Never Trust a Skinny Chef...

Many years later...

2009-04-22T21:37:00.007-04:00

It's been more than 2 years now since I hung up my hat from blogging. While I'm not exactly planning a return, I thought any of you who might be left hanging on might appreciate an update. Lucy is 16 months old now, and is a true joy to behold. Fatherhood has been a continuous adventure and a full-time passion. These last few years have been a blessing of the highest order. Speaking of obcessions, I've started a new blog devoted to my new project, the construction of a tribute to the Lotus 7. You can follow my progress here. My family has moved out of our little condo and into a wonderful new home. Of course the kitchen is light years better than my old digs, with double ovens, tons of cabinet space and lighting galore. Now that I'm in a single-family home, I can finally cook over open flames! Speaking of which... I've moved on to an exciting new opportunity as an engineer for In Zone Brands, makers of Bubba Kegs and the Bubba Keg Convection Grill (shameless plug). My new position...

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Our Turkey is Done!

2007-11-22T13:59:00.001-05:00

Lucy Eileen Conway Born 8:27 AM, Nov. 20th 2007 6 lbs. 8 oz. 19" long Jenny and I are proud to announce the birth of our little girl, Lucy! She's so beautiful, and all three of us are having a blast being a little family. This is the best Thanksgiving ever!

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Sally wanted an update...

2007-11-07T17:38:00.000-05:00

...so I guess I should post one! This is a shot of the new star taken yesterday. We only have a week or two left, and both mother and child are doing great! I'll totally put up some photos after the birth. Thanks again for all the kind words and support. Who knew there were so many awesome people out there?

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Saying Goodbye...

2007-08-17T10:59:00.000-04:00

Today I finally announce a decision that I've been struggling with mightily for quite some time now. After two wonderful years, I've decided to submit my final post. Few people understand what this truly means to me. Food blogging has been the most important work of my life, and a central part of my identity over the last two years. Finally here was a hobby that combined my love of food, photography and writing, and it allowed me to share a bit of wisdom I'd gained over the last 5 years of managing my weight. So why stop? As much as I've loved food blogging, there are other things that I'm more interested in spending my time doing. My biggest goal moving forward is to spend more time with my wife and baby. Fatherhood is a vocation that I accept with an open heart, and I want to concentrate my life on savoring the joys of our new family. Another reason is more personal. I've found over the last few months that I've started to enjoy cooking in private much more than cooking in...

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Got a bun in the oven...

2007-06-27T12:47:00.000-04:00

...and not of the cinnamon variety! Meet the newest addition to the Conway family! Needless to say Jenny and I are absolutely thrilled. Here's the little one, looking from above. You can see two wee bitty little arms up against its body. The big black circle is its brain (very impressive), and the two smaller black circles in front are the baby's eyes. The baby is due (appropriately enough) around Thanksgiving. Don't worry, I'll still get my long-awaited brown sugar-brined turkey post done. Oh, and now that the news is out, let me just tell you what a galactically bad idea it is to make six pounds of fresh sausage in a house with a severely nauseated pregnant woman. It may seem like it'd be ok, but it's not. It's really not.

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Save Microbrewery Tours in Georgia!

2007-06-12T16:44:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I love my job. Recently my awesome job got about 30 notches more awesome-er with the arrival of our new neighbors... That's right, the Atlanta Brewing Company moved in a scant 500 feet down the street from us! As if producing beer wasn't enough of a community service, they also offer brewery tours three times a week for $6 $7. This entitles you to generous samples from their tasting room, an ABC glass and a guided tour of the brewery. Needless to say I've taken the tours several times. I wish my excitement and joy were the end of the story, but alas the government is interfering with this public service. I recently got word that the Georgia Dept. of Revenue is aiming to gun down these brewery tours. Why they'd want to do that I'll never know (my guess is that the big breweries and distributors are angry that they're not making money off of them). What I do know is that I'm throwing the full weight of this blog behind stopping it. The proposed rule is GA...

