Miraculously, we got the gas turned on in our apartment on Monday as promised. We had grocery shopped banking on this being the case, but like most things we've banked on with this apartment, it could have easily gone to shit. It's a relief to be able to cook on my stove. Grilling is something that I like as an alternative, but my little kettle grill can't handle actually cooking on its top. So we have to be judicious. And cook in side. GLEE!!!!!
Monday night we kept it pretty simple. We have a salad of endive and blue cheese, with a basic vinaigrette, and pasta. Angelhair, with a "sauce" that was only a sauce in that it got poured over the pasta. Olive oil and butter, two smashed garlic cloves, and a pinch or two of red pepper flakes. Let it sizzle until the garlic starts to smell really nice, then fish out the cloves and pour over pasta. The garlic flavored the oil just enough, but neither of us were eating a whole garlic clove.
Tuesday night, while watching the All-Star Game (GO AL!!! GO RED SOX!!!), we had Honey-Lime Glazed Salmon, with Warm Black-Bean etc Salsa.
I can't find a link to this recipe, anywhere, so I'm going to give the basics from memory. It can be found in Rachael Ray 365:No Repeats. You start by chopping up a red onion (I used a shallot) and two cloves of garlic, and starting them cooking in 2 tbs of olive oil, with some cumin, crushed red pepper flake, salt and pepper. While that's happening, you combine the juice of a lime with 3 "tablespoons" (glugs) of honey, and some chili powder. Roll your salmon filets around in that to get them all coated, and then put them in a medium-sized skillet with 2 more tbs of olive oil in it. I like fish not cooked all the way through to "well done", so I would say about 3 minutes/side. While that's getting happy, chop up a bell pepper, add it to the shallot and garlic, and add about half a package of frozen corn. Toss that around, and add about a quarter to half a cup of chicken stock. Let that cook for a few more minutes, while you mind your salmon and open and drain/rinse a can of black beans.
Add the black beans, take the salmon off, and when you've got the salmon on the plates, put some chopped up cilantro and some baby spinach in the veggies. Toss it around until the spinach wilts, and serve it up alongside. I suppose you could also wait a little longer to start the salmon, and then serve the salmon on top of the veggies. If you're feeling fancy.
It was pretty darn nommy. I'm really happy that we went for this.
Tonight, we're having the Parmesan-crusted chicken with salad.
Then, we'll make another menu for the rest of the week, because shopping on Monday was as bad as we feared, so we have to go shopping again on Thursday to start the new routine.
I will, of course, keep you posted!!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
In which I admit defeat.
Ok, I'm not going to lie. It's really hard to get excited about grilling every day. It's really frustrating to have to light a grill and hope it stays lit and finish cooking in the dark every single night. And I know, It's only Thursday, right? I've only had to cook on the grill 3 nights. But god. All I want is a dish of pasta. Or some Mac & Cheese. Some steamed vegetables with brown rice. Soup. Something that doesn't require the smell of charcoal smoke. Something that is not solely a meat product. Something.... different. I can't bake. I can't roast. I can't sautee or blanch or anything.
And I mean, in theory there are a million different things to grill, and a million different ways to make things taste. But frankly, I'm still sick of it. Especially considering that I had to wait until yesterday to get the check from the brokerage reimbursing me for all the money I spent last week on a hotel and restaurants. So I was broke, which meant that I couldn't get nice ingredients. I couldn't buy a piece of mahi mahi or a whole salmon or something to cook. On Tuesday, I bought a chicken and asked the butcher to butterfly it for me, so I could make Bobby Flay's Rosemary Bricked Chicken. It was pretty good, but it is very frustrating learning about grilling by doing. I don't know if I was using too few charcoals, or wasn't letting enough air get in, or what. But basically, the chicken was supposed to cook for 8-10 minutes on each side. This chicken cooked for 8 minutes on the first side, and about 20 minutes on the other side. And in the end, Jesse may have gotten food poisoning from it anyways, even though I used a probe thermometer to ensure doneness. But somehow, there was still a pink bit that invaded Jesse's chicky leg.
stupid chicky.
Along with the chicken, we had grilled vegetables (sort of. I mean, they were cooked, but the coals weren't all that hot and I was tired and hungry) and boxed couscous (I heated the water to a boil, dumped in the couscous, covered the pot, and took it off the grill to sit on the kitchen counter.)
Last night, my sick boyfriend and I attempted to eat baked potatoes. I had trouble with this as well. I'm having trouble lately with keeping the grill hot. What am I doing wrong, Grill-experts??? Should I have to add more coals after 20 minutes? What's up?! Argh.
I can't wait till I can grill only by choice. I can't wait until we can resume our routine of grocery lists and menu plans and weekly shopping. I miss it. I miss the familiarity. And, I miss being able to cook inside. BIGTIME.
Until next time, friends, when hopefully I will post a happier entry.
