Kare-Kare

Oxtails.

They are classified as offal.  Like all the guts and blood  and extremities of the cow, it's considered a throwaway piece in modern meat processing.  Recent exposure of these little chunks of meat and bone by celebrity chefs fueling the trend for wholesome and nostalgic dishes, have pulled oxtails out of the waste bin and the secret depths of grandma's stewpot.  And where you used to have to go to a specialty butcher or an ethnic market to find them and buy them for maybe $1/pound, these days you can now find them in most meat sections of the big box grocery stores at the exorbitant, trendy price of $5/pound.  Luckily, I live in the culturally diverse precincts of Chicago and the Korean market is nearby where I can get them for $2-3/pound.  Not the cheap garbage price of 10 years ago, but much more manageable for the pocket book.

These bony pieces of 'waste meat' are, in my opinion, one of the best cuts of meat in existance.  And not necessarily because of the meat itself which is tough and stringy.  Oxtails are collagen filled bombs.  It's the bone, cartilage and marrow that make these bits awesome.  The best way to cook oxtails is by stewing them.  Throwing them into a pot of liquid and letting them simmer on a slow low heat for hours.  What you get is some of the richest, most gelatinous, most flavorful stock you've ever tasted.  And the meat, which has now been sitting in this stock has also absorbed all that flavor and is now soft, tender and fall off the bone goodness.  A few pieces of oxtail can make alot of stock, and from that stock you can make stew.  And that's what I do.  I make a stew.  I make kare-kare.

Kare-kare is a Filipino stew, oxtails and vegetables in a peanut sauce. Alone it is a rich and thick delicious meal.  But it's made even better with a side serving of bagoong, a fermented salty shrimp paste that is so pungent it'll scare off alot of people with just a whiff.  But when added to kare-kare, even in the smallest of quantities, it adds that extra touch of umami that makes the dish heavenly.  Altogether, served over lots of rice, it is my favorite thing to eat.

This is my version.  This version would be the 'Americanized' style with green cabbage, green beans and eggplant from the local Jewel.  Depending on where I go shopping the day I decide to make it, the added ingredients will vary.  If I want to go more asian, I'll find me some chinese long beans and japanese eggplant, some baby bok choy or maybe okra.  Maybe go that extra mile and find some banana blossom shoots.  Toss in some tripe or add some color with annatto.

It's really very simple to make.  It just takes time since you have to stew the goodness out of the oxtails.  Normally I braise the oxtails the day before.  Season them heavily with salt, toss them into a pot of water with chopped onion and garlic, bay leaf and peppercorns and then let them simmer for 3-4 hours.  Set it on the stove or in a crockpot and let it go.  When they're finished, I'll pull out the meat, strain the stock into a container to remove all the cooked onions and herbs then put all the meat back into the stock and let it cool overnight in the refrigerator.  I don't have to do that, I could make it all in one day.  But the advantage to this is mostly me being a little health conscious.  The next day, the chilled stock has a solid layer of fat on the top.  I scrape that off and throw it out.

So then I'll heat some oil in a pot, saute some chopped onion and garlic because more is better and if I have it, this will also be where I add a some annatto oil or powder.  It gives it a more orange color which some people find more appealing.  I'll then toss the gelatinized stock and meat into the pot and let it heat back up and once it's got a good simmer to it add in the peanut butter.

Yes, peanut butter.  You could go all authentic and get some peanuts, roast them up and then crush them by hand or in a food processor, or you could always just buy peanut butter.  I usually read the label.  I take that back.  I usually just buy Jiff, Extra Crunchy.  Peanuts and sugar and salt.  That's it.  I don't buy the reduced fat stuff, I don't buy the less sodium stuff, because they throw in things like corn syrup or soybeans.  I want peanuts, salt and sugar and nothing else. And I buy Jiff because that's what I grew up on.

So I mix in the peanut butter, let it melt into the stock, toss in all my vegetables, let those cook a few minutes until cooked through, season with salt and pepper as needed and then voila!  The best stew ever!  A bed of rice, some bagoong and dinner is served.

And I also get to enjoy it for days after.  A pound of oxtails can make enough kare-kare to stretch over half a week for two people.  Not bad for $5 of meat.

Grocery Carts

You ever take the time when you're in line at the grocery store and look at what's in other people's carts?  I do.  All the time.  And then consider what it says about the people pushing those carts.  And start imagining what it says about them.  The contents can tell you if they're single or have a family.  If they're having a party that weekend, maybe.  If they think about nutrition, if they're a carnivore or a vegetarian.  If they have time in they're days or not.  If they like to cook, if they're a foodie.

One thing I've noticed in general.  People don't cook as much as they used to.  I suppose I don't need to look at carts to know that.  Eating out has increased over the decades.  I know so many people who admit they can't even cook ramen, heh.  But then you look at grocery carts and see lots of cans and bags and boxes and frozen items of pre-prepared ready in a few minute foods.  And not as much fresh meats, fruits and veggies.

I wonder what my cart tells people about me.

I know what this week's shopping haul says to me.  Sometime in the next week or so I plan on cooking the following - turkey noodle casserole (because I'm feeling retro 50's), pork chops stuffed with spinach and mushrooms, brown rice and black-eyed peas, enchilada pie with guacamole, yogurt chicken, pot roast with herb potatoes, ratatouille and . . . kare-kare.

