>Twenty Loaves of Two-Breads-in-One

>Here’s variation of a festive bread I often make around the holidays. It’s really just a basic butter-and-egg bread dough recipe with the addition of other flavoring/coloring ingredients. In this case I mad one dough with the addition of roast red pepper puree and cheddar cheese, and another dough with the addition of spinach pesto and extra Parmesan cheese. Then I rolled them together to make a sort of spiral…the outcome is always somewhat dramatic. One difference I used from a standard straight-dough method is to use an overnight pre-ferment (click here); this gives the bread far more flavor and texture. At any rate, as with most the recipes I post here, this is an easy one and can also be adapted to your personal taste…the interchanging of flavors and ingredients are seemingly limitless. When I rolled the dough together I switched the pattern (as to which dough was on the inside and which was on the outside) to keep it interesting. The flavor of these breads are so incredible you don’t even need butter (but that’s still good)…it makes excellent toast and whatever you put between two slices makes an awesome sandwich.








NYC: A Bicyclist’s Metropolis

This past summer I was on holiday in New York City for a few days with my son. I hadn’t been there in a little over a year and was surprised at how many more bicycles I saw and how bike-friendly the city had become (I posted about it here). Anyhow, I came across the above chart at the blog, A Practical Cyclist (thanks Robert!), and it confirms my thoughts that there truly are many more cyclists in America’s Largest City. Much of this is in part to the city itself pushing to use bikes as a more logical way to get around it’s tightly packed and automobile-clogged corridors. Click here to go to the NYCDOT (bicycle) page and read more about it…it’s enough to make an urban cyclist living in a medium-sized rust-belt city drool (umm…that would be me). Way to go NYC…much of the rest of the country should use you as an example.

>NYC: A Bicyclist’s Metropolis

>This past summer I was on holiday in New York City for a few days with my son. I hadn’t been there in a little over a year and was surprised at how many more bicycles I saw and how bike-friendly the city had become (I posted about it here). Anyhow, I came across the above chart at the blog, A Practical Cyclist (thanks Robert!), and it confirms my thoughts that there truly are many more cyclists in America’s Largest City. Much of this is in part to the city itself pushing to use bikes as a more logical way to get around it’s tightly packed and automobile-clogged corridors. Click here to go to the NYCDOT (bicycle) page and read more about it…it’s enough to make an urban cyclist living in a medium-sized rust-belt city drool (umm…that would be me). Way to go NYC…much of the rest of the country should use you as an example.

Bicycle History

Here’s an interesting 10 minute clip of a BBC program on the history of the bicycle (a subject that I find fascinating). It’s a good video but you’ll have to click down advertisements like every 45 seconds or so.

It’s interesting, after watching the first video (and thinking about it a bit), what a liberating machine the bicycle must have been for women…especially during the Victorian and Edwardian eras when bikes became a little more advanced and it became more acceptable for women to ride them.

When you’re done watching it (if you watch it) click the 36 second silent movie below it of women in 1899 at a bicycle club.

After watching both of these clips the old Virginia Slims slogan from the 1970’s comes to mind: You’ve come a long way baby!

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x9yz3p

>Bicycle History

>Here’s an interesting 10 minute clip of a BBC program on the history of the bicycle (a subject that I find fascinating). It’s a good video but you’ll have to click down advertisements like every 45 seconds or so.

It’s interesting, after watching the first video (and thinking about it a bit), what a liberating machine the bicycle must have been for women…especially during the Victorian and Edwardian eras when bikes became a little more advanced and it became more acceptable for women to ride them.

When you’re done watching it (if you watch it) click the 36 second silent movie below it of women in 1899 at a bicycle club.

After watching both of these clips the old Virginia Slims slogan from the 1970’s comes to mind: You’ve come a long way baby!

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/x9yz3p

Cheesy Goodness

I made a fancy version of macaroni-and-cheese for dinner tonight…with four cheeses (smoked cheddar, asiago, Parmesan, and Romano), Italian sausage (made with chicken), sweet bell pepper, whole wheat pasta, and a few peas that I had in my freezer (the broccoli pictured was cooked separately).

This recipe is simply a guide…it can be altered to suit your personal taste (it is, for example, delicious with shrimp…with or without the sausage)….changing the cheese variety changes the flavor dramatically (its amazing what a little Gorgonzola will do). It’s delicious too as a vegetarian version (substituting the chicken broth with vegetable broth and loading it with whatever vegetables you prefer).

Now here’s the funny thing: calling it a glorified macaroni-and-cheese makes it sound simple and humble (and it is), but remember the next time you’re reading a restaurant menu and there is something on it with a name like Pasta con Quattro Formaggio (or aux Quatre Fromages), and it is listed at an exorbitant price…probably quattro the price it would cost you to make it yourself…you are really just paying for mac-and-cheese.

It is really very simple to make yourself…here’s how to do it:

Slice then brown the sausage in olive oil, then remove it to a plate and set aside.

In the same skillet, add diced onion and pepper, then a clove of minced garlic. After the vegetables begin to brown add a few tablespoons of flour to make a roux.

Cook the roux for a couple minutes (while stirring) then add chicken broth, heat and stir until thick, then add some milk and do the same.

