My local grocery store - Acme Fresh Market [image via WikiMedia]

Looking to eat healthier and save money at the same time? Shop around the edge of the grocery store. All the good stuff is around the edge - fruit and vegetables, dairy and bakery, meat and fish. The middle aisles? The middle aisles are full of processed junk that I really shouldn't buy.

There are a few middle aisles that are necessary - the baking and spice aisle, the canned vegetable aisle, and the international aisle. I try to stick to canned tomatoes, dried pasta, beans, and vegetable oil.

Beyond that is a wasteland of prepared foods and snack items. (All of which the kids are begging me to buy.) It's also where all the expensive stuff is. Sure, beef tenderloin costs $15.99 a pound. But have you seen the price of potato chips?
*I had to buy cans of soup for a canned food drive, so I ventured into the soup aisle. I was horrified. Give me my pressure cooker, a leftover chicken carcass, Italian sausage, and some dried pasta and I can do better than everything they had for sale - and that's on a weeknight, when I don't have time to really cook.

It's even better to buy the "edge of the store" items at my local butcher, farmers market, or ethnic market. I try to stock up at those places. But I'm feeding a family of five, with three busy kids; The convenience of one stop shopping is impossible to pass up. Every Saturday I sit down with the flyer from my grocery store and make a meal plan for the week based on what's on sale.

What do you think? Any special tricks you use in the grocery store? Leave them in the comments section below.

I'm still discombobulated by my summer vacation. While I pull myself together, here's picture of Half Dome at sunset, and some fun food info I've picked up over the summer.
The photo is from Camp Curry's parking lot. We stayed in a wood floor tent for a week. Every time I looked up, I was awestruck.

The Wok Shop
I stopped in while visiting San Francisco, and ordered a new wok in person. (I may have to join Wok Wednesdays to break it in.) The Wok Shop is a great little store in Chinatown, stuffed to the rafters with cooking equipment. I wish I had all day to peek in all its nooks and crannies.
So, we now have Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, Wok Wednesdays, any suggestions to fill in the rest of the week?

Raichlen's Burgers
Steven Raichlen just published a quick (25 recipe) e-book dedicated to hamburgers.  It's a fun, quick read, for 99 cents.
*I noticed it while checking the sales numbers on my book. I mentioned I wrote a cookbook, right? I'm obsessed by my sales rank on Amazon. If it goes up, I'm ecstatic. If it goes down, I fall into a deep funk.
**And, as an aside from my aside, Steven's novel, Island Apart, is a fun read if you're a food fanatic like me. I started and finished it on the plane ride out west.

High Tech Shortcut To Greek Yogurt Leaves Purists Fuming
What? Greek Yogurt isn't always Greek Yogurt? I wondered why Yoplait some "Greek" yogurts taste grainy to me. There's the good version, using the traditional method of squeezing out the excess moisture...by using a huge centrifuge, and spinning the water out. I can live with that one. But the other method is to add thickeners (read: starch) to the yogurt to try to give it the same mouthfeel. Check the ingredients. If you see milk protein concentrate or cornstarch, watch out.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking App
32 of the most popular recipes from Julia Child's Mastering The Art of French Cooking, with full color photos, video of Julia making the recipes, and audio notes from editor Judith Jones. I'm getting excited just reading about it...must go order now...

Get Jiro!
Tony Bourdain, Joel Ross, and Langdon Foss's violent, hilarious graphic novel is a remake of Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars, viewed through Tony's...um...unique viewpoint on food. I worked at a comic book store as a teenager, watched A Fistful of Dollars more times than I can count, and loved all the inside jokes about food. It's like they designed the graphic novel just for me.
*Well, other than the over the top violence. My tolerance for that has dropped since I was a teenager. I still loved it, but be warned - this is not a comic book for the kiddies.

16 Essential Tips for Travelling with a Family [zenhabits.org]
I just spent a month travelling with my wife and kids. I read this list when I got back, and shouted "That's IT!" It describes everything that worked well for us. (I would put #5 - Gelato will keep kids happy - in bold and use an extra large font.)

What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.

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I'm all alone. What am I going to cook?

I just got back from vacation with my family. We had one glorious month, spent travelling the west coast, from Portland, Oregon down to Yosemite, California, with stops at Mt. St. Helens, Crater Lake, Crescent City, and San Francisco.
Of course, I ate my way down the coast. Khao Man Gai in Portland (heavy on the chicken livers), Pollo a la Brasa in Santa Rosa, Persian lamb kebabs in San Francisco. Wine country in Oregon (Willamette valley) and California (Sonoma valley). I could go on, but I'm probably boring you already. I gained ten pounds on the trip, even though we walked for miles every day. Just don't ask us to walk the Boy Scout Tree Trail again - the kids might start a mutiny.