And I mean, in theory there are a million different things to grill, and a million different ways to make things taste. But frankly, I'm still sick of it. Especially considering that I had to wait until yesterday to get the check from the brokerage reimbursing me for all the money I spent last week on a hotel and restaurants. So I was broke, which meant that I couldn't get nice ingredients. I couldn't buy a piece of mahi mahi or a whole salmon or something to cook. On Tuesday, I bought a chicken and asked the butcher to butterfly it for me, so I could make Bobby Flay's Rosemary Bricked Chicken. It was pretty good, but it is very frustrating learning about grilling by doing. I don't know if I was using too few charcoals, or wasn't letting enough air get in, or what. But basically, the chicken was supposed to cook for 8-10 minutes on each side. This chicken cooked for 8 minutes on the first side, and about 20 minutes on the other side. And in the end, Jesse may have gotten food poisoning from it anyways, even though I used a probe thermometer to ensure doneness. But somehow, there was still a pink bit that invaded Jesse's chicky leg.
stupid chicky.
Along with the chicken, we had grilled vegetables (sort of. I mean, they were cooked, but the coals weren't all that hot and I was tired and hungry) and boxed couscous (I heated the water to a boil, dumped in the couscous, covered the pot, and took it off the grill to sit on the kitchen counter.)
Last night, my sick boyfriend and I attempted to eat baked potatoes. I had trouble with this as well. I'm having trouble lately with keeping the grill hot. What am I doing wrong, Grill-experts??? Should I have to add more coals after 20 minutes? What's up?! Argh.
I can't wait till I can grill only by choice. I can't wait until we can resume our routine of grocery lists and menu plans and weekly shopping. I miss it. I miss the familiarity. And, I miss being able to cook inside. BIGTIME.
Until next time, friends, when hopefully I will post a happier entry.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
In which we feel the Thrill of the Grill
We have finally, sort of, moved into our new apartment.
Sort of.
Over the weekend of the 27th through the 29th, Jesse and I moved all our stuff except for the big things into the new apartment. On Monday the 30th, I was called at work by the head of the brokerage, and told that we couldn't actually STAY at our apartment. So basically, we were forced to abandon our stuff and go to a hotel for 3 days. And this, kids, is New York. Our options were either:
1). Get a room in an expensive hotel in Manhattan for 3 nights, or,
2). Get a room at the Holiday Inn in Weehawken, NJ for $30/night for 3 nights.
Since Jesse was working and I was on vacation for the 1-3 of July, we decided to get a hotel in Manhattan. Because since I couldn't be spending my vacation setting up our apartment, I preferred Manhattan to spending my 3 days off in the great state of New Jersey. Seriously.
Luckily, all of our things remained safe. Jesse checked the apartment every night, making sure that the builders (who were only there on Tuesday, and possibly only to drop off our appliances, which didn't fit in their slots) didn't go through anything of ours. I think that not being able to unpack made it a lot easier to secure our things, since all our boxes were taped shut, and it would have been really obvious had either a box gone missing, or one been opened that was previously taped. Plus, there were no drawers to rifle through, since they were still full of clothes and shrink-wrapped (easier than packing the clothes up).
So, we spent a lot of time eating at restaurants, and saw Wall-E, and I wandered the city a lot, checking out Tompkins Square Park, East River Park, and other places where my fellow homeless people hang out. It was enlightening. Finally, we were allowed back in on Thursday night, to find that our fridge worked (although it didn't fit its cabinet, so was in the middle of our kitchen) but our stove did not (no gas. as of this writing, no gas until 7/14. Which means no hot water, no hot showers, and no indoor cooking until 7/14).
Friday, we enjoyed free pizza and free beer while watching the Macy's Fireworks from a friend's office building on Water Street.
Saturday, in a change of plans, my parents came down to New York. They brought my puppyface Chloe for a visit (she's a Bernese Mountain Dog. Not really a puppy anymore.... she's 2). They also brought a hammock for our back yard that folds up into a duffel bag, and..... MY GRILL!!
That evening, we made steak and corn on the cob on the grill. The steaks were wonderful - I just sprinkled them with Salt and Pepper, and let them rest for about 10 minutes before putting them on. The corn, since we couldn't boil water, went on the grill wrapped in foil with a pat of butter. I think it probably cooked for about 10 minutes, maybe only 8, I flipped it over halfway through.... but basically, the corn gets sort-of steamed, sort-of roasted, sort-of basted with the butter. It's delicious and I personally greatly prefer the texture to that of boiled corn.
The next morning, I used the grill to heat the water in my teakettle for coffee, and in conjunction with my cast-iron skillet to make eggs, and last night I made burgers from pre-made frozen patties that my parents bought at Costco and brought down for us for our freezer. Have I ever mentioned that I never made real burgers (aka smushed up ground beef, etc) until this past year? I never did. We always ate pre-made patties. And I still think they're ok.
