Silence from a Crash

For once I have a good reason for having not updating the blog.  Due to the legal ramification still being sorted out, I may leave certain things out of this story until the situation comes to a close.

The other day I was on my way home from a doctor’s appointment and I stop at a stop sign, like you do.  Then out of nowhere, CRASH, I’m in the intersection.  Great someone hit me I think, then Crash, Crash, I’m thought the intersection, he’s hit me again and again.  I was rear ended at least 4 but less than 12 time, I wasn’t really counting.

He hits me again as I’m pulling off to the side of the road.  I get out of the car, witnesses start coming over to see if I’m OK.  Someone calls the cops.  I talk with the witness, telling her I don’t understand what just happened.  She says, I saw the whole thing, he just kept hitting you.

Finally the driver of the other vehicle gets out of his van.  He says he’s sorry.  I tell him I’m sorry he hit me too, but the cops are on the way to sort this all out.  He points to the wheel and says no good.  It’s clear he doesn’t speak much English.  He gets back into the van and starts backing up.  I hit the hook of the van, and shout where are you going, then I run around the back of van to take a shot of his license plate, because while I may be foolish, I’m no fool.  He stops and gets out, repeats that he sorry and points at the wheel once more, “no good” he says.

The cops arrive in force; apparently my hitting the hood and yelling made the person who called the cops say that there was an altercation after the crash.  I assure the cops that he only hit me with his van, several times. The lead officer takes my statement, the witness’s, then to the driver of the van’s.  At this point he asks the other driver if he had been drinking.  The man holds up his thumb and forefinger and says; “little bit” A quick breathalyzer later, he’s in hand cuffs.  And I’m standing there the adrenaline subsiding and my hand being to shake a bit.

The officer I had been speaking with comes over with a bit of paper work for me.  It has all the contact info for everyone.  He tells me three interesting facts:

1.     The Driver is drunk, which explains a bit of why he had trouble getting out of the car and didn’t seem to really understand what was going on

2.     The Driver has no driver license, which along with being drunk goes a ways to explaining why he hit me so many times

3.     The driver is an Illegal Alien, which explains the whole no driver’s license thing and the no insurance thing

At this point, with the adrenaline no longer pumping though my veins and all of the shock of what has happened finally sinking in, combined with everything else going on in my life, I just lose it.  I’m sobbing uncontrollably.  The cop has me sit down on the curb, tells me to take as long as I need, “we don’t need you getting in another accident.”

Eventually I calm down enough to drive home.  The drive, at about 10mph takes me 2mins at most.  If only my doctor had been a little less efficient, if only their printer took a little longer, if only I had stop to check my voice mail in the parking lot instead of deciding to wait till I got home.  All of this could be avoided.  I keep thinking that, but then I think about how nice of a day it was.  It was the first that that was not really hot in a while.  There were a lot of people out that day.  If this jerk didn’t hit me, who would he have hit.  He was drunk enough to not notice a stopped car, he certainly would not have noticed a person crossing the street.  He could have killed someone.  He also could have hit another car that was coming thought the intersection, someone with kids in the car.  The more I think about that the more I realize that this was far from the worse outcome.

As for me now, I’m pretty banged up and it is making life a little more difficult.  I start physical therapy tonight and I hope that with some hard work I should be back to normal.  Until that I’m a little limited in the things I can make and put up here.  I have some back logged stuff I working on and I’ll try to post those and some other projects I’m thinking about starting once I’m back to normal on a weekly basis.

Till next week, get the hell into my kitchen, ‘cause I need someone to cook for me.

P.S.  Please, Please, Please Don’t Drink and Drive, if you have had something to drink, call cab, call a friend, hell call me.  But don’t get behind the wheel.  Think about every bad decision you thought was good one while you were drunk or even tipsy, now can you really be trusted to make the call if you are alright to drive.

They All Can’t Be Winners

I want to apologize for the lateness of this blog post and any lateness of future post.  There are some personal things going on taking up a lot of my time and energy, things that don’t really need to be talked about here.  However I am committed to updating at least once a week, unfortunately I really can’t say when during the week it will be.  I’m shooting for posting on Tuesdays but like this week, that will not always be possible.  Thank you for you’re understanding and now back to our regularly scheduled post!

When I first moved to Phoenixville, there was a bookstore that sold overruns and books with defective covers for really cheap.  The store has since gone out of business or moved, what ever the case the location is now a unisex barber.  I went there just a few times (the book store, not the barber) and the only books I ever bought were a Brad Meltzer hardback that was missing its dust jacket and a book of Thai Street Food recipes.  I still haven’t read the Meltzer, but I this weekend I did try one of the recipes for the first time, sort of.  I found a recipe for Pork that sounded OK, but need a little something.  I thought if I combined it with my cowed pleaser, Old Man Mitchell’s Ginger Plum Chicken, I might have something. 