Now Diane and the kids are gone, out to my family's summer cottage on Lake Erie. Diane is a high school teacher, and the kids are grade school aged, so they all have the rest of the summer off. I'm stuck at home, all my vacation used up. 
The kids wanted to know why I don't get the rest of the summer off too. I don't know, kids. I don't know.

For the next two weeks, I'm cooking for myself. I'm used to cooking for five - what do I do when I have to cook for one?

I grill a steak. Salt and pepper only. That, and a glass of champagne, are dinner. I really should have a salad - or at least a vegetable side dish. It would be healthier, and I need to lose those ten pounds. But not tonight. Tonight, it's just me and some beef.


This is my meal. One steak, a glass of wine. I always make it the first night I'm home alone. It makes the house feel less empty, somehow.
*Tomorrow is a pot of chili. Nothing fancy, ground meat and beans, enough to freeze for lunches later in the week.

What do you do cook when you're cooking for one? Tell me in the comments below.

Post inspired by What We Eat When We Eat Alone by Deborah Madison - I read this book a few years ago, but this is the first time since then I've been cooking only for myself.

Vive la revolution!

[h/t Dianne Jacob for sharing the original post.]

I told myself not to write this. There's enough negativity on the internet. Besides, I've got my blog, my self published cookbook - what good would it do? Let it go.

I can't let it go. This is a personal attack.

The test kitchen policy for my cookbook publishing company, Life of Reiley, is that the final recipe must be tested three times in the kitchen, then pass the test by a minimum of two home cooks (sometimes three depending on the recipe's complexity) before it's approved. If something doesn't work out with just one of the home cooks, we go back to the start and totally retest. I know many of you test much more. I have a friend who, as an intern, once tested a cinnamon roll recipe 100 times before it was deemed fit for publication by America's Test Kitchen. But whatever your testing policy, I know that we can all agree on the importance of ensuring that the experience of making a dish goes smoothly for a home cook.

…and...

The bloggers are, essentially, faking it. And then marketers are sharing these recipes with the public-and paying hobby cooks for the kind of skilled work most of us have spent a career developing. I also can't help but question to what extent do the companies check to ensure the resulting recipes aren't plagiarized from professional sources. The most important message I got from the seminar was that we, the professional journalists, researchers, home economists, recipe developers, food stylists, and photographers are getting aced out of much needed work in our chosen field by stay-at-home moms and accountants with a cooking hobby.

[Amy Reiley, Faking It, IACP.com]

Ms. Reiley,

Yes, I'm a computer programmer with a cooking hobby. Guilty as charged.

Articles like this make me doubt myself. Are you right? I agonize about this. Am I faking it? Where is the line between inspiration and plagiarism? If I think a recipe is my own, is it really original? Did I test it enough? Did I do enough proofreading?

You know what? I'm done apologizing. I write about cooking because I love it. I'm not a professional - cook, researcher, journalist, food stylist, or photographer. I'm self taught. I learned by reading everything about cooking I could lay my hands on, and trying it out in my kitchen. I learned photography the same way. That's how I'm learning to write - by writing. I'm sorry if that's not skilled enough for you.

With that background, I know what a home cook wants. That is what I try to write about. I follow my curiosity, keep reading, and keep learning more about food. I take pictures of what I cook, and try to explain what I learned to my readers. Then I see where I can improve - I read what I wrote, check my pictures, answer questions from my readers. I'm constantly working to get better.

I don't have a test kitchen behind me, other than the one where I cook all the food and do all the dishes. (OK, my wife and kids help a lot with the dishes.) In the end, all my recipes work - in my kitchen, in my back yard. And they work for everyone who reads this blog, if they read the instructions, then add their own experience and intelligence.

As for "tested recipes"...no recipe is bulletproof, even if it is made one hundred times before publication. Sure, the extra testing increases the odds...but by how much? I'm an accomplished home cook, and I still have disasters when I follow published recipes exactly as they're written.

Back to your real concern. Unwashed food bloggers like me. "Stay at home moms and accountants with a food hobby." I am invading your turf, and there's no one to check my bona fides, to make sure I didn't sneak in. I'll probably never get a show on Food TV, a book with a national publisher, or a column in a magazine or newspaper. I'm not sure any of that matters any more, and I think that's what scares you.

