Chop Bouie

on to the next one

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:41:54 -0400

Here’s the deal:

As of today, Chop Bouie is no more. I mean, the website will still exist—on account that I don’t want to go through the trouble of exporting data—but I won’t update it. This will be the last post.

If you want recipes, photography, and assorted thoughts on other things, you’ll want to go to jamellebouie.net. There, you’ll get everything I post at Chop Bouie, plus anything else that comes from my brain and isn’t (directly) related to politics. In addition, I’ll have information for anyone who wants to contact me for professional reasons.

So, change bookmarks, change your RSS feeds, and come join me at my new place.

In a few days, this blog will fold into a slightly larger venture. Details to come, in the meantime,...

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:55:17 -0400

In a few days, this blog will fold into a slightly larger venture. Details to come, in the meantime, thank you for following this project of mine!

martha stewart's lemon tart

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:05:53 -0400

I have been on a serious lemon kick, where almost every dessert I make involves lemon in some way, shape, or form. I tried a lemon tart last week, and that turned out…poorly. It was incredibly bitter and unpleasant from first bite to final swallow. But, because I’m a little stubborn, I immediately began a search for a better lemon tart recipe. This one is from Martha Stewart, and it is the perfect combination of sweetness and tartness. Be sure to use Meyer lemons—they are sweeter than the regular lemons at the grocery store—and be warned: this is a little heavy on the butter and eggs.

Martha Stewart’s Lemon Tart

Makes one crust and one tart.

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
good pinch of kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon finely grated Meyer lemon zest
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Lemon Curd:

2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks[^1]
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest, plus 1/3 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 375˚. Make the crust: Whisk together flour, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the lemon zest in a large bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers until dough begins to hold together.

Stir together 1 tablespoon water and vanilla, then mix into dough. Shape dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Using your fingers, press dough evenly into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Freeze for 30 minutes.

Bake tart shell until golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the lemon curd: Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Whisk in lemon zest and juice. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time.

Pour filling into cooled tart shell. Bake until filling is browned, slightly puffed, and set, about 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

The tart can be refrigerated up to 3 days.

fried plantains!

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:49:37 -0400

When ripe, plantains are sweet and delicious, and this is an easy and straightforward treat.

Take a ripe plantain and slice it at an angle into pieces that are a 1/2-inch thick. In a large, thick-bottomed skillet (think cast-iron), heat enough oil to cover the surface until its hot. Fry the plantain pieces on both sides until they have a nice crust, about 30 seconds per side.

Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, sprinkle with kosher salt, and enjoy.

pea pesto crostini. (Taken with instagram)

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:04:30 -0400

pea pesto crostini. (Taken with instagram)

lemon cornmeal cake with blueberry compote

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:21:26 -0400

I made dinner for people a while ago, and the original plan for dessert was to make a pudding. But then I remembered a key fact: everytime I’ve made pudding—ever—it’s turned out less than satisfactory. Instead, I opted for a delicious, gluten-free cake that smells and tastes like summer. The topping was perfect too—blueberry compote, made with frozen blueberries (which are just as good as the fresh version, if you’re using them to bake). This is a simple dessert, that I really recommend if you’re looking for something to serve at a small dinner shindig.

Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Blueberry Compote

Serves 6 to 8

1 cup stone ground cornmeal
½ cup ground almonds (⅔ cup whole almonds ground to a meal)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teapoons salt
½ cup butter
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup sour cream (or full fat plain yogurt)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons coarse or organic sugar, for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan with 2-inch-high sides (I used a springform cake pan). Dust pan with cornmeal, tapping out excess.

Sift cornmeal, ground almonds, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in lemon peel. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping sides of bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla. Fold in dry ingredients in three additions until just incorporated.

Transfer batter to pan and smooth top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan on rack 10 minutes. Run knife around pan sides to loosen. Turn cake out onto plate, then turn onto a rack, coarse sugar side up. Cool completely.

Blueberry Compote

2 cups frozen blueberries
3 tablespoons water
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Combine 1 cup of the blueberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the blueberries and cook for 8 minutes more, stirring frequently. Serve warm.

the most useful apps on my ipad

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:54:50 -0400

Since buying my iPad last year, it’s become a crucial tool for me as a writer, reader, and someone who likes to keep himself organized. It’s a place where I can focus on a single task—like writing this post—without being bound to the limits of an iPhone. I’ve built a fairly large stable of apps that have helped become a more productive person, and because I like to share, I thought I would write them up as something as a guide for people who are either new to the iPad, or want to make more of it. All of these apps appear on my homescreen, and I use each of them on an almost daily basis.

