Work of Art

As I've been having more and more fun cooking, I've been getting better at handling my knives. I've started wanting more from certain knives, whether it be heft, size, sharpness, etc. Every since I was a kid, I had this obsession with weaponry - steel, swords, and knives especially. Getting into kitchen knives, has led me to Japanese carbon steel knives. The traditional knives, which I've started using, are quite stunning pieces of art.
Here's a shot of all my knives currently:


From left to right they are:
Shun Chef Knife
Shun Santoku
Suisin Saika Kiritsuke (white steel) (270mm)
Suisin Special Inox Gyuto (240mm)
Korin Shiro-ko (white steel) Honkasumi Kamagata Usuba (180mm)
Togiharu Virgin Carbon Petty (150mm)

All of the knives are considered Western style expect the two tradition Japanese knives - the Kiritsuke and Kamagata Usuba. If you are into knives, or can appreciate the work of a blacksmith, edge maker, polisher, sharpener, etc, you may understand how these blades are simply stunning. Not only are the functionally superior to anything else I've used, they are beautiful to look at. The only down side is the traditional Japanese style knives are more purpose specific than their Western counterparts. Here's a few pictures of my two traditional Japanese knives:





Both of these knives were hand crafted and finished. The Suisin Saika Kiritsuke was made by both Master Blacksmith Kerijiro Doi and his son, Itsuo Doi. I know that Suisin makes the Honkasumi Korin knives, but I'm not sure which blacksmith specifically. One last picture of me shredding some collard greens to make Caldo Verde (Portuguese green soup).

some more cooking

So, it's been a while since I posted anything. I decided to put up photos of some more cooking I did. I purchased a new knife and have been eager to practice and use it. For anyone curious, it is a Japanese Kamagata Usuba. I got a relatively short one at 180mm since it is my first. I got it at Korin, and it is one of their house brand, white-steel, hongasumi knives. I love it so far and am developing a nice patina on it.
On to what I cooked. On this particular evening, I sauteed some mushrooms, haricot verts and pan-seared some swordfish steaks. This was also the first time I clarified butter myself.
Here's a shot of the clarified butter. Not perfect, but good enough to use. I used a half pound of butter from a brand made in Vermont. I like to support local farms when possible.


Here's a shot of the mushrooms and the added garlic, garlic scapes, and scallions.


Here's some liqueur used to deglazed the pan.


This is a shot of the sword fish being seared with some onions, scallion, garlic, and garlic scapes. Eventually, I added some white wine and balsamic vinegar to make a reduction for sauce.


These are the haricot verts being quickly boiled before going straight to an ice water bath. For anyone who doesn't know, this is called blanching. The ice water bath helps the verts keep their bright green color and crispness. I sauteed them with some clarified butter, garlic, and salt afterward.


Finally, he's the finished product. Bon appetit.

Marshmallows

Alton Brown's show, "Good Eats", on Food Network is one of my favorites. There was an episode on marshmallows, and before watching it, I never thought I could make them at home. I was surprised by how easy it is. So, being the messy, wannabe chef that I am, I took the store and bought the necessary supplies. The only thing I cheaped out on was the stand mixer. I got a pseudo mixer that uses a hand blender and a bowl. Unfortunately $300+ for a device that's going to occupy real estate in a small kitchen while getting minimal use is just not a good investment for me. The recipe for these marshmallows can be found on foodnetwork.com.

I didn't take any pictures of the sugar/corn syrup cooking. I only took video of the gelatin and candy mixture in the mixer. The only pictures I have begin once the mixture was finished.

Here I am pouring out the viscous liquid that will soon become delicious marshmallows. The pan was dusted with confectioners sugar and corn starch to prevent sticking.

A little dusting on the top to cover the marshmallow block.

After a few hours, the block is solid enough to start working on. I dusted a cutting board, and got ready to remove the marshmallow.

Nice and ready for some cutting.

I used a pizza wheel to cut the block into squares, but took video of it. Here you have the squares already cut and ready to be pulled apart.

This is the separating of the individual squares I cut. You can see the pizza cutter I used in the picture.

Final product and a little taste test.

