We've had some good cookery as of late.
Monday night, we had a Rachael Ray creation -- Chicken Marvalasala, and Pappardelle with Rosemary Gravy. I really love chicken marsala, and this was a bit of an un-orthodox take that tickled my fancy. The chicken's not breaded, and it requires 3 different pans to make this. The first one, I'm happy about. The second created some frustration for me. BUT, regardless, it was delish and I messed with the gravy for the linguine a little bit -- I didn't have rosemary or tomato paste. So, I used a tablespoon of canned fire-roasted tomatoes instead.... it was delish. We were eating it cold out of the serving bowl later that night.
Tuesday night, we had pizza. The crust was magnificent. The toppings were red pepper pesto, mozzarella, kalamata olives, and garlic cloves. I baked it at 450. The garlic cloves actually got soft and sweet. The pizza didn't get oily. The cheese was nicely brown. In short, this was a happy pizza. We ate the left-overs for breakfast the following morning.
Last night, we had my macaroni and cheese, with broccoli. We used orechiette pasta, and instead of gruyere and emmenthaler, we used medium and sharp cheddar. Instead of pancetta -- thick cut bacon. It was amazing. The bacon. Sooo beautiful. And so nice to find when you take a big bite -- a bit of pasta, cheese, broccoli, and bacon.
I threw the broccoli into the cooking pasta with about 30 seconds left before al dente. Just to get it up to temperature and cook it a little. It cooked a little more in the cheese sauce/broiler combo.
Tragically, I had to put it in the microwave today at work. I hate microwaves. My favorite way of reheating my mac is to put it in a skillet with an ovenproof handle (or a handle wrapped in tinfoil) with some butter and milk or cream. I smush everything around so that the sauce can become cheese sauce again, and then I sprinkle some shredded cheese and breadcrumbs over the top, because I love the crisp, and I broil it for a few.
The crisp has now been re-named the Sog for today. Mope.
Tonight, we will again venture into Rachael Land with an Olive Frittata and Rach's Mom's 15-minute Tomato and Bean Stoup.
We discovered Saturday that the best time to plan a menu is when you're starving. We flipped through one Rachael Ray cookbook and found a million options for food this week. Generally it's like pulling teeth because we generally plan while well-fed. Clearly, starvin'Marvin' is the way to go.
Heh.
Friday is Turkey Burgers, and Saturday is Chili. Mmmmmmm fall is in the air.
20080911
20080908
In which I make a better butter.
I know. My title makes you think that I'm a blasphemer. Admit it. It's ok.
I'm not.
I'm a truth-teller.
A couple weeks ago, I was thinking about how to make toast more nutritious. I mean... don't get me wrong, I love me some toast. In a big way. Toast + Me = love. And toast with plain old butter is a beautiful thing. I mean it.
But there's not so much benefit to eating toast first thing in the morning -- you eat breakfast to give your body some calories to burn throughout the day -- to kickstart your metabolism, as it were. And while butter does provide some necessary calories, it's not enough. So I was thinking of foods that are high in good calories, good fats, vitamins, etc... and that are mushy.
I came up with Avocado.
Avocado has tons of good fat and good healthy calories, AND it's mushy and spreadable. Not to mention it's deliciousness. And since it's mushy and spreadable, it would go well WITH butter to encourage the melt-itude AND the smush-itude and the yum-iosity.
So on Saturday, I took our avocado, and some butter, and I created a concoction.
Joh's Avocado Butter:
1 medium ripe avocado (a little past ripe is still ok. smushy is key)
1/2 stick salted butter at room temperature (salt is key to bring out the yum of the avocado)
2 pinches salt (small pinches)
5 grinds black pepper
Zest of 1/2 lemon.
Cut open the avocado, take out the pit, and scoop out the green flesh into a bowl. Smash it up with a fork or potato masher. Add your soft butter, and smush with a fork or potato masher to combine. Add the salt, pepper, and lemon zest. A little chili powder is not misplaced here.
Roll this up in plastic wrap.... tightly. You want it to look like a fat cigar. Put it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up.
After about 15 mintues, take it out of the freezer and transfer it to the fridge. You don't want it to ACTUALLY freeze.
This is delicious spread on toast. Especially if it's home-made bread to begin with. It would also be amazing on a simply grilled piece of fish, as a flavorant. Once the fish comes off the grill, plate it and cut off a round of the avocado butter and put it on top of the fish. Done. Deliciousness.
I really really think that this should be attempted by one and all. It's good for you!!! And yum-tastic. Promise!!!
I actually cooked some stuff that I want to post pictures of over the weekend, but for now, I'll do a quick rundown.
On Friday I reached a state of joy involving my fried chicken. I found the proper ratio of flour to panko to make the coating the way I like it. I used the right oil. And possibly MOST amazingly, I found the perfect vessel for it.
My blue Le Creuset casserole dish has been seeing the light of day a lot more lately. It was the pot in which I made some yum-tastic risotto wtih excellent results, most recently. And then, on Friday, I realized that the perfect pot in which to fry some chicken would NOT be my cast-iron skillet (iron oxide breaks down oils and causes them to become unhealthy) but, my enameled cast-iron Le Creuset!! The enamel kept the iron oxide from getting into the oil, and the casserole is the right size, and the chicken fried beautifully, which is in no small part thanks to the fact that my stove is no longer on a 37 degree backward tilt....
I used a little too much oil, because I was thinking of my cast-iron skillet and how I never had enough oil. But if that's the only problem I had... then I'm ok with that. I'll take too much oil (Since it wasn't greasy.... I drained it properly) over it burning because of too little oil.
I made biscuits on Saturday to mop up the left-over gravy from Friday night.
Sunday we had late-night Carbonara. Mostly because we wanted something cheap after we went out and had brunch and got silly.... and also because Fresh Direct was supposed to make a delivery between 10 and 11:30, and didn't come until after 12:30. Frustrating.
Anyways. Tonight I will hopefully post some pictures of all this stuff. And of other things of which I took photos yesterday, if I'm so moved. If you're so lucky.
And so on.
I'm not.
I'm a truth-teller.
A couple weeks ago, I was thinking about how to make toast more nutritious. I mean... don't get me wrong, I love me some toast. In a big way. Toast + Me = love. And toast with plain old butter is a beautiful thing. I mean it.
But there's not so much benefit to eating toast first thing in the morning -- you eat breakfast to give your body some calories to burn throughout the day -- to kickstart your metabolism, as it were. And while butter does provide some necessary calories, it's not enough. So I was thinking of foods that are high in good calories, good fats, vitamins, etc... and that are mushy.
I came up with Avocado.
Avocado has tons of good fat and good healthy calories, AND it's mushy and spreadable. Not to mention it's deliciousness. And since it's mushy and spreadable, it would go well WITH butter to encourage the melt-itude AND the smush-itude and the yum-iosity.
So on Saturday, I took our avocado, and some butter, and I created a concoction.
Joh's Avocado Butter:
1 medium ripe avocado (a little past ripe is still ok. smushy is key)
1/2 stick salted butter at room temperature (salt is key to bring out the yum of the avocado)
2 pinches salt (small pinches)
5 grinds black pepper
Zest of 1/2 lemon.
Cut open the avocado, take out the pit, and scoop out the green flesh into a bowl. Smash it up with a fork or potato masher. Add your soft butter, and smush with a fork or potato masher to combine. Add the salt, pepper, and lemon zest. A little chili powder is not misplaced here.
Roll this up in plastic wrap.... tightly. You want it to look like a fat cigar. Put it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up.
After about 15 mintues, take it out of the freezer and transfer it to the fridge. You don't want it to ACTUALLY freeze.
This is delicious spread on toast. Especially if it's home-made bread to begin with. It would also be amazing on a simply grilled piece of fish, as a flavorant. Once the fish comes off the grill, plate it and cut off a round of the avocado butter and put it on top of the fish. Done. Deliciousness.
I really really think that this should be attempted by one and all. It's good for you!!! And yum-tastic. Promise!!!
I actually cooked some stuff that I want to post pictures of over the weekend, but for now, I'll do a quick rundown.
On Friday I reached a state of joy involving my fried chicken. I found the proper ratio of flour to panko to make the coating the way I like it. I used the right oil. And possibly MOST amazingly, I found the perfect vessel for it.
