little bite to your sauce. A little bit of sugar is a nice addition to some of the all-natural, super-healthy sauces but is probably not needed for most mass-manufactured sauces. Adding meat can also add some flavor to the sauce...

Protein!
One of the reasons why you feel so unfulfilled when eating nothing but ramen or pasta is the fact that you aren't getting any protein in your diet. Now, meat is usually a bit costly, but you can make a little bit go a long way with pasta. For example, take a half pound of cheap ground beef and cook it up with some diced onions, salt and pepper, drain the fat and add it to your sauce. Easy! For something a bit more flavorful, take a half pound of Italian sausage, cut open the casings and crumble off pieces of the meat into a hot pan, cook with onions, and add it to your sauce. By breaking apart the sausages, you stretch out the meat a bit farther. Chicken is delicious just by itself in pasta, but you can get a bit fancier...

Pan-fried Chicken for Pasta
Serves: 2-3
Active Cook time: ~30 minutes
Difficulty: Super Easy

Hardware
-Medium-sized or smallish pan (I use a 10" diameter pan)
-Fork
-Small Mixing Bowl
-Plate with Paper Towels

Foodstuffs
-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
-1/2 cup breadcrumbs, preferably Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-1 tsp Italian seasoning
-2tsp pepper
-1 tsp salt
-2 to 3 cups Olive Oil

Cut the chicken into small pieces, no bigger than one inch cubes. Mix the breadcrumbs, flour, and seasonings in the bowl until all the seasonings are evenly spread throughout the mixture. Bread each piece of chicken in the mixture. Meanwhile, place your pan over medium-high heat and put in enough oil to cover the bottom well. When the oil is hot, place some of the chicken pieces to the pan, leaving about 1/4 inch of space between each piece - you'll be cooking in batches, so don't worry when you can't fit everything in the pan.

Cook for 2-3 minutes, flipping over each piece of chicken when the bottom is golden brown and the edges have gotten a bit white. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Check for done-ness on the first piece you remove by breaking it in half with your fork. If the meat is white the whole way through, it's done. Remove from pan and put on a plate covered with one or two paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Start the next batch when there's room and cook as above. Serve with Pasta and enjoy!
Continued...

Teriyaki Burgers

When I was wee, there was a joint near my home called Ed's Gourmet. They had the most delicious Teriyaki burgers and even Teriyaki Cheesesteak sandwiches. Having not been a fan of cheese as a child (I still carry some cheese prejudice to this day), I never tried it myself, but I hear it's unlike anything you've ever tasted - in a very, very good way. I was delighted upon doing a search that yes, they still exist. There are so few delightful little greasetrap restaurants, and even fewer run by a small Japanese family. The man I remember manning the grill, Ed himself, had eyes like my father's and a goatee spiked with gray. In my dad's last few years he sported a similar goatee, and when I think of teriyaki burgers I think of him, and our trips to Ed's. We would munch on our burgers and play chess together using the weathered wooden set they had there, and one day, years from that moment, my father would be wearing the same gray goatee that the man in the apron behind the counter wore.

...

So anyway, I made some burgers. Here's a recipe!

Teriyaki Burgers

Serves: 4-5 people
Cook time: ~20-30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Large Non-Stick Pan
-Spatula
-Large Mixing Bowl
-Chef's Knife and Cutting Board
-Marinade or Basting Brush
-Cookie Sheet
-(optional) Powder-Free Latex Gloves
-(optional) Cook'd Right Hamburger Sensors

Ingredients
-1lb Ground Sirloin
-1 medium onion, diced into small pieces
-2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 1/2 cups teriyaki sauce (plus more for condiments, if you want)
-1 tsp dried ginger
-1 tsp salt
-2 tsp pepper
-Non-stick Cooking Spray
-Hamburger Buns
-Optional Garnishes: 1 can Sliced Pineapple, 1-2 Tomatoes (sliced), Green leaf Lettuce, Red Onion (sliced), Pickles (sandwich style)
-Optional Condiments: Mayonnaise, Ketchup, Mustard

Before You Cook: Notes on Shopping for Teriyaki Burgers
Ground Sirloin: You can get pre-ground sirloin in your grocer's meat department, but I strongly recommend picking out a nice sirloin steak and taking it to the butcher behind the meat counter to have it ground fresh. The difference in taste is definitely noticeable.
Teriyaki Sauce: You will either find this in the "Asian Foods" aisle or with the BBQ sauces and Marinades. A good teriyaki sauce is nice and thick, and coats the sides of the bottle like cough syrup. A common brand that I recommend is 'Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce' - and it's Kosher, too!
Pineapple: You don't need to get pineapple for your teriyaki burgers, but I highly recommend it. Go for the canned sliced pineapple for convenience, or if you have the time you can always break down a fresh pineapple.
Hamburger Buns: Onion Buns are a good commonly available bun for these, but if you have them available I strongly recommend using King's Hawaiian Sweet Snacker Rolls. They compliment the flavors wonderfully!
Powder-Free Latex Gloves: These make mixing up dishes by hand a snap, whether you're working on Meatloaf or Hamburgers, mixing the meat by hand is way easier than using a fork. You can find these in with first aid supplies at your local supermarket. Make sure to get powder-free so that you don't add any unwanted plasticky flavor to your burgers, because that would not be tasty.

Directions:
Combine ground sirloin, diced onion, minced garlic, 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce, ginger, salt and pepper into the large mixing bowl. Moosh together to combine until the onion and Teriyaki sauce seem evenly distributed. You can combine either using a fork or by using gloved hands. Once you've combined these ingredients, you can let them rest covered in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours to let the flavors soak in (meaning you can do this ahead of time - something I'm a huge fan of!) or form your burgers right away.

Grab a small handful of meat and form it into a ball, then flatten. You want the uncooked patty no thicker than 1/2 inch - it's going to bunch up a bit when it's cooking and you don't want too fat a burger. Make sure that it's either about the same size or a bit bigger than your hamburger buns, you can add or remove meat as needed to achieve the correct size. Put the patty on the cookie sheet and continue making patties of the same shape/size until you run out of meat - you will probably make around 4-6 burgers depending on size.

Give your non-stick pan a quick coat of non-stick spray and put over medium heat. Using the remaining cup of Teriyaki sauce and the marinade brush, give the top of each patty a coating of sauce. Once the pan is warm, place burgers in the pan sauce-side down leaving about an inch of space between each burger - you'll probably get 2-3 burgers in the pan. Give the burgers a coat of sauce on the side that's facing up. Cook for 4-5 minutes, patting down the burgers as needed to keep them from getting too thick, then flip using spatula. Give the burgers another coat of sauce. Let cook for another 4-5 minutes, you should notice that both sides are a nice dark brown because of the sauce. If you're nervous about doneness, use a Cook'd Right Hamburger Sensor on the first burger to see when it's safe to eat, then use that burger as the standard you judge doneness by.

