The Zzyzx Road Kitchen Chronicles: Let's Talk About Spice, Baby - spice catalogue excerpt

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Let's Talk About Spice, Baby - spice catalogue excerpt - looking for comments

Zzyzx Road Kitchen's World of Spices

Hi, guys! Since I'm already on H, I thought I'd get some feedback from anyone who has some ideas about my setup so far. Good or bad critiques welcomed equally - I have booze and Rx medications.

This is meant to go beyond the Encyclopaedia Britanica's four-line description of a plant. People need a place to find out where and how they can use star anise, for instance, or why the hell do bay leaves exist. I love spices, and I love exploring and using them in unique and unusual ways. I love to share my cooking knowledge, as most cooks who I know and respect do, and I think there is a large gap in our field with regard to truly exploring spices and herbs. I'm looking to fill that gap in one database that's easy to use and refer to time and again.

Please, I really would like to hear back from you guys. I think you can even respond anonymously, so I can't take out your eyeballs with that melon baller that I've never used.

Ess, bench, sei a mensch!

'Zanne
Zzyzx Road Kitchen Chronicles
http://www.zzyzxroadkitchen.blogspot.com/
zannerosecooks@gmail.com

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Recent Meals

Grilled (in the rain) marinated top sirloin w/my Steak Frite and London Pub Sauce
Fried chayote
Roasted aubergine, zucchini, and yellow squash
Soft garlic sandwich rolls, and we made meatball sandwiches
Sirloin rubbed with cardamom-laced Turkish coffee
Chocolate truffles w/rum and bourbon
Petit fours
Florentine cookies drizzled with chocolate
13-Bean soup w/parmesan rind and leftover ham
Apple spice cardamom muffins
Guinnes-injected pot roast
Cran-blueberry corn muffins
Spaghetti and meatballs - basic, but always a hit in this house
Hummus w/roasted garlic, olive, red pepper, and smoked paprika
Veggie stirfry w/julienned baby carrots, green peppers, garlic, chickpeas, and balsamic, served over Chinese Black Forbidden Rice
Ginger-carrot cake
Ginger cranberry mojito
Lime-cranberry-mint-strawberry seltzer
Lavender-mint iced tea
Trip to Beirut: Shish taouk, shish kebab, halvah, garlic naan, rice pilaf w/figs, raisins, and pecans, w/my famous lemon-mint-garlic Lebanese potatoes
London Broil w/a wilted spinach and mustard green salad with a bacon, balsamic, and mustard dressing
Sweet and red potato pancakes w/zucchini and peppers w/chicken apple sausage
Italian wedding soup w/homemade croutons and meatballs
"Rock the Casbah" Cardamom, Ginger, Apple Pork Roast w/Armadillo Rice (for you fans of The Clash who remember the cover of Combat Rock)
Individual Quiche Lorraine
Prosciutto-wrapped beef cubes w/mustard pan sauce
Chicken Sausage w/garlic naan and dijon mustard - Lou and I were really drunk.
Salt potatoes, mixed fingerlings, lightly mashed, with lot of butter
Focaccia w/garlic, onions, mozarella and cherry tomatoes
Rosemary and lavender bread
Spicy greens and spinach salad w/fresh mozzarella pearls, strawberries, and a strawberry vinegarette
Polenta casserole w/cheese and squash baked IN acorn squash halves

The REAL Zzyzx Road Story

The REAL Zzyzx Road

I just realized that I've never put any explanation about where I got the name for my blog. Here goes…

If you're driving between LA and Vegas on I-15, you'll see an exit about an hour from Vegas (just west of Baker, I believe). It just says, "Zzyzx Rd" – and there doesn't seem to be anything on it. You chuckle at the name, and part of you will always be curious, so you (in the days before Google) find your way down the part-asphalt, part-dirt road, hopefully in something sturdier than my VW convertible.

You know what? I can tell you the whole, boring story, but I found a guy who took the plunge in his Toyota Camry on a very paranoid whim and took scores of pictures. His paranoia and skepticism is hilarious.

http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.com/zzyzx_road.htm

His account of his trip in is just hilarious. If you go past his photos, he quotes an actual historical text.