It turned out I only have the beginnings of something.  This is a dish that really just the start of something.  I have a few ideas of the changes that I need to make to get something I like out of the recipe.  Laura liked it more than I did, and graciously took the left over off my hands.  It’s funny, about half way in I knew something was wrong, but couldn’t put my finger on it, at which point I was already cooking and we were way too hungry for me to stop, pick a new recipe, go shopping and start cooking again.

Wok Fried Pork with Ginger, a work in progress

What you will need:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of pureed ginger (Really it should have more than this, but this is what I used)
• 1 package of Japanese Udon noodles (I recommend Nasoya brand)
• 3 pork tenders
• 6 cloves of pressed garlic
• 1 green pepper
• 1 large piece of ginger root
• 20oz can of pineapple chunks
• 2 tablespoons of Braggs soy amminos
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons of plum sauce
• A large Wok

1. Add the oil and pureed ginger to the wok and let sit while prepare the other ingredient
2. Press the garlic into the Wok and mix with the ginger
3. Cook the noodles as directed, I find they are best with a little salt add to the water
4. Slice the pork into thin strips
5. Peel the skin of the ginger root and cut in to matchstick size pieces
6. Chop the green pepper into large chunks
7. Drain the juice out of the can of pineapple
8. Cook the ginger and garlic in the Wok over High heat until they start to brown
9. Add the chopped ginger pork and peppers
10. Add the soy and vegetable broth
11. Add the pineapples
12. Stir fry until the pork is mostly done
13. Add the plum sauce and noddle
14. Stir fry for another minute and then serve.

One plus of the recipe was the matchstick ginger.  That was Damn tasty and definitely something I want to experiment with again.  Other than that, I don’t want to give the impression that the meal was bad.  Its just that I was kind of bland.  There were hint of something good, but it just missed the mark.  Hopefully you will inspired to tinker with the recipe and make something great from it.

Before dinner Laura took in a showing of the Dark Knight Rises.  First off we both enjoy the picture immensely.  There were a number of really fun little nods to the comic.  It was long but didn’t feel nearly as long as it nearly 3 hour running time.  It was very much the last act of three act story and I highly recommend watching or re-watching the first two films in the series before seeing this one. 

It was a film that has really stuck with me and I keep evaluating the themes and ideas that it put forth.  I want to talk about this film more but I fear spoiling things for those who haven’t had a chance to see it yet.  Please let me know that best way to put some spoiler contain up on the blog and I’ll go into my thoughts more deeply.  I also will want to see it again, so you have little bit of time.

Till then, get the hell out of my Kitchen and go to Gotham.

Beefy O’ Weefy and other silliness

Normally when planning our Sunday meal, I will look on the food networks website or cookbook for inspiration.  I take that recipe and play around with it until it my own.  This week I was thinking about doing a Ceviche Steak, but I could not find a single recipe that tickled my fancy.  As I was looking around I started jotting down the kind of ingredients I wanted to work with.  The next thing I know I have created a beef marinade out of whole cloth.

Jokingly I quoted Brad Neely’s Wizard People: Dear Readerand said I should call it “Beefie O’ Weefie.”  Laura thought this was the best idea ever, so this week I present to you the debut of Old Man Mitchell’s Beefy O’ Weefy!

Of those unfamiliar with Brad Neely, he is an online comic creator who work can be found at http://www.creasedcomics.com/.  One of his side projects is Wizard People: Dear Reader.  It is an audio commentary for the first Harry Potter movie that is told as if it is an audio book written by someone who has never really read the books or seen the film.  In this performance he renames the characters and creates a new world where Harry P and Ronnie the Bear are total badass wreaking havoc over Hogwarts.  It’s PG-13, so don’t share with the kiddie till they’re a little older, but it’s very very funny.  In Wizard People: Dear Reader, he refers to Harry’s cousin as Beefy O’ Weefy

Old Man Mitchell’s Beef O’Weefy

What you will need:

• 1 1/2cup Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 2 Tablespoons Ginger
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Lime
• 2 tablespoons of Lime juice
• 1/2cup Braggs Soy Aminos
• 4 cloves of Garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 8 turns of Black Pepper
• 5 Walnuts
• 1/2 teaspoon Raw Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of hot Paprika
• 5 Sprig of Lemon Thyme
• 2 Sprigs of Rosemary
• 3 mid-size fry steaks
• Storage Bag
• Cast Iron Skillet
• Food Processor
• Mid-size mixing bowl
• Juice press

The Marinade:

1. Mix the Oil, Honey, Ginger, Salt, Soy, Paprika, Lime Juice and Sugar in the bowl
2. Zest the Lemon into the bowl
3. Zest the Lime into the bowl
4. Juice the lemon and lime into the bowl
5. Add the Walnut and Garlic to the food processor and process to a paste
6. Mix the paste into the bowl
7. Bruise the Thyme and Rosemary leaves then add them to the bowl
8. Mix the bowl thoroughly

The Meat:

1. Add the Meat and marinade to a storage bag
2. Let the Meat marinate for 3 to 4 hours in the fridge
3. Heat the skillet over high heat
4. Remove the Steak from the marinate and cook for 2 minutes a side

Beefy O’ Weefy maiden voyage was a huge success.  The steak had a nice blend of sweet and citrus undertones with a bit of subtle heat and just the hint of nuttiness thanks to the walnuts.  I think I’m going to make up a batch and keep it on hand anytime I need a good marinade.  I would love to try it out on pork and chicken to see if works with those meats as well.