If you're using pineapple, once the burgers are done I recommend cooking up the pineapple in the same pan as the burgers, brushing them with Teriyaki sauce on each side as well. Cook for about 2-3 minutes per side.

This recipe is easily doubled for large groups of people, and can also be grilled!

Optional Fun: Pineapple Teriyaki Sauce
If you're using canned pineapple, combine the juice from the can and about 1 cup of Teriyaki sauce in the pan you used to cook the hamburgers and pineapple, then let simmer down until it becomes a bit thicker. Remove from heat, then put the sauce in a container and let refrigerate until it cools and thickens up a bit more, then use on your burgers or as a very tasty chicken marinade.

Optional Fun: Teriyaki Sliders
You'll Need:
-Dinner Rolls (instead of Hamburger Buns - I recommend King's Hawaiian sweet Dinner Rolls!)
-Plastic Wrap
-Rolling Pin (or a clean dowel, or a clean bottle of wine)
-(optional) Pizza Cutter

Prepare the hamburger meat as above, but instead of forming patties lay out two sheets of plastic wrap about the size of your cutting board and sprinkle or spray with a bit of water to prevent some sticking to the wrap. Place half of the meat between the sheets, with the watered side facing the meat, then roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 4 inch squares using a knife or pizza cutter, then repeat this with the other half of the meat.

Give your non-stick pan a quick coat of non-stick spray and put over medium heat, brush down the patties with teriyaki sauce, and cook as above, but only cooking for 1-2 minutes per side - they cook very quickly. Serve like mini hamburgers using halved dinner rolls as buns. Great party food!
Continued...

Gypsy Den Cafe's Adobe Stew

Every once in a while, my man and I crave hippie food. I have days where I wonder how I'm gonna get by without a good hummus and pita snack. Maybe with some cucumber slices and a bit of lemon juice squeezed on? Mmm! When we were living in California, we'd often indulge our hippie cravings at a little place called the Gypsy Den Cafe. They had a great vegetarian soup there called Adobe Stew, and I'd get a cup of that with a half turkey sandwich (on some sort of nutty bread with cucumber and alfalfa sprouts, natch) and be set.

Now that we're in a place that's a little bit more scarce on hippie food (unless you want to drive downtown every time you want some sprouts), we've taken to having a home-cooked vegetarian night every Wednesday to stave off the hippie food desire. While I often go for a stir-fry or a tofu dish, I decided this week that I wanted to try my hand at that delicious stew the Gypsy Den Cafe served me. Thanks to them for the inspiration - I'd still be going to your restaurant if it wasn't however many hundreds of miles away from me now.

Adobe Stew

Serves: A whole mess of people - 8-10 servings, probably.
Active Cook time: ~30 minutes*
Inactive Cook time: ~1 hour +
Difficulty: Super Easy
*This can vary - your active cook time can be as little as 10-15 minutes if you prepare some of the vegetables in advance.

Hardware
-Large Stock Pot (or similarly big pot. Basically the biggest one you have.)
-Large Stirring Spoon
-Chef's Knife and Cutting Board

Foodstuffs
-1 large onion
-4 stalks celery
-4 carrots
-4 oz sliced mushrooms (1/2 of a package of sliced mushrooms)
-1/2 to 3/4lb red potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
-1 yellow zucchini squash
-1 green zucchini squash
-1/4 lb green beans
-2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
-1 (15 oz) can garbanzo beans (aka chick peas)
-1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
-1 (15 oz) can black beans
-1 (15 oz) can yellow corn
-2 quarts vegetable stock
-1 mini bottle red wine -or- 3/4 cup red wine. (I use a mini bottle of Merlot)
-1 tablespoon minced garlic
-1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
-2 bay leaves
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon pepper
-additional salt/pepper to taste

Ack, I know that's an intimidating list of ingredients. Don't worry, it's really very easy to throw together.

All of the following steps can be done ahead of time: Chop your onion into small pieces. Chop up the celery stalk as well. Slice the carrot into small rounds - if your carrots get wide enough at the top that you think one piece is too big for your mouth, cut the pieces there in half. If your mushrooms are too large, cut those into smaller pieces as well. Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. With the zucchinis, slice them into 1/4 inch slices, then quarter each slice. This ensures no piece is too big for your mouth. Cut off the ends of the green beans and cut into pieces no bigger than 1 inch.

If you decide to chop up your vegetables ahead of time, you can package the onions, celery and carrots together. Make sure to leave the mushrooms by themselves. You can also package the potatoes, zucchinis and green beans together. Refrigerate them in tightly sealed containers until ready to cook. I do not recommend cutting up your vegetables any longer than 24 hours before you're going to make the stew in order to keep your veggies fresh.

Heat up the olive oil in your pot over medium heat. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir occasionally to sweat out the delicious juices stored within these veggies. After about 3 minutes, add the mushrooms. Allow to cook 2-3 minutes, then add the wine. Let the alcohol cook out of the wine, approximately 5 minutes.

Open, drain and rinse the corn and the garbanzo, kidney and black beans. Add the vegetable stock and diced tomatoes (with tomato juice in the can) along with the Italian seasoning, basil, bay leaves and pepper to the pot. Stir. Add the beans, corn, potatoes, zucchinis, and green beans. Stir to combine.

Bring to a low boil, then cover and let simmer, reducing heat to low. Let stew for at least 30 minutes. I recommend at that point that you turn the heat off or super low but leave the pot on the burner in order to keep the stew warm but prevent overcooked icky veggies. You can leave it on the stew for a few hours, allowing the flavors to commingle and become super delicious. The Gypsy Den Cafe served the stew with a healthy helping of cheddar cheese grated into it, but I prefer it without. This stew is great as a meal on its own, or can be a side dish for another meal.
Continued...

Sandwich Risk/Reward Analysis: Part One of a Many-Part Series?

Sandwiches are the perfect lunch food. Quick, simple, and easy to eat when busy, there's really no matching the convenience and tastiness of a sandwich. However, not all is well in the land of bread and honey. While you can often be sure of the quality of ingredients you put into your own sandwich, it's a little harder to predict what sort of quality you'll run into when ordering from a restaurant, or when having a sandwich provided by a friend.

The discussion arose when my man and I were talking about vegetables we did and did not like in certain circumstances. I brought up the tomato, which I like in most dishes but will pass on in salads and sandwiches; the reason being that when you get a good tomato in one of those situations, there's not much it adds to the flavor picture. A good tomato can't save a bad sandwich. However, a bad tomato can ruin a sandwich that's excellent in all other aspects, bringing a soggy and unpleasant texture to the mouth and a tart, acidic flavor to the tongue. And so the idea for a risk/reward analysis for sandwich innards was born, from this talk of vegetables. We would determine the "risk" factor of each potential sandwich ingredient and build the perfect sandwich from the results of the data gathered.

Totally nerdy, I know, but I figured if anyone's going to appreciate it, it'd be this crowd. We'll start with veggies, since that's where the conversation started.