My blue Le Creuset casserole dish has been seeing the light of day a lot more lately. It was the pot in which I made some yum-tastic risotto wtih excellent results, most recently. And then, on Friday, I realized that the perfect pot in which to fry some chicken would NOT be my cast-iron skillet (iron oxide breaks down oils and causes them to become unhealthy) but, my enameled cast-iron Le Creuset!! The enamel kept the iron oxide from getting into the oil, and the casserole is the right size, and the chicken fried beautifully, which is in no small part thanks to the fact that my stove is no longer on a 37 degree backward tilt....
I used a little too much oil, because I was thinking of my cast-iron skillet and how I never had enough oil. But if that's the only problem I had... then I'm ok with that. I'll take too much oil (Since it wasn't greasy.... I drained it properly) over it burning because of too little oil.
I made biscuits on Saturday to mop up the left-over gravy from Friday night.
Sunday we had late-night Carbonara. Mostly because we wanted something cheap after we went out and had brunch and got silly.... and also because Fresh Direct was supposed to make a delivery between 10 and 11:30, and didn't come until after 12:30. Frustrating.
Anyways. Tonight I will hopefully post some pictures of all this stuff. And of other things of which I took photos yesterday, if I'm so moved. If you're so lucky.
And so on.
20080903
In which the times, they are a'changin'...
Hey kids.
I'm contemplating a new layout and a new theme behind the blog. I think the name might even change from Life is Nommy to something else. I'll be sure to keep you posted -- you'll be the first to know. Maybe the second -- Jesse will be the first because he's going to have to help me do the fancy shmancy stuff.
However, in the interim, I will do my best to keep updating. We've had an interesting month of August. Basically, it was peppered with a week of us being able to afford groceries, and a week of us not being able to afford them, rinse and repeat. I made risotto and soup, we had fabulous friends over and I mistakenly tried to use one pound of ground beef to make 4 burgers.... which I will never do again.
Saturday our ship righted itself, mostly. I ordered a bunch of groceries from Fresh Direct. We had steak on Sunday night after our groceries were delivered -- beautiful thick boneless shell steaks grilled, with sauteed green beans and shallots - I grated lemon zest over the top and tossed right before serving.
It was lovely.
Monday was an adventure.
It was our anniversary - we've been together for two years. Strange.... and wonderful. For our anniversary, we decided to have lobster for dinner - it's my favorite fancy food. We had been planning it for a few days, but hadn't gotten around to actually calling and ordering any from anyplace.
Monday morning, I woke up at about 9am (on Labor Day. EWW!!!) and decided to get up and call Whole Foods to make sure I could get some lobsters from them.
Apparently I missed a memo.
Selling live lobsters is against Whole Foods' principles. I didn't realize grocery stores HAD principles. So, back to the drawing board. I called Gourmet Garage. Nope - we don't sell those.
I checked Food Emporium's website - very expensive.
Jesse reminded me about The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market -- I leapt with glee and proceeded to call them over and over trying to get someone to confirm for me that they were open. I checked Chelsea Market's website - no word that they were closed. However, I couldn't get an answer on the phone.
Eventually, I just decided to go find out for myself.
I started with the grocery stores near my house - one's fish counter wasn't open on Labor Day. The other didn't have a department for fresh fish - only frozen.
I went to Union Square. I started walking west.
Garden of Eden was out of lobsters.
Several grocery stores along 14th street didn't have lobsters.
Chelsea Market, and therefore The Lobster Place, was closed.
Balducci's, a super-shmancy grocery store didn't sell them.
The Food Emporium I passed didn't sell them - only frozen lobster tails.
I went back to Garden of Eden, and was told that they had another store at 23rd street. I called Jesse and asked him to find the address.
I went in, and finally procured, three hours, 9+ grocery stores, and the start of my only sunburn of hte summer later.... two beautiful lobsters. For an exorbitant price. But.... they were worth it.
I am a lobster purist. So, I boiled them in heavily salted water, showing no mercy and no notice if they DID scream, which I don't think they did. I had to hold the lid down when one of them tried to fight being boiled alive. He could not escape me.
It was delicious.
It was the perfect end to an anniversary. A day where we went out and played frisbee in the park, walked around, got outside, and I got righteously sunburned. Of coruse, my dress had matching deep v's in the front and back, and I only got sunburned in the inverted triangle of open skin on my back. Which means that shirtless or in a tank top, I look VERY silly. But, it was incredibly well-earned. I loved every minute of it. And one sunburn in an entire summer, even a pretty righteous one, is ok with me if it's earned on a gorgeous day with my boyfriend celebrating two years together and many many more to come.
until next time.
I'm contemplating a new layout and a new theme behind the blog. I think the name might even change from Life is Nommy to something else. I'll be sure to keep you posted -- you'll be the first to know. Maybe the second -- Jesse will be the first because he's going to have to help me do the fancy shmancy stuff.
However, in the interim, I will do my best to keep updating. We've had an interesting month of August. Basically, it was peppered with a week of us being able to afford groceries, and a week of us not being able to afford them, rinse and repeat. I made risotto and soup, we had fabulous friends over and I mistakenly tried to use one pound of ground beef to make 4 burgers.... which I will never do again.
Saturday our ship righted itself, mostly. I ordered a bunch of groceries from Fresh Direct. We had steak on Sunday night after our groceries were delivered -- beautiful thick boneless shell steaks grilled, with sauteed green beans and shallots - I grated lemon zest over the top and tossed right before serving.
It was lovely.
Monday was an adventure.
It was our anniversary - we've been together for two years. Strange.... and wonderful. For our anniversary, we decided to have lobster for dinner - it's my favorite fancy food. We had been planning it for a few days, but hadn't gotten around to actually calling and ordering any from anyplace.
Monday morning, I woke up at about 9am (on Labor Day. EWW!!!) and decided to get up and call Whole Foods to make sure I could get some lobsters from them.
Apparently I missed a memo.
Selling live lobsters is against Whole Foods' principles. I didn't realize grocery stores HAD principles. So, back to the drawing board. I called Gourmet Garage. Nope - we don't sell those.
I checked Food Emporium's website - very expensive.
Jesse reminded me about The Lobster Place in Chelsea Market -- I leapt with glee and proceeded to call them over and over trying to get someone to confirm for me that they were open. I checked Chelsea Market's website - no word that they were closed. However, I couldn't get an answer on the phone.
Eventually, I just decided to go find out for myself.
I started with the grocery stores near my house - one's fish counter wasn't open on Labor Day. The other didn't have a department for fresh fish - only frozen.
I went to Union Square. I started walking west.
Garden of Eden was out of lobsters.
Several grocery stores along 14th street didn't have lobsters.
Chelsea Market, and therefore The Lobster Place, was closed.
Balducci's, a super-shmancy grocery store didn't sell them.
The Food Emporium I passed didn't sell them - only frozen lobster tails.
I went back to Garden of Eden, and was told that they had another store at 23rd street. I called Jesse and asked him to find the address.
I went in, and finally procured, three hours, 9+ grocery stores, and the start of my only sunburn of hte summer later.... two beautiful lobsters. For an exorbitant price. But.... they were worth it.
I am a lobster purist. So, I boiled them in heavily salted water, showing no mercy and no notice if they DID scream, which I don't think they did. I had to hold the lid down when one of them tried to fight being boiled alive. He could not escape me.
It was delicious.
It was the perfect end to an anniversary. A day where we went out and played frisbee in the park, walked around, got outside, and I got righteously sunburned. Of coruse, my dress had matching deep v's in the front and back, and I only got sunburned in the inverted triangle of open skin on my back. Which means that shirtless or in a tank top, I look VERY silly. But, it was incredibly well-earned. I loved every minute of it. And one sunburn in an entire summer, even a pretty righteous one, is ok with me if it's earned on a gorgeous day with my boyfriend celebrating two years together and many many more to come.
until next time.
20080818
In which I give in to temptation
I will admit it, I am highly suggestable. One post like this one on Smitten Kitchen, and I'm dead meat. So of course, I casually slid dishes into our weekly menu that will feature slow-roasted tomatoes. I'm sneaky.