In short, the tawdry bit of Zzyzx Road's history involves a medicine man and his special healing waters…

Now, it's home to Cal State U's Desert Studies Center.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

4/12/11 I just realized that I haven't updated you guys on the status of my garden in a few weeks. It's grown so much! Sunday, at the Olympia Farmers' Market, I picked up four beautiful Swiss Chard "Bright Lights" starters Spearmint, Moroccan Mint, and a variety 6-pack of tomato starters, small ones that don't need a trellis to flourish. I got a very small something that didn't have a name, but it was cute and a dollar - it's the only non-edible plant I have, if you don't count Lou's new spider plant. So, I now have French tarragon, three mints, six types of tomatoes, two types of thyme, Italian oregano, two (at least) of cilantro (which I hate, but Mom likes to make salsa), mammoth dill (again, not for me), two types of rosemary, chives, and two different types of marjoram. I still can't get basil - the nursery owners say that Mother's Day weekend is "past the last chance of frost," so that's when they start selling basil. Can't wait! My mom is taking the day off tomorrow, and (weather pemitting), we're going to put some of these guys in the ground - at present, they're pretty crowded on the windowsill in my den. We're also putting some seeds in the ground (but I'll start my basil seeds inside). A rainbow of carrots, aubergine, more tomatoes, mixed mini belle peppers, zucchino (round zucchini), spring onions, and peperone. We have to wait another month to plant the rest: spinach, long beans, squashes, turnips, spinach, mustard greens, radishes, and pumpkins! Who doesn't love pumpkin patches? 3/26/11 Two herbs are coming up! One looks like chives (Mom agrees), and I have no idea what the other one is. Still, I got something to grow! I can kill cacti in a week. There are probably Wanted notices with my face on them in nurseries around the country. 3/24/11 I'm guessing the little guys are doing well. I watered them and take them onto the deck when there's sun. When it's warm enough, Mom's going to help me plant the following: Table Queen Squash, Spinach, Yellow Squash, Green Onions, Turnips, Kentucky Wonder (green beans), Cherokee Wax Beans, Radishes, Spinach Mustard, and Sweet William, which is a flower, and if you've seen the wonderful Canadian film "The Hanging Garden," you'll understand the signifance. None of my mint plants are doing much at present, so I have to buy it, which sucks. I have lemon mint, chocolate mint, ginger mint, orange mint, and plain ol' spearmint. I'm not big on peppermint - never was. 3/22/11 I now have planted cilantro, sweet banana peppers, cherry tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, sweet basil, chives, and cayenne pepper. I can't wait to see if they come up! -Z 3/22/11 Okay, you can hardly call it a garden yet. It's six pots of various herbs that sit on the windowsill, unless it's sunny, then I put them on the back deck. It's the first gardening I've ever done, but I want an herb garden for cooking. I'm also planting three pepper plants, tomatoes, and a few other things that I can't remember. My mom had to tell me which to plant now and which to wait until it's warmer. I'll keep you all updated.

Textile Arts

It's been a while since my sewing machine has seen daylight, but this week I'm making reversible aprons for myself, Lou, and The Bevinator. I dyed our old, day-glo orange table cloth red for Lou, and the other side will be made out of all of those jeans that are 6 sizes too big on me now. I'm big on re-purposing and recycling, especially with fabric/clothes. I dyed and turned two paisley pillowcases into fabric napkins.

I make a lot of costumes, corsets, and bodices, and I transform thrift store items into... well, whatever I can.

I have a big weaving loom, but I'm afraid of it, so I make small, basic looms out of sticks that I find in the woods next to my house. My mom spins and plies her own yarn, and gives me her cast-offs, which are amazing. She's a goddess when it comes to crocheting. She's an amazing artist. She paints, crochets, paints 6-foot carousel horses, needlepoints, gardens, digital photography. Seriously, I'm not sure there's anything that the DG (Domestic Goddess) can't do.

I inherited none of her creativity.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Let's Talk About Spice, Baby - spice catalogue excerpt - looking for comments

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Recent Meals