caterina cacciatore

i am quite taken with this concept

of killer belly fat

heh

one day i was 5'6" tall and weighed 140 lbs

then i went away and had a bone density test

i came home three inches shorter and six pounds heavier

AARP bulletin sez i must rid myself of belly fat in order to protect my heart

"To lose one pound per week, forgo or burn 500 calories per day. And to battle that killer belly fat, you'll need regular aerobic exercise. You can burn 500 calories and get your aerobic workout done by walking five miles a day."

do the five miles have to be sequential ?

i walk several miles every morning / well there are frequent stops to wait for the little elderly dog

it's all about me yes indeed

~~~~to feel good !

a Full Tilt Lolly Gag is an effective strategy during an Essential Lull

i learned how to make perfect homemade French Fries

from a magazine called Cuisine At Home

here's what i learned from following the recipe and making slight adaptation

#######

there are two basic parts to making a really good "side a fries"

have a big baking sized russet potato just laying around waiting to be used

peel it a little

slice into slabs and the slabs into sticks the size fry you prefer

like shoestring (my favorite) or 1/2 inchers / or another favorite : some thick and some thin and not at all even but 90% the same length

rinse in water and dry on towels

you need a deep and heavy pot / like Le Crueset / that can get real hot and is able to hold the heat / see you can get the frying oil hot enough but the addition of any food always lowers the temperature

you need a deep fry thermometer / the kind with the clip on it / it has to go to 400'

oil / i had on hand a couple of quarts of sunflower seed oil / it has to be at least three inches deep or ten cups

using the thermometer which should NOT be touching the bottom of the pot / bring the heat up to 325' and slip the potatoes in one at a time / do small batches / the idea here is to soften them but not brown them / amount of time this takes varies depending on the size of your fry / maybe only a minute or two

drain on a rack over brown paper bags

that's Part One

wrap these fries in paper towels and chill for at least an hour

Part Two : get your oil hot up to 375'

slip the chilled potatoes into the oil in small batches / the cold potatoes will want to lower the temperature of the oil so proceed slowly until you get the hang of it

this time they should crisp up and turn a lovely golden brown / fish them out when they are the colour you prefer

drain on towels and sprinkle with salt

what we dunk them in is topic for another post

whilst Skaterina eats her words / choke sputter sputter

we had radishes for breakfast / fresh picked from the garden / with neo tuscan boule toast smeared with mascarpone (italian creamcheese)

a chunk torn off a freshly baked crusty baguette would have been our first choice

so in search of a crusty baguette in beautiful downtown Moab i went out to lunch at Marianne's Bakery just opened over street and around the corner

i had a grild (sic) cheese and ham sandwich on my choice of bread / home made white / of course

it was good / substantial / i brought home half of it to have with pickles later on

Marianne makes a darn good cream puffs !

overwhelmingly sumptuous with just whipped cream / real cream

makes up for the lack of crusty baguette

i finally got it down on pizza crust

living in high desert dry and arid climate the dough requires more liquid (water) than the conventional recipe calls for / so just adding more water to the yeast/flour for it to bubble up makes a huge difference and so does adding a little more warm water when the yeast goes into the rest of the flour / i was even able to use half spelt and come up with a crisp thin crunchy crust / more olive oil helps too

i also find a double rise increases the quality of the crust / having a stove with a warming drawer for bread proofing is a big plus

how cd i forget to consider this when i have adjusted to different requirements due to altitude?

for example at higher elevations water boils at a lower temperature / hence it takes longer to cook somethings than at a lower altitude

for the perfect soft boiled eggs i favor (runny yolks but fairly solid whites) i need to time them at 7-8 minutes (depending on the size of the eggs)

in California near the coast last year 7-8 minutes produces pretty much a hard boiled egg ! 3 minutes does the job

the first time i tried to cook up a pot of beans on Wilson Mesa (altitude some 7-8000 feet) i learned it just cdnt be done / i had that pot of beans on the wood stove for at least five days until the rancher told me they wd never get done

canned beans is the way to go up on the mountain

the latest pizza success used a quarter of the dough to make four small pizze / one of them had tapenade for its topping / oh yum / i do love olives

zipped home from the car show to concoct something for a pot luck party tonite

pot luck / we'll be lucky if there is any

make dough for two pizze

top one of them with homemade tomato/garlic jam / assorted cheeses / carmelized onion and zucchini / slices of big fat garlic stuffed green olives / the ubiquitous olive oil / drizzle drizzle

the other one has several cheeses on the bottom / barbecue chicken next / finely diced onion and zucchine and kalamata olives on top with some judicious dabs of tomato/garlic jam / more cheese sprinkled on top

i used a mexican cheese a jalapeno montery jack some mozzarella and some parmigiano

they are gorgeous

someone asked for this recipe so here it is :

from My French Kitchen by Joanne Harris

pastry :

1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
5 TB chilled unsalted butter cut into small pieces (i usually put the butter in the freezer for a little while)
3 TB chilled vegetable shortening
1 large egg, beaten

put the flour in a large bowl (or use your food processor)
add the butter and shortening and rub together with your finger tips until the mixture resembles bread crumbs
cut the beaten egg in with a knife and combine until the dough forms a ball
knead briefly until smooth / wrap and regrigerate for 30 minutes

heat the oven to 375

for the filling :

3 TB creme fraiche or heavy cream whipped until slightly thickened
3 TB dijon mustar
10 to 12 large tomatoes, cored, peeled and sliced
sea salt and black pepper
4 fresh thyme sprigs
olive oil for drizzling

lie a 12 inch tart pan with a removable bottom with the dough
mix the cream and mustard and spred over the pasty shell
arrange the tomato slices / season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the thyme leaves over the top

bake for 40 minutes

drizzle with olive oil / serve warm or cold


i rather like this cookbook / she has a nice range / nothing too complicated

i like all cookbooks right now for browsing whilst waiting tea water to boil but i find i google up recipes more often than not

and i still love my Elizabeth David books more than anything !