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A vacant blog, a window into my life

2007-05-24T00:19:00.000-04:00

Oh how I wish I could fill this space with carefully crafted stories of food and health, with postcard-perfect pictures of delectable treats. How I wish to cuddle with my laptop and dream a foodie dream with you. Instead, I'm here at work at 12:21 AM writing a post to let you know that I'm once again not dead. I probably won't be back until mid June, so until then, all I can offer you this cartoon (from Toothpaste for Dinner): Which one are you? I'm all of the above... P.S. - As a random bonus tidbit, here's some Lava-cue. Too bad they don't sell molten earth at my supermarket.

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Project PRR Part 2 - Goals, Planning and Practice

2007-04-30T18:45:00.000-04:00

When I last left off, I was discussing my motivation behind finally starting a serious exercise regimen. The ultimate goal (other than a healthier me) is to compete in this year's Peachtree Road Race. I'm now 8 weeks into my 16 weeks of preparation and training, and I've come to learn that training for a distance run is a heck of a lot like losing weight. The steps are the same, the actual practice is just a little different. Step 1: Set Goals It's impossible to get to where you're going without a little direction. Recently I've come up with a brief list of goals for my training. In order, they are: I don't want to get hurt - Nuff said. Listen to your body and you'll be ok. It will tell you if you're about to get really hurt. I want to finish the entire 10k (6.2 miles) - If they're going to take me away in an ambulance, I want it to be after I get my t-shirt.I want to finish in a competent manner - I want to feel like I really pushed myself and at a pace that's faster than if...

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I love the smell of mesquite in the morning!

2007-04-27T08:16:00.000-04:00

So you didn't think that I went through all that trouble to make my own sausage just to heat it up in the microwave, did you? No the only proper cooking method for Texas-style sausage is low and slow with plenty o' smoke. One of my new years' resolutions for NTSC was to actually smoke something other than chicken. Sure my past results have been tasty, but I'm getting kinda bored with it. Besides, I want to graduate up to more advanced BBQ challenges. Sausage then seems like an easy weekend trip. My normal smoking fodder is hickory, but for this episode I decided to follow the spirit of the west and use a little mesquite. I'd have loved to use a mixture of oak and mesquite, but last time I checked there weren't any oak trees laying around my condo and I don't think my association would've appreciated it if I had started felling trees, even if it was to smoke some meat. The day was perfect for smoking meat. It was about 70 degrees outside and sunny, with just a little wind. And...

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How to be a C-list food blogger

2007-04-25T09:15:00.000-04:00

So this is a few weeks late, but I'd like to officially celebrate Never Trust a Skinny Chef's second birthday! It seems like yesterday, but two years ago I was sitting at my computer writing my first (real) post about visiting my family for Easter. Here's my contribution to the Easter egg hunt this year. Happy Birthday NTSC! So it seems like the cool thing to celebrate your anniversary by writing a post about your tips for budding food bloggers. The Amateur Gourmet (twice) and Delicious Days both did so recently, and they're both very cool. The problem is that they're both giants in the food blogging world. They do an excellent job and are real role models for the rest of us, but the fact of the matter is that dozens of food blogs are created every day and not everyone reaches that level of fame or success. We need a primer for the rest of us. So without further ado, here's my list of how to be a C-lister like me. Step 1. Be realistic.When I started I spent a lot of time...

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Sausage is much better than politics...

2007-04-23T15:55:00.000-04:00

Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made. Otto von Bismarck German Prussian politician (1815 - 1898) Not many people know this, but if I could be anything in the world I'd probably be a butcher. No, not some Fast Food Nation-type meat packer, but an old-school turn-of-the-century butcher of the Texas hill country variety. If you've seen my series of posts on my trip to Lockhart, TX, you'll totally understand. If you've actually eaten at one of Lockhart's famous BBQ temples, you'll probably want to join me. Back in the day butchers used to prep and sell meat to the surrounding community (what a concept). As part of this service the German-descended butchers near Austin also prepared sausage and barbecue to sell alongside cuts of beef, pork and other meat products. This is where Lockhart's current crop of BBQ joints came from. Somewhere in my dreams is "William's Specialty Meats", where I spend my days making sausage and barbecue and selling it to people...

