What's cookin' lately!

When I came back to Alabama I needed a job.  So when my other options fell thru and time was running out I went to work for a company I had worked for before.  The pay is OK,  the hours are long but only Monday thru Friday, and they were happy to hire me back because of my integrity and good work ethic from before...But it's not been enough.

Culinarily this job possesses nothing for me (pause to feel the emptiness).

Lately, I have been connecting with other like-minded people and really scoping the job opportunities ( which are few and far between) to get back to what I love.  The word 'networking' comes to mind...

Rare Sweet Potato Found!

Found in captivity, the rare and elusive Grandaddy Long-leg Sweet Potato!  Named after the Grandaddy Long-leg spider for its single unit body and multiple spindly 'legs' growing out of it.

Unlike rare animals that are usually found in the wild, this sweet potato is found in the captivity of homes, long forgotten and left in bins or cupboards never to be seen again until they start to rot and stink!

I ran upon this rare species in an even rarer spot than usual...it was found in a home that cooks and eats lots of food and hosts many guests each week.  I don't want to reveal any names for fear of embarrassment to the owner.  BUT it was found in a home in the Green Mountain vicinity on a Saturday night(hint, hint).

When Life Gives You Limes...

While working in Puerta Plata, Dominican Republic on the M/V Caribbean Mercy we had some locals working on board.  Samuel was a young guy (15) who was brought on in the galley (kitchen) because he came to work with his mom who worked in housekeeping and we could use the help and they could use the extra income.

Samuel's English was limited and so was my Spanish (although it was a lot better then than it is now) but we got along fine finding him tasks to do in the galley.

One day we got these tiny limes locally grown that were only about as round and big as golf balls, with many of them smaller in size.  About 100 or more came to us and I definitely wanted to use them but was concerned with the amount of time it was going to take to squeeze or 'juice' them.

Quick @ Home Fraps/Smoothies (blender needed)

Fraps:
The Basics- Use cold coffee, put 10 regular ice cubes into the blender, pour milk & cold coffee in to just below the top of the highest ice cube (adjust the ratio for your tastes), at this point I use caramel, chocolate, or some other flavored syrup to both flavor & sweeten pulse blend & listen for no more ice cubes bouncing around (time in between pulses allows 4 remaining chunks to sink back down), at the end give it about a 3 to 5 second 'on' blend...if it's too liquidy use less 'liquids' next time. But if you don't get enough liquids in the blender it's harder to get ice cubes blended. These make about 12 oz glasses of Frap.

Or find big cans of Cafe D'Vitta at Sam's or Costco (they have caramel, chocolate,...flavors) same directions as coffee drink except add 1 scoop (scoop that comes with it) and then add milk, blend (only use mix, ice, and milk. no reason to add flavors or coffee, unless of course, you want to). They are great 4lb canisters of the mix.  By the time you figure out how many Fraps this $10 canister of powder mix makes, it is WELL WORTH IT!

Additional things I do: Add more caramel sauce to it, Mexican or regular chocolate sauce, a few coffee beans to the blender for speckled look, add peanut butter, find the Dulce De Leche sauce in 'select' grocery stores...yum.

In my professional 'making and drinking' opinion, powders work better than flavored syrups to thicken Fraps and improve taste...Using powdered creamer IS NOT A GOOD IDEA, you will soon become tired of the 'taste' that comes from powdered creamer, try using some powdered milk.



Smoothies:
For quick smoothies use the same amount of ice cubes and 8 to 12 ounces of flavored yogurt.  Use vanilla or plain yogurt and add fresh fruits for a more customized taste.

Steal lots of BIG STRAWS - (McD's or Coffee Shop straws) haven't found that they sell the big ones in any stores yet so I just get a few each time I am at Starb*cks, Pete's, or McD's

This is not definitive...just a quick guide for my friends who asked. If you have a coffee shop friend get him to let you 'have' big buckets of Big Train powder mix.

Do you like to Pickle Things?

Do you like to pickles things? This is an easy experiment I think you will like.  If you have a certain favorite pickle or pickled vegetable that you buy at the store then after eating all the contents inside the jar save the 'pickling' juice or liquid.

You can then experiment by adding more cucumber or other vegetables back to the liquid and give it a good 5 to 7 days back in the refrigerator before trying/eating your newest pickled treat.

Additional things you can do:

1. add more herb/spices or hot pepper or two


2. use a 'shot' of a different kind of vinegar to enhance the taste; cider, wine, balsamic, rice, seasoned vinegar.  But be prepared to accept that it may just make it taste worse!


3. add some MORE garlic or shallots (or another vegetable) to increase a certain taste you like


4. add sugar (honey, brown, cane...) of some sort to make it a bit sweeter

I can't guarantee to do all of this will make it taste better, that's up to you to figure out.  Usually, we (my wife and I) only refill the jar once after the original purchase, water does come out of the new ingredient(s) so the concentration of pickling gets diluted.  It also works better when the cucumbers are cut or sliced.

Just thought I might give you a new idea to play around with without getting too scientific about it!  And yes this is the cheater version of the already easy Refrigerator Pickles.

Did you know we also post videos?

Our goal is a weekly video post (or more) on simple "cookin" preparations for a variety of foods. We would love to hear from you! Email us at showtime@tyronebcookin.com