I paired Beefy O’ Weefy, with Near East Roasted Pecan and Garlic and Tangy Almond String Beans.  You can find the String Bean recipe of the Food Network website.  The hit of nuts that get stronger as you go from the steak to the rice and finally the toasted almonds, in the Green Beans, makes for a rich thought line in the dining experience.  I really like the way the flavors mixed in my mouth and complemented each other.

Till next week, get the hell out of my Kitchen.

I Do Enjoy Crispy Pork Chops

I apologize for the lateness of this post, but due to the Fourth of July holiday and other circumstances I could not post this till now.  Here is the post that should have gone up last week:

This weekend we moved our new meal from Sunday to Saturday so that Laura and I could help a friend with a bit of subterfuge.  Saturday was mean to be a game day with some friends, but unfortunately that was not meant to be and no one could make it.  Instead I spent Saturday morning scouring the interwebs for inspiration for this week’s meal.  Since we had done a lot of chicken recipe lately and we had Lamb at Kabul, I decide on Pork. My searching led to a nice breaded pork recipe I could build off of.  Since it went over so well last time I made pork I pair this dish with my Apple Chutney and our old favorite Jasmine rice.  For the nights serving of vegetable some of the carrots that I have been growing in my garden were ripe and ready to be used in my famous Old Man Mitchell’sTarragon Carrots.

Crispy Pork Chops

What you will need:

• 2 pork chops, bone in
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon spicy mustard
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon of ginger (again I recommend the tube kind)
• ¼ teaspoon of Kosher
• ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 cup of panko flakes
• 1 cup of olive oil
• Small block of parmesan cheese
• Small block of asiago cheese
• Fine cheese grater
• Shallow Mixing bowl
• Shallow dish
• Large frying pan

1. In the bowl beat the egg thoroughly
2. Mix in the mustard, oregano, ginger, salt and pepper
3. In a shallow dish grate ½ cup of each cheese
4. Mix the cheese with the panko flakes
5. For each chop, coat in the egg mixture then the panko mixture, set chops aside
6. Heat the oil in a large frying pan
7. Once it’s nice and hot fry each chop for about 3-4 minutes a side, adjust time for how hot you can get the oil. 
8. Let the fried chops cool and serve over rice and a nice coating of the chutney or the chutney on the side if you like.

We really enjoyed this dish.  I found the chutney plays really nicely with the pork and rice.  The chutney has a great heat to it that is undercut well by the rice creating a pleasant warmth in my throat after I have eaten it.

Sunday we met my best friend Dave and his girlfriend Rose, both of whom live in California, at the Reading Terminal for lunch.  The Reading Terminal is an old train terminal that now serves as a giant collection of shops and food stands.  They have some of the finest food and fresh produce in all of Philadelphia there.  Laura and I got some yummy bacon and egg sandwiches from a bakery, while the Californian duo picked up pulled pork from a deli.

After our meal, we told them that we had to go to Laura’s Niece’s birthday party.  ‘This was a bald faced lie.  In reality we were a cog in a scheme.  We drove down to the Philadelphia Art Museum and hid ourselves at the top of the famous Rocky steps.  Laying in waiting I watched as Dave and Rose raced up the stairs.  Once to the top, Dave quickly dropped to one knee and presented a ring to the race’s winner.  That is when I started shooting.  With my Nikon d50 I was able to document the entire proposal.  Rose was very surprised and on cloud nine.  We were honored to be there for this special occasion and happy to help my dear friend Dave.  Congratulation to the happy couple

Till next time, get the hell out of my kitchen.

Getting Older and Double Dose of Cooking

You’re in luck this week, to celebrate my 33rd year; you get not one but two meals my dear reader.  Every Thursday a friend of mine (who is a bit shy so will remain nameless in this blog, just imagine that it’s someone super famous and doesn’t want the press to mob my house and wreck our good time) comes over for what we call movie night.  This tradition started with my old roommate Becky as a way to make sure we kept in touch and would get to spend time with each other.  It is so easy to get busy with life and work that you lose touch with friend.  Having a night where you know you will get to spend with the people you like is a great way to keep that from happening.  Truth be told half the time we don’t even watch a movie.  As people have moved away and new friend have come into my life the cast has changed, but once I week I know I will get to spend time with some friends. 