In summation, we're going to be eating a lot of grilled food in the coming days because we can't cook indoors. Which is good because it gives me a LOT of chimbly practice -- I'm really good at starting fires. I just need to remember to start cooking before it gets too dark to clearly see my food. Because the embers, they don't give a lot of light. So.... live and learn.
Until next time!!
Sort of.
Over the weekend of the 27th through the 29th, Jesse and I moved all our stuff except for the big things into the new apartment. On Monday the 30th, I was called at work by the head of the brokerage, and told that we couldn't actually STAY at our apartment. So basically, we were forced to abandon our stuff and go to a hotel for 3 days. And this, kids, is New York. Our options were either:
1). Get a room in an expensive hotel in Manhattan for 3 nights, or,
2). Get a room at the Holiday Inn in Weehawken, NJ for $30/night for 3 nights.
Since Jesse was working and I was on vacation for the 1-3 of July, we decided to get a hotel in Manhattan. Because since I couldn't be spending my vacation setting up our apartment, I preferred Manhattan to spending my 3 days off in the great state of New Jersey. Seriously.
Luckily, all of our things remained safe. Jesse checked the apartment every night, making sure that the builders (who were only there on Tuesday, and possibly only to drop off our appliances, which didn't fit in their slots) didn't go through anything of ours. I think that not being able to unpack made it a lot easier to secure our things, since all our boxes were taped shut, and it would have been really obvious had either a box gone missing, or one been opened that was previously taped. Plus, there were no drawers to rifle through, since they were still full of clothes and shrink-wrapped (easier than packing the clothes up).
So, we spent a lot of time eating at restaurants, and saw Wall-E, and I wandered the city a lot, checking out Tompkins Square Park, East River Park, and other places where my fellow homeless people hang out. It was enlightening. Finally, we were allowed back in on Thursday night, to find that our fridge worked (although it didn't fit its cabinet, so was in the middle of our kitchen) but our stove did not (no gas. as of this writing, no gas until 7/14. Which means no hot water, no hot showers, and no indoor cooking until 7/14).
Friday, we enjoyed free pizza and free beer while watching the Macy's Fireworks from a friend's office building on Water Street.
Saturday, in a change of plans, my parents came down to New York. They brought my puppyface Chloe for a visit (she's a Bernese Mountain Dog. Not really a puppy anymore.... she's 2). They also brought a hammock for our back yard that folds up into a duffel bag, and..... MY GRILL!!
That evening, we made steak and corn on the cob on the grill. The steaks were wonderful - I just sprinkled them with Salt and Pepper, and let them rest for about 10 minutes before putting them on. The corn, since we couldn't boil water, went on the grill wrapped in foil with a pat of butter. I think it probably cooked for about 10 minutes, maybe only 8, I flipped it over halfway through.... but basically, the corn gets sort-of steamed, sort-of roasted, sort-of basted with the butter. It's delicious and I personally greatly prefer the texture to that of boiled corn.
The next morning, I used the grill to heat the water in my teakettle for coffee, and in conjunction with my cast-iron skillet to make eggs, and last night I made burgers from pre-made frozen patties that my parents bought at Costco and brought down for us for our freezer. Have I ever mentioned that I never made real burgers (aka smushed up ground beef, etc) until this past year? I never did. We always ate pre-made patties. And I still think they're ok.
In summation, we're going to be eating a lot of grilled food in the coming days because we can't cook indoors. Which is good because it gives me a LOT of chimbly practice -- I'm really good at starting fires. I just need to remember to start cooking before it gets too dark to clearly see my food. Because the embers, they don't give a lot of light. So.... live and learn.
Until next time!!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
In which we are Souper Powered
So since we're moving, and trying to dirty as few dishes as possible, and since we don't have any appliances at the new place, and won't for an indeterminate amount of time.... food has been pretty lax of late.
Wednesday night, we made the pizza I'd planned on making Tuesday night but gotten home too late. Unfortunately, the mozzarella we bought got left on the table overnight, and since our apartment is a sauna, this lead to it becoming a semi-melted, oily blob. Not good eats. So we used Jack cheese instead, left over from the Cheesy Chips from the NBA Finals last week. Also, red-pepper pesto, green peppers, and Kalamata olives. It was pretty damn delicious.
Last night, we ordered pizza, with pepperoni and green peppers, and ate it off paper towels or with our hands, because every dish in the apartment (roughly) was still dirty.
Tonight, we had soup and grilled cheese -- hence the Souper Powers. It wasn't great -- the soup was weird, and made with sweet-corn, which it didn't say on the label. However, we used up the whole container, which is nice because that reduces the waste.
Tomorrow, we'll have pasta, cooked in my Dutch oven and eaten out of the ugly greenish brown soup plates that I'm giving away. Sunday, I have no idea what we'll eat, since we'll be moving more stuff, after a trip to Jersey to Ikea, and we'll have no stove or fridge.
