Titles are difficult... seeing as this is my first

Ok. So. For those who don't know me, hello. My name is James. I am almost 2 7, living in Astoria and working in finance. I'm Sicilian and Polish if you go back a few generations (Brooklyn really being "the old country.") I live in a beautiful, huge apartment with 2 French gentlemen who seldom see me and no doubt think I am quite strange. I have an understanding girlfriend who definitely thinks I am quite strange, but likes me anyway. I also have many good friends in the neighborhood who know me as "James with the hat," "Hookah James," or "Cooking James."

This blog is going to be about the hobby I am currently most passionate about, and it isn't Kangols or Hookahs. Growing up with my father and grandparents, I had plenty of inspiration as to what food is worth eating and I have my father to thank for my deep-seated belief that cooking isn't a "girly" or laborious endeavor, but rather some of the most fun you can have in your own house that is 1) legal, and 2) polite to talk about later in sensitive company. Now, my friends enjoy and are punished by my cooking several times a week at their various houses, and some even have rendered goose fat in their fridges and various stocks in their freezers to show for it.

In this blog I hope to share some of my madness with you all, and I hope you will share some back. I hope to teach and to learn and to share. Seeing as I'm an only child, I think the hierarchy will be 1) Learning, 2) Teaching, and 3) sharing. Hands off my stuff.

While some of the recipes and ideas I post will be stolen from others (and credited of course), some will be my own, and most will have my own flair. For starters I would like to give you my kumquat and pear chutney (almost entirely my own). Feel free to tell me if it isn't really a chutney, but something else entirely, but do get a saucepan and give it a shot.

You will need:

1 saucepan, or my favorite all purpose vessel, the spaghetti pot (snobbery is only welcome when the food actually suffers).
1 sharp chef's knife (one place you cant skimp)
1 box-grater, microplane, or lemon zester (who are we fooling... get out the cheese grater)
1 tupperware or other plastic container

• 1 lemon

• probably about a cup of white sugar

• 1 little basket of kumquats (hard to get in Astoria at the moment but most of us work in Manhattan right? Hellooooo Whole Foods). This'll set you back about $4.oo
• 2 of the softest, least attractive pears you can find (if you go organic you are talking about $2.50)
• 1 thin pat of butter
• a pinch or two of kosher salt

Okie... now the fun begins. Cut the kumquats in half (no giggling). Chop the pears as finely as you can. Now, cooking on high on your Astoria gas stove, toss the butter into the pan and let it melt but not burn. Toss in all of the kumquats and season with a pinch of salt. While you are stirring this around, soon your entire kitchen will smell like a delicious orange, and this when you shake some of the sugar on them, just to cover. Stir more until the sugar melts and let it bubble a little bit. Now in with the pears! Cover these with more sugar just until covered. Grate a little lemon zest into the pot, and then cut the lemon in half and squeeze half of a lemon's juice into the pan. Stir until the sugar melts again and keep stirring until the pears break down and you see little jello-like bits sticking to the pan. You might have to keep cooking this down a bit to evaporate the water the pears give off, but this all depends on the pears. The whole process shouldn't take more than 15 or 20 minutes, but again its not an exact science. While it's still hot, pour into the storage container. Let this cool on your cutting board before putting it in the fridge. In an hour or two it is ready, and it will come out of the can much the same way as cranberry sauce! Its good with ice-cream or as a side dish to poultry or pork chops. Enjoy... feedback is welcome :-)

James