We'll only discuss commonly used veggies here, since more exotic ingredients are a little harder to get a consensus agreement on. Risk and Reward are judged on a 0 to 5 scale, 0 meaning no risk/reward and 5 being the most risk/reward possible. An explanation of how we achieved these numbers will follow each rating. As the analysis project is a work-in-progress, these numbers are open to debate in the comments section, and results may be edited upon the revelation of further data. Your input is welcomed and encouraged.

Risk is defined here as how probable it is that the ingredient may be bad. For instance, a preserved food such as pickles has a lower risk value of a fresh food like a tomato. While a pickle will almost always have the same sort of flavor, there is a wide range of quality in tomatoes.

When we talk about Reward below, we are referring to how much benefit an ingredient can really bring a sandwich when said ingredient is at its best. How much better is the sandwich for the inclusion of the ingredient? The higher the number, the more significant the contribution to the flavor and texture of the sandwich.

Please also keep in mind that the risk/reward is analyzed from a perspective of actually enjoying the ingredient - if you don't like something, it's always going to have 0 reward for you and is therefore not going to be included on your ideal sandwich.

Alfalfa Sprouts
Risk: 1
Reward: 2
They're probably the least common item on this list, but they occur often enough to gain a spot among the others. Generally, if a place has Alfalfa Sprouts available, they're going to be pretty good. It's hard to find bad Alfalfa Sprouts in a restaurant environ. However, with that in mind, there's not much they bring to the flavor of a sandwich. Texture wise they add a small crunch and an interesting texture. So while the risk is low, so's the reward.

Avocado
Risk: 5
Reward: 4
Avocado's a very fragile fruit, and often once it's shipped to wherever it's going it's bruised and not very tasty. Even in California, poor preparation of avocado can lead to it getting mushy and disgusting. It's hard to find good avocado, but when it's at its best, it bring a lot of flavor and a smooth texture to your sandwich. Is it worth the risk? Only if you really trust the provider of the sandwich to not give you some mushy Avo.

Bell Pepper
Risk: 0
Reward: 3
I asked around, and of the people that like bell peppers, not a one of them can ever remember having a bad bell pepper in their sandwich. Bell pepper is a sturdy vegetable that holds up pretty well to shipment and storage. It's nice and crisp and adds a mild flavor to the sandwich that can act as a good counter to your meat choice.

Cucumber
Risk: 2
Reward: 2
Cucumber is another strong vegetable, though it sometimes runs the risk of having a mushy core. It has a mild, cool flavor and while its crunch is texturally pleasing in a sandwich, it doesn't bring too much to a sandwich aside from that.

Eggplant
Risk: 3
Reward: 4
Eggplant can suffer pretty badly in preparation, and often serves as a meat replacement in vegetarian sandwiches. That being said, when it's properly prepared, it can be a mighty tasty addition to your sandwich.

Lettuce
Risk: 3
Reward: 2
At its worst, lettuce can be a soggy, limp venture. Sadly, there's a moderate possibility of this occurring. The rewards you get for lettuce aren't much, just a bit of crunch to your sandwich if it's not bad lettuce. That being said, it is your most common source of said vegetable crunch and is probably the most widely available vegetable for sandwiches, so it is likely you will have no other options if seeking that texture in your sandwich at many restaurants.

Mushroom
Risk: 3
Reward: 4
Mushrooms suffer from the same problems as eggplants in sandwiches. Problems in storage and transport play a greater part than preparation with mushrooms, but you can get some mighty fine mushrooms one they're in your sandwich. As with eggplants, the larger varieties of mushroom make a good meat substitute in vegetarian sandwiches.

Onions (cooked)
Risk: 1
Reward: 5
It's hard to go wrong with cooked onions. They bring a strong, delicious flavor to any sandwich they play a part of, and are a real shining star. Caramelized onions are to veggies what bacon is to meat.

Onions (raw)
Risk: 0
Reward: 2
The good news about raw onions is that it's nearly impossible to get bad raw onions. The bad news is that for all their crunch and strong flavor, they just don't shine as much as the cooked version. They can add a good flavor to a sandwich, but they can't help a bad sandwich the way cooked onions can.

Pickles
Risk: 1
Reward: 3
They're pickles - you pretty much always know what a pickle is going to taste like. Like uncooked onions, though, they can't quite salvage a bad sandwich. A truly superior pickle can add a pretty good taste and crunch, though, and so they rate higher on rewards.

Tomato
Risk: 4
Reward: 2
Tomatoes are very fragile, and are often damaged in transport and storage. In addition, they don't hold up very well once sliced. Because of this, there is a very high likelihood that the tomato you get in your sandwich is not going to be very good. In addition, a good tomato brings very little to a sandwich on its own. Not recommended in most sandwiches.
Continued...

Mom's Metloaf

I adore meatloaf. I think it's tasty, awesome and has great leftover potential - and leftovers are even easier than cooking! Man, there's nothing like a nice warm meatloaf sandwich when you're too lazy to cook. Mmmm. It's totally not vegetarian friendly, but that's why Astrani has her meatless recipe blog. This recipe comes from my mom's kitchen with some minor modifications by yours truly. Thanks for teaching me to make meatloaf, ma!

Meatloaf is good alongside a nice starchy side, like pasta, rice or potatoes. Hobo Potatoes and Mashed Potatoes go great with them. If you're watching your carb intake, greens are also awesome with meatloaf.

Mom's Meatloaf

Serves: 4-5 people, leftovers highly probable
Active Cook time: ~15-20 minutes
Inactive Cook time: ~1 1/2 hours
Difficulty: Super Easy

Hardware
-Loaf Pan (9"x5"x3" pan - I got mine in the kitchen gadget aisle of the grocery store)
-Large Mixing Bowl
-Knife/Cutting Board
-Powder-free latex gloves, a clean plastic bag, or a long-handled fork
-Oven
-Rubber Spatula
-Meat Thermometer, Instant-Read Thermometer, or Cook'd Right Sensors (see end of recipe)

Foodstuffs
-1 lb lean ground beef
-1/2 lb Italian sausage
-1/2 cup bread crumbs (Italian seasoned bread crumbs are best, but any will do)
-1 slice white, potato, or sourdough bread
-1 egg
-1 can petite diced tomatoes, mostly drained of juices
-1/2 large yellow or brown onion
-2 to 3 garlic cloves
-2 tsp Italian Seasoning
-2 tsp mustard
-salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Dice the onion into small pieces and mince the garlic as fine as possible. Cut open the Italian sausage's casing and empty the meat into mixing bowl with beef, bread crumbs, tomatoes, onions, garlic, egg, seasoning, mustard and salt/pepper. Crumble the piece of bread into the bowl. Mix using a fork, or gloved/covered hand. If you are especially brave, you can use your clean bare hands to mix everything together. Just make sure you don't get any under your nails, ick. Anyways, mix everything together until it's well combined, then use the rubber spatula to move the mix into your loaf pan.