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Adventures in Condimentry II: Viva la salsa!

2007-04-19T15:53:00.000-04:00

This is my second installment in my 437 part series "Better know a condiment". In this issue, we'll discuss an often eaten, but seldom prepared condiment from south of the border. More than a few hours of my life have been spent trying to devise a way to keep boneless skinless chicken breasts from looking and tasting like tofu. Until recently, my best options have been as follows: Leave the skin on.Leave the skin on and bones in.Leave the skin on and bones in, wrap with bacon. Now none of those options are very low fat or Weight Watcher friendly. My stance for the last few months has been to say "screw it" and just eat chicken like I feel like it, which is why I now have a full-size spare instead of a rubber donut. So once again I have to face the hard reality that I can't necessarily eat everything I want all the time. As much as WW brands itself as a "lifestyle change" and not a "diet", the inescapable truth is that I have to cut back every now and again. The good news is...

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An Ode to Breakfast

2007-04-09T22:53:00.000-04:00

Smell that bacon cookin' sizzle, Whisking eggs and biscuits rise, Hear the fresh-brewed coffee shout Awaken, all! Make-fast! Arise! Waffles hiss and spit and sputter, Flapjacks jumping, golden brown. Last night's spuds turn this morn's hash, OJ gulping, going down! Who to greet this dawny feast? Scratchy faces, droopy lids! Who to crunch and slurp and chew? Sunny mommies, screaming kids! "Hail!" to all who work the dark! "Hooray!" for breakfast makers all! "Huzzah!" to those who prep the course! The greatest meal, big or small! Breakfast Casserole of Champions Based on Cyleen Friman's Breakfast Casserole 15 Stale Pop-and-Bake Biscuits 1/2 med. Onion, roughly diced 1/2 lg. Green Pepper, roughly diced 12 oz. Bacon, chopped 18 Eggs 1 cup Milk 1 teaspoon Dried Basil 1 teaspoon Black Pepper 1/2 teaspoon Salt 2 1/2 cups Cheddar Cheese, shredded Cook the biscuits the day before and allow to go stale. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Cook the bacon in a non-stick skillet. Drain the...

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And now a word from our sponsor?

2007-04-03T16:13:00.000-04:00

So I hate spam as much as the next guy, but this was too funny. I'm not one for supplements (although weight-loss pill peddling sites fill up my inbox with link requests), but after this amazing copy I think I might buy a bottle... The newest and most attracting flesh loss product is now easily available – As were seen on ABC. Did you know that superfluous body kilograms kill a lot of people every year? We know you hate the unsightly look of people like those and the social bias against them. Or, maybe, you’ve not the will to withstand a siege of your pernicious eating habits. If it all sounds familiar, then we got something for your consideration! Introducing ******, the later product for the reduction of your body’s extra weight. The most astounding thing is that ****** improves the quality of your life by soothing your feeling of hunger and giving you better mood. ***** helps your mind to realize that you doesn’t have such a great need for that much food. It lifts your mood...

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Project PRR Part 1 - The Beginning

2007-03-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

I got some wicked awesome news today! My entry check was cashed today, meaning I'm going to join 55,000 runners this 4th of July in the Peachtree Road Race! For those of you who live in the ATL you know what I'm talking about. For all of y'all who don't, the P-Tree is a 10k jaunt down Atlanta's mother road. Let me back up. I've never been an athlete. Far from it! Yes I was always the last husky kid picked for dodge ball. I'd rather spend 4 hours doing algebra (math is fun) than have to run a lap or two in P.E. class (an excellent venue for the fit kids to pick on the slow fat kid). As my weight climbed in college my tendency towards a Jabba the Hut level of fitness escalated. For the last 5 1/2 years, my weight loss has focused on eating less food, and trying to get out when I can and move. Exercise is especially cruel to the extremely obese. I remember trying to exercise when I was starting out, and I could barely manage to walk a mile. On a hot summer day, I'd break a...