The Carrot Cake Hunt

We've had this tradition since we've been together of getting my boyfriend, Dan, carrot cake for his birthday. We could, of course, get it anytime of the year. We could even bake our own. Who knows? We might do that next year. But getting it almost exclusively just on his birthday just makes it that special kind of special.

And while we've had decent cakes each year, we've not yet found THE cake of all carrot cakes that makes us want to go back for more. (Actually we have, but it is no longer available so not worth mentioning.)  So this year we went out hunting for the best carrot cake in town. With a list of nine Chicago bakeries in hand we cruised around the city, ended up visiting seven and came home with five tempting and delicious little treats.

(clockwise from left) Molly's Cupcake, Sweet Mandy B's,
Bleeding Heart Bakery, Bulldog Bakery, (center) Alliance Bakery

We first tried the one from Bulldog Bakery.  Yes, it did get a little smooshed during travel.  That didn't hurt the yum though!  It was simple, but in a good way.  You could taste the orange in it and the spices were not overwhelming.  It was a moist cake with decent crumb.  The frosting was sugary with the cheese flavor just hinting.  It actually made me think this is what I would get if someone's mom made it at home.  It felt homemade, and I liked that.  And at $1.75 was the cheapest of them all and a decent value.

We were given a choice of frostings at Molly's Cupcakes.  They have five to choose from, but we did go with the traditional cream cheese frosting.  The little carrot shaped sprinkles were a cute, decorative touch.  Their cake was the least crumbly of all the cakes we tried, denser and a little drier.  But it was all around a good cake.  Ginger was the flavor that stood out.  Both the cake and the frosting were not too sweet.  It was the least sweet of all the cakes we tried.  The frosting itself had the most cheese flavor of all we tasted.  That's actually what made Molly's cupcake stand out for us.  Though I actually think if we'd chosen another of the frostings, a sweeter one, it would have been a better balance.  We will have to go back and find out.

Speaking of frostings, Sweet Mandy B's was the best of them all.  It was sweet, it was cheesy.  That frosting hit my tongue and my brain just went "Yuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm".  And the cake was nothing to ignore either.  It was dark and soft and moist and crumby and fell apart when I bit into it.  Sweet and nicely spiced.  Just what I love.  The one downside. . .it was too nutty.  I don't mind nuts in my carrot cake.  I like them, in fact.  Yay, texture!  And lots of different things get thrown into a carrot cake from nuts to raisins to coconut to orange peel, depending on the recipe.  But the flavor of the walnuts were so much a part of this little cake I was almost wary of calling it a carrot cake and wanted to call it a nut spice cake instead.  But if you like nuts, it's not a problem, because aside from that, it was a damn fine frosted cake.

I had hoped none of the cakes would disappoint me.  But, alas, there was the little cupcake from Alliance Bakery.  It was just bland.  And I'm pretty sure there was shortening in the frosting.  Left that sticky feeling on my tongue.  Sigh.  I won't say anymore.  Well aside from the fact that because it was the second most expensive cake we tried, it made it even more of a disappointment.

And then there was The Bleeding Heart Bakery.  No frosting, but then it wasn't a cupcake.  It was a teacake.  When we opened up the bag you could just smell the richness of molasses and brown sugar.  It was moist, it was rich, it was dense and crumbly.  It was sweet, it was potent and it was the best of all that we tried.  It was just a powerful piece of cake.  The flavor and texture were bold.  Full of spice and coconut and whatever else was in there.  But none of it dominated.  It's definately denser then I like my cakes, but it was just this mixed up bomb of rich, delicious flavor.  It didn't need the frosting.  Who knows, it might have been a ringer since it wasn't a cupcake like all the others.  But it was well worth the price, which at $3.25 was the most expensive, paying the premium for a 'green' product.

So the teacake was the best of them all this year.  Who knows what will happen next year, we might try this again if we don't make one on our own.  It was fun and I admit I was a little surprised at the variety of a simple cake.  I'm compelled to hunt for more because of it.

On a final note, I also purchased a lemon bar from Bleeding Heart.  I couldn't resist.  Lemon curd is my weakness and their lemon bar was huge!  And I'm telling you now, it is the best lemon bar I have ever had.  Pure and clean and thick and delicious.  Yes, we will indeed be going back to Bleeding Heart when we can afford to go.

The First Post

Well, here it is.  My first post.  My first blog.  At least a year, maybe more, in the making.  'The making' being me randomly saying many times, "If I had a blog, I'd totally post about this."  And so now we have it.

What is this going to be about?  Well what else would it be.  My life.  My musings on it.  The random things which make it my life.  Food.  Definately food.  I can guarantee without a doubt that there will be food.  My family, which is small and dispersed across the country.  And whom, despite my own personal failures of communication, I still love them to death and hold them dear to my heart.  My computer game habit.  Which is not huge.  I don't play many games, but the ones I do, I play with dedication.  Yes.  I play World of Warcraft.  And just those random thoughts both profound and otherwise which just pop into my head and make me wonder what other people think and do about those same thoughts.

Doesn't sound too complicated.  Yep.  Sounds fairly basic.  Well, we'll see where it goes!

I would just like to add as a last note a thank you to my boyfriend for inspiring me to finally take that first step and do this.  Said inspiration will follow shortly.