I'm my own publisher, separate from your exclusive tribe of professionals. The only people who matter are my readers - if I write something worth reading, or give them a recipe that works, they come back. If that means I'm faking it, then guess what - it's working.

Sorry about that, everyone. I know I shouldn't feed the trolls. I'm done ranting now.

If that wasn't enough for you, here's a much better thought out response to that string of insults: Eggs à l’Oignon and a Defense of Food Bloggers

And here's the post that caught my attention: Do newer recipe writers put the pros out of work?

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The paperback edition of Rotisserie Grilling is now available!

Rotisserie Grilling: 50 recipes for your grill's rotisserie, is $9.99 through Amazon.com, with the same content as the Kindle edition. The only difference is the interior pictures - a full color book would have cost over $30, so I had to go with black and white pictures.

If you've been waiting patiently for a physical book, thank you.

Paperback: Rotisserie Grilling - $9.99, with black and white pictures.
Kindle: Rotisserie Grilling - $4.99, available for immediate download, with full color pictures

*My apologies to Nook and iBook readers. I made a mistake. I'm almost done formatting...but I can't publish until August 1st. I signed up for a "Kindle exclusive" program when I first published Rotisserie Grilling, and now I'm contractually obligated to not have other e-book versions until then. I won't do that again, I can assure you...


Thank you to everyone who passed on the news about my cookbook to their friends and readers. When it first came out, I had the #1 selling kindle book in the "Outdoor Grilling" category, and I briefly cracked the top twenty on the "Barbecuing & Grilling" category for all books, e-book or not. Sales have settled down to a couple a day, with a few more over weekends. Rotisserie Grilling would not be doing this well without all your help and support. Thank you!

Fish Tacos, made with pantry ingredients (other than the fish and purple cabbage, of course)

I cook a lot of Mexican food. Taco night, with fresh corn tortillas and shredded cheese, is my kids favorite meal.
*We can't make enough tortillas to keep up with them any more, so Diane insisted they help out.

Making Tortillas

Here is my minimalist Mexican pantry, built on top of my original Ten Item Pantry list. I stock up at my local Mexican supermercado, because these ingredients are cheaper there. But, I can get everything on this list in the international aisle of my regular grocery store if I don't feel like the extra trip. With these items on hand, and I can make a wide variety of meals at a moment's notice.

As a reminder, here is my base Ten Item Pantry:

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Onions
• Garlic
• Lemons
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Beans - canned or dried
• Canned tomatoes (diced)
• Pasta (or rice, or potatoes)
• Chicken Stock (Homemade in the freezer, preferably)
• Thyme (dried, or fresh if my thyme bush is in season)

The Ten Item Mexican Pantry

1. Fresh hot peppers - Jalapenos, Poblanos, Serranos
To my taste buds, the backbone of Mexican flavor is a combination of onion, garlic, and hot peppers. Mexican food depends on both the heat and the green flavor of fresh peppers.

2. Limes
A squirt of lime juice is the secret ingredient in a number of Mexican dishes, adding a hint of acidity and citrus that perks up the flavors.

3. Chipotle en Adobo
Chipotle peppers are smoke-dried jalapenos, and add a strong hit of heat and smoke. I buy them dried and ground, but my favorite way to get them is to buy cans of Chipotle en Adobo - peppers in a thick, red, vinegary sauce. I blend the entire jar until it forms a puree, store it in my refrigerator. Then I can spoon out a teaspoon (for a hint of heat) or a tablespoon (for a wallop of heat) whenever I need it.

4. Dried Ancho Peppers - chile powder or whole dried peppers
Yes, a third variety of pepper. Anchos are dried poblano peppers. They have a medium heat level, letting me add a lot of chile flavor without overwhelming heat. I'm torn between Ancho chile powder, which make the backbone of my Tex-Mex and Mexican dry rubs, and whole peppers, which I soak and blend up into salsa. If I had to choose only one, I'd go with the peppers, because they can be ground in a spice grinder to make a powder...but, really, get both.

5. Tortillas
The best tortillas are fresh corn tortillas. The best choice is corn tortillas straight from a tortilleria, or from a Mexican grocery that is stocked fresh every day. The next best choice is to make at home. We buy bags of Masa Harina, mix up the dough, and cook them ourselves right before serving.

The problem with corn tortillas is you can't store them. A day or two in the refrigerator and they are pale shadows of themselves. Flour tortillas don't have that problem - they'll last for weeks in the refrigerator, and once they're reheated, they're pretty good. If I have to buy tortillas from a grocery store, I buy flour tortillas.