Most movie night we will just grab some quick food out or have something easy like cereal, but this night we stop off at the grocery store to get my nameless friend some coffee and somehow had the epiphany that breakfast for diner was just what the doctor ordered.  We picked up some Maple Sausage and planned to make French Toast.  Now, I haven’t made French Toast in years but I do have a book of breakfast recipes.  Almost every recipe in there was far too ambushes and would have necessitated another trip to the store; however there was a bare bones recipe that called for just eggs and milk.  I took that recipe and just started adding to it and thus was born Old Man Mitchell's Off the cuff French Toast.  It was quite tasty and there was enough of the mixture that I was able to have French Toast the next day for breakfast, which was nice since it was my Birthday!

Old Man Mitchell's Off The Cuff French Toast

What you will need:

• Your Favorite Bread
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup Milk
• 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/4 Tablespoon nutmeg
• 1 or 2 Tablespoons of Honey (to taste, I just eyeballed it)
• A non-stick griddle

1. In a midsize shallow bowl beat the eggs
2. Add the milk and mix thoroughly
3. Add the spices and mix thoroughly
4. Add the Honey and mix thoroughly
5. Put the griddle on medium heat and let the surface heat up for a minute or two
6. Dredge a piece of toast though the mixture until it is full coated and has absorbed a bit of the mixture
7. Cook on the griddle till golden brown on each size, it should take a little less the a minute a size, you will need to play with the time and temp to get the each piece to come out just right.

While I made the French Toast I also cooked the sausage in a cast iron skillet.  I cannot recommend picking one these up enough.  When it comes to cooking things like sausage a well-seasoned skillet add so much subtle flavor and lets you cook them to perfection.  We then topped of our plates of toast and sausage with a healthy dose of real Maple Syrup.  All of these things came together to make a perfect pre-birthday breakfast for dinner meal

For my actual birthday Laura and I caught an afternoon showing of Pixar’s latest, Brave.  Brave is simply a delightful film.  The story is a straightforward and compelling tale of forgiveness and understanding.  The central conflict rang true to me as I have seen it echo between nearly every Mother and Daughter I have known.  Even if the film did not feature a compelling story it would have been enjoyable for the visuals alone.  Pixar has set the bar so high with their previous films that some reviews have glossed over how good this film looks.  I was mesmerized by the attention to detail in Brave.  How each characters tartan showed unique signs of wear and the princesses hair was a spectacularly beautiful mess of tangles and curls.  Both Laura and I loved this movie and can’t wait to see it again.

Saturday brought on one of my favorite birthday traditions, a trip to Kabul and Franklin Fountain.  Each year I gather a small group of friends and got to my absolute favorite restaurant, Kabul, a wonderful Afghan establishment in the heart of old city Philadelphia.  They make the best Norenge Palaw there and I get it so often the owner know what I’m going to order before I open my mouth.  After diner we walk down to Franklin Fountain for handmade ice cream.  This year’s meal and company did not disappoint; a wonderful time was had by all.

Sunday I cracked opened the Hunger Game cookbook for dinner inspiration.  The Orange You Glad I’m Chicken caught my eye.  I fully intended to make a change or two in order to make the dish my own.  What I didn’t expect was for the cream sauce to go so far off the rails.  Once I got to that step I just started to wing it.  Amazingly despise looking like a disaster it came out deliciously.  Below I have attempted to document how to make the sauce we had that night, but there will definitely be some cooking by instinct when you make this for yourself.

Also learned that Orange Extract is damn expensive!  Next time I make this I will try using Orange Zest instead at a 2 to 1 zest to extract ratio.

Creamy Orange Chicken

What you will need:

• 8 pieces of skinless boneless chicken thigh
• Heavy Cream
• 2 tablespoons of Honey
• 3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 5 tablespoons of Orange Extract
• 1/2cup Olive Oil
• 1 can of mandarin oranges
• 2 cups Orange Juice
• 1 cup Flower
• 3 tablespoons Corn Starch
• Large Non-Stick Sauce Pan
• Some mixing bowls
• A Fork

1. Pat dry the Chicken and use a fork to create a number of small holes in the surface of the chicken to allow the marinade to absorbed
2. Mix the orange juice, 2 Tablespoons Orange Extract, salt, oil, garlic and Honey in a bowl
3. Place all of the chicken into a sealable storage bag
4. Add the marinade and mix thing around so the chicken is thoroughly covered
5. Let chicken marinade in the fridge for 5 hour
6. In a bowl mix together the cornstarch, ½ cup of Heavy Cream and Orange extract; mix till smooth.
7. Chop up the mandarin oranges and add them to the cream sauce
8. Take each piece of chicken out of the marinade and coat in the flower.
9. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in the pan over high heat
10. Fry the chicken for about 3 to 4 minutes per side
11. After the chicken is done set it aside under foil to keep it warm
12. Lower the heat on the pan to medium
13. Ok here is where things interesting add the cream sauce to pan and start mixing it in
14. Keep mixing till it reduces down a bit then add more cream sauce as you see fit, letting that reduce down too.  Really your cooking by instinct now, add whatever you think works and it’s done when you feel it’s done.

