My Buss up puff up - Vote for my Project Food Blog Challenge 2

Only a short while left to sign up on Foodbuzz and vote in the search for the next Food Blog Star.  Check out my post and watch this video of my Buss Up Shut, a roti from Trinidad rising on my cast iron griddle!!  Looks delish, huh?!!

Time to vote in Challenge 2... and the rest of the story!

Thanks to your support of Play with Food, I made it to Challenge 2 and voting opens today to advance only 200 bloggers to the next level. Please check out my post featuring two dishes outside my comfort zone and cast your vote at the Foodbuzz page... and let me tell you here, the rest of the story.

I had been deciding what dishes to make for this challenge, and I thought this would be perfect- I had to travel to DC on business on Thursday, work on Friday and head up to DC again on the weekend for Molly's second model shoot, this time for Sebastian. My plan was to come home Monday and make my dishes and post before the voting started.

However, an accident on the DC Metro escalator (someone rushing up around me and knocking me off my feet) left me with a severely bruised finger that required two of my fingers to be taped together to avoid damage to the joint...and I realized that my post would have to be done before I left for Molly's shoot since the deadline was on Sunday, not Monday!! That meant that besides packing and preparing to go out of town for the weekend, I needed to make my two dishes, and take pictures and type the post with my fingers taped!! It made for a late night, but the up side was that when we got home today, our bobotie and buss up shut was waiting, just perfect for a rainy day!

Project Food Blog Challenge 2: Stepping outside my comfort zone with comfort food!!

Challenge 2 of Project Food Blog calls for contestants to step outside their comfort zone and make a dish or use an ingredient from another culture. French and Italian were taken off the table, leaving the 400 remaining contestants researching and strategizing about what dish or foods or cuisine would most impress the judges. Since I often try dishes from other cultures, my selection process took me back to my readers and what it is they look for from Play with Food. While it is fun to search down and experiment with exotic ingredients, it can be prohibitively expensive and the whole idea of my blog is to encourage my readers by making good food, even the exotic and unfamiliar, seem approachable and attainable. So I chose a dish, that is comfort food in another culture, one that will seem vaguely familiar if you have eaten Irish shepherd's pie, or Italian lasagna, or Greek pastitsio, or even American chili!

Bobotie, is a sweet-spicy-savory South African dish that has as its base ground meat, usually lamb, onions, bay leaf, chutney, numerous spices including curry powder, coriander and turmeric. While many authentic dishes were hard to find in South Africa, with the end of apartheid, many indigenous dishes are now re-emerging, even becoming fashionable! This dish appealed to me because I really like lamb, but think many of my readers may not have tried it and this dish is a very non-intimidating way to try lamb. The dish is simple enough to make on a work night and unique enough for company. It has layer upon layer of flavor, complex and yet familiar. I found numerous recipes, each one a bit different, but many of the basic components were similar so I combined them in a way that appealed to me, yet kept the dish authentic.

The dish turned out amazing, but comfort food needs a carb so I also made Buss Up Shut, a Trinidadian (checking out their tourism site, made want to try it there-see photo left- but alas, no time to travel)bread with a name that represents this roti-type bread's resemblance to a busted up shirt. This bread is an awesome accompaniment to bobotie, adding a rich and savory component that complements the spicy-sweet flavors of the meat dish. And given that our country is a melting pot, I think it is perfect to combine dishes from two different cultures to make an amazing meal so delicious it crosses boundaries!

Bobotie

1 lb ground lamb or beef (you should really try the lamb, it has a sweeter, richer flavor)
1 stalk celery chopped
1 large carrot chopped or shredded
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chutney
1 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tbsp sweet and hot peppers chopped
1 tbsp curry powder (I used Jamaican hot, but Indian would work fine too)
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 cup almonds (I used whole, but I think next time I would use slivered or sliced)
1 tsp grated lemon rind
Salt and black pepper

Put oil into a pan, and brown lamb, until caramelized and brown, then add chopped vegetables, bay leaf, peppers, garlic and spices, stirring until the veggies start to brown. Add chutney, broth, and raisins and let cook for 10 minutes. Add almonds and taste. Salt and pepper to taste and add 1 tsp of grated lemon rind. Adjust seasonings or add more sweet hot peppers to get the heat you want. Serve in a bowl Serves 4

Note: Traditionally bobotie is served with either yellow rice or topped with a thin omelet made with egg whipped with half and half.

