Omelet == Happy

If, like me, you are a fan of the omelet, and you have devoured them in nearly every establishment which claims to serve them on at least three continents, then you will want to know this little trick I stole from a Vietnamese cookbook: when making an omelet, add 1-2tsp of fish sauce to a 3-egg omelet. Trust me on this one. It doesn't taste like eggs + fish sauce; it tastes as if someone took an omelet, and added love.

Making Loose-leaf Tea in the Office

Making tea from loose leaves in the office can be a pain, what with relatively small per-cup servings each requiring a trip to the coffeemaker for some hot water, and with the disposal of the leaves each time. Fortunately for tea-lovers everywhere, we have a solution-- and it is a coffeepot!

Specifically, a French Press Coffee Maker. A French Press is a cylinder with a mesh screen attached to a plunger inside. You put leaves in the bottom (or coffee grounds, if you're so inclined), raise the plunger to the top, and fill with water. When you're ready to pour, just push the plunger all the way to the bottom, and the mesh screen will trap most of the leaves, leaving you with just tasty fresh tea. If you get a variety that has a finer mesh screen that covers the pour spout, you can have the best fresh tea possible with little to no leaves left.

There is a drawback to this method, and it is that the tea will turn bitter if left in the coffee maker for too long (as will coffee, for that matter). So try to buy a french press that will just hold the amount of tea you will likely drink at one setting-- in my case, I can get maybe three cups out of a medium-sized Bonjour model.

Enjoy!

First Post^WRecipe!

I always enjoy cooking with and for geeks-- it's a lot of fun, and as long as whatever you prepare is done well, it's almost always appreciated. But geeks are a varied and strange bunch-- some eat only meat and bread, some are vegan, some are vegetarian, some are piscitarian (only eating the flesh of fish). This blog is meant to celebrate both the breadth and depth of geek cooking. As soon as I get home (yes, I'm posting this from work! I'm a geek, okay?), I'll contribute our first recipe.

We'll try to be explicit in our instructions, knowing how literally geeks take most directions, but if any of us is in a hurry, we'll just drop the recipe on you, confident that you know how to use The Joy of Cooking to figure out how to do the rest. (Looking up references is also geeky!)

This first recipe holds the title of Mexican Bean Salad, but I've always felt it was more of a corn salsa. I have no idea where I read it first, so sorry if I'm plagiarizing you-- send me a reference, and I'll correct it.

Ingredients

1 bag (10 oz)   frozen corn

1 can           black beans, risned and drained

1 can           chickpeas, drained

1               medium onion (I prefer white onions, but yellow ones are good, too)

1               red bell pepper

1               green bell pepper (colors don't matter here; pick ones with good contrast)

1/4 cup         Olive oil

1-2             jalapenos (to taste)

1 Tbsp.         honey (or to taste)

                Salt and pepper (to taste)

Preparation

Mix in a large bowl, and serve with chips. This one improves a lot with about a day in the fridge.