Recipe: Roasted Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash
Salt
Pepper
Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Tallow (or fat of your choice like butter. Please don't use margarine)

Equipment:
Baking Pan (with lips so that the minimal liquids don't flow off)
Brush (or paper towel)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cut the top off of the squash and halve it. (not quartered like in the picture. When it is halved, it allows the seasonings and carmelization to stay on the squash rather than fall off)
Melt the tallow or other fat and spread it on the squash.  This would ideally be done with a brush but i do not have one.  What I did is fold up a paper towel and use that as a brush.  When using this technique, be careful to not apply too much force.  If you do, the paper towel will rip and put residue in your squash.
Sprinkle salt pepper and brown sugar to taste (I didn't have any brown sugar so I had to use regular)
Place the halves face up in a baking pan and put in the oven for around 30 minutes.  To test if the squash is done, stick and knife or fork into it.  It should go in easily like room temperature butter.
Once done, take out and enjoy!

Notes: This dish turned out very well, better than I expected, despite not using brown sugar and quartering it.  I only wish that I had access to spices, then I could try cinnamon cardamon nutmeg or curry squash along with other variations.

Kool-Aid

     Alright, just walked into the kitchen where my friend was preparing Kool-Aid.  Classic American beverage.  Fake coloring and flavors, a cup of sugar, half a gallon of water.  Easy.  Strange thing is, when I walked in, it didn't smell like fruit (it was fruit punch flavor), it smelled like kid's shampoo or toothpaste.  I mentioned it and my friend didn't even notice once I told him.  What kind of crazy upside down world do we live in when it is ordinary for our beverages to smell like our shower product?  I'm probably never going to drink "fruit punch" again.

Veggie Grill

     I went to the Veggie Grill in Irvine, CA across the street from UCI yesterday and had an enjoyable moment followed by pain.  To get the logistics out of the way, I ordered a Crispy Sante Fe Chickin' (not CHICKEN mind you) for $8.95 and Sweetheart Fries for $4.25.  My guest ordered what I was originally going to get, Grillin' Chickin', for $8.95.  The total came out to be $14.38 with tax.  The sandwich was quite good and came with a small side of chili.
     If I had not consciously chosen Veggie Grill knowing that it was all vegetarian, I would have never known it was not real chicken.  The resemblance was remarkable AND delicious.  Additionally, the flavors on the sandwich were mended beautifully.  The whole wheat bun gave a very deep and sweet taste whereas the Southwestern vegan mayo was just spicy enough to add the perfect kick.  The vegetables on the sandwich, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and mashed avocado, were also fresh, adding to the overall appeal.  After quickly demolishing the sandwich, I moved on to the chili, which had good flavors but was not anything amazing.  The sweet potato fries, Sweetheart Fries, were also extremely good.  They were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside in the perfect ratio.  You could tell they were just fried.  The vegan chipotle sauce that it came with also wowed me.  Like my vegan mayo, it had just enough kick to make it exciting while the creaminess of the sauce balanced it.  My guest and I agree those are some of the best sweet potato fries we've ever had.  Anyways, my guest's sandwich had an amazing grilled taste that I did not believe you could get using vegetable proteins.  Her cole slaw was somewhat lacking though.  It was only minced cabbage with a sauce that offered no bold flavors.
     The service was extremely polite helpful.  The restaurant is set up in the style where you go to the cashier to take your order, and they take it to you.  Thankfully, the food also came very quickly.  The clean and simple atmosphere also made my experience more enjoyable.  Unfortunately my experience after was anything but.
   About 5 minutes after I had left the restaurant, I got a horrible stomach ache.  Now, I don't question the preparation of the food there, it was very clean, I only blame the content of it.  I usually get bad stomach aches after ingesting a lot of grains.  I think the fake meat was also a major factor in my pains.  I simply don't believe that proteins should be derived from vegetables to simulate meat.  It is not natural.
     Overall, my experience in the actual restaurant was excellent.  The price was exactly where it needed to be an everything was top notch.  If I go back again, I would upgrade my side to fries, put my fake meat on the kale bed, and order their fresh squeezed lemonade.  Seriously, the lemonade was calling my name the entire time I was there.  If this restaurant agreed with my diet more, I would definitely put it in my top 5.  I give the restaurant a 4.5/5.  5/5 for service. 4.5/5 for price(it can always be cheaper).  5/5 for atmosphere. 4/5 for food(the lackluster sides were disappointing).