Buss Up Shut (Busted-up Shirt) Roti

2 cups white wheat flour (King Arthur, of course)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp softened butter
3/4 c water

1. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using your fingers, work 3 tablespoons of the butter into the flour, then add the water and knead in the bowl to form a smooth, soft dough.

2. Cover the dough with a towel and set aside for 30 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and set them on a floured surface to rest again.

4. Roll each ball of dough on the floured counter as thinly as possible into a 9-inch rounds. Spread each round with a thin layer of butter and dust with flour, then roll each round into a tight cone. fold each end into the center and flatten . Sprinkle with more flour, cover with a clean towel and let rest again for 30 minutes.

5. Heat a large well-seasoned heavy pan or griddle over medium heat. Add a drop of oil. Place the dough on the hot griddle. Brush with melted butter and watch as the dough puffs and swells. Cook for 1- 1 1/2 minutes and flip with tongs. then cook on this side for about a minute. Cook all four dough rounds this way. Serve warm. Note: I sprinkled my buss up shut with zatar, a middle eastern spice blend.

Bobotie and buss up shut: exotic-yes,delicious-yes, difficult-no. Enjoy these two great dishes from the Caribbean and South Africa... no passport needed!

So what is harder than making an exotic dish including bread in a food blogging competition including some of the best cooks around? Doing it with two of your fingers taped together!! That was my challenge after an accidental fall on an escalator on the DC metro left me with a damaged tendon in the joint of the middle finger of my left hand. Not sure what was harder- chopping or typing, but seeing the final dish, and especially watch the roti puff up exactly the way it was supposed to was a real thrill.

Last Dance, Last Chance.... to Vote!

The last hours are ticking away, and I really need your votes to advance in Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog that seeks to crown the next food blog star!! Competition is tough, but I am hopeful that my readers as well as new visitors who have discovered Play with Food as a result of this contest will take the time to vote. GIven that there is not much time between the end of votig and time to post the next challenge, I have been thinking about what cuisone I would want to select to impress the judges, step outside my comfort zone, and intrigue my readers.

But for now, I will leave you with one of my recipes with a history: my pimento cheese recipe that my husband got from the labor and delivery nurses while I was eating ice chips and finding my focal point in labor with our 2nd daughter (she was 9 lb, 11 oz!!) This is a recipe that I get asked for all the time!

"Labor of love" pimento cheese

1 lb sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4-1/2 cup mayonnaise (light mayonnaise is fine)

1/4-1/2 cup salsa (adjust the mayo and salsa according to your taste)

1 4 oz. jar chopped pimentos

Put all ingredients except pimentos into bowl of food processor and mix until smooth. Stir in pimentos. Chill and serve.

Note: This spread keeps very well. I usually make a double batch and store in plastic containers in the fridge.

I Want You... to Vote for Me!!!

Today is the day that voting opens in Project Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog, and while I have no campaign manager or multimedia campaigns I am asking for your vote (assuming you are a Featured Publisher on Foodbuzz, of course). With so many talented bloggers competing, why do I deserve your vote? Here are some reasons:

1) I am not a professional chef, or a professional writer, or a professional photographer. I am a working mom who juggles work, family, and food blogging just like many of you. I started my blog to preserve my family's food traditions and to encourage others to do the same.

2) I share not just recipes or food porn (my photos can rarely be described that way) but myself. At Play with Food, every recipe has a story, and I think it is just as important to capture the stories as the ingredients. (See this post on the greatest chicken salad I will never make again)

3) I am adventurous- not only with the dishes I try, but with my blog. I have used photos, have participated in Foodbuzz's 24x24 by sharing camp cooking.
I have even used video in my posts (See Bridget flipping crepes in our Julie and Julia challenge,
and our out-takes from our pizza Iron Chef!

4) My blog is listed on the Epicurious Editor's Food Blogs We Like- I think they were fascinated that I worked in the world of quarks and gluons at a nuclear physics lab and moved easily from that to the kitchen counter!

5) Lastly, I have inspired all of my children to love cooking and good food, and if I can influence them, I think I can reach just about anyone!