Jesse and I went grocery shopping on Saturday, and we stopped at the Union Square Greenmarket, because we have a lot of tomato-heavy dishes, plus a sangria, in the plans and what better way to make yummy dishes than with actual ingredients from an actual farm, instead of from Whole Foods? So, we bought a pint of little yellow teardrop tomatoes, a pint of red cherry tomatoes, and one big honking ugly/beautiful green heirloom tomato which I will be using in a tomato/red onion salad tomorrow night.
Anyways.
Saturday night we made mussels, and hit the mother lode as far as live ones are concerned -- we had a grand total of 3 casualties in the whole 4 pounds of mussels!! I was shocked, to say the least. And thrilled. Ecstatic. Gleeful!! So I used the same recipe as I've used in previous efforts and had similar success. The sauce-to-bread ratio was much better this time. Basically, everything was just more wonderful this time. Happydays.
While we were enjoying some good food this weekend, we were also trying like crazyfolk to put our apartment to rights. I have painted the kitchen archway, and the stripe on the living room wall. My clothes are put away. All the bookshelves have been built by my wonderful, handsome boyfriend, as have a filing cabinet and a set of shelves. Books are being unpacked. Slow-roasting tomatoes for 3 hours was the perfect preparation, considering that I could set them up and leave them while unpacking.
After htey finished, Jesse made me a pie crust, and I made a quiche with the tomatoes as the centerpiece - egg, bacon, shallots, green peppers, some pulverized roasted garlic cloves from the slow-roasting, and gruyere, lots of shredded gruyere, with the tomatoes dropped in, cut-side-up after the egg mix went into the blind-baked crust. It was great, and we had left-overs for brekkie this morning. Good times.
To use up the rest of the tomatoes, I made soup. When I put the quiche in, I also started sweating some celery and another shallot. When they got all soft and clear, I added about 2 cups of chicken stock-in-a-box, and when that boiled, the tomatoes and garlic cloves that were left. That simmered for about 15 minutes, and then I blended the whole thing up with my immersion blender! Woohoo!
Once the blending was complete, the quiche came out of the oven, and while it was cooling I poured some milk into the soup, to cut the acid and thin it out a little.
We had the roasted garlic and tomato soup as a first course, and then the quiche. And of course, we topped off the night with amazing ice cream sundaes!! Please, if you ever see Herrell's Peppermint Hot Fudge in a jar at Whole Foods (or anywhere else...) BUY IT!!! It will change your life, I swear.
Ok kids, until next time, in which we lasagna-fy enchiladas!
Jesse and I went grocery shopping on Saturday, and we stopped at the Union Square Greenmarket, because we have a lot of tomato-heavy dishes, plus a sangria, in the plans and what better way to make yummy dishes than with actual ingredients from an actual farm, instead of from Whole Foods? So, we bought a pint of little yellow teardrop tomatoes, a pint of red cherry tomatoes, and one big honking ugly/beautiful green heirloom tomato which I will be using in a tomato/red onion salad tomorrow night.
Anyways.
Saturday night we made mussels, and hit the mother lode as far as live ones are concerned -- we had a grand total of 3 casualties in the whole 4 pounds of mussels!! I was shocked, to say the least. And thrilled. Ecstatic. Gleeful!! So I used the same recipe as I've used in previous efforts and had similar success. The sauce-to-bread ratio was much better this time. Basically, everything was just more wonderful this time. Happydays.
While we were enjoying some good food this weekend, we were also trying like crazyfolk to put our apartment to rights. I have painted the kitchen archway, and the stripe on the living room wall. My clothes are put away. All the bookshelves have been built by my wonderful, handsome boyfriend, as have a filing cabinet and a set of shelves. Books are being unpacked. Slow-roasting tomatoes for 3 hours was the perfect preparation, considering that I could set them up and leave them while unpacking.
After htey finished, Jesse made me a pie crust, and I made a quiche with the tomatoes as the centerpiece - egg, bacon, shallots, green peppers, some pulverized roasted garlic cloves from the slow-roasting, and gruyere, lots of shredded gruyere, with the tomatoes dropped in, cut-side-up after the egg mix went into the blind-baked crust. It was great, and we had left-overs for brekkie this morning. Good times.
To use up the rest of the tomatoes, I made soup. When I put the quiche in, I also started sweating some celery and another shallot. When they got all soft and clear, I added about 2 cups of chicken stock-in-a-box, and when that boiled, the tomatoes and garlic cloves that were left. That simmered for about 15 minutes, and then I blended the whole thing up with my immersion blender! Woohoo!
Once the blending was complete, the quiche came out of the oven, and while it was cooling I poured some milk into the soup, to cut the acid and thin it out a little.
We had the roasted garlic and tomato soup as a first course, and then the quiche. And of course, we topped off the night with amazing ice cream sundaes!! Please, if you ever see Herrell's Peppermint Hot Fudge in a jar at Whole Foods (or anywhere else...) BUY IT!!! It will change your life, I swear.
Ok kids, until next time, in which we lasagna-fy enchiladas!
20080814
In which we hit perfection.
Hi folks.
I have returned to the blogosphere!!!
Since I last gorged on photos, I have indeed cooked. McDonalds has not infested my life. We're still good. We just happen to have had a few crazy weeks, a lot of weekends spent not at home, or not home much, and as such, no really regular shopping or cooking. BUT, cooking has happened. We had burgers one night, I made mussels with my family at Cape Cod, grilled pizzas with family and friends at my parents' house the weekend before.... I've made risotto and soup and chicken marsala. Two nights ago, I had a huge craving for fried eggplant rounds, but couldn't for the life of me remember to buy eggs.... so we didn't have fried eggplant rounds. But I did master falafel, finally.
Now, this was my style falafel. AKA, not what you find in your local Falafel spot. I shape them into patties and I don't deep-fry, and I've come to believe via the evidence on Tuesday night that self-rising flour is indeed the best method for making falafel (I use it as a binder, and to coat the patties before frying.) -- I've tried bread crumbs of all ilks, seasoned, unseasoned, panko, fresh, whatever, but self-rising flour does everything better, and without compromising the texture, which is what I like second-best about my falafel. Basically, I'm really proud of these.
2 cans chickpeas - smash them with a potato masher.
About a tablespoon of minced onion - I reconstituted dried, because I had it for dip and had a little left over.
A minced clove of garlic, I think.
Cumin, Garam Masala, Curry Powder, Tumeric, Chili Powder, Salt.
A few sprinkles (probably 3 tbs total) self-rising flour.
A little water (only if it dries out.)
Smash, mash, and mix all the above ingredients together, and heat your oil (I used almond oil because it's good for high-heat cooking. Pick your fave) in your skillet.
When a little flour fries on contact, form the first patty, and pat it gently into some extra flour. Use a spatula to put it into the oil, because the oil will splatter and give you grease burns otherwise.
Put down a few more, depending on how big your skillet is and how much your stove tilts one way or the other. Don't add too many or the oil will lose too much heat.
Let them get a nice crisp on the first side. Leave them longer than you think you need to. Then, flip. They should stay together and flip easily if you've left them long enough. If not.... don't flip them yet!
Take them out when they're crispy on the second side, and then put them on a cooling rack that's on top of a paper-towel-covered cookie sheet. This way they don't sit in their own grease.
Eat with mango chutney if you're feeling snazzy, or in a pita with some veggies. Delish.
Last night, we went to see the Dark Knight which was awesome and terrifying and amazing all at the same time. Then, we went to Pommes Frites for a nutritious dinner of french fries and sauce. I had the Irish Curry, which is the best sauce possibly....ever. Jesse had Lemon-Dill Mayo. Also yummy. THEN, we caught the Dessert Truck in Astor Place, which was exciting because until last night, it was basically something I'd heard about from others, but never seen, because I went to school in the Bronx, now live in outer Brooklyn, and work in Midtown. Not where the Dessert Truck hangs out. But I've now had one of the top-5 BEST Creme Brulee's in my life, from a truck on the side of the street. (FYI: of the other 4, 1 was at French Roast and 3 were in Paris.)