I pared this chicken with Jasmine Rice and Oven Roasted Asparagus.  We were out of the O brand Blood Orange Olive Oil that I would have liked to use, but the Asparagus came out pretty good with regular old extra virgin olive oil.  When you make this, try out different flavored oils and let me know which you think is the best.

Oven Roasted Asparagus

What you will need:

• A deep pan (I use a broiling pan with the top grate taken off)
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• Asparagus
• Kosher Salt
• Cracked Black Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Line the pan with foil
3. Place Asparagus in the pan so that each piece can lay flat
4. Drizzle the oil over the Asparagus
5. Give the pan some good shakes so that the Asparagus rolls around and become completely covered with oil
6. Sprinkle the salt and pepper over the Asparagus to taste shake again.  Note a little salt goes a long way.
7. Roast the Asparagus in the oven for 7 minutes
8. Take the Asparagus out and give the pan another good shake
9. Roast for 6 more minutes

I have to say despite the hiccups in preparation, this dish got one of the better reactions of the things I have made this year.  Laura cleaned her plate in record time.  I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we have.  If you make it, please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Speaking of your thoughts, this is the 10th post of Old Man Mitchell Kitchen and I would like to hear how you think it is going.  What do you like about the blog? What do you want to hear more about? Any meals you want me to try my hand at?

Till next time, get the hell out of my kitchen.

Soy Ginger & Honey Glazed Chicken - 6/15/2012

I’m still not a 100% but I well enough to get back in the kitchen and start cooking.  I did double duty cooking this week because my Dad wanted me to make my award winning Ginger Plum Chicken for Father’s Day.  You can find that recipe HERE..

Since Sunday was Booked up with Ginger Plum and we had Laura’s Niece’s Birthday Party Saturday, Friday was the only day left for a new recipe.  This week I grab a recipe from the Food Networks website and spiced it up a bit, turning Soy Honey Chicken into Soy Ginger & Honey Glazed Chicken.  It turned out really nice, but I think it still needs a little something extra.  I paired this with some Ginger Jasmine Rice and my Tarragon Carrots.  I used fresh Tarragon and Lemon Thyme from out garden.  The Lemon time was delicious but the tarragon was very disappointing.  It was rather aromaless when I chopped the leafs and had no taste when I tried a leaf.  I ended up replacing it with the store bought stuff.

Soy Ginger & Honey Glazed Chicken

What you will need:

• 6-8 Boneless Chicken Thighs
• Ginger (I used the tube variety, I talked about that HERE)
• 1 table spoon of  fine chopped Lemon Thyme (regular thyme would work too)
• 4 tablespoons Braggs Soy Aminos
• 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2cup Honey
• 1 lemon
• Broiling Pan
• mid to small saucepan

1. In a sealable storage bag place the chicken
2. Add 2 tablespoons of Braggs Soy Aminos, 2 tablespoons of Ginger and 1 tablespoon of Oil to the bag
3. Seal the bag work the mixture so that each piece of chicken is cover in the mixture
4. Let the chicken marinate overnight in the fridge
5. In the saucepan add 2 tablespoons of Braggs Soy Aminos, 1 tablespoon of oil, the thyme and honey
6. Zest the lemon into the pan
7. Squeeze the juice from the lemon into the pan
8. Put the pan on to hot heat until the mixture boils, stir often
9. Once the mixture starts to boil, take it off the heat and put it aside
10. Preheat the oven to 450
11. Brush the top of the broiling pan with oil
12. Place the chicken on the broiling pan and coat the chicken with sauce from the sauce pan
13. Put the chicken in the oven
14. The chicken will cook for 25 minutes, but every 5 minutes re-coat the chicken with the glaze

Ginger Jasmine Rice

What you will need:

• Pot with lid
• 1 inch of fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon of tube ginger
• 1 cup of jasmine rice

1. peel and chop the ginger into small pieces
2. Add 2 cups of water to the pot
3. Add both the chopped and ginger from the tube to the water
4. Bring the water to a boil
5. Add the rice and let cook for 15minutes

As I said earlier, this meal was tasty but needs a little something and I can’t put my figure on what that something is.  If you try it out and have any suggestions please let me know in the comment section.  One improvement I made in the write up of the recipe is that I increased the frequency of the re-glazing.

Before I go I want to make a game recommendations.  As an early birthday (June 22 hint, hint) gift Laura gave me The Settlers of Catan.  After Dinner on Sunday we gave it an initial play though with my Mom and Dad.  I’m happy to report that a grand time was had by all and everyone is looking forward to play it again.  If you want to see the game in action, checkout this episode of Table Top.  It features Neil Grayston form Eureka and my literary crush, TV writer extraordinaire Jane Espenson and is worth watching for their banter alone.  I will warn you Table Top is an addiction show and you might end up watching them all in one sitting.