Let cook for about an hour and a half to two hours, checking for done-ness at around an hour and 15 minutes. Use your thermometer to check the internal temperature of your meat in the middle. 160 Farenheit means it's done. Personally, I use Cook'd Right Hamburger Sensors to check if my meatloaf is done. It's a plastic stick you poke in the middle of the meatloaf with a tip that changes to bright red when the correct temperature is reached. I found a place to buy them online, but I just got mine in the grocery store.

The first time you check to see if it's done, you'll probably notice a lot of liquid in the pan. Feel free to drain this off if you don't want your meatloaf's structural integrity compromised. Leaving the liquid in will result in a moister but far less sturdy loaf.

Variations
If you want to cut back on the amount of red meat in your diet, you can use 1/2 lb ground beef and 1/2 lb ground turkey instead of a whole pound of beef. This will result in a drier loaf, so you may not want to drain the fat if you like it nice and moist. You can also substitute the Italian sausage with ground pork if you'd like, but you'll want to add more seasoning, salt and pepper to counter the loss of the sausage.

Continued...

Kitchen Chatter: Lore LOL

I've long pondered posting my thoughts on the game somewhere, but I don't think I could post frequently enough to make a regular thing of it. So I plan on chattering about it here occasionally, when the mood strikes me. If you're not a fan of talk about the game itself, feel free to skip this post - there's no recipe contained within.

That being said, today I'd like to talk a bit about people's complaints about the lore of the game. Now, I'm a lore and RP junkie, and I've had some harsh thoughts for Chris Metzen in the past. However, I've done some thinking, and I believe that maybe people have been a little too harsh on the guy.

For those of you who are not aware, one of the main reasons Metzen's gotten flak is because of the Draenei. Now, the Draenei are Eredar who have decided against siding with Sargeras and his demons, choosing instead to follow the Light and be down with the Naaru. The problem with this is that prior to BC's announcement, it was said that Sargeras had been good until the pure evil of the Eredar had driven him mad and turned him into the corrupted demon we know today.

Bit of retconning, yes? Well, imagine you're in Metzen's shoes. They're planning for Burning Crusade, and they've decided they want to add two more races. Blood Elves are the logical first choice for a new race, but who can they add to the Alliance side? They need a race that has a unique look that is not a neutral faction. And let's face it - Pandaren and Goblins are both very neutral races. So sometimes, the lore behind the game needs to change a bit to accommodate the game itself.

We can't really know exactly what went on behind the scenes at Blizzard HQ. Perhaps marketing was pushing for more races to be added to the game, and so put pressure on Metzen to come up with something. And for those of you who say that he shouldn't have changed the story just for being pressured by his bosses, let me ask you a question: Do you like money? Would you like having a job coming up with story for a video game? Would you do something to put said job and lots of money in jeopardy?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Metzen at his heart is a fantasy nerd like the rest of us - it shows in his interviews and the influences he draws on in the WoW story. Of course he wouldn't want to lose his job over something like that - because if they fired him there are thousands of nerds like us who'd line up to try to take his place. I think he knows this and is trying the best he can to keep the company happy while keeping the fans happy. I'm not super happy with the change in story either, but I'm not going to hate on Metzen for it anymore - he's just doing his job.

What many people seem to forget about WoW is that it's a game first and a story second. They're not selling a book, they're selling a game. And when the game needs some changes or additions critical to keeping the game healthy, sometimes the story suffers. I believe that the Draenei Shaman and Blood Elf Paladin were essential to balancing out the game. Before BC, any changes to Paladin or Shaman were seen as favoring one faction over the other when they were just trying to balance out gameplay. The story may have been altered badly, but the game itself was changed for the better. Even though I'm a pretty hardcore RPer and I hate to see changes in the story, I think this is for the best. I'd rather have a game that is well-designed with a weaker story than a game that isn't any fun to play with a great story - because in the end, we're here to play the game.
Continued...

Hobo Potatoes

I'm super sorry for not updating for a while. I've been working on going back to school, so I've sort of neglected some of my other hobbies. However, I'll make it up to you with a very tasty, versatile recipe!

Just before we moved out of California, my man took me to a little restaurant called the Harbor House Cafe. It's a little 24-hour diner type establishment serving up all kinds of delicious foods. It's one of those places where the menu is intimidatingly huge. One thing, however, caught my eye. "Hobo Potatoes," I read aloud, "What in the hell are Hobo Potatoes?"

Hobo Potatoes are a sort of home fries, but instead of just potatoes they include onions, mushrooms and bell peppers. Along with a side of sausage, they were perfect. I cut up the sausages and mixed it in with the potatoes. The awesome thing about Hobo Potatoes is that they can be a breakfast by themselves, or make a tasty side dish to another dish. They're super simple to make, and damned tasty to boot. You can also eat them for dinner, if you're the sort who loves breakfasty foods for dinner. Follow the jump for the recipe...

Hobo Potatoes
Serves: 2 people if served as a main dish, 4-6 if used as a side.
Cook time: ~20-30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Large Frying Pan
-Knife/Cutting Board
-Tinfoil
-Turner/Spatula
-Fork
-Peeler (maybe)

Foodstuffs
-1 to 1 1/2 pounds potatoes. Any type'll do, but red potatoes are my favorite for this.
-1/2 pound breakfast sausage
-1 medium onion
-1 bell pepper, any color. I think red looks nice in this dish.
-1/4 pound small mushrooms
-Olive oil (about 1-2 tablespoons)
-salt/pepper
-1/4 tsp paprika
-optional: Cheese, eggs, bacon. See variations section after recipe.

Wash and dice your potatoes into no bigger that 1/2 inch cubes. If you don't think your potatoes have tasty skins, peel them before dicing. Meanwhile, it's time to cook up your sausage. Breakfast sausage can either be purchased as links or in a tube as just the breakfast meat, I believe the idea there is to cook them up as sausage patties. If your sausage is the link variety, you must liberate it from its casing before proceeding - you just want the meat here. Crumble up the meat into little chunks, and cook it up in the pan. Brown the outside of the pieces, then remove from the pan, leaving the fat in the pan.

As you're cooking up the sausage, wash and cut up your other veggies. Remove the outer layers of onion and dice that up roughly. To cut up the bell pepper, remove the top and pull out the center. Split it in half, and remove the seeds. Then split each half into quarters down the width. Cut each quarter into little strips or dice, whichever you prefer. Wash and slice up your mushrooms, quartering the larger pieces.

After you take out the sausage, you may not have that much fat left in your pan - this is OK. Add olive oil until you've got a thin coating of fat/oil on the bottom of your pan. Add the potatoes, onions and bell peppers, sprinkle with the paprika and salt/pepper to taste then cover with tinfoil. Allow to cook for 10 minutes or so, checking their done-ness with a fork. Once the fork is able to spear the potatoes easily, remove the foil and add the sausage back to the pan. Allow to fry up and let the potatoes get a bit of a crispy outside, about 5 minutes or so. Serve and consume!