Calvetica: The native Calendar app is ugly as sin, and not particularly functional. since Apple loves to load apps with useless gestures. Calvetica fixes both problems, and is really attractive to boot. Universal. $2.99.

Taskpaper: It’s a to-do app for people who hate to-do apps. Basically, it’s a heavily formatted text document that focuses on list making and works well for those of you who are adherents of the GTD system. I also use it for note-taking and keep track of individual projects. It doesn’t have notifications, but I use a separate app for keeping track of recurring tasks and things I need to do at a particular time and place. Universal, uses Dropbox for syncing, and available on OS X as well. $9.99 ($29.99 for OS X).

Tweetbot: I’m not saying anything new when I say that this is the best Twitter client on the iPad, and frankly, the the best Twitter client on any platform, period. If you’re the kind of person who uses lists to manage Twitter, it’s a must have. Also available on the iPhone. $2.99.

Facebook: Self-explanatory, also free. Link.

Day One: If you’re into journaling, I really recommend this. It syncs across companion apps on all Apple devices, and is really perfect if you’re looking for a private, reliable way to record your thoughts. Universal. $1.99 ($9.99 for OS X).

Verbs: If Apple made an IM app for iOS, this is what it would look like. Access to all of the major instant messaging services, and if you opt for the $4.99 in-app purchase, you get always-on push notifications. $2.99.

Instacast HD: Fact—Searching for, subscribing, and listening to podcasts through iTunes is a huge pain in the ass. Civilized people shoud use Instacast, an easy, attractive way to discover, manage, and listen to podcasts. Since I bought it, I listen to way more podcasts than I ever thought reasonable. Highly, highly recommended. $4.99 ($1.99 for iPhone).

Instapaper: I’m really not sure if there’s anything I can say about Instapaper that hasn’t already been said. It’s a great “read it later” service that, I think, is superior to Read It Later and Readability. It has great fonts, and the creator, Marco Arment, supports the app with regular updates. If there’s a must-have app for the iPad, this is it. Universal. $4.99.

Pinboard: This is actually a bookmark and not an app, but it’s still a crucial part of my writing workflow. Pinboard is a bookmarking service that is something of a successor to Delicious. You can save web pages for later viewing, as well as use it as an archiving service for Instapaper, Twitter favorites, and other services. To sign up, you have to pay a small fee, but it’s worth it. Link here.

Reeder: The best Google Reader client, period. $4.99 ($2.99 for iPhone, $9.99 for OS X).

ComicZeal: If you keep digital comics on your computer, either as PDFs or in the .cbr zip files, then this is the best general purpose reader. $4.99.

Articles: There might be better Wikipedia apps, but this is the on that I prefer. It’s full featured and attractive. $4.99.

Byword: My favorite text editor, bar none. I’m using it to write this post! A “distraction-free writing enviroinment,” it uses iCloud to sync to companion apps on OS X and the iPhone, and it is designed for people who write in Markdown. It exports to HTML in all versions, so you can take your writing directly to your blog. On the Mac, it converts your Markdown (or MultiMarkdown), and exports to PDF and .doc, as well as HTML. And it’s extremely well-designed, as far as text editors go. $2.99, though it will later go up to $4.99. ($9.99 for OS X).

1Password Pro: Basically, anyone who uses an iPhone, a Mac, or a Windows computer ought to own 1Password. It is a vault for all of your passwords, login information, and sensitive information of any kind. I use it everyday, and while it’s expensive, I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth out of it. Universal. $9.99 ($49.99 for OS X).

Apps that aren’t on my home screen, but are still awesome:

Evernote: Most people use Evernote for taking notes and documenting their day-to-day with pictures and voice notes. For me, it’s a recipe manager and place where I keep important documents. It doesn’t get everyday use, but it’s definitely worth mentioning. Free.

TextExpander: A must-have on my Mac, TextExpander lets you create snippets of text that expand into whatever you want them to. For example, if I type “bhs”, “Barack Obama” pops up. Because Apple doesn’t give apps system wide access in iOS, TextExpander is a little less useful. But most third-party writing apps support it, and it’s tremendously useful. $4.99 ($34.95 on OS X).

I keep a lot of other apps on my iPad—games take up a ton of space—but these are the ones that I use the most. Let me know if you check them out; I’d love to hear what you think.

"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much,..."

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 13:45:27 -0400

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it’s whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

pasta with pea pesto

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:08:39 -0400

When I went to the grocery store to pick up supplies for this recipe—adapted from smitten kitchen—they were out of pine nuts, and so I picked up walnuts instead. I have no idea what this pea pesto would have been like with pine nuts, but with walnuts—which, of course, were toasted—it was delicious. The only thing I would do differently is add more lemon juice and lemon zest to lighten the flavor; I only used a tablespoon of juice and half a lemon’s worth of zest, but I could have used a little more.