Week Three of Operation Still Sick

Operation Still Sick is going strong, but there are slight signs of it coming to a close.  My cough is a little better and I’m starting to have little more energy.  Unfortunately I did not have enough energy to make a fancy new meal this weekend.  I used up all that energy being in a Cosplay Fashion Show!!!

Now you might wonder, why I would risk being sick longer to be in a fashion show? Answer, because it was awesome!  I mean really when else am I ever going to be asked to be in a fashion show, let alone a Cosplay fashion show.  Hopeful next year, but I’m getting a head of myself.

The show was part of Philly RAW Artists at the G Lounge and Cosplay part was organized by the Lovely Laura Guzzo.  We had a lineup that would do any comic book cross over proud.  I started things off as Dr. Strange followed by the Scarecrow (from Arkham Asylum), Poison Ivy, Tigra, Ms. Marvel, Vector (from Resident Evil) and Superman.  It was a ton of fun, but like any event of this type there were some trials and tribulations.  Besides that fact that Laura and I are both sick, the body painter that was need to turn change Liz into Tigra bailed at the last minute.  This led Gabby our fantastic Ms. Marvel and I to adventure around the city to find body paint in enough time to get back before the show started.  Lucky we found a costume shop that was still open.  Because of when we found out we need the body paint we were both mostly in costume during our sojourn which turn out to be lot of fun as the people at the costume shop not only recognize who we were dressed as, knew Dr. Strangers catch phrase (By The Hoary Hosts Of Hoggoth)

 

When we got back, everyone pitched in and we turned Liz orange in no time flat.  Once sufficiently oranged, Laura when to work adding the strips and Tigra was born.  She really did an amazing job.  I really goes to show that when it comes to art there is very little Laura can’t do.

The walking the runway itself went really well.  I think I did well for someone who never did that before and was not exactly clear on where I was meant to go after I was done.  Now that I have it under my belt I really want to do it again, I want to take my experience and see what kind of job I could do now that I know kind what I’m doing.  It looks like I might get the change as there are rumors that this might be a yearly event.  Who should I dress up as next year?

Well that’s it for this time, I apologize again for no recipe, but with my health on an upswing, I should be back to cooking in no time.  Till next time, get the hell out of my kitchen

P.S

Here is a link to where you can see pictures from the show.

A World of Wizard and Illness.

I’m sorry to disappoint but there will be no recipe this week, we have just been too busy.  As I mentioned last week, Laura and I both had a touch of a cold last weekend.  Well, combine that with 4 days of Wizard World and the Con Flu that penetrated our already weaken immune system, meant that we were in no mood to make anything Monday.  In fact all I really did that day was run out and get Laura some cold meds for her cough and then sat on the couch with her watching an impromptu RuPaul’s Drag race marathon off Netflix.

   

Despite the multitude of germs inhabiting our bodies Wizard World was a blast.  I got to debut my Doctor Strange costume.  It was the first time I every cosplayed and I loved every minute of it.  At one point I was talking to the great Scott Derby and I heard a small voice from my right say “I like your cape.”  I looked over and there stood an absolutely adorable little girl.  I thanked her and her and her older sister if they would like a picture.  Both girls’ eyes lit up and the little one asked, “Can I?”  This completely melted my cold cold heart.  After their dad took our picture, the older of the sister asked me about the medallion on my costume.  I told her about how a friend of mine had made the costume for me and to the best of my knowledge I explained how she had made the medallion from scultpy.  This exchange was the highlight of my weekend and from that moment on I was hooked on cosplaying.

 I spent most of my time at the convention behind Laura’s table.  We did brisk business and I got to meet a lot of really cool people and see some amazing costumes.  The few times I was able to get out of the booth I was able to get a few sketches for a themed sketch book I have been putting together since 2008.  I call it Arkham Asylum and I have each artist draw his or her favorite Batman villain in it.  I also give them a folder with reference pictures of all of the Batman villains I could find.

Here are the sketches I picked up this Wizard World Philly:

Mr. Freeze - James Boyle

The Reaper - Chris Faccone

    

Catwoman - Andy Leta

Mr. Freeze - Alex Eckman-Lawn

That just about does it for this week.  If you didn’t get a chance to see as Doctor Strange at Wizard World, I’ll be participating in a Cosplay Fashion show this Thursday at the G Lounge for RAW Philly Artist.  Next week we will return to our normal format with a tasty recipe.  Till then, get the hell out of my kitchen.

