Pancakes

I have been touring the country in my 2001 Toyota Camry for the past two weeks. With three more weeks to go, I have been confronted with a glaring weakness in my Gourman pursuits; namely, how to make amazing meals out of your car. Maybe this will be a sub-category of the larger Gourmanifesto. All I know currently is that I will need to do some practicing in a real kitchen and try to limit my resources to canned goods.

Pancakes!
I love pancakes. They are my favorite breakfast food, and for me, the best combo is buttermilk pancakes with syrup and apple sauce on top. I know it is kinda out-there in terms of toppings, but for my money it is hard to beat.

On Thursday I made pancakes and mixed it up by using frozen mixed berries and crushed walnuts in the batter. It did not turn out quite as well as I would have hoped, due to the large size of the berries, but it was still pretty tasty.

In the process of making my batter, I realized I had bad milk. I made a rookie mistake of not checking all of my ingredients before mixing, so my batter sat with everything (eggs oil and powders) drying and waited for the milk. It ended up extremely lumpy. This might seem obvious but this situation calls for a tool change. I replaced my regular spoon, with a whisk and voila, batter comes out smooth. Duh.

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Last night I made four pizzas.

Pizza is one of the best meals to make with a group, as long as you have room in the kitchen for a few people. It is fun to give ownership of the toppings to the individual, and really makes the eater part of the cooking process. Things taste a little bit better when you have to work for it.

When I am making pizza however, I usually have trouble letting go of creative topping control. Mainly, I have a vision of what the pizzas should look like when they are done, and I don't want anyone to mess with that vision. Maybe I have control issues.

This round of pizza making featured 2 chicken pesto pizzas and 2 veggie intense marinara pizzas.

My chicken pesto pizza is really good. Actually, it's phenomenal.

I put down pesto as the sauce, spreading it over the dough. Then chopped spinach goes down with pesto marinated chicken, and artichoke hearts. A layer of mozzarella cheese covers these toppings, with roma tomatoes, feta cheese and pine nuts sprinkled on top.

• Pesto
• Chicken
• Spinach
• Artichoke hearts
• Mozzarella cheese
• Roma tomatoes
• Feta cheese
• Pine nuts
  

Knives

Knives are crucial to any kitchen.

A dull knife requires the chef to use force, increasing the chance of a blade slipping and causing injury.

A dull knife will bruise or damage the food being prepared, altering presentation and changing the flavor (especially in the case of garlic).

A dull knife just plain takes more work.

I am in the market for some really really good knives.

Here is the direction I think I am leaning.

Welcome

I like to cook.

There is something utterly fulfilling about combining discrete pieces, uniting them in some hidden theme, and having their sum satisfy and bless people.

More and more I am discovering that the joy I find in feeding others, in bringing people together to share a meal, is something that drives me.

With this discovery, I have begun to push my culinary envelope. I was raised a meat and potatoes (and fruits and vegetables) boy, so I have a hard time straying into the gourmet realm of fine cooking. Luckily, I developed my own culinary category.

Gourman is the type of cooking I aspire to prepare and offer. It is defined chiefly by its grandiose scale and bold flavors. Tertiary characteristics include cost, food diversity etc.

Thus, this is my manifesto. My Gourman Manifesto. The Gourmanifesto.



This is a meal of spiral pasta noodles with a tomato-garlic meat sauce, garlic bread and steamed asparagus. Cook time: 40 minutes