Add the sausage back to the pan and stir into the sauce, then add the four cheeses. While the sauce simmers (and the flavor of the sausage permeates it) cook the pasta al dente.

Stir in the peas, then the pasta…allow the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce (and absorb its flavor).

>Cheesy Goodness

>I made a fancy version of macaroni-and-cheese for dinner tonight…with four cheeses (smoked cheddar, asiago, Parmesan, and Romano), Italian sausage (made with chicken), sweet bell pepper, whole wheat pasta, and a few peas that I had in my freezer (the broccoli pictured was cooked separately).

This recipe is simply a guide…it can be altered to suit your personal taste (it is, for example, delicious with shrimp…with or without the sausage)….changing the cheese variety changes the flavor dramatically (its amazing what a little Gorgonzola will do). It’s delicious too as a vegetarian version (substituting the chicken broth with vegetable broth and loading it with whatever vegetables you prefer).

Now here’s the funny thing: calling it a glorified macaroni-and-cheese makes it sound simple and humble (and it is), but remember the next time you’re reading a restaurant menu and there is something on it with a name like Pasta con Quattro Formaggio (or aux Quatre Fromages), and it is listed at an exorbitant price…probably quattro the price it would cost you to make it yourself…you are really just paying for mac-and-cheese.

It is really very simple to make yourself…here’s how to do it:

Slice then brown the sausage in olive oil, then remove it to a plate and set aside.

In the same skillet, add diced onion and pepper, then a clove of minced garlic. After the vegetables begin to brown add a few tablespoons of flour to make a roux.

Cook the roux for a couple minutes (while stirring) then add chicken broth, heat and stir until thick, then add some milk and do the same.

Add the sausage back to the pan and stir into the sauce, then add the four cheeses. While the sauce simmers (and the flavor of the sausage permeates it) cook the pasta al dente.

Stir in the peas, then the pasta…allow the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce (and absorb its flavor).

Pedal Your Laundry

This short video was sent to me by a regular reader of this blog (thanks M.). Last year I finally got a washer and dryer, the 6 years prior I carried my dirty clothes to the laundromat (mostly) by bike…what I should have done was washed my clothes by bike. I’ve been contemplating different pedal-powered generators for a while…but they are expensive (which seems ironic…you have to spend a lot of money to save a lot of money, and help the environment). Anyhow, the video is pretty interesting. It’s by a guy named Homeless Dave, click here for his website.

>Pedal Your Laundry

>This short video was sent to me by a regular reader of this blog (thanks M.). Last year I finally got a washer and dryer, the 6 years prior I carried my dirty clothes to the laundromat (mostly) by bike…what I should have done was washed my clothes by bike. I’ve been contemplating different pedal-powered generators for a while…but they are expensive (which seems ironic…you have to spend a lot of money to save a lot of money, and help the environment). Anyhow, the video is pretty interesting. It’s by a guy named Homeless Dave, click here for his website.

Gravy Deconstructed


One of my many flaws, I think, is that I fail to promote myself (maybe it’s just a weakness). I work as a professional cook, thus this may stem from the whole “celebrity chef” thing…for those of you that know me personally you also know that I think TV chefs are silly, always have and probably always will. A cook, I believe should face a stove not a camera…this is just my opinion, sorry to offend any Emeril or Bobby wanna bees out there. Anyhow, with that said, here’s a bit of self-promotion.

I also work as a freelance food writer, and with the holiday next week I wrote an article regarding turkey gravy, deconstructed gravy, actually. It is published in Artvoice, for a direct link to the article, click here.

>Gravy Deconstructed

>
One of my many flaws, I think, is that I fail to promote myself (maybe it’s just a weakness). I work as a professional cook, thus this may stem from the whole “celebrity chef” thing…for those of you that know me personally you also know that I think TV chefs are silly, always have and probably always will. A cook, I believe should face a stove not a camera…this is just my opinion, sorry to offend any Emeril or Bobby wanna bees out there. Anyhow, with that said, here’s a bit of self-promotion.

I also work as a freelance food writer, and with the holiday next week I wrote an article regarding turkey gravy, deconstructed gravy, actually. It is published in Artvoice, for a direct link to the article, click here.

Three Sleeping Kids In A Cargo Bike

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I am always trying to impress on people that bicycles can carry almost everything a car can…but there’s something about this video. I’m not sure if this is really cute or really scary…maybe it’s just because the kids look so vulnerable. Or maybe it’s just me. The clip was found here.

>Three Sleeping Kids In A Cargo Bike

>If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I am always trying to impress on people that bicycles can carry almost everything a car can…but there’s something about this video. I’m not sure if this is really cute or really scary…maybe it’s just because the kids look so vulnerable. Or maybe it’s just me. The clip was found here.

Now This Is Bicycle Friendly

I came across this short video at the site of Virgin Vacation’s 11 most bike friendly cities (click here). It is a video of the world’s only bicycle lift (elevator) located in Trondheim, Norway. It is ingenious, and probably one of the most bicycle friendly inventions I’ve seen yet. Make sure you pause it towards the end of the clip so you can read the side of the lift’s machinery (it’s in English). I’d like to visit this city for the sole purpose of using this lift…what a way to commute.