Mmmmm.
If you don't mind eating gelatin (some people don't eat it for religious or personal reasons), give these a try. It's super easy, fun, and delicious.

Soup

I made a soup tonight. It's a combination soup, meaning it's two soups served together. One is a roasted parsnip soup, and the other is a roasted butternut squash soup. I got the recipe from foodnetwork.com. It tastes great and not very difficult to make. I definitely recommend it.
Here are some pictures of the adventure:



I started taking pictures after the butternut squash soup was finished so there won't be any pictures of the process.


Here are the roasted parsnips. They were coated in a little olive oil, salt and pepper before roasting.


These are the various vegetables that go into the parsnip soup along with some ham. The butternut squash soup has Italian sausage in it instead of ham.


Getting a good sweat out of everything. Also, the fat from the meat was rendered in a small amount of olive oil prior to sweating the vegetables.


About two teaspoons of vinegar were used to deglaze the bottom of the pan.


Skipped a few steps to the end of the parsnip soup.


This is the finished product.

change or die

Simple concept, right? It's as natural as anything else in the universe. Things that stay the same don't stick around very long. I recently joined in a discussion about the 2012 nonsense out of humor. What started off as me just having fun with my own comment and reading through other people's comments soon turned into a debate about whether or not humanity is responsible for the destruction of this planet. Personally, I don't think so. While it may be a possibility, it falls into the blog title. There is no denying that humanity has made it's mistakes, but we are not without our positive influences. Civilization has gotten to where it currently is because of our ability to change and adapt. Afterall, change or die.

No, that's not a conclusion. I'm going to get into the discussion that prompted this entry. It started with someone writing that even though they don't believe in the 2012 myth, that humanity is slowly deteriorating the planet to extinction. We've syphoned too many resources and now it's too late to start saving the planet. I think this is absolute poppycock. This planet has survived eons of threats, and will survive humanity. I posed two simple questions - Why are people saying this and what's going on that's destroying the planet?

The response I got was that humanity has changed the face of the world with the things like deforestation and that humanity likes to remove natural resources from the planet. So, I tried tackling those two topics. Let's start with deforestation. While I may have agreed with this person 100, 50 or even 20 years ago, this is simply not the case anymore. We are planting trees faster than we can cut them down. There are also international laws protecting certain habitats from being cut down. There is actually more forest on the surface of the earth today than there was 50 years ago. Here's an article from 1921 that speaks about the subject. In the United States, there are more trees today than there were when the country was founded. I also pointed out that the only places in the world where deforestation is still a major problem is in impoverished areas. Although it is still a sensitive issue, I used Haiti as an example. Haiti also exemplifies "change or die." While it's neighbor is green and lush, Haiti's environment has suffered to the point of no return.

I also questioned if this is an unnatural phenomenon and whether it's really bad for the planet or simply bad for us. Again, I realize it's a sensitive issue, but I am going to use a morbid example. If all life ended in Haiti, whether by death or relocation, the island would still be there. The island wasn't destroyed or vaporized due to the massive environmental damage it suffered. With time, it will naturally recuperate and life will begin again. This is essentially the history of the planet Earth. The environment changes, things die, and it starts all over again. We don't need to worry about the planet. We need to worry about our own survival. Change or die.
This person, unfortunately, didn't believe me that reforestation rates are currently surpassing deforestation rates. I don't include deforestation by natural causes. If there's a fire, earthquake, etc that levels a forest, we can't blame ourselves for that. The other thing I'd like to point out is that while trees are good for the environment, there's only so much room on this planet. Right now, trees serve a useful purpose in things like construction and filtering pollutants. How long will it be before we no longer require so many trees, though? We are constantly making advances in technology and industry. I think that eventually we'll reach a point where we will not require them and the only place you'll see them is in places like parks or people's gardens. In Brazil, people talk about deforestation in the Amazon. What some people don't know is that the deforestation is the result of cattle ranches and large scale farming. Sorry, tree huggers, but I'd rather plant and grow food than worry about a bunch of useless trees. China suspended their reforestation project due to food shortages. They decided that feeding their people was more important than planting some trees, and I don't blame them. Now, if only they could control their pollution output. Either way, this goes back to something I said earlier. While deforestation may have bad environmental effects, it is certainly not "planet destroying." Since changes to the atmospheric air content was mentioned, I added that we could turn this planet into Mars and it would still be here. Ending life on the planet is not the same as destroying the planet. Even if it were to be lifeless, it would still exist in the solar system, spinning around the sun along with all the other lifeless planets.