Pasta with Pea Pesto

1 10 ounce package frozen peas
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup walnuts, toasted and cooled
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon table salt, plus more for pasta water
1/3 cup good olive oil
12 ounces dried pasta (I used spaghetti)

Bring a small saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add peas and cook for 4 minutes (this leaves them with a bit of structure). Let your peas cool to lukewarm before making the pesto.

Set aside 1/2 cup of your cooked peas. Whirl the remaining cup of peas in the work bowl of a food processor with garlic, walnuts, parmesan and salt until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as necessary. With the machine running, drizzle in olive oil and continue processing until completely smooth.

Cook pasta until al dente. Reserve about two cups pasta cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Over moderate heat, toss pasta with pesto, reserved peas and as much reserved pasta water as needed to smooth and distribute pesto (I was good with just a 1/4 cup); let cook for one minute so that the pesto adheres. Toss in remaining peas. Adjust salt to taste, add freshly ground black pepper if desired. Serve immediately.

Of the pictures I took this weekend, this is my favorite....

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:31:41 -0400

Of the pictures I took this weekend, this is my favorite. Nicole, the adorable hound dog that belongs to my friend Bill, is relaxing on the porch.

fig, bacon, and goat cheese pizza

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:43:30 -0500

Earlier today, on Twitter, I asked the crowd about toppings for a pizza that didn’t include tomato sauce. I prefer pizzas without a tomato base, but I had run out of ideas. One of my tweeps, a former Prospect intern, suggested figs, goat cheese, and caramelized onions. I was going to go with that until Tess mentioned that it would be a little sweet, and so we added bacon.

It was a good idea.

Fig, Bacon, and Goat Cheese pizza

Serves 2 to 4

1 pizza dough (store bought is fine, but homemade is better)
1/4 pound dried figs
1 cup red wine
4 ounces bacon
1 large red onion, sliced
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon olive oil
parmiganio reggiano or pecorino romano
goat cheese (we used the crumbles from Whole Foods, which are super convenient)
salt and pepper

An hour or so before you start, place the figs and red wine in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to as high as it can go, at least 500 degrees. If you’re using a pizza stone, put it in to preheat as well.

In a medium skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until the fat is rendered and the bacon crisps up. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Remove all but two tablespoons of bacon fat, add olive oil, and cook onions until caramelized (adjusting the heat so that they don’t burn), about 20 minutes.

Once the onions are caramelized, you can start to assemble the pizza. Chop the bacon into desired sizes and set aside. Remove the figs from the red wine, and cut off any stems. Slice the figs in half and set aside.

Spread dough out on baking sheet, and stretch by hand until you have a nice round (12 to 14 inches), about 1/8-inch thick. Brush with remaining olive oil, and sprinkle dough with salt and pepper. Add as much pecorino romano (or parmiganio reggiano) as you’d like, and then top with the figs, bacon, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. Toss in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Slice and serve!

John is telling a hilarious story about his old high school, and...

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 12:09:38 -0500

John is telling a hilarious story about his old high school, and a time capsule they recently dug out.

Trust me, this really was funnier than it sounded.

So, the story here is that me and Tess were taking pictures of...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:50:55 -0500

So, the story here is that me and Tess were taking pictures of each other taking pictures. Not only are they gloriously meta, but they came out really well. #hipstamatic (Taken with instagram)

A delicious lunch at the vineyard. White beam bisque, hummus and...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:27:48 -0500

A delicious lunch at the vineyard. White beam bisque, hummus and grilled bread, olives. Also, a lovely girlfriend. But she’s not for lunch. (Taken with instagram)

"In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very..."

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:13:33 -0500

“In solving a problem of this sort, the grand thing is to be able to reason backwards. That is a very useful accomplishment, and a very easy one, but people do not practice it much.”

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in Sherlock Holmes, A Study In Scarlet

sweet potato hash with caramelized onions & sausage

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 15:02:00 -0500

This makes for an awesome brunch, especially when paired with savory oatmeal¹ (unseen underneath) or a poached egg. Unfortunately, between the chopping, slicing, caramelizing, and roasting, this is a time-consuming recipe. Thankfully, you can prepare it the day before, and warm it up in the oven when ready to eat. Otherwise, be sure to give yourself two hours to prepare, cook, and clean up. Not inclined to spend so much time on a meal? Well, trust me when I say that the effort is totally worth it.