In all, last night was basically perfect. I had 3 of my 4 favorite food groups -- Potatoes, Brown, and Dessert (the other group? Beer.) That's right. Potatoes. Brown food (like bread and chocolate). And Dessert (does this need a qualifier?) In a gorgeous city on a gorgeous night with my wonderful boyfriend.
I hit it. :)
I have returned to the blogosphere!!!
Since I last gorged on photos, I have indeed cooked. McDonalds has not infested my life. We're still good. We just happen to have had a few crazy weeks, a lot of weekends spent not at home, or not home much, and as such, no really regular shopping or cooking. BUT, cooking has happened. We had burgers one night, I made mussels with my family at Cape Cod, grilled pizzas with family and friends at my parents' house the weekend before.... I've made risotto and soup and chicken marsala. Two nights ago, I had a huge craving for fried eggplant rounds, but couldn't for the life of me remember to buy eggs.... so we didn't have fried eggplant rounds. But I did master falafel, finally.
Now, this was my style falafel. AKA, not what you find in your local Falafel spot. I shape them into patties and I don't deep-fry, and I've come to believe via the evidence on Tuesday night that self-rising flour is indeed the best method for making falafel (I use it as a binder, and to coat the patties before frying.) -- I've tried bread crumbs of all ilks, seasoned, unseasoned, panko, fresh, whatever, but self-rising flour does everything better, and without compromising the texture, which is what I like second-best about my falafel. Basically, I'm really proud of these.
2 cans chickpeas - smash them with a potato masher.
About a tablespoon of minced onion - I reconstituted dried, because I had it for dip and had a little left over.
A minced clove of garlic, I think.
Cumin, Garam Masala, Curry Powder, Tumeric, Chili Powder, Salt.
A few sprinkles (probably 3 tbs total) self-rising flour.
A little water (only if it dries out.)
Smash, mash, and mix all the above ingredients together, and heat your oil (I used almond oil because it's good for high-heat cooking. Pick your fave) in your skillet.
When a little flour fries on contact, form the first patty, and pat it gently into some extra flour. Use a spatula to put it into the oil, because the oil will splatter and give you grease burns otherwise.
Put down a few more, depending on how big your skillet is and how much your stove tilts one way or the other. Don't add too many or the oil will lose too much heat.
Let them get a nice crisp on the first side. Leave them longer than you think you need to. Then, flip. They should stay together and flip easily if you've left them long enough. If not.... don't flip them yet!
Take them out when they're crispy on the second side, and then put them on a cooling rack that's on top of a paper-towel-covered cookie sheet. This way they don't sit in their own grease.
Eat with mango chutney if you're feeling snazzy, or in a pita with some veggies. Delish.
Last night, we went to see the Dark Knight which was awesome and terrifying and amazing all at the same time. Then, we went to Pommes Frites for a nutritious dinner of french fries and sauce. I had the Irish Curry, which is the best sauce possibly....ever. Jesse had Lemon-Dill Mayo. Also yummy. THEN, we caught the Dessert Truck in Astor Place, which was exciting because until last night, it was basically something I'd heard about from others, but never seen, because I went to school in the Bronx, now live in outer Brooklyn, and work in Midtown. Not where the Dessert Truck hangs out. But I've now had one of the top-5 BEST Creme Brulee's in my life, from a truck on the side of the street. (FYI: of the other 4, 1 was at French Roast and 3 were in Paris.)
In all, last night was basically perfect. I had 3 of my 4 favorite food groups -- Potatoes, Brown, and Dessert (the other group? Beer.) That's right. Potatoes. Brown food (like bread and chocolate). And Dessert (does this need a qualifier?) In a gorgeous city on a gorgeous night with my wonderful boyfriend.
I hit it. :)
20080722
In which we get lots of pictures
Ok, so this post could be about lots of things. It could be about the splurge dinner that we had last night, and it will be a little. It could be about the amazing job I did of caramelizing a red onion. And it will be. It will also be pictures of all the food I've neglected to post photos of over the past week, and for my adorable readers, who are both harpies, and Harpers, some pictures of my adorable kitchen.
We begin with parmesan-crusted chicken. As you may recall, it was served with a salad on top instead of alongside.
I think that dredging in flour, as the recipe suggests, would make the coating stick better after the eggwash, but for a first try at an old favorite, it was quite the tasty.
Next up on our roll of photos will be several photos of our grilled pizza Sunday night, complete with pictures of my grill, Jesse, and the gut that I develop when sitting in a hammock holding a plate in my lap. I'm not ashamed.
The nommy grilled pizza that we made. Well.... one of them. We split the dough into two pizzas so that we could grill them evenly.
And here's my grill!! My daddy painted it green for me, which is good because a character like me can't have a plain-colored grill!!
And here is Jesse!! Happy to be eating!!
And here I am with my hammock gut. Sexy.
Last night, we had Poor Man's Au Poivre, although really only a rich man could afford it. Rachael Ray calls it Pepper-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom-Marsala Gravy, and Roasted Asparagus. And I think we all call it "Nommy". Unless you're a vegetarian. In which case, I pity your life choice. Anyways, it was a lovely dinner, albiet a bit... warm for last night. Although, since we ended up soaking up the cream sauce with hunks of bread after the tenderloins were gone, I think it was well worth it:
Tonight, I took some pictures of our kitchen while making Farfalle with Chicken, Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions, and Goat Cheese. Here they are, with no real explanation unless it's incredibly necessary.
We have a wine rack above our fridge. Seriously. Built in. Be jealous, or afraid, which ever. We also have a full-sized stove, in a New York City apartment. I'm in heaven.
And those would be my cookbooks. In a cabinet. No, not all of them. But some. Enough? Maybe, maybe not. We'll see.
And of course, tonight's dinner:
Enjoy, kids!!
We begin with parmesan-crusted chicken. As you may recall, it was served with a salad on top instead of alongside.
I think that dredging in flour, as the recipe suggests, would make the coating stick better after the eggwash, but for a first try at an old favorite, it was quite the tasty.Next up on our roll of photos will be several photos of our grilled pizza Sunday night, complete with pictures of my grill, Jesse, and the gut that I develop when sitting in a hammock holding a plate in my lap. I'm not ashamed.
The nommy grilled pizza that we made. Well.... one of them. We split the dough into two pizzas so that we could grill them evenly.
And here's my grill!! My daddy painted it green for me, which is good because a character like me can't have a plain-colored grill!!
And here is Jesse!! Happy to be eating!!
And here I am with my hammock gut. Sexy.Last night, we had Poor Man's Au Poivre, although really only a rich man could afford it. Rachael Ray calls it Pepper-Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom-Marsala Gravy, and Roasted Asparagus. And I think we all call it "Nommy". Unless you're a vegetarian. In which case, I pity your life choice. Anyways, it was a lovely dinner, albiet a bit... warm for last night. Although, since we ended up soaking up the cream sauce with hunks of bread after the tenderloins were gone, I think it was well worth it:
Tonight, I took some pictures of our kitchen while making Farfalle with Chicken, Tomatoes, Caramelized Onions, and Goat Cheese. Here they are, with no real explanation unless it's incredibly necessary.
We have a wine rack above our fridge. Seriously. Built in. Be jealous, or afraid, which ever. We also have a full-sized stove, in a New York City apartment. I'm in heaven.
And those would be my cookbooks. In a cabinet. No, not all of them. But some. Enough? Maybe, maybe not. We'll see.And of course, tonight's dinner:
Enjoy, kids!!
20080721
In which let's face it.... life is pretty good.
Wednesday night, I made the parmesan-crusted chicken breasts. One big issue with it was that the recipe called for dredging in flour, egg, breadcrumb/parm combination. I have not had the means or ....moolah to buy the basic staples of life yet (flour, sugar, cornmeal, brown sugar...) so I had to double up on the breadcrumbs and nix the flour. The meal was delicious anyways. On top of the thin-pounded, breaded and cheesed chicken breasts, was a salad of mixed greens and citrus vinaigrette (don't get scared, it just means lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper). I threw shaved parmesan on top, and called it dinner.
Thursday we were supposed to have mussels, because it would be quick and easy and since we were moving everything we own out of our basement and into our living room so that our owner could tile our basement floor. We're still waiting, in all honesty, for that to be finished. But at any rate, Whole Foods was out of mussels, so we had to let it go. Soup and sammiches it was.