Variations:
-To make this dish vegetarian/vegan friendly, forgo the sausage and just fry up the veggies in olive oil.
-To make this dish extra tasty, cook up some bacon in the pan before you start making this dish, then evacuate the bacon to a plate with some paper towels. You will not need to add olive oil after removing the sausage from the pan if you do this.
-You can also add cheese or scrambled eggs into the mix, as I've known some people to do, but I like to keep the dish a little simpler.

Continued...

SXSW Quick-post: Ramen!

Okay, so I'm doing SXSW this weekend, so I don't have a ton of time. Luckily, there are recipes that don't take much time to talk about or do! Okay, well this isn't so much a recipe as a guide: How to make ramen suck less. All of us have been there, poor enough that we have little else but ramen, or perhaps there's not much else in the kitchen aside from ramen. Luckily, there are a number of ways to reduce the tedium of plain noodles in a salty broth.

Throw Away the Seasoning Packet
No seriously, that thing has so much unneeded sodium in it, it's not even that good tasting. Replace it with a bullion cube of either chicken or beef, a bit of salt and pepper and a shake or two of Italian Herbs. Alternatively, you can cook your noodles in a canned broth.
If you simply must keep the seasoning packet, my friend Erin swears by cooking the noodles, draining them, then add 1/4 cup whole milk (or half and half) and the seasoning packet to the noodles, giving the sauce a tasty, creamy flavor.

Veg out
Chopped carrots, celery and onion all go very well in a bowl of ramen. Now, fresh vegetables will need to cook a little longer than the noodles will, so add them to your water/broth before the noodles and let them cook nearly through before adding the noodles. As an alternative to fresh vegetables, you can add frozen vegetables to the ramen after the noodles are cooked. It serves a two-fold purpose, both to add flavor and to cool down your soup!

Protein Matters
Adding a little bit of protein will make this somewhat thin meal a little more filling and satisfying. A very cheap way to do this is to add scrambled egg to the soup as the broth is boiling, stirring vigorously to make the egg break up like in egg drop soup. If you prefer something a little meatier, chicken breast or beef strips can be quickly pan-fried and added to your soup.

Continued...

Easy Side Dishes: The Joy of Veggies

Vegetables get a bad rap, and really, that's not fair. Vegetables can be absolutely delicious and a lovely compliment to any meal. Sadly, they can also be some of the most foul, poorly-cooked monstrosities ever served. The number one reason why people don't like a vegetable is that every time they've had it before, it was cooked poorly. Today, I want to enlighten you on the joys of cooking with vegetables in two very easy side dishes. Bring an open mind and an empty stomach.

Let's start off with one of my favorite vegetables of all time: Broccoli. Now, broccoli's got a bad rap - why? Well, a lot of people have only ever eaten it after it's been steamed or boiled to a disgusting, gray-green, stringy mess and that's just no good. A well-cooked broccoli should appear to be a slightly brighter green than it was uncooked, and it should still have a little bit of a crunch to it when you bite into it.

As with many other pieces of produce, the key to a good broccoli dish is in proper selection at the grocery store. When selecting broccoli to take home, make sure it has a nice, firm stalk. You also want to look at the little "buds" on the top of the broccoli - they should all be about the same size. If you notice a large cluster of buds that are larger and darker than the rest, you have in your hands an older bunch of broccoli with more matured buds that won't be as tasty as the rest of the plant.

While steaming is often the cooking method of choice for broccoli - and I certainly suggest it for anyone who has one of those tin satellite dishes with holes in them - most newbie cooks have very few tools at there disposal. This means for a lot of folks out there, blanching - my favorite method of cooking broccoli - will be the best method of cooking veggies available to them. To blanch a food means to plunge it in boiling water for a short period of time, then to evacuate your veggies to a bath or rinse of cold water to halt the cooking process.

The danger in cooking broccoli is certainly overcooking it. Many people don't know that just because a dish has been removed from the oven, microwave or heating element doesn't mean it's stopped cooking. The heat stored within the food will continue the cooking process unless stopped - hence the wisdom of blanching. Well, now that I've bored you with the details, let's get down to the actual recipes.

Blanched Broccoli

Serves: 2-3
Cook Time: ~15 minutes, including prep
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Pot with lid
-Colander (strainer)
-Fork
-Stovetop
-Sink
-Large bowl or other container filled with ice water (optional)

Foodstuffs
-2 to 3 good sized stalks of broccoli
-Butter (optional)
-Salt and pepper (optional)
-Lemon wedge (optional)
-Mayonnaise (optional)
-Ranch Dressing (optional)

Fill your pot about 2/3rds full of water, put on high heat with lid to boil. While your water is heating up, rinse your broccoli and chop it down into bite-sized pieces. If you are not a big fan of broccoli stalk, trim it off - the stem is not necessary and can be discarded, though I think it's tasty. When your water is boiling, add the broccoli pieces. Do not put the lid back on the pot. Stir the broccoli constantly, allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the broccoli becomes a brighter shade of green and can be pierced by a fork with some ease. Drain in colander in your sink and rinse or dunk in a bath of ice water.

Broccoli can be served with any number of tasty condiments, some popular favorites I listed in the ingredients above. Personally, I like mine with just a touch of salt and pepper, and maybe a small amount of butter.

Another controversial vegetable is the green bean. It shares many of its troubles with broccoli, but thankfully those troubles can be resolved much like broccoli. When shopping for green beans, make sure the beans are still fresh. They should be somewhat stiff, and not at all droopy or soft. Haricots verts, or French green beans, can sometimes be found in your local grocery store or farmer's market. They're a slightly thinner version of the American green bean and are very tasty. For the most part, you can reliably find green beans or "string beans" in any American grocery store.

While you could just blanch the green beans and be done with them, I like to make mine a little fancier.

Green Beans with Olive Oil and Lemon

Serves: 2-3
Cook Time: ~15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Pot with lid
-Colander (strainer)
-Frying pan
-Fork
-Stovetop
-Sink
-Large bowl or other container filled with ice water (optional)

Foodstuffs
-2 to 3 cups worth of fresh green beans
-Juice from 1 lemon
-1/4 cup olive oil

Fill your pot about 2/3rds full of water, put on high heat with lid to boil. While your water is heating up, rinse your beans and cut off the ends of each bean. When your water is boiling, add the beans. Do not put the lid back on the pot. Stir the beans constantly, allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the beans become a brighter shade of green and can be pierced by a fork with some ease. Drain in colander in your sink and rinse or dunk in a bath of ice water.

Remove beans from water, and let drain. Heat up olive oil and juice from lemon in pan. Add beans to pan, cook together for a minute or two, then serve.

Continued...