As it is one of the more popular topics, global warming was also touched upon.There is so much nonsense surrounding this issue, that I really dislike discussing it. I suppose I will have to just grit my teeth and do it anyway. Here's a quick summary of how many people came to know of global warming:
One day, Al Gore woke up to his usual life of obscurity. He probably thought long and hard about how to get back into the media's attention and came up with this nonsense that we now know as global warming. Some people think the world is getting warmer. That's all fine and dandy. Thanks to meteorology, we can analyze the weather and it's patterns. Whether or not the world is currently getting warmer shouldn't be what people are worried about. It's whether or not this is an unnatural, man-made event. There are many that believe we are to blame for this global warming, and that it's going to eventually lead to inhospitable conditions on the planet. The reason I dislike this issue is because for every argument linking this to human irresponsibility, I can pull out two arguments that it's human arrogance and ignorance to think the planet is getting unnaturally hot. One of the biggest problems with most of the information supporting warming is that people are not looking far back enough into the planet's history for weather patterns. They look back maybe 50 years or so and say there is an upward trend in the Earth's surface temperature. Back around the 1970's, we were certain that we were headed towards an ice age since it seemed that the planet was getting colder. If we look as far back as we can into Earth's weather patterns, we find that it constantly shifts. There is so much controversy surrounding this subject, that I still can't believe people take it so seriously. I'm going to refrain from posting articles on the subject for now because they would just be endless. I'll leave it up to the reader to do their own unbiased, objective research into it.

More to come.....

a much needed shave

It's early in the morning and I'm bored. I have to shave before work, so I figured I'd catalog the event.
Let's begin with a before shot:

First thing's first - take a shower. I like to shower in the morning before work rather than the night before. Now that I'm all squeaky clean, I can get with the face work.

It's good to wash your face before shaving. It removes dirt, dead skin, oil and other things that can get in the way of a smooth, close shave. Also, it helps soften up the beard for less resistance against the razor. This can prevent things like razor burn. I like products by Anthony Logistics, and here's the facial cleanser I use.

Once my face is nice and clean, I'm ready to move on to the next steps. The list of equipment needed is as follows:

A good shave cream or soap is essential. It must be able to lather well, provide adequate lubricity, while not drying your skin out. If you're like me, you might have an extensive collection. Today, I decided on my Taylor of Old Bond Street Almond cream. This cream produces slick, meringue like lather and has a great scent. It's easily one of my favorites.

You'll also need a brush, razor, and blade. Today, I'm using my 30mm, engraved, rosewood Shavemac bruch. The razor is a Mercur 37G Gold Slant and the blade is from Feather. Feather blades are hi-stainless blades made in Japan. They are the sharpest blades I've used, and are my blade of preference regardless of the few nicks I get from time to time. I find my open-comb, Mercur Gold Slant is aggressive enough for my needs. It is certainly more aggressive than my first blade - Mercur 38C Long Handled Heavy Classic.

I like to soak my brush in warm water for a couple minutes. I find this opens the brush up and gets it ready for building a great lather. When I'm in more of a hurry, I'll just holding under running water for a while. Load up the brush with the necessary amount of cream. This amount will depend on a few variables. You get better at determining how much you need with experience. Firstly, the amount of cream needed is proportional to the size of the brush. It also depends on the soap/cream you are using. Different products lather differently so you'll have to experiment. The amount of water you use to build the lather is also crucial. Too little water, and you won't build a good lather. Too much water, and you'll wind up with a thin lather. I like to aim for a creamy consistency with medium stiff peaks. Anyone who has ever made meringue will understand. If the peaks are stiff, I feel the lather is still too dry. Again, it's all about trial and error. Eventually, you just know where the sweet spot is.

Now that I've built my lather to my satisfaction, it's time to spread it on my face.