Friday we were out being crazyfolk, and missed out on dinner, but that was in the plan. Saturday we ended up missing dinner but not as planned -- we got invited to go hang out with some friends and play Monopoly, which was really fun, and ended up lasting until we got home at 4am.
Sunday, we had pizza on the grill. Pizzas made with Whole Foods pizza dough, and olive oil steeped with red chili flake and dried basil, mozzarella, tomatoes, pepperoni, shallots and garlic.
Tonight we're having a bit of a splurge, which I'll write about later. Also hopefully, I'll be posting pictures of last night and Wednesday night's dinners later tonight. Because I took them. I swear!!!
Thursday we were supposed to have mussels, because it would be quick and easy and since we were moving everything we own out of our basement and into our living room so that our owner could tile our basement floor. We're still waiting, in all honesty, for that to be finished. But at any rate, Whole Foods was out of mussels, so we had to let it go. Soup and sammiches it was.
Friday we were out being crazyfolk, and missed out on dinner, but that was in the plan. Saturday we ended up missing dinner but not as planned -- we got invited to go hang out with some friends and play Monopoly, which was really fun, and ended up lasting until we got home at 4am.
Sunday, we had pizza on the grill. Pizzas made with Whole Foods pizza dough, and olive oil steeped with red chili flake and dried basil, mozzarella, tomatoes, pepperoni, shallots and garlic.
Tonight we're having a bit of a splurge, which I'll write about later. Also hopefully, I'll be posting pictures of last night and Wednesday night's dinners later tonight. Because I took them. I swear!!!
20080716
In which I (finally) get my groove back
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!!
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!!
20080710
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.
20080708
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!!
20080628
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.
20080624
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.
20080619
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!!!
20080615
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!)
20080614
In which it finally cools down a little.
Tuesday night, I made a delicious pizza.
I'm a little weird, in that I will freely admit that it's too hot to cook, and then go ahead and make a pizza from scratch. For some reason, it seems less hot to let dough rise and then throw it and the toppings into a 450 degree oven. Honestly, it would have been cooler to just boil some pasta, steam some vegetables, and drizzle the lot with olive oil and parm. But of course, I'm a moron.
Luckily, we did discover one of the benefits of hot weather. It helps make beautiful pizza dough. Between the heat of the water I used, and the heat of the apartment, that dough doubled in size with a quickness, and it definitely didn't have the typical problem of not being stretchy. Because it was hot - apparently Jesse puts it in the fridge sometimes, and we've come to find that doesn't yield the best results. Also, I definitely didn't use as much flour as I should have, because it was so hot out and for some reason, it just didn't need as much flour.
I stretched the dough after it rose, and covered it with a sliced yellow tomato, some asparagus and green beans, and parmesan, and some smushed garlic cloves. It baked at 450 for probably about 25 minutes, long enough to turn the apartment into a sauna. It was miserable, but the pizza was delicious. I love making pizza.
Wednesday night, we went shopping and found out some effing frustrating news. Apparently our new apartment won't be ready tomorrow, which is when we were promised it. It's when I signed a lease for. And yet, we don't get to move in, which basically screws us over in terms of moving and painting and getting unpacked and stuff. So, Wednesday night we were legitimately in need of some liquid refreshment. We met our friends at Kettle of Fish, and imbibed a few pints of Coney Island Lager (Sword Swallower, primarily) before arriving home around 11 pm.
I set some chicken breasts, which I'd pounded pretty thin, to marinate in a very similar marinade to the one I did for the Flank Steak last entry. Then, I decided I wanted to try and make a risotto out of a wild and brown rice blend I'd been intrigued by at Trader Joe's. So, I prepared the risotto in the usual way, except that I didn't add any mushrooms or bleu cheese. I just added a lump of butter and some shredded parmesan at the end. I think that since this rice isn't like arborio, it needed a little more stock, a little more time. Maybe some water. But the roommates concurred that the chewiness added something to the risotto. I'd recommend trying it sometime. Make sure that you sautee it enought.
Thursday night, I made panini. It was supposed to be soup and sammiches, but it ended up just being panini. I made some tuna salad, with a little mayonnaise, a little olive oil, green pickle relish (because I didn't have any dill pickles), chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I put some butter on my grill pan and put the bread down with some meunster cheese. I put the tuna on top, another slice of cheese, and another piece of bread. Then, to make it a panino, I put a small skillet with a can of chickpeas on top, to smush the bread. Obviously, flip, butter the pan, repeat. They were pretty yum-tastic.
Last night, we were supposed to have steak again (because it was so good last time), but instead we met some friends for delicious drinks, and then delicious dinner. And then, we went back to our friends Laura and Steele's apartment and had some of Steele's latest home-brewed beer. So, tonight, we will have the skirt steak, with possibly a mixed-grain salad and some young field greens..... or just with our bare hands. Y'know, whichever.
I'm a little weird, in that I will freely admit that it's too hot to cook, and then go ahead and make a pizza from scratch. For some reason, it seems less hot to let dough rise and then throw it and the toppings into a 450 degree oven. Honestly, it would have been cooler to just boil some pasta, steam some vegetables, and drizzle the lot with olive oil and parm. But of course, I'm a moron.
Luckily, we did discover one of the benefits of hot weather. It helps make beautiful pizza dough. Between the heat of the water I used, and the heat of the apartment, that dough doubled in size with a quickness, and it definitely didn't have the typical problem of not being stretchy. Because it was hot - apparently Jesse puts it in the fridge sometimes, and we've come to find that doesn't yield the best results. Also, I definitely didn't use as much flour as I should have, because it was so hot out and for some reason, it just didn't need as much flour.
I stretched the dough after it rose, and covered it with a sliced yellow tomato, some asparagus and green beans, and parmesan, and some smushed garlic cloves. It baked at 450 for probably about 25 minutes, long enough to turn the apartment into a sauna. It was miserable, but the pizza was delicious. I love making pizza.
Wednesday night, we went shopping and found out some effing frustrating news. Apparently our new apartment won't be ready tomorrow, which is when we were promised it. It's when I signed a lease for. And yet, we don't get to move in, which basically screws us over in terms of moving and painting and getting unpacked and stuff. So, Wednesday night we were legitimately in need of some liquid refreshment. We met our friends at Kettle of Fish, and imbibed a few pints of Coney Island Lager (Sword Swallower, primarily) before arriving home around 11 pm.
I set some chicken breasts, which I'd pounded pretty thin, to marinate in a very similar marinade to the one I did for the Flank Steak last entry. Then, I decided I wanted to try and make a risotto out of a wild and brown rice blend I'd been intrigued by at Trader Joe's. So, I prepared the risotto in the usual way, except that I didn't add any mushrooms or bleu cheese. I just added a lump of butter and some shredded parmesan at the end. I think that since this rice isn't like arborio, it needed a little more stock, a little more time. Maybe some water. But the roommates concurred that the chewiness added something to the risotto. I'd recommend trying it sometime. Make sure that you sautee it enought.
Thursday night, I made panini. It was supposed to be soup and sammiches, but it ended up just being panini. I made some tuna salad, with a little mayonnaise, a little olive oil, green pickle relish (because I didn't have any dill pickles), chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I put some butter on my grill pan and put the bread down with some meunster cheese. I put the tuna on top, another slice of cheese, and another piece of bread. Then, to make it a panino, I put a small skillet with a can of chickpeas on top, to smush the bread. Obviously, flip, butter the pan, repeat. They were pretty yum-tastic.
Last night, we were supposed to have steak again (because it was so good last time), but instead we met some friends for delicious drinks, and then delicious dinner. And then, we went back to our friends Laura and Steele's apartment and had some of Steele's latest home-brewed beer. So, tonight, we will have the skirt steak, with possibly a mixed-grain salad and some young field greens..... or just with our bare hands. Y'know, whichever.
20080610
In which I catch up.
On Friday night, I made a delicious dinner. It was the last night before a heat wave, although I didn't know that yet. All I knew was that since my plan to make dinner got foiled on Thursday night, I had a chance to make two glorious compatriots together on Friday night: Flank Steak, and Gorgonzola-Walnut Spaghetti. I modified both of these recipes, as I am wont to do, from Rachael Ray's excellent cookbook, Cooking Round the Clock.