I use both - I always have a a bag of flour tortillas in the fridge for emergency quesadillas, and plan one night a week to make homemade corn tortillas for tacos.

6. Cumin - whole seeds or ground
After dried chile peppers, cumin is the most used spice in Mexican cooking. Usually, the two are used together - cumin is a natural companion to dried chiles. Cumin can also stand on its own as a spice, especially with a squeeze of lime juice.

7. Mexican Oregano
A different plant from the Greek or Italian oregano that we are used to, I like its unique flavor in my Mexican dishes.

8. Mexican cheese
I know that drowning food in cheese is a Tex-Mex thing, not a Mexican thing. If I'm feeling Tex-Mex, my cheese is shredded colby jack. If I want a more authentic cheese, I crumble on some cotija or shred some oaxaca.

9. Tomatillos
Unwrap the husk of a tomatillo, and you'll find a small, green fruit that looks like an unripe tomato. But it is ripe, and ready to use, once the sticky coating has been rinsed away. Tomatillos are the main ingredient in green salsa, the perfect accompaniment to beef or Mexican chorizo.

10. Cilantro
Cilantro is a love it or hate it ingredient. Salsa just doesn't taste right without it, but I know some people have a strong negative reaction to the flavor. If you are cilantro-averse, substitute thyme or parsley.

The next five...especially if you have a Mexican grocery nearby

11. Tortilla chips (Can't have salsa without Tortilla chips...)
12. Tostadas (Fried corn tortillas. Think of the world's largest tortilla chip)
13. Chorizo (Make sure to get uncooked Mexican style chorizo. Spanish chorizo is dry cured and delicious, but the spices are wrong for Mexican cooking.)
14. Mexican Hot Sauce (El Yucateco green habanero, if I have to pick just one)
15. Avocados (I have a hard time thinking of avocados as a pantry ingredient, with how quickly they turn from ripe to browned...but how else could I make guacamole?)

Guacamole!

What does this list give me?

With these ten ingredients in my pantry, and a quick stop at the grocery store, almost all of Mexican cooking is open to me. Some sample menus:

• Chicken Tacos:

Buy some chicken thighs, sprinkle them with a rub of chile pepper, cumin, and mexican oregano, serve with a red salsa, black beans, and tortillas

• Beef fajitas:

Buy some skirt or flank steak, sprinkle with a rub of cumin and lime, and serve with tomatillo salsa, grilled poblano peppers and onions, corn, and tortillas

• Pork adobado:

Buy some pork chops, make a dried pepper salsa and rub it into the chops. Grill, and serve with guacamole, refried beans, peppers, and tortillas.

What do you think? Questions? Comments? Ingredients you can't believe I left out? Talk about it in the comments section...

Suggested Reading:

Diana Kennedy - From My Mexican Kitchen
Rick Bayless - Mexican Everyday

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Indirect high heat...sort of. Burners 6 and smoker on to cook the turkey legs more, and also using the rotisserie burner...

Here is how I suggest setting up a gas grill for indirect high heat:

For my Weber Summit, I preheat the grill for 15 minutes with all the burners on high, then I turn off the middle burners (leaving burners 1 and 6 lit and on high heat). I want an internal temperature of 450*F, or higher if I can get it.

Reader Roy G has the same Weber Summit that I do, and he had some questions after making my  Grilled  Butterflied Chicken with Dry Brine. His grill was only 375F with burners #1 and 6 set to high - closer to what I would call medium heat. I was surprised by this; I use indirect high heat on my gas grill all the time. I was sure my temperatures were higher.

I went out and tested my grill. Sure enough, Roy was right. Two burners on high left me with an internal temperature of 350F. If I turned the rotisserie burner on, I was right where I expected to be, at 450F.

My next test was at my parent's house, with my dad's Weber Genesis. It only has three burners, but each burner is longer than the burners on my Summit. It turns out the longer burner matters - when I set the Genesis up for indirect high heat, with the two outer burners on and the middle burner off, the temperature was just shy of 500F. This range of temps made me wonder - what about other grills? Are there a standard set of instructions I can use in my recipes, or is it every grill for itself?

The survey:

When a recipe says "set your grill up for indirect high heat", what do you do? And, what temperature do you get? Please answer the following questions:

*If you can't see the survey, click on this link to go to the web page: Grilling with Indirect High Heat at SurveyMonkey.com

I'll keep the survey open for a week, and summarize the results for everyone later this month. Feel free to pass the survey on to anyone you think would know the answers - the more responses I get, the better the results will be.

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity!

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