Usually, I'm finished after two passes. Since I waited so long since my last shave, I went for three passes this time. When shaving with a DE (Double-Edged) razor, it's important not to press it into your face. Simply place the razor against your face at the proper angle and let it glide along your beard. Let the weight of the razor and sharpness of the blade do the work. For the first pass, I like to shave along the grain. For the second, depending on how clean the first pass came out, I'll shave across the grain. In this instance, the third pass was across.

I nicked myself once, which isn't bad considering the blade is brand new. Another item that's always good to have on hand is a styptic pencil. A styptic pencils are made of a hemostatic, or antihemorrhagic, agent. The agent contained is typically aluminum sulfate. It works as an astringent causing blood vessels to contract. It can also sting so be ready for it if you've never used one. Once that was taken care, it was time to select an aftershave. Again, if you're like me, you might have quite a few on hand. I ended up going with the Coral Skin Food (second from the right in the photo). Among other ingredients, it has rose water and menthol crystals which makes for a refreshing feeling accompanied by a wonderful scent.

Once it's absorbed into my skin, I'm ready to moisturize. My moisturizer of preference is also an Anthony Logistics product. It's an all natural, paraben free, non-allergenic moisturizer that doesn't feel greasy or leave me looking "shiny."
That's it. It seems like a long process, but I find it helps me start my morning with a good feeling. Here's the finished product.

Sometimes, people ask me why the grain of my beard is still visible if wet shaving with a DE razor is supposed to provide a closer shave than the standard disposable stuff. Simple answer - I never shave against the grain. I like the slightly rough look. I actually prefer the way I look with a 5 o'clock shadow than freshly shaved.
If anyone can tell, I'm still not quite awake. Now, I'm going to go make breakfast and coffee. Maybe one day I'll do a write up of that.

wild animals

I was browsing through the good 'ole Penny Arcade!, when I came about this comic.
Not too long ago, I was discussing the recent whale attack at Seaworld with some people. We got to talking about various other animal attacks, and that comic seemed to fit perfectly with the eventual consensus.
An animal is an animal, no matter how well trained it is. The problem being that when an animal is in a "mood", it doesn't know restraint. Roy (of Siegfried and Roy) claimed that his tiger was simply trying to drag him to safety in the same way a mother tigress would grab her cubs by the neck. He also said that the tiger had no way of knowing that his neck didn't have the same skin thickness and toughness as a tiger's neck. There's a few things odd with his reasoning. First, he claims to have raised this tiger since it was a cub. Where exactly did this cub learn "typical tiger behavior" from? Second, he likens the tiger's action to a mother tigress, yet his tiger is male.
Anyone who's read any of my previous entries knows that I have a pet conure. Now, regardless of my conure's mood, there's really no way he's going to be able to maul and kill me. He still gets into his moods where he sometimes prefers to be left alone in his cage. Another oddity about birds is the way they fight each other. I used to think about getting a second bird, and did quite a bit of research on how birds handle company. Birds are a bit peculiar. They get very attached to their main caretaker, crave as much attention as an infant, and can develop various neurotic disorders if deprived. There are a few things that can happen when introducing another bird. The two birds can get along and be housed in the same cage. This scenario can lead the birds (regardless of sex) to become more attached to each other than you. This can make them more hostile towards when you try to interact with them. The birds can also not get along, which would mean housing them in separate cages. You'd have to divide your attention between them, which may also cause hostility towards you. What I found most disturbing is that whether they get along or not, bird fights typically end when one bird kills the other. Hard to imagine these cute guys being vicious murderers, isn't it?

This was during my recent visit to the pet store to have my bird's nails trimmed.
Anyway, the consensus was that there are just certain animals in the world that weren't meant for human entertainment. Before they tear your head off or thrash you in a pool until you drown, make sure you're willing to accept the risk involved. We preserve every human life possible, no matter how worthless. When an animal behaves like an animal, we deem it unfit to live. I remember when my last ferret was dying, someone at work asked me why I didn't just go to a veterinarian to have her put down. My first response was that if anyone was going to relieve my ferret of her suffering, it would be me. I'll be damned if I'm going to pay some stranger to do it for me. My second response was, would you have a dying family member put down? I took care of her for almost ten years.