Entries by Chad Thunberg

Isaac and I have been working on a few pizza recipes and thought we would subject our friends to it. Isaac took on the Chicago-style stuffed pizza and a more traditional and minimalist Pizza Margherita. I made two thin crust versions, a meat, pepper, and onion combination with a tomato base and the other was a chicken and spinach with an olive oil base.

I think all the pizzas turned out really well and the feedback was mostly positive.

So despite knowing better, I was rushing and misusing my knife over the weekend while chopping ingredients for pizza which resulted in cutting 1/3 way through my index finger. I managed to contain things with some tape and a napkin so I could finish cooking. Once things stopped bleeding and the pizza was off the big green egg, we put a few Steri-Strips on it to keep things closed. Using the opportunity as a teaching tool, I thought I would sit down and document how to properly hold and control a knife. Perhaps I will follow these instructions in the future and save myself from another incident.

I have been wanting to make some Jambalaya since Isaac, Sean, and I made a batch of andouille sausage and figured tonight was the night. The following is a quick version of Jambalaya but there are a lot of versions out on the internet. My goal was to use what I had in the house though I started the dinner thinking I had a bell pepper left over from pizza night but I apparently misremembered.

I purchased an Aerobie AeroPress about a year ago and love it. For $26, you can’t get a better and cup of coffee. The AeroPress takes some fundamental ideas of how an espresso machine and French press work and combines them into a small and easy to use package. The result is a smooth cup of coffee without the lingering grounds you commonly find in a cup made by a French press. The AeroPress is not a replacement for a cup of espresso nor does it scale, as it becomes labor intensive when trying to make multiple cups of coffee simultaneously.

In addition to the AeroPress, I bought a Capresso Infinity burr grinder and retired my old bean chopper. The burr grinder provides a more consistent grind and produces a better overall cup of coffee. The Capresso is a good upgrade from the chopper but is still considered entry level. I have a few minor complaints with the grounds getting stuck in the chopping chamber and collector but some tapping and regular cleaning helps.

The folks over at CoffeeGeek.com have done a great job grilling the inventor of the AeroPress and have a number of good reviews of the Capresso Infinity.

• Cibus Vitae Store - http://www.cibusvitae.com/pages/store.html
  
• AeroPress Thread - http://coffeegeek.com/forums/coffee/machines/195166
  
• Capresso Infinity Review - http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/grinders/capressoinfinity

I have recently been dabbling with baking bread including pizza dough and bagels (yeah, I tend to just dive right in). Through reading, talking with people, and my own experimentation, I have concluded (like most) that baking bread is more science than art. Bread making should be approached as a scientific process and variables should be controlled including ingredient ratios, temperature, and time. A few gadgets worth getting are a digital scale and a candy thermometer.

Digital Scales are most important for solids, like flour, where the volume can very dramatically depending on how tightly packed it is. The combination of a scale and some good notes will ensure consistency between baking.
* TIP: Four cups of flour in most recipes is meant to be 1 lb. You can find a great conversion calculator at http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/flour_volume_weight.html

Candy Thermometers will give you insight into the temperature of your water and yeast mixture which should be 105 F. I also use an instant-read digital thermometer and a wireless thermometer for meat.

The products we use and recommend can be found at the Cibus Vitae Store.

My name is Chad and by day I work in the computer industry. I first dabbled in the culinary arts as a hobby as a tool to win over a woman's heart (fairly unsuccessfully) by harnessing my experience working in restaurants over the years. My first job in the restaurant business was at age 12 working for Duffy's Deli in Redmond, WA (now defunct). My Mom managed the Deli and offered me a job during the summer busing tables, taking out the garbage, and whatever else the adults didn't want to do. I soon assisted with preparation work squeezing oranges for the fresh orange juice and preparing salads. I later found my self preparing cold dishes and salads at Il Bacio (also now defunct) also in Redmond, WA for Chef Rino Baglio and his wife Patsy. I learned only a fraction of what I should have but did manage to learn a few basics including what exceptional Italian food should taste, smell, and look like.

I now use what knowledge I have and the power of the internet to cook food for my friends and growing family. This site will serve primarily to track what I was preparing and how I got from raw ingredients to plating with the ultimate goal learning along the way. Hopefully some of the information is helpful and inspiring to others. I also welcome feedback and pointers. My good friend and occasional partner in crime will be doing the same. I hope the list of authors will grow over time.

Thanks,
-Chad