And Monday...
Monday I'll probably order pizza, and eat it alone in my empty apartment, as I clean it out and scrub up all the mouse poop and spackle the holes and clean the toilet/bathtub, and throw out the last trash.
And Tuesday, hopefully, we'll be in. Appliances, bars on the windows, locks on the doors, in. Preferably paint on the walls. But if not, it'll come.
My parents will come down on Friday, bringing my dog and my grill. My mom tried to convince Jesse that a charcoal chimney was not the way to go -- rather, she advocates buying single-use bags of charcoal that you just...light on fire.
We'll take it under advisement, but I think that we'll probably stick to big bags of hardwood charcoal and a chimbly.
And by then, hopefully, life will be in swing. Comfortable, even swing.
Wednesday night, we made the pizza I'd planned on making Tuesday night but gotten home too late. Unfortunately, the mozzarella we bought got left on the table overnight, and since our apartment is a sauna, this lead to it becoming a semi-melted, oily blob. Not good eats. So we used Jack cheese instead, left over from the Cheesy Chips from the NBA Finals last week. Also, red-pepper pesto, green peppers, and Kalamata olives. It was pretty damn delicious.
Last night, we ordered pizza, with pepperoni and green peppers, and ate it off paper towels or with our hands, because every dish in the apartment (roughly) was still dirty.
Tonight, we had soup and grilled cheese -- hence the Souper Powers. It wasn't great -- the soup was weird, and made with sweet-corn, which it didn't say on the label. However, we used up the whole container, which is nice because that reduces the waste.
Tomorrow, we'll have pasta, cooked in my Dutch oven and eaten out of the ugly greenish brown soup plates that I'm giving away. Sunday, I have no idea what we'll eat, since we'll be moving more stuff, after a trip to Jersey to Ikea, and we'll have no stove or fridge.
And Monday...
Monday I'll probably order pizza, and eat it alone in my empty apartment, as I clean it out and scrub up all the mouse poop and spackle the holes and clean the toilet/bathtub, and throw out the last trash.
And Tuesday, hopefully, we'll be in. Appliances, bars on the windows, locks on the doors, in. Preferably paint on the walls. But if not, it'll come.
My parents will come down on Friday, bringing my dog and my grill. My mom tried to convince Jesse that a charcoal chimney was not the way to go -- rather, she advocates buying single-use bags of charcoal that you just...light on fire.
We'll take it under advisement, but I think that we'll probably stick to big bags of hardwood charcoal and a chimbly.
And by then, hopefully, life will be in swing. Comfortable, even swing.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
In which we've gotta go fishin'
I started trying to post this last night. I failed. I was really tired, and I just wasn't feeling it. So today, to make up for everything that I've failed you guys on, I'm posting today!!
Also, I'm a horrible cliche. I've come home from work, and I'm sitting on the couch, in my underwear, drinking a beer. It's a great way to be. Trust me. Now if only my woman would come home and cook me dinner. Oh wait....
Anyways.
Because we've been racing around trying to find out if we can move, and generally acting like nutcases, there has been cooking, but no time for my typical writing about the cooking. So, I will do my best to catch up.
Sunday night we made a dish that Jesse and I had been thinking about for a few days, and something that I've been thinking about for almost 2 years.
First.... a quick story. When I first moved to Brooklyn, my father came down to help me paint my room and bring down the last of my stuff. After we finished, we went out for a late lunch, at this little bistro with an outdoor garden just down my street. It's called Fada, in case you wondered. My dad got pasta bolognese, and I got a Nicoise salad, with seared tuna.
It changed my life.
I've spent all my bistro meals since just hoping for something like that.... and so far it hasn't been replicable.
So, when Jesse suggested an entree salad with fresh tuna for a meal this week, I decided to go for it because I was hoping to replicate that salad. It didn't go quite as well as planned, but that's because I think that salad was a lost chord. Anyways.
On Sunday night, we went for that salad again, roughly. We had baby spinach, arugula, tomatoes, and the tuna. We drizzled the tuna with olive oil, and sprinkled it with salt and pepper before searing it for about 90 seconds per side. We got about half a pound, which was definitely the best way to have luxury tuna on a budget. It was beautiful, and when it was sliced and laid on top of the salad, I felt really proud of what we'd made.
We also had boxed tomato and roasted red pepper soup, to which I added a special combination of salt, pepper, cumin, curry powder, and chili powder. It is lovely, and it makes everything taste kind of warm and homey.
Monday I went into Whole Foods on a lark, and found out that they had corn on the cob, 3 ears for $1!! This is a good start to the season. So, I bought some corn, some wild rice, and some chicken cutlets, and made dinner when I got home -- I started by replicating my wild rice risotto, only I cooked it even slower than usual, and I've come to the conclusion that the wild rice stuff just doesn't get mushy and creamy like the arborio rice does. But, it was still pretty yum-tastic. I also boiled the corn, and made Musty-Crusty Chicken.