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It's getting hot in here, so make chipotle rice...

2007-03-26T15:09:00.000-04:00

I had grand plans for posting my latest and greatest recipe last Monday, but I had a little trouble at the office. So in light of my crazy week at work, I've decided to make chipotle rice pilaf. No that doesn't make any sense, but it's my blog and I'll do what I want to. Anyhoo, I've always been fascinated by chipotles. I've passed by them several hundred times in the market, and somehow I've been able to avoid their siren song of heat and smoky goodness. I'm not as hard core as Sam at Becks & Posh (she made her own chipotles en adobo), but I think I've managed to take my first steps into this delicious new world. Why rice? Well I'd love to make my own version of Nuevo Laredo's Chicken Diablo, but Jenny doesn't like super spicy food and I don't think my stomach could take eating all the leftovers. Mostly it comes from the guilt of always resorting to a boxed (horrors!) Spanish rice mix when I cook Mexican food. I guess it was high time that I man up and make some rice from...

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Mama Conway's Tuna Antipasto*

2007-03-15T08:56:00.000-04:00

Since we're knee-deep in Lent, I thought I'd share a fasting-friendly Conway classic. Not Conway as in my family, but as in my Mom and Dad. My Mom has been making her tuna antipasto since before I knew what tuna was. Or antipasto. You see, I have a hard time calling this dish antipasto. Sure, it's got olives, vegetables, and other elements of the antipasto course, but it's all mixed together. Really, it's more of an Italian tuna salad. Still, it's my mom's recipe and I'll let her name it. Maybe we can compromise and add an asterisk. I'll just blame her for the confusion and disappointment I get from ordering at Italian restaurants. My mother made this for us all the time, and not just during lent. My father was especially fond of it, most likely because my mom jams it full of olives. No wonder they've been married for 30 years. I recall that every time it was served my dad would hiss with delight and utter some kind of (clean) expletive in Spanish. He'd then...

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A great cause, and an Alton photo-op

2007-03-13T15:07:00.000-04:00

I have a long and tortuous history getting a good picture with Alton Brown. I've seen the man twice before, and each time it seems that something goes wrong. My first shot (at a book signing) was overexposed, my second (as an extra on Good Eats) was underexposed and blurry. This time I finally got it right. Let me back up. Jenny and I attended a Chinese New Year party to raise funds and awareness for Heifer International's Chuxin Hilly Area Livestock Development project in China. If you've never heard of Heifer, you should find out more. I don't push many charities on this blog. Maybe I should. Heifer is one of my favorites, focusing on sustainable community development. They don't just give support to the needy, they help them develop their communities through agricultural and economic initiatives. Those are a lot of big words. Basically they don't just give them a fish, they teach them to catch their own. This is important in this day and age where the concern isn't...

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Weeknight Eats - Cornbread Sloppy Joes

2007-03-08T13:39:00.000-05:00

I know I've taken more than a couple of cheap shots at Rachael Ray, Sandra Lee and the new generation of convenience chefs at the Food Network. Usually my angst comes in waves, and I get all hussy about the state of cooking in the world. That's why I always try to recall culinary motto #1: I don't ever want to get so good at cooking that I don't enjoy hot dogs anymore. I've been dangerously close to violating this rule recently, what with my fancy-pants gnocchi and oh-so Emerilized red beans and rice. Truth is that if it weren't for the "easy meals" shown on TV, most people would never cook or eat a home made dinner with their families. And that's just sad. So I'd like to present a staple meal in the Conway household - cornbread sloppy joes. The idea comes from Jenny's college roommate. Simply put, it's a batch of sloppy joes baked with a layer of cornbread on top. This meal is a perfect wintertime comfort food - tangy meat and sweet southern-style cornbread. I ask Jenny...

