Saturday update and bacon

I forgot to post on Saturday mostly because I was to busy stuffing my face.

I had one of those inspirational cooking mornings where I knew exactly what I wanted.

But first, on Saturday morning I was 27.6 lbs lost, average of .37 lbs a day something like 9% of my body weight removed in the last 2.5 months.

Then...

The biscuits.

So I was thinking about biscuits and gravy, but lacking a stove I wasn't going to be able to make biscuits, so I went next best thing and bought some English muffins, toasted them and placed some shredded cheese on top.

Next.. bacon.  1/2 pound of it, was fried and mounded atop.

I then poached a couple of eggs (not perfectly but adequately) and those were placed atop a two of the muffin halves.

I then made a white bacon gravy (as opposed to a sausage gravy.) though I added bit of butter at the end and broke the emulsion...

While this was all cooking, I prepped a fresh bought pineapple and some prosciutto they had on sale.  I relly don't care for for prosciutto wrapped melon... but adore ham + pineapple.  And since the normally $8 meat wast $1...  well I did it for science.  (I ate the rest of the pineapple throughout the day)
It was much better then the melon, but still not something I'd call great.

The end result was not pretty but it was incredibly tasty, glorious even  Between this and the entire pineapple I ate... I gained 2 lbs.

Worth it.

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

World's Weirdest mac and Cheese

So tonight I had a hankering for mac and cheese, and since I had all the makings I decided to do so.

I made two fatal flaws.

First, I have two different infused olive oils in nigh identical bottles. One is a orange infused, which works particularly well with sweet teriyaki dishes and the like. The other is black pepper infused which is spicy.

I meant to use the pepper. I didn't.

The second mistake is that I have two containers of soy milk in my fridge. Vanilla I use on my morning oatmeal and plain I use for everything else.

I meant to use the plain. I didn't.

I didn't even know what I had done till I tasted it for salt level.

The end result was a dish that dish that can only be best described as Orange Dreamcicle Mac & Cheese.

It's actually not bad. It's not sweet at all and I think without the hint of vanilla it would actually be quite good, as the orange pairs with the cheddar much better then I expected.

Umm... yeah... that's all I have to say about that.

Doomed and Dinner

Whilst getting signatures for my other spring classes I wandered into the art building to see if I could sign up for a metal-smithing class. Like the architecture classes, there are fixed number of seats and you need faculty permission to sign up for the classes.

Upon speaking to the admin-assistant for the department I discovered the beginning metal-smithing class was full. When I attempted to retreat gracefully she snagged a passing man in apron, told him that I was trying to sign up for the beginning class and I apparently had some metal-smithing classes in the past.

He began to grill me in earnest, asking me pointed questions about what I could and could not do. I tried to answer honestly, admitting to only having basic skills in everything except mokume-gane.

He grunted, turned back to the admin, and said "Put him in the advanced class."
He then looked me in the eye and said "It's been a while since we have had an architecture student in our class, they frequently turned out to be our best students."

Then he walked away.

Confused I turned to the admin, and seeing my the look on my she simply said... "That was the professor."

Sooo, I am signed up for a 5 credit advanced metal-smithing class, and quick perusal of the gallery shows that I will have to bust my butt to even come close to the level of skill displayed.

~~~~

Since I arrived down here I have been eating a lot of Costco salmon and brown rice. About every other meal has been salmon. But it's cheap, it's good, it good for me and Costco is convenient. Last night I made salmon tacos, and while munching on the leftovers this morning I went digging through Grandpa's cookbooks looking for a salmon chowder recipe. I didn't find one, but I did find a salmon taco recipe that was nigh identical to the delectable dish I was currently munching on.

Great minds think alike.

Anyone got any salmon chowder recipes they want o share? I have about 4lbs of salmon, and bunch of fingerling potatoes that look cute.