Don't worry, it's not nasty.
Musty-Crusty Chicken :
Chicken Cutlets -- get as many as you need to feed the people you're feeding. Two big ones fed 3 of us.
Dijon Mustard -- I used Grey Poupon, and I'm not afraid to name drop. You enough to coat the outside of your cutlets.
Bread Crumbs -- Again, you need enough to coat and crust the outside of the cutlets. I used Panko, but a combination of bread crumbs and Panko would work well too, as would just breadcrumbs. Put them in a pie plate, or in a big pile on a plate, or whatever, and season them with salt and pepper.
I put my big pan on about medium heat, with some olive oil.
I sprinkled Salt, Pepper, and Poultry seasoning on both sides of the chicken cutlets. Then, I took my jar of mustard, and using the same hand each time, I scooped out a couple fingers full of mustard, and threw it onto the chicken, not touching it. Then, smear it around with your other hand. I suppose you could do it with a spoon or a spoon-u-la, but I'm big on touching my food.
When both sides are coated, smash the chicken into the pile of bread crumb-age, so that it's well-coated on both sides. Then, put the chicken cutlets into the pan, and let them fry. They should be golden brown and deeeelicious on both sides.... I'd suggest covering the pan for a little while to promote the cooking of the chicken from the inside.
The corn is pretty self-explanatory.... boil a big pot of water and have your boyfriend shuck the corn.... or you can do it, but why? Anyways, when the water boils, throw your shucked corn in there for 8-10 minutes, and you'll have corn on the cob.
IT was great.
Last night's dinner plans changed when we got home from Whole Foods at 10:30 and the pizza dough was still frozen. So, I made fried eggplant rounds.
Fried eggplant is a beautiful thing, but I've learned that it's a bit of a dicey thing. Salting the eggplant is essential, to draw out some of the water that's hiding inside the eggplant on the sneaky-sneak. I sliced it into about 1/2 inch thick slices, round-wise. Then, I sprinkled it with salt and let it sit for about half an hour. Then, I rinsed it off and patted it dry. Like making basically anything fried, I dipped the slices in egg, and then in a combination of bread crumbs and panko which was seasoned with salt and pepper. You really have to pack the breading on, I've learned.
I fried them in olive oil. I would not recommend frying these in olive oil. Use sunflower or vegetable oil. However, these were pretty darn good. I kind of love fried eggplant a lot. And now that I know that I can do this quite well, I'm totally doing this again. Expect to see this at Two Chairs, if you're there. And go for it. It's delish.
We're working on dirtying as few dishes as possible, which we're going to have to do, since we're moving this weekend and we're trying to pack our dishes up as soon as posisble. And everything else. So expect limited posts until we're settled. But after that.... expect amazingness. I hope.
Also, I'm a horrible cliche. I've come home from work, and I'm sitting on the couch, in my underwear, drinking a beer. It's a great way to be. Trust me. Now if only my woman would come home and cook me dinner. Oh wait....
Anyways.
Because we've been racing around trying to find out if we can move, and generally acting like nutcases, there has been cooking, but no time for my typical writing about the cooking. So, I will do my best to catch up.
Sunday night we made a dish that Jesse and I had been thinking about for a few days, and something that I've been thinking about for almost 2 years.
First.... a quick story. When I first moved to Brooklyn, my father came down to help me paint my room and bring down the last of my stuff. After we finished, we went out for a late lunch, at this little bistro with an outdoor garden just down my street. It's called Fada, in case you wondered. My dad got pasta bolognese, and I got a Nicoise salad, with seared tuna.
It changed my life.
I've spent all my bistro meals since just hoping for something like that.... and so far it hasn't been replicable.
So, when Jesse suggested an entree salad with fresh tuna for a meal this week, I decided to go for it because I was hoping to replicate that salad. It didn't go quite as well as planned, but that's because I think that salad was a lost chord. Anyways.
On Sunday night, we went for that salad again, roughly. We had baby spinach, arugula, tomatoes, and the tuna. We drizzled the tuna with olive oil, and sprinkled it with salt and pepper before searing it for about 90 seconds per side. We got about half a pound, which was definitely the best way to have luxury tuna on a budget. It was beautiful, and when it was sliced and laid on top of the salad, I felt really proud of what we'd made.
We also had boxed tomato and roasted red pepper soup, to which I added a special combination of salt, pepper, cumin, curry powder, and chili powder. It is lovely, and it makes everything taste kind of warm and homey.
Monday I went into Whole Foods on a lark, and found out that they had corn on the cob, 3 ears for $1!! This is a good start to the season. So, I bought some corn, some wild rice, and some chicken cutlets, and made dinner when I got home -- I started by replicating my wild rice risotto, only I cooked it even slower than usual, and I've come to the conclusion that the wild rice stuff just doesn't get mushy and creamy like the arborio rice does. But, it was still pretty yum-tastic. I also boiled the corn, and made Musty-Crusty Chicken.
