Wednesday, August 28, 2013 Where does the time go...

Has it really been 8 months since I last blogged? Yes. To be honest, I didn't even remember how to work this thing.

Why? I blame it on the dog. He takes up a great deal of my day. Then I blame the theatre with its lure of easy money and fame. Hold on, I just fell off my chair laughing.

After that I can blame food bloggers in general for being almost as obnoxious as musical theatre actors. I mean that in the nicest way possible. I can also blame restaurants. It seems, once I started reviewing restaurants, I couldn't have a good dining experience if my life depended on it...Darien Social, Zaza... I hate to be an ass and say "I'm a food blogger, give me good service" so I just stopped being a food blogger.

Ultimately, I must blame myself. I dropped the ball. I haven't written much for Alternative Control. And I haven't even been writing plays. I've just been rolling around in depression, excess weight and puppy love.

Can I promise you I'll be blogging with a passion once again? No. In the coming months I'll be adding some new hats to my collection - producer and therapy pet handler to be exact. So I don't know what I'll be doing with this blog. BUT I'm always on Facebook, sometimes on Twitter and now on Instagram.

-HH

Sunday, January 6, 2013 Rosemary Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup olive oil
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
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1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 cups oats
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/8+ teaspoon of Penzy's powdered rosemary *
1 teaspoon finely chopped lemon zest **
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1 cup chocolate chips

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Put aside.

Mix olive oil and sugar in a big bowl until it has an even consistency. Add one egg at a time, mixing until fully incorporated after each one.

Stir in vanilla.

Stir in dry ingredients. When batter is coming together add chips and continue to stir until all the ingredients are combined.

* I put 1/8 teaspoon on rosemary in the flour mixture and then stirred it up. If you can smell the rosemary there's enough. If you can't smell it add more in small increments.

** I used a peeler to take the yellow zest off 1/4 of a large lemon and chopped it very finely on a cutting board with a sharp knife.

Scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes.

Monday, October 15, 2012 Cadbury Screme Egg Chili

Back by popular demand - my clevage and chili \m/

Here's the basic recipe

2 jalapeno peppers
3 cloves garlic
1 onion

Rough chop them all, sweat them in olive oil in a dutch oven on the stove top.

Add spices - this is all according to your taste. And you'll need to reseason again later.

Chili, cumin, paprika, allspice, cinnamon, oragano, salt, pepper, cayenne.

1 pound ground turkey.

Throw the meat in the dutch oven and break it up as best you can while it cooks. Then add...

about 4 Tablespoons of tomato paste
3 cups of chicken stock
1 Cadbury Screme Egg

Cover and toss it in the oven at 250 for 2-3 hours. Check it every once in a while to be sure the moisture doesn't disappear and you can reseason at your will.

Close to the end add 1/2 cup of partly cooked macaroni (it'll finish cooking in the chili and soak up any extra moisture. Throw in some cubes of cheese and let them melt before serving...with fried bread.

And check out Hardline!

-HH

Friday, August 24, 2012 Stamford Baked Beans - the recipe

I had a vision of these a while back, but I've been so busy this month writing my 31 Plays in 31 Days (which you can follow on my other blog) I haven't had a chance to bring these into existence until yesterday.

Here they are - Stamford Baked Beans

Please feel free to share, make them in your world class restaurant, your hot dog joint, your food truck. Just be sure to give me, The Headbanging Hostess, credit - or I will write plays about what a jerk you are for the rest of eternity :)

Ha! Okay, here goes.

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Stamford Baked Beans

1 1/2 cups dry beans (available in bulk at Fairway)
  -Black Turtle Beans
  -Adzuki Beans
  -Cannellini Beans
  -Pinto Beans
  -Red Kidney Beans

Soak the beans overnight then cook on the stove in the same water for two hours, replace water as needed.

For the Sauce...

1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup maple syrup (from the Stamford Museum and Nature Center if possible, if not then from CT)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chipotle
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch each of Ajwain seeds, smoked paprika, nutmeg, cayenne, allspice, cloves, ginger.

Combine in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.

Also...

1 8oz. package of duck bacon
1 vidalia onion, diced

Cook bacon in pan only enough to render some fat, put aside. Cook onion in duck fat.

Combine beans, sauce and onion in a casserole dish or dutch oven, cover with bacon (and lid) and cook at 200-250 for at least 6 hours. Keep checking it, you may need to add more water, that's okay.


For pizza crust - take a 9 ounce portion of dough, stretch it out with your hands as best you can and then place on an oiled pizza pan. Push the dough out to the edges using your knuckles and/or fingertips. Coat with olive oil, dust with salt and bake at 450-500 for 10-15 minutes until desired doneness.

The pizza crust makes the perfect vessel for bringing the sweet and spicy beans to your mouth. Tonight, I put them on hot dogs :)

In my humble opinion, I have done a fantastic job creating a dish that represents my hometown. And don't forget to check out Stamford Baked Beans the play \m/

-HH

Thursday, August 2, 2012 Stamford Domination is MINE!!! \m/

Big thanks, huge ups, and high fives all around - Hey Stamford has declared my Twitter feed one of 31 to follow in Stamford. I'm in good company - OmNomCT, CT Bites, Bar Q...all the big names :) Oh, and also the Downtown Special Services District...and, I guess, you can say, there's a little beef between them and me. Tiny beef. Like veal. Or cow abortion. No need to go into details...but let's just say I'm not a fan of Alive at Five, which is their big event every summer. I used to love it - years ago when it was cool and relaxed and a good time; when it was free to go and you could bring a picnic and walk around with drinks that you could get from the bars to-go... Now you have to pay to get in, you have to buy their beer...actually I don't even know anymore because I haven't been in years. What began as a gift to the citizens of Stamford has become yet another way to make a ton of money - citizens be damned. Actually, I'm pretty sure it's mostly out of towners... Anyhoo... My big problem? No local music. They're all "national acts" that no one's heard of... well, no one old enough to drink has heard of...

So yesterday, when I began the 31 plays in 31 days project, which you can follow on my new blog, my first play was inspired by someone from the DSSD telling Pink Missile they were "too metal" for Alive at Five. True story.

I'm ashamed of my town for this.

Civic pride? I'm not feelin' it.

I'd rather go see the K.T. Murphy marching band than the latest reality TV singer. But I guess I'm alone in that. Or outnumbered.

Gee, that's never happened before...

And, anyway, it's well established that I'd rather stay home and eat my own cooking than go out and take my chances. I'm an old lady. Almost 40!

But I will embrace this distinction and challenge myself to keep up with the ol'twitter, and blogs, and Facebook...
Thank you, Hey Stamford! You rock!

-HH

PS - Alternative Control is also a kick-ass twitter feed \m/