So if you are a Featured Publisher, I am asking for your vote. If you are not a featured publisher, please stop by my cyber kitchen table, check out my recipes and the stories behind them, and leave me a comment- I love hearing from you!

Woman (and man and teen) vs Food: A Richmond Day Trip

Just a reminder that I am competing to be the Next Food Blog Star in Foodbuzz's Project Food Blog. You can check our some amazing posts from over 1800 contestants for Challenge #1: Ready Set Blog! And don't stand on the sidelines- you can be part of the Foodbuzz community even if you are not a blogger-lots of foodies do! And check back on September 20 when voting begins. If you check our my challenge post, leave me a comment- I love to hear what you have to say!!

As a blogger and a person generally interested in food, a good percentage of my TV time is spent watching food-related shows - Top Chef, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Anthony Bourdain, and even Gordon Ramsey's latest, Master Chef. It is especially exciting when a show features a restaurant or cook nearby, and that happened a couple of months ago when Man vs. Food did a feature on Richmond, VA. Several restaurants were featured in this episode but the one that really appealed to me was the feature on the "battleship" sandwiches at the Black Sheep, so when my work required me to take a day trip to Richmond, I took my husband and daughter Molly for a mini-adventure, culinary and otherwise.

The drive was pretty uneventful and we got to the Patrick Henry Building in plenty of time for me to make my meeting. The plan was for Gavin and Molly to wander around the recently renovated state Capitol building until my work was done and then we would head to the Black Sheep for lunch. I didn't know till I looked at the pictures that apparently there was a lot to see, even though my meeting was only an hour-ish long. You can see that Molly had a great time exploring(She took all the scenery pictures in this post-good,huh?)

Once I was done, we headed down near to Virginia Commonwealth University to find the Black Sheep. Once we located the small storefront, we had to circle a couple of times to find a parking space, and even though we were there before noon, we had about a 10-minute wait. Even though the restaurant was filling up, the staff was friendly and welcoming, getting us seated and giving us our menus. She also brought us our iced tea right away (it was extremely hot outside) and returned with a pitcher when she heard my husband was diabetic. We already had checked out the menu online and had a good idea what we would order. My husband and I were determined to try one of the fabled "battleship" sandwiches. I knew I would order the Virginia because I had seen this one on Man vs. Food and I am a big fan of chicken livers (I know some of you will be saying "Yuck!"), Gavin wanted to get the SS Sultana, but they were out of the lamb gyro meat, so he decided on a whole SS Congress filled with, what else but pork!! Since he had promised to take some home for Bridget who could not come, he ordered a whole battleship. Molly, who can be a fussy eater, ordered the Cuban Reuben. We enjoyed the decor, looking around at the eclectic variety of art, memorabilia, and knick knacks that adorned the brick walls (Molly particularly liked this guy, above).

When our food came we were blown away. Even though Gavin was having half of his battleship wrapped for Bridget, they insist on presenting it to you whole first. You can see the effect!!
The SS Congress is piled high with honey & chipotle roasted pork shoulder topped with a tomatillo barbeque sauce, grilled pineapple & mexican style pickled cabbage salad. The combination was traditional enough to please a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but with unique flavors that really pulled the different ingredients together.

My SS Virginia featured an unusual combination of fried chicken livers loaded into a toasted french baguette with shredded cabbage, green onions, granny smith apple & remoulade sauce.It is also offered with chicken for the less adventurous. I wasn't sure about the fried liver and apple combination, but it really worked- this was one of the best sandwiches I had ever had!

Molly's Cuban Reuben was served on a ciabatta roll with thinly sliced pastrami cured roasted pork loin, chorizo sausage, pink saurkraut, swiss, pickles and a special house sauce, pressed in the style of Cuban sandwiches. Even though this was a regular sandwich, it was piled with ingredients and Molly ate half and decided to take half home.

The staff at Black Sheep was very friendly and solicitous, making our lunch more like a meal with friends than a restaurant meal. Black Sheep has an extensive menu (I want to go back for their breakfast roast duck hash or green eggs and ham!) While it takes awhile to find, this little place is well worth the trouble!

