Science Fair

Hey guys, Joanna here, announcing something big in the Fried household, Joel’s new tool. Yep, that’s right, he got a brand new tool. And, it’s big.....and handy....... What? It’s a burr mixer, geez, calm down. For those of you not in the industry, a burr mixer is a giant stick blender that can very quickly turn the rowdiest and roughest of vegetables into beautiful soup. Joel is so happy he smiles when he burrs. Production at the VCSC household has been greatly enhanced and we are getting things done way quicker.

This week in the VCSC we’ve been focusing on eggs…eggs in coke, eggs in coffee, eggs in apple cider vinegar, wine, grape kool-aid and orange crush. Yum, I know you guys are ready for some of that, EGGS, yummy. No, not for the VCSC, it’s Brentwood’s Science Fair. We now know that apple cider vinegar does some wicked stuff to egg shells. Drop a raw egg in the shell in a cup of apple cider vinegar sometime and see what happens. Here’s some pictures for entertainment.

And here’s Joel……
Thanks again to everyone who showed up last time around. It was good to be cooking again. We appreciate the business and hope you liked what you bought. I enjoyed sitting around the table talking food and music with people from different angles in my life. It's all about the sign posts. I love the way a kitchen can bring people together. It probably has something to do with why we dedicated about 40 percent of our house to the kitchen.

SOUPS
I would like to start off with the soups because that is the section I am most excited about. Fred requested the Spinach Asiago soup and I was happy to oblige. It is delicious and doesn’t require much chopping. I like easy. One of our discussions last week involved mushroom soup and how good it is on cold winter days. So we will also serving the Creamy Crimini with Marsala, one of my favorites. The Cauliflower with Goat Cheese soup brings it altogether. This is a soup I made over the holidays. Same recipe as the Cauliflower with Gouda from awhile back, but sub in the goat cheese.

SIDES
The Roasted Cauliflower and Sweet Peppers with Lemon and Coriander makes a return, signaling a week concentrated on lovely cauliflower. Like the Brussel Sprouts, I hated cauliflower as a kid, but this dish made me change my mind. Just heat it up in a sauté pan or the microwave. There were a few requests (Joanna says demands) for the SpagheThai, a whole wheat noodle dish with sesame ginger sauce, cilantro, and green onions that can be served hot or cold. I couldn’t find any whole wheat spaghetti so I bought an organic whole wheat linguine instead.
I figured it would be similar to pad thai noodles. I am going to leave the name the same but if you can think of a cool name using words that rhyme with linguine and thai without getting naughty, go for it.
A Sweet Potato Salad completes the veggie section. This is a version of the Three Potato Salad we did a while back, but with only two potatoes. There were some red creamers at Costco that looked pretty so I bought some to add with the Sweet Potatoes. Like the SpagheThai, this dish can be served hot or cold. The potatoes are mixed with corn, sweet peppers, cilantro, hard-boiled egg white, whole grain mustard, olive oil, and a bit of mayonnaise for creaminess. This is a much healthier alternative to the traditional potato salad.

SNAX
The Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad leads off the Snax. Joanna was so offended by the cinnamon in the nuts that she didn’t talk to me for a few days and then she would mutter cinnamon in disgust when she would see me walking through Tacodeli. I went back to the old ways and hopefully this batch will appease her. We also brought back the Sun-dried Tomato and Feta dip with Basil (a favorite). The Roasted Red Pepper dip completes the trio. This dip is a good excuse to eat raw vegetables or can be used as a sandwich spread as well.

SALAD
The Salad this week is a classic downtown version of mixed greens, blue cheese, lightly sweetened walnuts and sherry balsamic vinaigrette. I used to call it the Mathis because Kathryn Mathis was my chef at the Bitter End and we served something similar. I think I can pay a more fitting tribute to her than this salad. It’s a well-known and popular salad because it tastes good.

In Closing
We look forward to seeing you guys this time around. There is lots of fun and activity going on in the household this week, and changes and some new beginnings. We look forward to sharing it with you. Menu, sizes, dietary concerns and pricing will be posted in the email going out Wednesday evening.

Again, thank you so much. We’ll see you on Thursday.
The VCSC.