Don't worry, it's not nasty.
Musty-Crusty Chicken :
Chicken Cutlets -- get as many as you need to feed the people you're feeding. Two big ones fed 3 of us.
Dijon Mustard -- I used Grey Poupon, and I'm not afraid to name drop. You enough to coat the outside of your cutlets.
Bread Crumbs -- Again, you need enough to coat and crust the outside of the cutlets. I used Panko, but a combination of bread crumbs and Panko would work well too, as would just breadcrumbs. Put them in a pie plate, or in a big pile on a plate, or whatever, and season them with salt and pepper.
I put my big pan on about medium heat, with some olive oil.
I sprinkled Salt, Pepper, and Poultry seasoning on both sides of the chicken cutlets. Then, I took my jar of mustard, and using the same hand each time, I scooped out a couple fingers full of mustard, and threw it onto the chicken, not touching it. Then, smear it around with your other hand. I suppose you could do it with a spoon or a spoon-u-la, but I'm big on touching my food.
When both sides are coated, smash the chicken into the pile of bread crumb-age, so that it's well-coated on both sides. Then, put the chicken cutlets into the pan, and let them fry. They should be golden brown and deeeelicious on both sides.... I'd suggest covering the pan for a little while to promote the cooking of the chicken from the inside.
The corn is pretty self-explanatory.... boil a big pot of water and have your boyfriend shuck the corn.... or you can do it, but why? Anyways, when the water boils, throw your shucked corn in there for 8-10 minutes, and you'll have corn on the cob.
IT was great.
Last night's dinner plans changed when we got home from Whole Foods at 10:30 and the pizza dough was still frozen. So, I made fried eggplant rounds.
Fried eggplant is a beautiful thing, but I've learned that it's a bit of a dicey thing. Salting the eggplant is essential, to draw out some of the water that's hiding inside the eggplant on the sneaky-sneak. I sliced it into about 1/2 inch thick slices, round-wise. Then, I sprinkled it with salt and let it sit for about half an hour. Then, I rinsed it off and patted it dry. Like making basically anything fried, I dipped the slices in egg, and then in a combination of bread crumbs and panko which was seasoned with salt and pepper. You really have to pack the breading on, I've learned.
I fried them in olive oil. I would not recommend frying these in olive oil. Use sunflower or vegetable oil. However, these were pretty darn good. I kind of love fried eggplant a lot. And now that I know that I can do this quite well, I'm totally doing this again. Expect to see this at Two Chairs, if you're there. And go for it. It's delish.
We're working on dirtying as few dishes as possible, which we're going to have to do, since we're moving this weekend and we're trying to pack our dishes up as soon as posisble. And everything else. So expect limited posts until we're settled. But after that.... expect amazingness. I hope.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
In which .....
There are very few circumstances which render me incapable of wanting to cook.
I truly believe that just about everything is improved by food. Not always the same type of food, but always food. And if I can make something just a little bit better by cooking for someone, then maybe I've fulfilled my purpose in life.
And generally, if it's someone else that's suffering, there are a short list of things that will keep me from bringing them food. Namely, if I don't know where you live, or if getting you the food requires crossing a continent or an ocean. Otherwise, try and stop me from cooking for you. The love that I feel for someone is never more apparent, never more clearly expressed, than when I have made them food.
Maybe that sheds a little light on something inside me.... maybe it also explains why when I am miserable -- when I'm upset and hurting, the last thing I want to do is cook for myself. I'll cook for those I care about, I'll make them food, but I can't cook for myself when my heart is breaking. I can't even think about it. Maybe that means that I don't love myself nearly as much as I love others. It probably does. But when I'm this sad, I can't even begin to think about healing it.
No one died. Don't worry. Jesse didn't break up with me. According to the sage advice of the woman at the brokerage who doesn't know anything about me, except my bank account number, there are worse things going on in the world right now. But for me, being told that the woman at the realtor's office is "90% sure" that we'll be able to move into the apartment by the first of July is pretty fucking bad. Especially because y'know.... I have a job. Jesse has a job. We can't take off a random day in July at a moment's notice to supervise movers. We either have to be able to move, or hope that our landlord will give us another few weeks, month, whatever it ends up being. I don't even know what to do with that information.
And I feel bad. I feel badly that even if food is offered, I don't even want to eat it. I had to put a beautiful chocolate bar on the dining room table, because even though Kristin bought it for me as a gift.... I can't eat it.
Food doesn't heal me the way I hope that it heals everyone else.
I feel badly. I feel badly that I'm not making dinner. We had a beautiful dinner planned -- a salad with rare tuna, just lightly seared. Spinach, the lovely bunch of arugula I picked up, a red pepper, some roasted tomatoes, and the tuna. It would have been wonderful. But it would have been a waste. I'm glad we didn't eat it.