Project Food Blog Challenge #1-Getting to Know Me

What makes a food blogger? In the time since I began Play with Food, I have met and spoken to so many bloggers from all over and each one has a different answer. There are those who are writers who love food and use their craft to share their passion with others. Some are talented photographers who capture food as art, and can make your mouth water with their images. There are ethnic cooks who strive to share their culture, and specialty blogs reaching people with special dietary needs. There are humorous food blogs and even food blogs that rant and rave.

And then there is me. I am just an ordinary woman who grew up in Winchester, a small town in the Shenandoah Valley where apples are king. My dad died when I was very young, but my mom met and married a wonderful man who raised us as his own. Both my mom and dad worked, so once I was old enough, I was often the responsible one, watching my younger brothers until our parents were home. And thus began my passion for cooking. Encouraged by my dad who would eat anything I made with great gusto and endless approval, I explored and experimented. Some things, such as the time I made a giant biscuit to go with hamburger Stroganoff because I thought it would be more dramatic (you can guess the center was pretty doughy), or the time I heated milk on top of the stove in a Pyrex dish (I definitely wouldn’t recommend, since the dish shattered- luckily, I wasn’t hurt) were failed experiments. But each time I cooked something new, whether it turned out or not, I gained skills, and confidence. I learned how to plan, prepare, combine, cook, and serve food that would nourish the people I loved. I learned to love that feeling that came when someone asked for seconds, or savored each bite, or asked for a recipe.

Once I was married and had a family of my own, there were different challenges-very tight budgets, feeding children at varying ages and stages, and father-in-law who was a very-non-compliant diabetic. I also went back to college to finish my degree- no easy feat with 4 small children (I have 6 now!). I learned how to make a pound of ground beef spread out over five people, how to cook a flank steak to make it tender and delicious, or make a pot roast that could masquerade as Sunday dinner, Wednesday beef and noodles and Friday’s carnitas. I collected cookbooks by the score, recipes from friends and neighbors, tore pages from cooking magazines, always looking for ideas.

That brings me to what makes my blog, Play with Food, special. While food is an important centerpiece of my blog, it is folded into family, friends and fun. One can eat anything to survive. Food and mealtime is a time to get everyone together so I am always looking for a way to make a meal an occasion and to build occasions around food. During football

season, we all gather for “football food”, cheering on our team. We started a tradition- Chinese New Year’s Eve- in order to entice our teenage children to choose to stay home on New Year’s Eve, with chopsticks, homemade eggrolls, and my famous “hot beans” or twice-fried beans. We celebrate the Olympics by having food from a different country each night (we are not above the American hamburger, or Italian pizza to get through the games!). We check out markets and restaurants, and food producers, and wineries everywhere we go, expanding and extending our knowledge about food and ingredients. Every recipe that has become a family favorite has a story behind it (like the pimento cheese recipe my husband got from a nurse while I was in labor!) .

It is those stories that I capture and share that make my blog special because it communicates that every cook, every family has a story to tell, to save to share. I’ve not taken a class at Cordon Bleu, nor have I traveled to Europe nor have I tasted shaved truffles (though I would really love to!). But I have made an amazing Peking duck, drying the skin by hanging it on my cabinet knobs over the sink. I have cooked a venison tenderloin kissed by a sauce of cherries and chocolate and brandy. I have made my own bison jerky, and served ~20 people dinner every night for fourteen nights with no power after Hurricane Isabel. My blog allows me to include others beyond my own family and friends, encouraging them to realize that every time they break bread with others is a special occasion and an opportunity to make a memory. Sharing food is a powerful thing- it can bring enemies together, it can bond us, it can soothe our hurts, it can make us remember, and make us forget. Family, friends, fun, those are the not-so-secret ingredients that take food that is ordinary and makes a memory, and a meal, that is extraordinary!!

My Inspiration!

We will never forget

Flag flying, candle burning... We will never forget!

Giveaway: Herve This's Kitchen Mysteries

I was so excited to hear that this book was coming out in paperback as I had gotten a copy early in my blog history and found it very interesting. For those of you who don't know, Herve This is widely regarded as the father of molecular gastronomy and a scientist who seeks to understand food.

You can read my blog post about this book here, but if you would like to have your own copy, leave me a comment regarding a kitchen mystery you would like to have solved, and I will select a winner at random and the book (and the mysteries) will be yours!!