I got home and marinated the steak. I can't remember exactly what I used, but I can approximate.
2 chopped garlic cloves, a few healthy pinches of salt, several grinds of black pepper, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce (I used a TON, because the bottle was more full than I expected. Oops. Still good), a few splashes of Balsamic Vinegar, and about 1/3 cup of olive oil.
I put the above in a plastic Ziploc bag (a big one), and stuck my lovely 1 pound of flank steak in there to hang out at room temperature, while I started the pasta.
I brought the water to a boil for spaghetti, of course.
While that was happening, I put 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 2 of butter into a big skillet. I dropped in 3 smashed (not chopped, just crushed) garlic cloves and about half a cup of chopped up walnuts. I cooked them on about medium heat, probably a little lower, until the garlic cloves turned golden brownish. Stir them occasionally, so that the walnuts don't burn. Because burned garlic, burned walnuts, it's just not happy. This took about 5 minutes. Possibly longer.
While that was going on, I also heated up my grillpan, which is basically just a large round skillet, very thin, with ridges like a grill. I put it over screamin' hot heat, which is a technical term. When the water from the pasta pot vaporized basically the second it was dribbled over the pan, I put the steak on. I was eyeballing it, and I didn't want to undershoot the timing and have to cook it too long on the second side, so I left it for a solid 4 minutes on the first side. This went on about the time that the garlic was starting to get brownish.
I pulled out the garlic cloves, and poured in half a cup each of chicken broth and cream. You stir that around and bring that to the bubble. About the time this is happening, you should be flipping your flank steak.
(underlying all this is the fact that when the water boils, you should salt it and drop your spaghetti, about half a box)
When it bubbles, add about 6 ounces of Gorgonzola crumbles. This equates to about 3/4 of a tub if you have an 8-ounce tub, or you can always bust out your kitchen scale if you're being fussy. Basically, I just dumped in enough to make me feel good. As it's melting, you should probably be draining your pasta, and taking your flank steak off after its second 4 minutes, to rest on a plate for at least 4 minutes to let the juicies redistribute.
Once the gorgonzola is all melted, crank on a bunch of black pepper. Taste it to see if you need salt. Shake the hell out of the pasta in the colander, and dump it into the big skillet. Toss it all around and divide between two plates.
Wait until you can't stand it any longer, and then cut your steak against the grain (whatever that means). Apparently it makes it more tender. I'm going to go with just slice it thin and you'll be ok. I'm not going to lie, kids, I like a bloody steak. Medium-rare is A-OK with me, and since I generally pull steaks before they hit medium-rare because I'm afraid of a medium-well steak, I usually end up on the rare side of medium-rare. Which is also fine with me. One of the best things in the world, in my newly-formed opinion, is the combination of steak juices and the gorgonzola cream sauce of this pasta. It's a match made in heaven. Seriously.
I didn't take any photos of this dish, mostly because I was too hungry to. And because it disappeared all too quickly. But, trust me, the steak was perfect.... nicely crusted on the outside, still a beautiful pinky-red on the inside. I was thrilled. Thin steaks are tough, because it's hard, of course, to get them done through, but still delicious quickly. Things can get out of hand if you're not paying attention. Luckily, I was. Yummmm!!!!
Ok, better luck next time, In which I discuss our pizza for dinner tonight. :)
I got home and marinated the steak. I can't remember exactly what I used, but I can approximate.
2 chopped garlic cloves, a few healthy pinches of salt, several grinds of black pepper, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce (I used a TON, because the bottle was more full than I expected. Oops. Still good), a few splashes of Balsamic Vinegar, and about 1/3 cup of olive oil.
I put the above in a plastic Ziploc bag (a big one), and stuck my lovely 1 pound of flank steak in there to hang out at room temperature, while I started the pasta.
I brought the water to a boil for spaghetti, of course.
While that was happening, I put 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and 2 of butter into a big skillet. I dropped in 3 smashed (not chopped, just crushed) garlic cloves and about half a cup of chopped up walnuts. I cooked them on about medium heat, probably a little lower, until the garlic cloves turned golden brownish. Stir them occasionally, so that the walnuts don't burn. Because burned garlic, burned walnuts, it's just not happy. This took about 5 minutes. Possibly longer.
While that was going on, I also heated up my grillpan, which is basically just a large round skillet, very thin, with ridges like a grill. I put it over screamin' hot heat, which is a technical term. When the water from the pasta pot vaporized basically the second it was dribbled over the pan, I put the steak on. I was eyeballing it, and I didn't want to undershoot the timing and have to cook it too long on the second side, so I left it for a solid 4 minutes on the first side. This went on about the time that the garlic was starting to get brownish.
I pulled out the garlic cloves, and poured in half a cup each of chicken broth and cream. You stir that around and bring that to the bubble. About the time this is happening, you should be flipping your flank steak.
(underlying all this is the fact that when the water boils, you should salt it and drop your spaghetti, about half a box)
When it bubbles, add about 6 ounces of Gorgonzola crumbles. This equates to about 3/4 of a tub if you have an 8-ounce tub, or you can always bust out your kitchen scale if you're being fussy. Basically, I just dumped in enough to make me feel good. As it's melting, you should probably be draining your pasta, and taking your flank steak off after its second 4 minutes, to rest on a plate for at least 4 minutes to let the juicies redistribute.
Once the gorgonzola is all melted, crank on a bunch of black pepper. Taste it to see if you need salt. Shake the hell out of the pasta in the colander, and dump it into the big skillet. Toss it all around and divide between two plates.
Wait until you can't stand it any longer, and then cut your steak against the grain (whatever that means). Apparently it makes it more tender. I'm going to go with just slice it thin and you'll be ok. I'm not going to lie, kids, I like a bloody steak. Medium-rare is A-OK with me, and since I generally pull steaks before they hit medium-rare because I'm afraid of a medium-well steak, I usually end up on the rare side of medium-rare. Which is also fine with me. One of the best things in the world, in my newly-formed opinion, is the combination of steak juices and the gorgonzola cream sauce of this pasta. It's a match made in heaven. Seriously.
I didn't take any photos of this dish, mostly because I was too hungry to. And because it disappeared all too quickly. But, trust me, the steak was perfect.... nicely crusted on the outside, still a beautiful pinky-red on the inside. I was thrilled. Thin steaks are tough, because it's hard, of course, to get them done through, but still delicious quickly. Things can get out of hand if you're not paying attention. Luckily, I was. Yummmm!!!!
Ok, better luck next time, In which I discuss our pizza for dinner tonight. :)
20080609
In which you can call me late to dinner.
After an amazing day at Coney Island, where you bet your ass I rode the Cyclone, AND the Wonder Wheel, AND ate a Nathans' HotDog, Jesse and I came home to a sweltering apartment. It was too hot to do anything. It was too hot to cook. It was too hot.... to live.
After a little while, I made a pie crust, so we could make the quiche that was abandoned on Tuesday night. I was nervous about its worth as a crust, because the butter and shortening definitely went from cold or frozen respectively, to kind of melty pretty fast. I hoped that it would firm up in the fridge.... but it didn't really. It was pretty soft, but since I rolled it out on the plastic wrap, I was able to wrap it around the rolling pin and get it into the pie plate. While it blind baked, I used my customary cooking method for the green beans and asparagus, putting the asparagus in about 1 minute before the green beans. I threw them all into a bowl of water in the fridge.
I was also chopping up a clove of garlic and half a red pepper. I sliced the asparagus and green beans, and sauteed them with the garlic, the pepper, and some butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I didn't want them mushy, I just wanted them flavored, and I wanted to be able to chew the asparagus. So, after they were quickly cooked, I took them out to cool while I whipped up the eggs and cream. Then, I pulled hte crust, took off the foil and beans (which were in there to weight down the crust while it cooked, so it didn't puff. If I'd left the crust raw, it would've been mushy at best and it would've taken longer than the eggs to cook. Big mess) and poured in the batter, as well as a healthy dose of gorgonzola crumbles. It baked for about 25 minutes, and then I took it out to cool a bit. During the cooling, a thunderstorm happened!!!