Shepherd's Pie

You know, people make fun of English, Irish and Scottish food, but in all honesty it can be damn tasty. Take for instance, the Shepherd's Pie. A tasty mix of meats, veggies, and mashed potatoes, this dish is a rib-sticking easy meal that anyone can make and enjoy. Okay, maybe not vegetarians. Sorry, guys. This dish incorporates the Mashed Potatoes we discussed last week, so if you have any questions about your mash, check out that post.

Serves: 6-8 people, so you'll probably have lots of leftovers.
Active Cook time: ~15-20 minutes if you have potatoes already prepared.
Inactive Cook time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Cookie Sheet
-Large pan
-Spatula
-Can Opener
-Casserole Dish (If you don't have a fancy ceramic or Pyrex casserole dish, you can get disposable casserole dishes at your local grocery store. However, these are not as sturdy and you will want to put is on a cookie sheet and use the cookie sheet to take your casserole in and out of the oven to prevent spills)

Foodstuffs
-1 medium yellow or brown onion
-3 to 4 cloves Garlic
-1 lb ground beef
-2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
-1 lb mixed frozen vegetables (carrots, peas and corn work best)
-1 tablespoon butter
-One batch of Mashed Potatoes - you may not end up using all of them.
-Worcestershire Sauce
-Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread out your frozen veggies on your cookie sheet, and place in oven. Whey will be warmed through and ready to remove in 5-7 minutes, evacuate them to your casserole dish when you take them out. While your veggies are warming, chop up your onion and mince your garlic. Melt the butter in pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, ground beef and a dash of Worcestershire sauce to the pan, brown up the beef making sure it breaks up into smallish pieces. Open up your cream of chicken soup, add to the beef and onions. Fill one of the cans with water and add water to the soup and beef. Stir and warm for about 3 minutes, then add mixture to vegetables in your casserole dish. Stir to combine. Using spatula, spread mashed potatoes over top. How thick you want your potatoes depends on how much you like mashed potatoes. Place casserole dish in oven for about 30 minutes, remove when the top is lightly browned and the beef and veggies beneath are nice and bubbly.

Optional: Some people like to put grated cheddar cheese on top of the mashed potatoes before putting in oven.
Continued...

Raid-Friendly Kitchen: Setting Up a Pantry

One of the keys to a successful raid is preparation. From simple things such as repairing your gear and showing up at the instance on time to the slightly more difficult and time-consuming process of gem socketing or enchanting your gear and gathering up consumables such as flasks, preparation is a key to success. It is much the same with getting your kitchen together - with a little preparation, you can make it so even when you forget to do a bit of shopping there's something good to eat in your house.

Today we'll discuss the foodstuffs and spices that you should keep around the house, and we'll save what equipment you should keep in your kitchen for another time. Yes, there's a recipe in this post.

Click here to skip past all the lovely information and get straight to the recipe.

Spices
An easy wasy to add a lot of flavor to even the most basic dishes is to keep a well-stocked spice rack. Even if you're on a bit of a budget, picking up one container of spices or herbs at the store each time you make a trip will see you quickly amass a worthy collection of spices. I've placed them in order from most important to least important below:
-Salt
-Pepper
-Italian Seasoning (A simple combination of marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, sage, oregano and basil - this blend if useful in a lot of dishes and is an easy seasoning for a lot of dishes)
-Ground Cumin
-Chili Powder
-Dried Basil
-Dried Parsley Flakes
-Curry Powder
-Bay Leaves
-Garlic powder
-Chicken or Beef Bullion Cubes
-Ground Cinnamon
-Nutmeg
-Vanilla Extract

The Basics
These everyday staples are ones you'll find yourself using on a somewhat regular basis, things you'll want to have on hand so that when you're making most simple recipes you only need to purchase the perishable goods. You can gradually stock up on these as you need them for a recipe you're using, or just gather them up in one go. Make sure that you replace any of these that you use on your next shopping trip so that you can have them on hand! Unlike the spices, I've put these in no particular order:
-All Purpose Flour
-Baking Soda
-Baking Powder
-Granulated White Sugar
-Brown Sugar
-Olive Oil
-Vegetable Oil
-Cornstarch
-Bread Crumbs
-Soy Sauce
-Worcestershire Sauce
-Vinegar
-Peanut Butter
-Vegetable Shortening
-Onions and Garlic (Okay, so these are technically fresh vegetables. However, they can last in your cabinet for a while if they must, and they are crucial in most dishes. Keep this stuff around!)
-Dried Pasta
-Pasta Sauce
-Egg Noodles
-Ramen
-Rice (I personally recommend using a short or medium grain rice as your everyday rice. My personal favorite variety is Calrose.)
-Canned Diced Tomatoes
-Chicken Broth
-Beef Broth
-Cooking Sherry
-Canned Tuna
-Canned vegetables, beans or fruits that you enjoy

Your Freezer
Okay, so it's not technically your pantry, and your freezer should never be considered a stasis chamber where nothing ever goes bad. However, it is true that stuff in the chill box can last months, maybe even years. Do try to clean out your freezer at least once a year, more if you find it getting crowded in there. Here are a few things to consider keeping in your freezer:
-Frozen Chicken Breasts
-Frozen Hamburger Patties (Get them already frozen, as they will preserve better than freezing your own ground beef. You can use the beef from the patties in other dishes in a pinch.)
-Frozen Vegetables (Your call here. I'm never without a bag of frozen corn in the freezer, though some people like peas better.)
-Butter (Yes, butter! Keep a box in your freezer and you'll thank me the day you run out of butter and are too lazy to go to the store. Just thaw it out in your fridge for a few hours and it'll be good as new.)
-Ice Cream or Popsicles (Spoil yourself a little!)

So what are the benefits of keeping a fully-stocked kitchen?
I'm starving. So hungry I could eat my own arm, and we haven't gone shopping in a while. With only my basic pantry stuff on hand, I was able to cook up a nice little dish that served both my boyfriend and myself with very little fuss at all. It's nothing very fancy, but it's fast and very tasty.

Herb Chicken with Buttered Noodles
Serves: 2-3
Cook Time: 20 minutes or so of defrosting, plus 20 minutes actual cooking.
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Microwave
-Plate
-Small pot with lid
-Colander (strainer)
-Large Pan
-Knife
-Cutting Board
-Stovetop

Foodstuffs
-2 to 3 Frozen Chicken Breasts
-4 tablespoons butter
-1 medium-sized onion
-Italian Seasoning
-Salt and Pepper
-Worcestershire Sauce (about 2 tablespoons)
-One Package Egg Noodles

Place chicken breasts on a plate, microwave to defrost. Follow your microwave's directions on defrosting poultry, as microwave settings vary by manufacturer. This will take somewhere between 15-20 minutes, during which you can be doing something else, like farming primals. Although, it may be handy to dice up your onion now to save you a minute or so of time. So yeah, dice up that onion into small pieces.
Once the microwave tells you it's done, take the chicken out and cut into bite-size pieces. Heat up 2 tablespoons of the butter in your pan over medium heat. Fill your small pot with water up to about 2 inches away from the top, add your lid and set it over high heat to boil. Add the onions to your melted butter in the pan. Sprinkle Italian seasonings, salt and pepper to taste over your chicken, then add to the pan. Sprinkle on some more seasoning to the backside of your chicken, then add the Worcestershire Sauce. Let this cook, stirring every so often to ensure even cooking, for about 10-15 minutes until your chicken is cooked all the way through. You can tell because it's white all the way through and also very tasty.
Long before your chicken is done, though, you'll notice your water boiling in the pot. Remove the lid and add your egg noodles. These noodles will take somewhere between 5-7 minutes to cook through. Don't let them get too soggy - check them for done-ness every minute or so after the 5 minute mark. Once done, drain and rinse these in your colander in the sink, then return the noodles to your pot off the heat of the stove. Once your chicken is cooked through, add the chicken to your noodles along with the remaining two tablespoons of butter. Stir to combine and melt the butter and serve while warm.