UPDATE:
     I went back and had the fake Carne Asada but over a bed of steamed kale rather than on a bun.  The side was... I don't even remember.  Oh wait it was the spring salad.  I also got the fresh squeezed lemonade like I said I would.  My friend got the Sante Fe Chickin' like I did last time with a Sweet Potato Fries upgrade.  Carne Asada was definitely no match for the chickin so I recommend that if you come here you should get a chikin dish if anything.  Putting on a bed of steamed kale was definitely better on my stomach, and the kale was quite tasty as well.  Sweet potato fries were nowhere near as good as the first time I had them.  They were less crisp and fresh.  Best part of the meal: the fresh squeezed lemonade.  It was so good.  I must have had 5 cups of it.

Recipe: Tallow, Lard, Shmaltz

Ingredients:
Beef Fat for Tallow
or
Pork Fat for Lard
or
Chicken/Duck fat for Shmaltz

Equipment:
Oven-Compatible Pot or Pan (deep enough to hold all of your fat)
Shallow Pyrex or Glass Container
Strainer
Butter Knife

Process:
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.  Roughly chop your fat and put it in your pot or pan of choice.  Place the vessel in the oven and let it render until the solids are mostly cooked up.  Check back every hour or so.  Once it is done, let it cool.  After, strain the fat as you pour it into your container.  (The strained bits are quite delicious and go well on salads or even as a snack) Let the fat cool further in the refrigerator until your fat has completely solidified.  While still in the container, use a butter knife to cut the fat into manageable chunks.  When cutting the fat keep in mind that if you just stab it, it should crack in a general line co-linear with the blade of the knife.  Because we are using pyrex or glass, the fat should come out quite easily.  Store in a container till needed.  This will keep for at least a year.

Tallow

     Alright, so the beef fat I'd gotten from Whole Foods was starting to go bad a few days ago so I decided to use it all in one shot to make tallow, rendered beef fat, for the first time.  It went pretty well, the only problem is that I don't know what to make with it...  Polenta? Corn bread? Those were my first ideas.

Mustard Greens

     I tried using mustard greens in my green smoothie today.  Mistake.  My smoothie tasted so strongly of mustard no matter how many bananas that I could barely finish it.  It was identical to eating regular mustard.  So note too all: Mustard greens are very strong and can add a kick to any dish, just don't use it as a main component.

UPDATE: What I did with the remainder of the greens was delicious and easy.  First I caramelized chopped onions in a pan with probably one tablespoon of tallow.  After that I threw in the chopped up mustard greens, added salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste, and sauteed till done.  It was excellent.  I'm never using vegetable oil again.

Recipe: Kombucha Mother

Rather than buy a mother online, you can make one in your home.  A forewarning: be very careful when handling this culture.  Metals and soap will kill it.

Ingredients:
Black tea bags
Sugar
Water
Raw Kombucha (not the stuff with the juice and flavors)

Equipment:
Stainless Steel pot
Wooden stirring utensil
Glass Jar
Muslin or Cheese Cloth
Rubber Band
Strainer ( if using loose tea)

     First, and most important: clean all of your equipment thoroughly with hot water.  Second, prepare the tea by boiling the water, the adding sugar.  The ratio between the water and sugar should be 16 to 1 by volume so if you have 1 gallon of water, you should add 1 cup of sugar.  If you have 1 quart of water, 4 tablespoons of sugar.  Basically its 1 tablespoon of sugar per a cup of water.  Once the sugar is dissolved, add the tea, however much you prefer, and brew for 5 minutes.  Strain out the tea leaves or take out the bags and let cool to room temperature for a few hours.  Once it is cooled, pour the tea into the mason jar so that it takes up about 75% of the space, then pour in the kombucha until there is a little room at the top.  Cover with your cloth of choice and secure with a rubber band.  Let it sit for 2 to 3 weeks and hope it works.  Once you have a mother you have infinite kombucha.  Because it is a living organism, it will grow as you keep it so most people peel away layers and use them as fertilizer or give them to other kombucha lovers.  They can also be frozen for 3 to 4 months, so you are able to keep a back up if you wish.

Kombucha Mother

     On 9/26/09 I started trying to grow my own kombucha mother.  The actual work is nothing. Make some tea and add some sugar.  Let cool and add kombucha. So simple.  Here's the recipe.  Anyways its been nearly a week and it doesn't look like much yet.  First off its kind of covered in a cloth, and second its in the back of a cupboard in a poorly lit kitchen therefore its hard to see.  I don't want to disturb it until a lengthy fermentation period so I'm going to leave it alone for three weeks when I can see definite results.

UPDATE: Ok well its been nearly 8 weeks and nothing.  Its a bit disappointing.  I guess I'll have to get one online.