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Ok, so I'll try the new Krispy Kreme donut

2007-03-06T09:52:00.000-05:00

Before I go any further, I have to disclose that I'm a Krispy Kreme stockholder. Yes, I bought 20 shares of KKD shortly before they got in trouble with the SEC and the stock plummeted. That's what I get for buying stocks on an empty stomach. So good 'ol Krispy Kreme has rocked the donut world with the announcement of their new whole wheat donut. Ok, so maybe "rocked" is a little strong. In any case, that's good news for those of us who don't quite fit in their pants. Ok, so maybe "good news" is a little strong. If you're astute enough to peruse KKD's nutritional info, you'll find that the traditional glazed orb of goodness kicks in at 5 points (200 calories, 12g fat, no fiber). A new healthy whole wheat glazed donut liberates us from donut guilt by shedding 20 calories and a gram of fat and adding 2 grams of fiber. That's right kids, they're 4 points. Jenny and I happened to waltz into a Krispy Kreme donutery this weekend, and I took it upon myself to give the new,...

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Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-02-27T13:15:00.000-05:00

In an inspired decision, my co-workers took me out to lunch at Atlanta's most famous BBQ joint. My camera phone only takes so-so pictures, but man are the ribs good!

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Chutney is also a verb

2007-02-24T16:19:00.000-05:00

Chut-ney (chuht-nee) - noun, a sauce or relish of East Indian origin, often compounded of both sweet and sour ingredients, such as fruits and herbs, with spices and other seasoning. verb, the act of turning a large bag full of produce into a small jar full of tangy goo by means of excessive chopping and simmering. -Random House Dictionary and NTSCBlog.com This last week was our first company cookout of the year. I was originally going to do some kind of Thai grill-fest, but frankly I didn't have the guts to go there and instead I wussed out and made some Caribbean food. You know - jerk chicken, grilled shrimp, grilled vegetable skewers, black beans, etc. Now I know this is pretty tame stuff around these parts, so I decided to prepare some kind of killer topping for my otherwise normal grill fare. Until very recently, my condiment-making experience has been confined to the occasional salsa or the random ham-fisted effort to create barbecue sauce from scratch. However, as a...

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Gnocchi ala Batali

2007-02-19T11:54:00.000-05:00

Let me cut to the chase. I'm still bitter that the Food Network, in all their infinite wisdom, is canceling Molto Mario. Sure, he doesn't make everyday food but I don't care. I don't care that he uses all kinds of meats I can't find at the market (ask a supermarket fishmonger for his best cuttlefish or fresh sardines and see where that gets you). I don't care that I can't pronounce half the dishes he makes. Heck, I don't even care that he uses enough olive oil to support a small Tuscan village. Why? Because the man is a culinary god and my favorite TV chef. I could spend all day watching him cook. To see him whip up a three course meal for his buddies is like watching a fine craftsman at work. He's the Food Network equivalent of that crazy guy on PBS who uses all those old tools to make furniture. You know, the one with the hat... Several months ago, I made the following comment on my post about the current state of the Food Network: I could rant on an on about how I'm...

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Just a quick FYI

2007-02-05T10:31:00.000-05:00

Never Trust a Skinny Chef has switched platforms to the new Blogger. What this means for all you non-blogger types is that you may find your RSS feeds have been updated with old posts and e-mail alerts may be alerting you to old content. Anyway, just wanted you all to know!

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Going the Distance - Tailgating the Rolex 24 at Daytona

2007-02-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

In auto racing, it's one thing to pilot your machine to the edge for a few hundred miles. It's quite another to do so for 24 continuous hours, to push the limits of mechanical and human endurance. The situation is no different off the track. As fans in the infield, we spend the 24 hours eating, sleeping and breathing racing. It's this urgency and excitement that had driven me to declare our watching of the Rolex 24 at Daytona as the ultimate time and place to push the limits of what I knew of tailgating and to deliver a day's worth of meals fit for the greatest of champions. Sure, we could have wolfed down a few Pop Tarts, some cold sandwiches and a cup of terrible coffee and called it a day. No, the racing gods demanded more. While men (and women) with guts of steel were racing, and pacing and plotting the course, I was manning the grill and stove. After this ordeal, I hereby declare that the days of substandard sports-cookery kaput in the Conway household! My equipment? ...

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