I ran into our room to look at it, and ended up falling asleep. Before I'd eaten. That's right. I definitely slept through dinner. Granted, it was already 10 PM. But still. I slept through to this morning. I guess that's what I needed, but I'm still really tired. Strange. And it's still too hot to cook. Rough.
Anyways. Jesse said the quiche was delicious. I had a piece this morning for breakfast. It was inspired. And I just had a piece cold out of the fridge because I am hungry but don't want to turn on the stove. Deeelish. :)
After a little while, I made a pie crust, so we could make the quiche that was abandoned on Tuesday night. I was nervous about its worth as a crust, because the butter and shortening definitely went from cold or frozen respectively, to kind of melty pretty fast. I hoped that it would firm up in the fridge.... but it didn't really. It was pretty soft, but since I rolled it out on the plastic wrap, I was able to wrap it around the rolling pin and get it into the pie plate. While it blind baked, I used my customary cooking method for the green beans and asparagus, putting the asparagus in about 1 minute before the green beans. I threw them all into a bowl of water in the fridge.
I was also chopping up a clove of garlic and half a red pepper. I sliced the asparagus and green beans, and sauteed them with the garlic, the pepper, and some butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I didn't want them mushy, I just wanted them flavored, and I wanted to be able to chew the asparagus. So, after they were quickly cooked, I took them out to cool while I whipped up the eggs and cream. Then, I pulled hte crust, took off the foil and beans (which were in there to weight down the crust while it cooked, so it didn't puff. If I'd left the crust raw, it would've been mushy at best and it would've taken longer than the eggs to cook. Big mess) and poured in the batter, as well as a healthy dose of gorgonzola crumbles. It baked for about 25 minutes, and then I took it out to cool a bit. During the cooling, a thunderstorm happened!!!
I ran into our room to look at it, and ended up falling asleep. Before I'd eaten. That's right. I definitely slept through dinner. Granted, it was already 10 PM. But still. I slept through to this morning. I guess that's what I needed, but I'm still really tired. Strange. And it's still too hot to cook. Rough.
Anyways. Jesse said the quiche was delicious. I had a piece this morning for breakfast. It was inspired. And I just had a piece cold out of the fridge because I am hungry but don't want to turn on the stove. Deeelish. :)
20080605
In which, yet again, I've fallen behind.
I admit it. I have recently lost my habit of blogging as things happen. I'm sorry, readership (all 4 of you). I will do better.
On Sunday, I did not make Macaroni Cheese. This is because it was hotter than bejeepers on Sunday. SO, instead, I made mussels steamed in white wine, the recipe for which, complete with photos, you can find.... here. Jesse and I ate on our roof, looked at the sunset, looked at Brooklyn, took some pictures, drank some wine, and generally were.... happy. I'll post photos probably tomorrow night. It was wonderful.
Me in my natural habitat 
The View.
And, the reason I cook at all: Us:
Monday night, I did make macaroni and cheese. And I did photograph most of it. I'm going to post pictures of this as well, with small descriptions, so you all know what went down.
And here they are!!!!
Step 1). Saute chopped-up pancetta, and shallot in a little olive oil:
Step 2). Add a little more olive oil to the pancetta/onion, then add some flour to make a roux that looks like this:
Step 3). Add the chicken stock and milk/cream combination outlined in my earlier RoniCheese post, to get something that looks like this:
Step 4). Have your boyfriend grate the cheese:
Step 5). Add the cheese to the cream sauce once it starts to bubble
Step 6). When pasta is done cooking, add it to the sauce and stir it around before pouring it into a baking pan:
Then, put the pasta under the broiler after you sprinkle it with breadcrumbs and grated parmesan, until it looks like so:
and.... Mangia!!!
Tuesday night, we cleaned. Jesse, K and I cleaned up the common spaces of our apartment after we grocery shopped, so that we could start the packing and the moving mindset (our lease ends on the 30th). It took a while, so we just reheated the roni cheese from Monday night. Still yummbly.
Last night, I made salmon and string beans. This salmon is probably the weirdest recipe I'd ever heard of, courtesy of my mother. We once had a bag of frozen salmon filets from Costco. They were beautiful, and one hot summer night while I was home from college, we decided to eat them. I didn't have any idea how to cook salmon, and the only way my mom could think of was to slather the top with mayonnaise, sprinkle it with dill, wrap it in foil, and bake it for 18-20 minutes. I'll admit, freely and openly, that I was grossed out by the theory. I eat as little mayonnaise as possible.
But, we did it, and this was amazing. It's been a go-to for me. I've varied it with a vinaigrette, with just olive oil, dill, and lemon, lots of ways. Basically.... I love this preparation.
So, last night, we made it. And I cooked string beans the best way I know how -- throw them in simmering salty water for about 2 minutes, 3 at most, and then pull them right out and throw them in an ice water bath. Along with keeping them green, this also keeps them crispy, because it stops the cooking. It's the best and only way to cook fresh green beans, in my humble opinion. Then again, I have a vendetta against a mushy vegetable.... so don't take my word for it.
But.... it was teh noms.
Tonight, I planned something although I wasn't sure if I'd be home or not... it's my nanny boss's last night of chef school, and there was some talk of the other babysitter covering tonight.
Alas, this is not the case.
However. That means that tomorrow, we can basically have tonight's dinner AND tomorrow's dinner. Tonight, we were meant to have marinated flank steak and my potato salad. Tomorrow... gorgonzola & walnut pasta. NOW, we can have both!! Tomorrow!! Yay!!!
Stay tuned.
Also, I'd like to take this quick break to announce a couple things.
1). I'm moving over the course of this month, so I think that the entries for a while might just be a few photos and a quick desription. I'll maybe come back later to edit and write about the recipes.
2). You'll all get to see pictures of my new kitchen, complete with built-in wine rack above the fridge, as soon as we move in.
3). I WILL BE THE PROUD OWNER OF A GRILL FOR MY BACK YARD!!!! It's at my parents' house. My dad is painting it green for me, and maybe making me a table.... with wheels possibly. YAAAAYYY!!! Be prepared for all the misadventures that come when this girl tries to lite her grill with the chimbly for the first time. Also, this is a Brooklyn back yard, so no comments from all you suburbans with your acres of grassland, m'kay???
4). Let's all take a moment to send some vibes of comfort, love, and happy-- the likes of which you get from a yummy comfort food -- to one of my most awesomest readers. Thanks all.
On Sunday, I did not make Macaroni Cheese. This is because it was hotter than bejeepers on Sunday. SO, instead, I made mussels steamed in white wine, the recipe for which, complete with photos, you can find.... here. Jesse and I ate on our roof, looked at the sunset, looked at Brooklyn, took some pictures, drank some wine, and generally were.... happy. I'll post photos probably tomorrow night. It was wonderful.
Me in my natural habitat 
The View.And, the reason I cook at all: Us:
Monday night, I did make macaroni and cheese. And I did photograph most of it. I'm going to post pictures of this as well, with small descriptions, so you all know what went down.
And here they are!!!!
Step 1). Saute chopped-up pancetta, and shallot in a little olive oil:Step 2). Add a little more olive oil to the pancetta/onion, then add some flour to make a roux that looks like this:
Step 3). Add the chicken stock and milk/cream combination outlined in my earlier RoniCheese post, to get something that looks like this:
Step 4). Have your boyfriend grate the cheese:
Step 5). Add the cheese to the cream sauce once it starts to bubble
Step 6). When pasta is done cooking, add it to the sauce and stir it around before pouring it into a baking pan:
Then, put the pasta under the broiler after you sprinkle it with breadcrumbs and grated parmesan, until it looks like so:
and.... Mangia!!! Tuesday night, we cleaned. Jesse, K and I cleaned up the common spaces of our apartment after we grocery shopped, so that we could start the packing and the moving mindset (our lease ends on the 30th). It took a while, so we just reheated the roni cheese from Monday night. Still yummbly.
Last night, I made salmon and string beans. This salmon is probably the weirdest recipe I'd ever heard of, courtesy of my mother. We once had a bag of frozen salmon filets from Costco. They were beautiful, and one hot summer night while I was home from college, we decided to eat them. I didn't have any idea how to cook salmon, and the only way my mom could think of was to slather the top with mayonnaise, sprinkle it with dill, wrap it in foil, and bake it for 18-20 minutes. I'll admit, freely and openly, that I was grossed out by the theory. I eat as little mayonnaise as possible.