Also: hai Saruin~. To the Anvil Raid: Yeah, I didn't do the ramen recipe, I'll save that one for next week. I mainly wrote this up to remind myself that I need more egg noodles when I go to the store today. >.>
Continued...

Easy Side Dish: Mashed Potatoes

One of the best ways to make any meal feel more special is to add a side dish, and what side dish conjures up more happy memories than Mashed Potatoes? Even if you're just having a plain baked chicken breast for dinner, a side of nice, fluffy potatoes makes it feel like a real meal. I think it's a shame we don't see them made more often - these delicious spuds are often left for holiday occasions only. They're so simple, quick, and delicious that there's no reason we shouldn't see more of them. Besides, they play a key factor in the recipe I'm posting next Monday, so I figured I'd post the recipe today. If you don't have the time to make them before your raid, mashed potatoes can be made ahead of time and eaten whenever you feel like it, and the recipe can easily be doubled or tripled for special occasions.


Now, before we get to the recipe itself, let's talk variables. Some people like some skin in their mashed potatoes, others find that gross. Some like their potatoes to had a uniform texture, while others like a lumpier potato. A lot of this variation comes from mashing technique. Let's do a quick review of available methods so that you know what hardware you'll need for your potatoes.

Hand Masher
Using a hand held mashing device like the one pictured here allows you direct control over the texture of your potatoes. You can make your potatoes as lumpy or smooth as you like, but it won't get your potatoes as perfectly smooth as some other methods. It takes a little bit more work and time than the other methods, but if you like your potatoes with more "lumps" in them like I do, then this is the way to do it. Hand Mashers are a common kitchen utensil - you may already have one but even if you don't, they can easily be found at your local grocery store on the aisle with "Kitchen Gadgets".


Potato Ricer
This medieval-looking device is called a potato ricer, and I had no clue what they were until I dated a guy who liked his potatoes really, really smooth. What you do is place a peeled, cooked potato in the basket and then use the press on it to force the potato through the tiny holes in the basket. This ensures a uniformly smooth texture to the potato. On the downside, ricing is not very skin-friendly, so if you like skin in your mashed potatoes, this is not the route for you. Ricers are a bit less common, but can be found in any kitchen supply store.

Electric Mixers
Using either a hand held or a stand mixer is the way to go if you like your potatoes whipped, fluffy and airy. They're an easy way to mash your potatoes and are probably the easiest and lest time consuming method of the three. Somehow, my mom can use a hand mixer and not get little bits of potato skin all caught in the little mixing things, but I have no idea how she does it, nor has she been able to tell me her secret voodoo regarding skin. So, if you like skin, you might want to be careful when using a mixer. Mixers are a common kitchen appliance, but if you don't already have one they can be found in most department stores such as Target, Wal*Mart or K-Mart.

But what about Potatoes?
When it comes down to it, there are really only two common choices for mashing potatoes - Yukon Gold and Russet. Both are high in starch to ensure a nice smooth mash. Some people swear by low starch, waxy potatoes like red potatoes because they hold up better when boiled, but they just don't mash up as well. Proper preparation of your spuds will ensure they come out just fine and not too watery.

Yukon Gold potatoes are yellow-skinned, very buttery in flavor, and mash up very smoothly. They have a very tasty skin, and so are the common choice for anyone who keeps skin in their mashed potatoes (like me). They tend to be a wee bit more expensive than Russets, but they're very worth it. Russet potatoes are cheap and tasty, but their skin is not good eats, and should be peeled before mashing. I also find their flavor to be a little more bland, but this is fine if you like to add a lot of extras to your potatoes. By the way, there's nothing wrong with combining types of potatoes when you're mashing them, so if you have some of one and some of the other - or even if you throw in waxy potatoes, that's just fine. By the time you're done mashing them, the different flavor and texture properties of the potatoes will combine very nicely.

Hey, enough of this kitchen talk, I thought you said this was an easy recipe!
Oh, it totally is. Let's get right down to the basic recipe itself!

Serves: 4-6 people
Prep Time: 45 minutes tops, for about 15-20 minutes of that you don't even really need to be in the kitchen.
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-Large Pot with Lid
-Fork
-Colander (strainer)
-Mashing device of your choice (see above)
-Peeler (optional)

Foodstuffs
-2 pounds potatoes of your choice
-1 stick softened butter
-1 cup half&half
-Salt and Pepper

Wash and, if you'd like, peel your potatoes. Cut your potatoes into cubes no more than 2-3 inches large, and try to make them all about the same size. Place potatoes in pot, then add water until it's about an inch over the potatoes. Put pot on stove on high heat, add lid. Let potatoes boil until they can easily be pierced by a fork, which takes about 15-20 minutes. Drain your potatoes in a colander in the sink. Run cold water down the sink so that you don't damage your pipes, but DO NOT rinse the potatoes! Evacuate your spuds to a bowl. If ricing, rice your potatoes as you add them to the bowl. Once potatoes are safely in the bowl, riced or otherwise, add the butter. Mash using masher or electric mixer, or if you riced the potatoes, use a fork or hand masher to combine the dairy with your potatoes. Gradually add the half& half while mixing/mashing until you achieve the consistency you like - you may not end up using the whole cup of half&half. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Ta-da! Potatoes! Wasn't that easy?

A word on Extras

Butter, salt and pepper isn't enough for some people. Hell, it isn't enough for me! So what more do you add to your potatoes to give them a kick? My mom likes to use heavy cream instead of half&half, but that's a little too heavy for my tastes. I like to add a little bit of sour cream and a clove or two of minced garlic - not enough to really qualify as garlic mashed potatoes, but garlicky enough that they have that garlic flavor. Some people swear by adding a few teaspoons of Black Olive Paste to their potatoes. I didn't even know they made Olive Paste. Others use olive oil or duck fat instead of butter, but I find that to be sacrilegious - Mashed Potatoes and Butter are inseparable! A common addition is to cook up some onions or shallots with a little bit of butter until they're nice and soft, then add those to your potatoes. A little unorthodox, but very tasty.