5-28-2012 – Lime and Garlic Chicken

There is nothing quite like the disappointment of getting sick at the beginning of a three day weekend.  As you can guess I felt that this disappointment starting with a sore throat on Friday morning and full on congestion by the afternoon.  There are few things I hate more than being congested.  I have very sensitive sinuses and sleep apnea; the breathing machine I use just covers my nose, so I think you can begin to understand how rough of a weekend this was for me.  But I was able to pull it all together and whip up a new meal for Laura and I Monday night.  Now enough with the pity party let’s get cooking

I wanted to make something rather simple and easy.  I also wanted to keep the cost down and after a quick look thought my freezer that mean the chicken thigh was going to be the protein of the day.  Food Network website search yield a nice lemon chicken recipe that was ripe of tinkering and didn’t require buy anything other than limes and cooking wine.   

Keeping with the simple and easy motif I paired it with jasmine rice and my tarragon carrots.

Lime and Garlic Chicken:

What you need:

• A baking dish
• Oil brush
• Small food processor or garlic press
• 6 skinless chicken thighs
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1/3 dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon of lime zest
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• a pepper grinder
• a salt grinder
• a lime
• 9 cloves of garlic

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mince the garlic (use the food processor or garlic press)
3. In a dish combine the wine, zest, lime juice, oregano, thyme and kosher salt into a dish
4. Heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the garlic for a minute or so
5. Add the ingredients for the dish to the garlic and oil, stir till combined and then take off heat
6. Pour the ingredients from the pan into the dish
7. Pat dry the chicken
8. Add the chicken to the pan and brush with oil
9. Season the chicken with salt and pepper from the grinders
10. Slice up the lime to eighths and place them in dish
11. Bake for 40 minute
12. Let rest for 10 minute covered in tin foil before serving.

This turned out all right, however in my hast I neglected to pan sear the garlic before adding in the other ingredients.  Also I put in a little more lime zest and juice than I should have.  These mistakes have been correct in the write up above.  To make matters worse on that front, Laura decide to drench her plate in sauce for from baking pan, before she tried it, rendering her food ruined to her palate.  Luckily I love lime and was able to eat her food and she was able to get her fill on the extra carrots and rice I made.

Despite the hiccups in the making of the meal it was rather tasty and I would love to get another crack at it.  I think that with a few tweaks this could be a real crowd pleaser.

Before I go, I have two upcoming events to plug.  If you are in the Philadelphia area, this weekend is the annual Wizard World comic book convention.  Laura and I will be there all weekend long in artist ally at table 2335.  Come on by and say hi.  As an add treat we will both be in costume.  I have a really awesome Doctor Strange outfit my friend made me and I can’t wait to show it off.

Speaking of showing it off, The following week (Thursday 6/7/2012) There will be a Cosplay Fashion show at Philly RAW Artist organized by one Laura Guzzo.  There I will be once more donning the cape and getting my Doctor Strange on.  The RAW events are always a great time and feature artist doing everything from painting and photography to clothing design and body painting.  There are even a couple of bands playing. 

I hope to see you at one of these events.  Till next time, get the hell out of my kitchen.

5/18/2012 – Blueberry-Peach Pancakes with Scrapple

With Laura in South Carolina promoting Shakespeare Shaken, I was left to my own devices when it came to the new recipe for this week.  A week that proved to be particularly stressful.  The second incredibly stressful week in a row to be honest.  With that in mind I decided to treat myself to breakfast for dinner Friday.

My favorite breakfast has always been Pancakes.  When I was kid, every Sunday my Dad would make a big pancake breakfast with eggs and a rotating cast of breakfast meats.  Of the breakfast meats, I‘m partial to that quintessentially Pennsylvanian delicacy scrapple.  He would make a giant stack of pancakes for my Mom, sister and I, that we would snack on all day long.  It was perfect for a nice lazy Sunday.

For my lazy Friday night, I took my Dad’s pancake recipe added a double helping of peaches along with a liberal helping of fresh blueberries.  Combined with some nice thin sliced Scrapple induced a worry free food coma.  It was just what I need to chase my worries away.

Blueberry-Peach Pancakes

What you need:

·         3 cups of Flour

·         5 Teaspoons of Baking Powder

·         2 Teaspoons of Salt

·         3 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar

·         2 ½ cups of milk

·         2 eggs

·         1 stick of butter

·         1 can of peaches

·         1 small tub of blueberries

·         A griddle

·         A blender

·         A pastry knife (optional)

1.       Add the Flour, salt and Baking Powder to a large mixing bowl, be sure to mix the two together well.  I recommend using a pastry knife for this.  If the Baking Powder is not mix in properly it will create bitter pockets in you pancakes.

2.       Melt the stick of butter in a small bowl.

3.       Add the brown sugar to the butter and mix until it creates a cream.  This will help sugar distribute evenly thought the pancakes

4.       Beat the eggs and add them with the milk to the creamed butter

5.       Add your wet ingredients to the dry and mix until they are completely mixed together

6.       Place the peaches into the blender and purée

7.       Mix in the puree peaches and blueberries to the other ingredients

8.       Heat you griddle on low to medium heat

9.       Pour out ¼ cup of pancake mix on to the griddle

10.   Once the pancake start to bubble flip it, the longer it bubbles, the dark the pancake

11.   Let the pancake cook on the other side for about half to three quarters the time of the first side.

The key to good scrapple starts with the cut.  For those who have never seen scrapple, it comes in a brick.  You want to cut off thin slices from the short side, like slicing bread.  Each piece you cut off should be no more than an eighth of a inch thick.  Then heat up a tiny bit of olive oil in a pan and fry the scrapple until it golden brown and crispy on both sides.  I like to cook it in a cast iron skillet.