I know that Kristin can cook. But I still feel badly because I feel like I *should* be making dinner. I should suck it up, be tough, and make dinner - not the tuna because even if I'm sucking it up I couldn't waste that. But I suppose I could take the loose cash in my bag and go buy some eggs and make a frittata. I could at least make scrambled eggs. But I can't. I'm just too drained. I'm too sad. I'm too..... everything. And too nothing.
Time to go back to the drawing board with the P.T.B. And this time, beg. Yeah. Let's do that. Anyone that has a good relationship with the Powers that Be (PTB), please beg on my behalf. On our behalf. Since we already have to cancel our 4th of July barbecue, because we won't have furniture, we could use a little PTB favor. So... yeah. Any help would be greatly appreciated on our behalf. Thanks.
I truly believe that just about everything is improved by food. Not always the same type of food, but always food. And if I can make something just a little bit better by cooking for someone, then maybe I've fulfilled my purpose in life.
And generally, if it's someone else that's suffering, there are a short list of things that will keep me from bringing them food. Namely, if I don't know where you live, or if getting you the food requires crossing a continent or an ocean. Otherwise, try and stop me from cooking for you. The love that I feel for someone is never more apparent, never more clearly expressed, than when I have made them food.
Maybe that sheds a little light on something inside me.... maybe it also explains why when I am miserable -- when I'm upset and hurting, the last thing I want to do is cook for myself. I'll cook for those I care about, I'll make them food, but I can't cook for myself when my heart is breaking. I can't even think about it. Maybe that means that I don't love myself nearly as much as I love others. It probably does. But when I'm this sad, I can't even begin to think about healing it.
No one died. Don't worry. Jesse didn't break up with me. According to the sage advice of the woman at the brokerage who doesn't know anything about me, except my bank account number, there are worse things going on in the world right now. But for me, being told that the woman at the realtor's office is "90% sure" that we'll be able to move into the apartment by the first of July is pretty fucking bad. Especially because y'know.... I have a job. Jesse has a job. We can't take off a random day in July at a moment's notice to supervise movers. We either have to be able to move, or hope that our landlord will give us another few weeks, month, whatever it ends up being. I don't even know what to do with that information.
And I feel bad. I feel badly that even if food is offered, I don't even want to eat it. I had to put a beautiful chocolate bar on the dining room table, because even though Kristin bought it for me as a gift.... I can't eat it.
Food doesn't heal me the way I hope that it heals everyone else.
I feel badly. I feel badly that I'm not making dinner. We had a beautiful dinner planned -- a salad with rare tuna, just lightly seared. Spinach, the lovely bunch of arugula I picked up, a red pepper, some roasted tomatoes, and the tuna. It would have been wonderful. But it would have been a waste. I'm glad we didn't eat it.
I know that Kristin can cook. But I still feel badly because I feel like I *should* be making dinner. I should suck it up, be tough, and make dinner - not the tuna because even if I'm sucking it up I couldn't waste that. But I suppose I could take the loose cash in my bag and go buy some eggs and make a frittata. I could at least make scrambled eggs. But I can't. I'm just too drained. I'm too sad. I'm too..... everything. And too nothing.
Time to go back to the drawing board with the P.T.B. And this time, beg. Yeah. Let's do that. Anyone that has a good relationship with the Powers that Be (PTB), please beg on my behalf. On our behalf. Since we already have to cancel our 4th of July barbecue, because we won't have furniture, we could use a little PTB favor. So... yeah. Any help would be greatly appreciated on our behalf. Thanks.
In which I REALLY break tradition
Actually, I suppose I sort of kept a tradition. Also, yes, I am blogging at quarter to eight in the morning. Don't ask questions.
On Tuesday night, in case some of you missed it, the Boston Celtics clinched the NBA Finals. They gleefully stomped on the Lakers for about 3 hours, and Jesse and I watched the whole thing! Well, except for the parts where I was preparing food, or getting beers. And because I was feeling saucy, I decided I would try and recreate my Superbowl feast, at least the best bits, for two. I also wore my Wes Welker jersey, which I still say is good luck, even though I wore it during the Patriots' disastrous Super Bowl game.
It's funny -- I sat in our apartment, shaking wtih joy and fear during the World Series, never 100% sure the Sox would win. I made a bunch of food and ended up having several people over for the Super Bowl, never 100% sure the Pats would lose. Because in my lifetime, the Red Sox have screwed up bigtime, and the Pats have just been awesome since they started winning in the 2000's. But the Celtics? I didn't know what to expect with this game, since all my life they've just.... kind of sucked, barring the first 2 years (3 championships?) of my life. I didn't have a frame of reference.