If you have any other suggestions for additions to potatoes, feel free to comment below!

Continued...

Raid-Friendly Recipes Mission Statement

I like to talk and write about food. I'm a big fan of food, it's kept me around for this long and I figure I ought to appreciate it. I'm also a huge geek. I've been playing video games for a long time, but I've always intentionally avoided MMORPGs because I just knew that if I got started, I'd never be able to stop, and the game would take over my life. Then World of Warcraft was released, and I could hold back no longer. Before I knew it, I was hooked. I quickly learned how to balance real life with fun, and found a raid that felt like another home.

I may have had the balance of cooking for my boyfriend and I while raiding down, but I noticed others did not. Whether it was due to being an inexperienced cook, having a busy life outside of the game, or just not having enough recipes in their repertoire to cook every night of the week and not get sick of eating the same stuff over and over, people were eating a lot of delivered pizzas. Not that I have anything against pizzas! They're very tasty. But let's be fair - everyone deserves a delicious, home-cooked meal just like mom used to make, even if you're away from home or even if you're a parent yourself. There's websites dedicated to recipes for busy moms, for budgets and for special diets - why not one for gamers?

And so I decided to make this little blog as a collection of recipes designed with the raider in mind. But what makes a good raiding recipe?
-Slow cooking is your friend. Most raids last at least 4 hours - why not have something in the oven or on the stove, slowly cooking to perfection while you kick ass and take names?
-Fast Cooking is also good! Things that cook quickly often tend to not be as rich or flavorful as slow-cooked foods, but nobody can deny how easy and delicious they can be. Recipes that can be completed in 30 minutes or less are perfect for raiding.
-Easy does it. Your stereotypical gamer is a college dude with no cooking experience. While we definitely don't all fit that stereotype, I think it's important to make recipes easy to follow even for n00b cooks. Even for the tougher recipes I post, I plan on breaking down each step to a simple enough process so that everyone can try it.
-Save money! While this isn't a budget recipe site, sometimes gamers want to spend their money on other things, like college, gas...or a diorama of a Blood Elf rogue fighting a Draenei paladin. So we'll try to focus on foods that are within everyone's budget - sorry, you probably won't see any filet mignon.
-Easy Access Now I'm the first person to say that I love exotic ingredients like Yuzu, fresh seafood (and by fresh I mean it was swimming a few hours ago) and ostrich meat, I know that not everybody has access to such culinary delights. Same goes for tools like a pasta roller, food processor or stand mixer (okay, so you may be able to get them, but the price on these means you're not going to be able to grab a stand mixer on an impulse buy). We'll focus on ingredients you can get at your local mega-mart or grocery store and easily afford.
-And most importantly...DELICIOUSNESS! Flavor! Delicious foodstuffs! Something that ISN'T a Hot Pocket! I mainly started this project so that people like me who love to game don't have to sacrifice a delicious, home-cooked meal for the sake of their hobby. So let's make those meals tasty!

If you have a recipe you would like to recommend for Raid-Friendly Recipes, feel free to drop me a line: sadaye @ gmail DOT com

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Simple Chili

What better way to start off this recipe list than with one of my favorites? My mom's easy chili recipe is one of my top raiding foods, because the longer you just ignore it on the stove and play your game, the better it ends up tasting. It's basically fool-proof, and it's a good start if you're new to the whole cooking for yourself thing. Follow the original recipe for a savory chili that's great over rice, baked potatoes, macaroni noodles or cornbread. Add some of my optional spices for a nice spicy chili that's just as good, but with a bit more kick!

Servings: About 6 bowls of chili, more if you serve it over something.
Prep Time: Start this about 30 minutes before your raid.
Difficulty: Easy

Hardware
-A Large Pot with Lid
-Long-Handled Spoon
-Knife
-Colander (strainer)

Software
Foodstuffs
-One pound of ground beef (the leaner the beef, the better quality chili you'll have.)
-One large yellow or brown onion
-7 to 8 cloves of garlic
-2 cans dark red kidney beans
-1 can corn
-1 can diced tomatoes (If you're like me and don't dig big chunks of tomato, go for the petite diced tomatoes)
-1 standard size jar of salsa (choose your salsa based upon your taste and how hot you want your chili)
-Olive Oil
-delicious cheese of your choice to top your chili with, probably cheddar (optional)
Spices
-Cumin
-Chili Powder
-Salt
-Pepper
-Cayenne Pepper (optional)
-Red Pepper Flakes (optional - yes, the pepper flakes that the pizza guy delivers will work here, too.)

On a stovetop, heat a small amount of oil in the bottom of your pot, you won't need any more than about a tablespoon of oil or so. Dice your onion up - the pieces do not need to be too small, nor is it crucial that they be the same size. To prepare your garlic, lightly crush each clove with the flat of your knife. This'll make them easier to peel! Mince them up as fine as you can. Toss these in the now hot oil, and listen to the happy sizzle.

Get your ground beef out of the fridge, and sprinkle some of your cumin, salt, pepper and chili powder on the top of the little pile of meat you have. Cumin's going to be giving your chili a nice savory, full flavor with little spice, and the chili powder is what makes it taste like chili. Add some cayenne here if you're going down the spicy road. Put the meat in the pot with the side you've seasoned facing down, then season the other side and mix it around with your onions and garlic. Brown the meat, continuing to move it around the pot and spice to taste. You're going for small pieces of meat in your chili.

A word on spices, and why I'm not giving exact measurements: How much spice you put in your chili is a matter of preference, and you'll learn with time the balance you like to have. Personally, I use about 2 teaspoons of cumin, 1.5 teaspoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne per pot of chili, plus 3-4 packets of red pepper flakes. I'm totally estimating that, though, since I never measure.

As your meat is browning, take a moment to open up the cans of beans, corn and tomatoes. In your sink, put the beans and corn in your strainer and rinse well. See all that red grossness coming off the beans? Aren't you glad we're washing them? Yeah, me too.

Add the beans, corn, salsa and tomatoes to your beef once browned. Note that the beef does not need to be perfectly done before you add the rest of the ingredients, just a nice brown color on the outside instead of red all the way around. Stir to combine the ingredients, and if you're doing a spicier chili, add your red pepper flakes now. Bring this to a simmer (nice little bubbles coming out the top of the liquid), then reduce the heat to low, cover and let simmer.

Now go raid! Let your chili simmer for at least 30 minutes before serving, and stir it occasionally if your raid wipes, or you get a break. The longer you let it simmer, the better it'll taste - so if you can hold off hunger until your raid's over it'll be totally worthwhile. As a matter of fact, it's even more delicious as a leftover than it is the first serving! Serve it with some grated cheese on top, if that's your thing. This recipe can easily be doubled if you're hosting a LAN party.

Chili-Mac: For a yummy meal that will make your chili last even longer, boil some elbow macaroni and mix it in with your chili. Deliciously simple.
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