Author: Nate Elston

By Posted on Posted in Blogroll, Misc Food No Comments

Why do I cook!?! I mean I could just run down to Subway or Pizza Hut and fill up on something there, buy why cook?  Or more specifically why do I cook?  Initially I started cooking because I liked to cook and it was an easy way to express myself.  Cooking is enough science that it can be replicated reasonably simply, however, it still leaves plenty of room for expression and creativity.  Later on when I moved out I started cooking because I was hungry, but creativity still found its way into dinner.  So today as a married man I cook because:

  • I cook so that Vanessa, my wife, does not have to.  She is a great cook but does not enjoy cooking.
  • I cook for self-defense.  How so?  Ever found a finger in your chile at Wendy’s or a clump of human hair in your hot dog?  Me neither, I plan to keep it that way.
  • I cook to try new things.  Lets face it you can only get so much variety in local joints, especially in a little town.  If I want good food at a reasonable price I will have to be making it myself.
  • I cook because its a challenge.  Once in a while a dish comes up or someone asks me to make something I have never made or even eaten and its a challenge to get it right.
  • I cook because well fed people are happy people.
  • I cook because it relaxes me.  I sit at a computer all day and think about food, when I finally get home cooking is my way to wind down and relax.
  • I cook so that when I work out I have something to think about…whatever shall I have for dinner after I am finished abusing my body?
  • Finally, I cook because I like to eat.

Why do you cook?  Why don’t you cook?  Let me k now I look forward to hearing from all of you!

Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted on Posted in Blogroll, Programming, Projects No Comments

DISCLAIMER: This will void your warranty.  You will probably lose all the data on your drive.  You might die, who knows.  Don’t try this at home.  If you do decide to do this be sure to wear latex gloves as to not mark your platters.

With that out of the way, lets get down to it, rarely do I write about anything other than food and in a strange far out way this will be related to food.  For quite sometime now my passion for technology and food have collided and I have been working on building out my Digital Cook book and working on and iPad app to accommodate it.  Recently while I was out of town the server on which the majority of this application resided bit the dust or at least the drive with the data one did.  As a person who should know better I have no excuse, but, none the less the data was not backed up.  There was one copy of the database and the data in it.  Fail.  With options running out and not wanting to pay to have the data professionally recovered I took a last ditch effort to recover the data myself.  Much to my surprise it worked.

Thankfully when I built the machine I used identical drives I had laying around.  Because of this I could swap the platters from one drive to the other and that is what I did.  I took the platter (the CD looking thing that lives inside a hard drive and holds all the data) and installed it in the working drive, after removing its platter.  I then tore into my network attached storage chassis, removed the drive in there and plugged in my Fraken-drive.  Bam, disk spun up and Windows recognized it.  Pulled my data off and let out a squeal of delight.  All of my hard work has been saved.  As a by product I have some pictures and videos of the process someone is bound to appreciate.

Hard Drive Platters Exposed

Hard Drive Platters Exposed

Moral of the story is BACK UP YOUR DATA.  I will be doing that first and foremost on my new server configuration to avoid the sense of panic upon realizing you have to start over.

Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted on Posted in Recipes, What's for dinner No Comments

Disclaimer: Ordinarily an ordinary recipe like this would not make it to the blog, however, with the request for more variety in chicken recipes come the good and the bad.  Usually when we make Jerk Chicken in the summer or spring we use a whole chicken and go all out, it is certainly not the poor man’s variety and I will make a point to write about it this summer.

With that aside, we had another workout and cook at the same time meal tonight.  It was called Jerk not because of the process or its temperament but because of the seasoning we applied and despite its ease and lack of process and a rich marinade it was far more than edible it resembled jerk chicken and it was easy.  Besides that it tempted us with smells of the Caribbean, while we did our plyometrics.

Poor Mans Jerk Chicken and RiceIngredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
jerk seasoning (I got mine at Penzeys)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F.  Combine lime juice and olive oil in a glass baking dish until uniform.  Roll chicken several times in the mixture and sprinkle both sides, covering evenly with jerk seasoning.  Bake for about 50 minutes or until done, turning once.

While not nearly as delicious as the real thing, our poor man’s jerk chicken was a tasty treat with a bit of a kick in the middle of winter.

Tagged with: , , ,

By Posted on Posted in Recipes, What's for dinner No Comments

We are still on the chicken diet and instead of waiting after our workout tonight to prepare dinner I decided it would be nice to have dinner done at the same time were done working out.  So that is what we did, a little prep before and basting on water break and an easy but oh so tasty dish of Curry Chicken on rice was born.  Our workout last somewhere around an hour usually and as such we had pause for just long enough to throw the chicken in.

Curry Chicken on Rice

This could be love at first taste, it became apparent tonight as I ate my dinner that I have not eaten enough curry in the past and will have to include this in my diet in an increasing fashion in the future.  My curry love affair has been born.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/3 c honey
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp curry powder

Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 375°F.  Place butter in a glass baking dish and heat until melted.  Add honey, mustard and curry powder to melted butter and mix thoroughly.   Add chicken and roll in curry mixture several times.  Cook for 50 minute basting frequently.  Serve over hot rice and smother with curry mixture left over in the baking dish.

I used a cheap curry I had purchased at the grocery store and will be looking next time I am at the spice shop at the variety of curries they have available.  Also of note I made the rice as usual in my rice cooker and allowed it to warm once it was complete.

This might not be as low fat as other chicken dishes but at about 350 calories a serving (did a little math) I’ll take it, its good enough for me, besides what is the point of working out if you can’t eat more?

Tagged with: , , , ,

By Posted on Posted in Misc Food, Recipes No Comments

After an unsuccessful hunt for small game today we were forced to endure yet another night of chicken, which even though it has been frequents has not exhausted our creativity.  Tonight we had chicken and broccoli linguine which turned out to be pretty good, although had it been made as described online it would have been quite bland.

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (about 3), cut in 1 inch cubes
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
4 large cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 28oz can of stewed tomatoes
2 c fresh broccoli florets
1 pinch dried oregano
1 lb dry linguine pasta
1 1/2 tbsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese to top

Instructions
In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat, add chicken.  Cook until done throughout.  Add onion and garlic, cook tell onions are translucent.   Add tomatoes, broccoli, salt, pepper, 1 tbsp basil and oregano, stir well and bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile cook pasta in a separate pan.  Once pasta is cooked and drained, combine with the rest of the ingredients, add final 1/2 tbsp basil, mix well and serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

This made for an incredibly easy 30 minute meal that would be great any night with family of when entertaining.

Tagged with: , , ,