So I made guacamole and cheesy chips (aka tortilla chips with cheese sprinkled over, broiled) for the first half, and while doing that I started making Alton Brown's Buffalo Wing recipe, which basically takes about 2 hours to make and is SO worth it. Especially since I started it about 20 minutes before tip off, and we had wings for the second half. Basically, I created most males' (and several girls I know)sports fantasy - chips, wings, and beer, while watching the NBA Finals at my house with my boyfriend.
AND THEY WON!!!
And the wings were deelish as always. Alton doesn't let me down.
And last night, I re-made my Penne Alla Vodka with Chicken Meatballs, only this time I used turkey. And I didn't have any fresh parsley to hand, which probably lessened my joy a little bit. But it was still pretty good.
And tonight, the plan is to have a salad with pieces of seared tuna on top after we get home from Blind Tiger, where we will hopefully meet Zak from Schmaltz and have some Coney Island Beer!!!
On Tuesday night, in case some of you missed it, the Boston Celtics clinched the NBA Finals. They gleefully stomped on the Lakers for about 3 hours, and Jesse and I watched the whole thing! Well, except for the parts where I was preparing food, or getting beers. And because I was feeling saucy, I decided I would try and recreate my Superbowl feast, at least the best bits, for two. I also wore my Wes Welker jersey, which I still say is good luck, even though I wore it during the Patriots' disastrous Super Bowl game.
It's funny -- I sat in our apartment, shaking wtih joy and fear during the World Series, never 100% sure the Sox would win. I made a bunch of food and ended up having several people over for the Super Bowl, never 100% sure the Pats would lose. Because in my lifetime, the Red Sox have screwed up bigtime, and the Pats have just been awesome since they started winning in the 2000's. But the Celtics? I didn't know what to expect with this game, since all my life they've just.... kind of sucked, barring the first 2 years (3 championships?) of my life. I didn't have a frame of reference.
So I made guacamole and cheesy chips (aka tortilla chips with cheese sprinkled over, broiled) for the first half, and while doing that I started making Alton Brown's Buffalo Wing recipe, which basically takes about 2 hours to make and is SO worth it. Especially since I started it about 20 minutes before tip off, and we had wings for the second half. Basically, I created most males' (and several girls I know)sports fantasy - chips, wings, and beer, while watching the NBA Finals at my house with my boyfriend.
AND THEY WON!!!
And the wings were deelish as always. Alton doesn't let me down.
And last night, I re-made my Penne Alla Vodka with Chicken Meatballs, only this time I used turkey. And I didn't have any fresh parsley to hand, which probably lessened my joy a little bit. But it was still pretty good.
And tonight, the plan is to have a salad with pieces of seared tuna on top after we get home from Blind Tiger, where we will hopefully meet Zak from Schmaltz and have some Coney Island Beer!!!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
In which I rock out with my Quinoa out.
Last night, I made some yummy steak.
I love making steak. Last week's endeavor with the flank steak went so well that I decided to essentially replicate it, with a skirt steak. Let's make the note now that a skirt steak is even thinner and even fattier than a flank steak, and I didn't notice that in time to adjust my methods.
I started out by marinating my steak -- I used salt, pepper, my uncle's "dry rub", which is basically onion and garlic powders, as well as thyme, rosemary, and possibly something else... and I added red pepper flake, which I love. I rubbed all this into my steak, and then put it in a Ziploc bag, with olive oil and a little Worcestershire.
Then, I let that sit, in the fridge, while I cooked up the other "mixed
grains" packet that had caughtmy fancy at Trader Joe's on Wednesday night. I mixed that with some vinaigrette that I made with too much mustard, white balsamic, olive oil salt and pepper.While that was hanging out in the fridge, I got out my trusty Lodge griddle pan, which is flat on one side, ridged on the other, and 100% cast-iron. It's heavy as hell, and a wonderful piece of equipment. I highly recommend it, and it's seen its fair share of use this weekend, between pancakes x2, and the steak. Here are some action shots:
It probably cooked for about a minute and a half too long, which isn't sacrelige, but it definitely comes close. I like my meat on the bloody side of medium rare, as I've said before, and I'd say about 3 minutes per side should have been fine. I did 4 on the first side, 3 on the second, and I think I would've been happier if I'd cut it back. But anyways.... I let it rest for about the same amount of time that I'd cooked it, hoping that it would stay really really juicy and the like. And it did, sort of. Anyways, I was happy because the flavors in the marinade mirrored the flavors in the vinaigrette, and that's really all I'm looking for - flavors that go together.
I brightened up the couscous/Quinoa/Orzo mix with some Key Lime juice, from real Key Limes that I'd thought about making a pie with - but seeing how little juice you get out, I've decided that they're better in their purest format -- shoved down the neck of a Corona.
Until next time, kids -- keep eating, and check out the fact that one post back, Zak from Schmaltz brewing commented!!! If you're in the city, or have access to his beer, get some, and I'm not just saying this so he'll find out I linked him again and read/comment more. (At least, not TOTALLY!)
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