Once I have my scrapple and pancakes, I add the perfect finishing touch, a helpful serving of real maple syrup.  I cannot stress this enough, you want real maple syrup.  Once you have the real stuff you can never go back to that fake flavored corn syrup garbage that they sell next to the instant pancake mixes.

A chased this carbtastic meal down with a nice cold glass of milk.  It really hit the spot and lifted my mood tremendously (along with my triglycerides I’m sure).

Once last thing before I go, Laura and I will be at WizardWorld Philly (May 31^st - June 3^rd).  If you live in the Philadelphia area come on out and say hi.  If you come on Saturday I’ll be wearing my Dr. Strange costume that a friend made me.  Plus, not to bury the lead too much, you will get to see and possibly buy some of Laura wonderful art.  She really is a wonderful and talented artist.

That’s enough shilling for now, till next time, Get the Hell out of my Kitchen.

Happy Belated Mother’s Day!

Due to this past weekend being Mother’s day as well as the fact that Laura and I had tickets for a plan on Saturday night, there really wasn’t time to make a new recipe.  But fear not, for I will still provide for you gentle reader.  This week we take a look at the recipe that started it all, Old Man Mitchell’s Ginger Plum Chicken.

I this information may come a little too late to be useful, but Laura and I saw the People’s Light and Theater’s production of A Wrinkle In Time on Saturday and it was amazing!  I read the book multiple times as child.  Because of my learning disabilities I went to 4 different schools between 1^st and 7^th grade and being able to read a having stories where the main characters are special because they think differently, really meant a lot to me.

The play is a wonderful adaptation of the source material.  The staging is remarkable and really quite brilliant.  The use light and sound gave the minimalist stage a real sense of place.  The acting was also top notch, especially that of Emilie Krause who played Meg and Conrad David Sager who played Charles Wallace.  The show runs till 4/20 and if you are in the area I highly recommend checking it out.  However please note, they do employ a fair amount of flashing light, so if that sort of thing bothers you, it’s best to just read the book and enjoy the story that way.

Now, on to this week’s meal.  I found a Ginger Plum chicken recipe in book of Chinese food recipes that was given to me along with a wok one Christmas by my best friend’s mother.  I have altered it over the years to such a degree that really they only share a name in common.   This recipe recently won a recipe contest at work.

Old Man Mitchell’s Ginger Plum Chicken

What you need:

·         4 skinless boneless Chicken Thigh

·         One package of Japanese Udon Noodles (I recommend Nasoya brand)

·         2 tablespoons of Olive Oil

·         2 tablespoons of finely chopped Ginger

·         3 Tablespoons of Bragg’s Liquid Amino (soy sauce substitute)

·         4 Tablespoons of Plum Sauce (I recommend Kikkoman brand)

·         1 pepper cut into small to medium pieces (green or red as to taste)

·         1 cup of Quartered Baby Carrots (more or less to taste)

·         A hand full of sugar snap peas or snow peas

·         A good sized Wok (Ikea has them cheap)

1.       Add Oil and Ginger to a Wok and let it sit

2.       In a pot boil water and cook the Japanese Noodles as per the packages instruction, add a pinch of salt for taste.  This should take about 8-9mins

3.       While the Noodle cook, chop the vegetables and set aside.  Then slice the chicken into 1 inch pieces

4.       When the noodle are done, place a lid on the pot to retain the heat

5.       Put the Wok on high heat and stir fry the Ginger until it starts to change color (30 sec to a min should do)

6.       Add Chicken and Bragg’s Liquid Amino to the Wok, stir fry till the chicken is almost cooked

7.       Add the Carrots, Peppers and Plum sauce to the Wok. Stir fry for a 1 to 2 min

8.       Drain the noodles and add to Wok, stir fry until the noodles are infused with the sauce

9.       Add the Peas, stir fry until the peas are warm and covered in sauce

10.   Take off heat and let cool for 5 min then serve

This dish has been a long time favorite and I have found that it just as good the next day cold as it is fresh off the stove.  You should also feel free to put any other vegetables you like in it.  If you do try this meal or any of my other recipes, drop me a line and let me know how they turned out.

Next weekend Laura will be at XCON is South Carolina promoting Shakespeare Shaken, a new book that she has contributed art to, so I’ll be on my own.  Drop me a line if there is a protein you want me to feature or if I should go hog wild and have Breakfast for dinner!

Till next time, Get the hell out of my Kitchen.