But, we did it, and this was amazing. It's been a go-to for me. I've varied it with a vinaigrette, with just olive oil, dill, and lemon, lots of ways. Basically.... I love this preparation.
So, last night, we made it. And I cooked string beans the best way I know how -- throw them in simmering salty water for about 2 minutes, 3 at most, and then pull them right out and throw them in an ice water bath. Along with keeping them green, this also keeps them crispy, because it stops the cooking. It's the best and only way to cook fresh green beans, in my humble opinion. Then again, I have a vendetta against a mushy vegetable.... so don't take my word for it.
But.... it was teh noms.
Tonight, I planned something although I wasn't sure if I'd be home or not... it's my nanny boss's last night of chef school, and there was some talk of the other babysitter covering tonight.
Alas, this is not the case.
However. That means that tomorrow, we can basically have tonight's dinner AND tomorrow's dinner. Tonight, we were meant to have marinated flank steak and my potato salad. Tomorrow... gorgonzola & walnut pasta. NOW, we can have both!! Tomorrow!! Yay!!!
Stay tuned.
Also, I'd like to take this quick break to announce a couple things.
1). I'm moving over the course of this month, so I think that the entries for a while might just be a few photos and a quick desription. I'll maybe come back later to edit and write about the recipes.
2). You'll all get to see pictures of my new kitchen, complete with built-in wine rack above the fridge, as soon as we move in.
3). I WILL BE THE PROUD OWNER OF A GRILL FOR MY BACK YARD!!!! It's at my parents' house. My dad is painting it green for me, and maybe making me a table.... with wheels possibly. YAAAAYYY!!! Be prepared for all the misadventures that come when this girl tries to lite her grill with the chimbly for the first time. Also, this is a Brooklyn back yard, so no comments from all you suburbans with your acres of grassland, m'kay???
4). Let's all take a moment to send some vibes of comfort, love, and happy-- the likes of which you get from a yummy comfort food -- to one of my most awesomest readers. Thanks all.
20080601
In which we get a rant.
Ok. There are many things I love in my life, and a few things that I hate. I hate being so tired that my head nods unbidden I hate that I accidentally knocked my French Press off the kitchen table about 40 minutes ago while trying to spread out pizza dough, smashing it into pieces and cutting my hand twice in the process. I hate asshole members of RedSox Nation who chant "Yankees Suck" even still, especially in venues not involving the Yankees. For example, the jackass in the Sox hat last night at Cheap Shots yelling at the bartender that the Yankees sucked. You make me look bad. Also, when you're in Tampa Bay, don't start a Yankees Such chant. Especially if you're in Tampa Bay for a Patriots Game!!!!!
And then, I hate my apartment's stove. I hate it for many reasons. The most basic is that its cooktop is tiny. Its 4 burners just don't have enough space to breathe. Also, even when I turn the smallest burner on the lowest setting, it's still enough flame to scorch chili onto the bottom of my stockpot. That's just goddamned ridiculous. Furthermore, the floor is not even in my apartment, and the super couldn't be bothered to level out the stove, so it's not even. It tilts toward the front. Which means that stuff doesn't cook evenly. Also also, its oven is very flimsy. And it makes the room INCREDIBLY hot. Basically, I hate this stove. I also hate the lack of counter space in my kitchen. I cannot WAIT until we move. I cannot wait until I have a corner sink, and a hood with a fan, and another fan in the kitchen too.... I cannot wait for counter space. I cannot wait for a level floor and cabinets, and a kitchen that's up to regulations. As much as I love who is here.... I do not love this kitchen.
I also kind of hate working till midnight because my nanny bosses work in the food industry and "11:30" is a malleable concept. But I kind of like it because Jesse and I get to engage in "bistro dining", aka eating after midnight, because on Saturday nights, I get home wired, and cook. This is relevant, I swear. Also our dining plan got screwed up this week, with all the lease-signing/going out for Burgers and fries at Dumont Burger, going to see the Sex and The City Movie/going out after ness, and the "new apartment not being ready yet" ness. So basically, tonight we made Wednesday night's planned dinner, since we ate at Dumont Burger and tomorrow, we'll make Friday's planned dinner. Which means that today, we made pizza with tomatoes, goat cheese, olives,garlic, shallots, and parmesan. And I'm just starting to eat it now, at 2:16am.
Jesse made another stellar crust, while I was finishing up at and traveling home from work. When I got home, I stretched it and flattened it out, and the french press smashing ensued.... and then I finally got it set up and docked (which means I poked holes in the part that the toppings would be on, so it didn't puff up too much.) and started by sprinkling some parmesan on it. Then, I added sliced tomatoes, goat cheese, and whole black olives. Then, in a moment of inspiration, I added smashed garlic cloves, and a sliced shallot. Then, more parmesan. I baked at about 425... and it was DEEEEELICIOUS!!!! And kind of pretty.
Here it is cooking. The crust always ends up really thick on my pizzas. Apparently I didn't learn enough as a pizza wench back in high school -- I don't know how to stretch a pizza properly. I'll have to learn.
Anyways. It came out beautifully, and I was really happy about it. I love tasty food, and these flavors rocked out with their stuff out. It was nommy!!!!
Yaaaay pizza!
Hopefully, tomorrow, I will post photos of my nommy mac & cheese, so you can all see what I mean when I cook it. Hee. You should be happy.
And then, I hate my apartment's stove. I hate it for many reasons. The most basic is that its cooktop is tiny. Its 4 burners just don't have enough space to breathe. Also, even when I turn the smallest burner on the lowest setting, it's still enough flame to scorch chili onto the bottom of my stockpot. That's just goddamned ridiculous. Furthermore, the floor is not even in my apartment, and the super couldn't be bothered to level out the stove, so it's not even. It tilts toward the front. Which means that stuff doesn't cook evenly. Also also, its oven is very flimsy. And it makes the room INCREDIBLY hot. Basically, I hate this stove. I also hate the lack of counter space in my kitchen. I cannot WAIT until we move. I cannot wait until I have a corner sink, and a hood with a fan, and another fan in the kitchen too.... I cannot wait for counter space. I cannot wait for a level floor and cabinets, and a kitchen that's up to regulations. As much as I love who is here.... I do not love this kitchen.
I also kind of hate working till midnight because my nanny bosses work in the food industry and "11:30" is a malleable concept. But I kind of like it because Jesse and I get to engage in "bistro dining", aka eating after midnight, because on Saturday nights, I get home wired, and cook. This is relevant, I swear. Also our dining plan got screwed up this week, with all the lease-signing/going out for Burgers and fries at Dumont Burger, going to see the Sex and The City Movie/going out after ness, and the "new apartment not being ready yet" ness. So basically, tonight we made Wednesday night's planned dinner, since we ate at Dumont Burger and tomorrow, we'll make Friday's planned dinner. Which means that today, we made pizza with tomatoes, goat cheese, olives,garlic, shallots, and parmesan. And I'm just starting to eat it now, at 2:16am.
Jesse made another stellar crust, while I was finishing up at and traveling home from work. When I got home, I stretched it and flattened it out, and the french press smashing ensued.... and then I finally got it set up and docked (which means I poked holes in the part that the toppings would be on, so it didn't puff up too much.) and started by sprinkling some parmesan on it. Then, I added sliced tomatoes, goat cheese, and whole black olives. Then, in a moment of inspiration, I added smashed garlic cloves, and a sliced shallot. Then, more parmesan. I baked at about 425... and it was DEEEEELICIOUS!!!! And kind of pretty.
Here it is cooking. The crust always ends up really thick on my pizzas. Apparently I didn't learn enough as a pizza wench back in high school -- I don't know how to stretch a pizza properly. I'll have to learn.Anyways. It came out beautifully, and I was really happy about it. I love tasty food, and these flavors rocked out with their stuff out. It was nommy!!!!
Yaaaay pizza!
Hopefully, tomorrow, I will post photos of my nommy mac & cheese, so you can all see what I mean when I cook it. Hee. You should be happy.
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