This recipe is easily scaleable (either up or down) and can be tweaked as you see fit. Not a fan of breakfast sausage? Try fresh Italian sausage. Still not a fan? Try Portugese linguica sausage (which is what we used here). Experiment!

Sweet Potato Hash with Caramelized Onions & Sausage

Serves 8

2 pounds yellow onions
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound fresh sausage
3 pounds sweet potatoes, washed and with the skins on
6 large garlic cloves
¼ cup fresh rosemary leaves
3 tablespoons olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat oven to 450˚. Chop the unpeeled sweet potatoes into cubes that are about ½-inch wide, and put into a bowl. Mince the garlic and rosemary leaves and add them to the bowl as well. Set aside.

Peel the onions and cut them in half lengthwise, then slice them into thin half-moons. The easiest way to do this is with the slicing attachment of a food processor. Seriously, with that, you can cut the onions in a few minutes, versus the lifetime it will take with a (sharp) knife.

In any case, melt the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. When it foams up add the onions and sprinkle with salt. They will look crammed into the pan, but don’t worry, they’ll cook down within a few minutes. Lower the heat to medium and cook the onions for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, and lowering the heat further if they begin to burn. Cook until they are an amber brown.

While the onions are doing their business, put the sausage in another skillet and brown over medium-high heat, chopping it up into fine crumbles with a spatula. Cook the sausage until it is browned and beginning to crisp. Drain away any excess fat.

While everything is cooking, toss the sweet potato/garlic/rosemary mixture with olive oil, kosher salt, and plenty of freshly ground pepper.

When the onions are dark brown and the sausage is crispy, stir these into the sweet potatoes as well. Line a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, and spread out the sweet potatoes evenly. Roast the sweet potatoes for 30 to 45 minutes (roasting time depends on the size and uniformity of the sweet potato chunks, as well as the variety of sweet potato you buy) or until they are soft and browned.

Refrigerate the cooled hash for up to 5 days. To reheat, spread thinly across a prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 425˚, or until hot. You can also bake in individual ramekins, if that’s your thing.

Savory oatmeal = cooked steel cut oats with a little salt and cheese of your choice. There is a bit more to this, obviously, but that will have to wait for another blog post. ↩

Instagram hits 25 million users

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:35:13 -0500

Instagram hits 25 million users:

Since Christmas the mobile photo network Instagram has gained over ten million users. This makes Instagram the largest mobile only social network with a global reach. Foursquare by comparison is on around 22 million.

When you remember that Instagram isn’t much more than a year old, this is insane.

These chocolate cookies have a peanut butter cookie INSIDE of...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 13:13:13 -0500

These chocolate cookies have a peanut butter cookie INSIDE of them. Courtesy of @tesskrovetz. (Taken with instagram)

pasta with shaved brussels sprouts and bacon

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:51:49 -0500

A classic combination, in pasta form. A quick tip on the pasta; be sure to remove a few minutes before it’s supposed to be finished, if firm pasta is your thing. You can also substitute bacon for pancetta, or similar forms of cured pork. You can even go vegetarian; just remove the meat, cook the Brussels sprouts with olive oil, and season with smoked paprika at the end. In either case, you should top with good parmesan.

Pasta with Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Bacon

Serves 3 to 4

1 pound Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 ounces bacon
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 pound spaghetti
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Season generously with salt.

Trim the ends off of the Brussels sprouts and remove the toughest outer leaves. The easiest thing to do is to shred them in a food processor, using the slicing attachment. Otherwise, you can try to slice them as thin as possible with a knife or on a mandoline.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Add the bacon and cook until fairly crispy and cooked through. Remove bacon and all but a tablespoon of bacon grease (or more, if that’s your thing). Clear space in the middle of the pan and add the shallots and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the shallots are soft.

While the shallots are cooking, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Also, you might want to use this time to chop the bacon into pieces.

Add the Brussels sprouts and the stock to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and toss all of the ingredients together. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the Brussels sprouts are tender but not too soft, about 5 minutes.

When the pasta is finished cooking, drain and add it to the skillet. You can add a splash of the pasta water (or more stock) if the mixture seems dry. Toss everything together, season to taste, and serve.

Hey Jamelle, does it actually matter if you sift the flour, salt, and baking powder? Do I need to invest in a sifter for baking?

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:02:05 -0500

If you don’t use a kitchen scale, sifting flour first—before measuring it—can give you a more accurate weight, rather than packing it into a cup.

Beyond that, sifting dry goods aerates and separates the particles, and helps them absorb liquid better. The difference it makes is subtle, but worth the extra effort.