I picked up Ayun Halliday's Dirty Sugar Cookies per a suggestion Joe made on his blog Foodie NYC. After reading it, I can't say enough good things about this book. Its more a book about life than a book about food. Its growing up and trying new things -- from cafeteria grub to trendy tofu to exotic Asian fair.
This book is hilarious. Ayun writes for the East Village Inky zine in NYC and is the author of her blog of the same name and a couple other books. She includes recipes at the end of each chapter in this book. My favorite has to be the 'shitty kitty confection' which is basically a cake-like litter box filled with half-melted tootsie rolls thrown in. Other recipes are just as crazy. What a truly wonderful book.
Reading this made me realize that one day I'm going to have kids of my own (despite what I've been saying for the past 20 years) and I'll have to feed those kids. I'll have to give in to the elaborately decorated birthday cakes and cupcakes, the school lunches in nondescript brown paper bags, and worst of all the struggle to make them not afraid to try new things! I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that the half-Chinese in my kids will predispose them to more adventurous eating. Fingers firmly crossed.
So I don't eat red meat. Lamb is the only exception. I have to say that I'm beyond tired of going to the grocery store only to find chicken (with rib meat!) or pork. Occasionally I'll splurge on some decent fish and I picked up some rock hens the other day and contemplated a duck. I've come to realize I don't have the same motive for avoiding red meat as I did back when I gave it up 10+ yrs ago. Back then I just hated beef in all its forms -- hamburgers, roast beef, steaks (because I always had them well-done gasp!). Now I've come to realize, like many other things, that I just never liked beef because it was never made correctly. Burgers still kind of freak me out and I'm rather proud of never eating a burger at a fast food place or restaurant of any sort my whole life.
So I sucked it up, forced back a gag in response to the bloody naked meat, and bought an inexpensive (yet flavorful!) skirt steak. I cooked it simply and drenched it in a sweet red wine sauce made from a dry red, sugar, bay leaf, worcheshire sauce.
Red wine risotto is one thing I make that makes my mouth do backflips. The smooth, creaminess and perfect balance of flavors lingers on my tongue the entire evening. It is simple to make if you can stir for 40 minutes. I'll admit to adapting (another word for 'steal') this recipe from Giada DeLaurentis, whose giant head and cleavage have mesmerized me for quite some time. It truly is wonderful and I have to make it more often and experiment with different flavors.
red wine risotto
1 C risotto
3 1/2 C low sodium shicken broth
3/4 cup dry red wine
2-3-more cloves garlic minced
2-3 shallots chopped
2-3 Tblsp butter
1/3 C thawed peas
1/2 C grated parmesean cheese
salt pepper to taste
the secret here is the wooden spoon
sautee the garlic and shallot in the butter then wine and then add rice toasting it
add 3/4 C of warm broth gradually stirring constantly watching as the rice soaks it up
stir for a minute or three each 3/4 C you add until all the broth is gone
lastly add the cheese, peas, salt pepper and oh creamy and delicious
So more red wine-ness to accompany the steak and to accompany this we finished off a bottle of a really wonderful French rosé. Domaine De Fontsainte Gris de Gris from 2005, which is really cheap and really wonderful -- with a beautiful deep pink color.
Daytona Beach has absolutely no Indian food. Ok, ok we have one little joint beach side that's just not good but sometimes when we're desperate for it, we give in. One of my goals for my week off from school was to make paneer. Yesterday this is what we did. It was loads of fun and documented in pictures. Behold our Indian food fest 2k6...
Making paneer can be rather intimidating and in some special places you can even buy it frozen or something. Not so in this crumby town. Don't be fooled by the recipe, it is really a cinch to make if you can curdle milk. First take 8 cups of milk (organic whole milk is best) and bring to a boil in a really big pot. When it is rumbling and foaming up add 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and wait. Let the curdling begin! It will look disgusting but it is truly delicious.
Let it just sit and do its thing on low heat. It will separate and turn yellowish . I'm not really sure when to stop this but you'll figure it out. Next, strain the big bowl of ew into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Let all that whey go down the drain. It will begin to look like cheese now. Drain it and drain it well. Squeeze the hell out of it by weighing it down with whatever you have on hand, a brick would do. You want it to be in a nice squarish, shape so you can later cut it into cubes. That's pretty much it now make Indian food with it!
The E Coli outbreak stopped us not! I luckily had a package of chopped frozen spinach in the freezer from long before the spinach shortage. To make Saag Paneer puree some wonderful garlic, ginger and onion to a paste then add that to a big pot full of thawed spinach and stir. Throw in some yogurt, cream (buttermilk if you have it), garam masala and chili powder. Simmer it for about 20 minutes and it might thicken up. Add the paneer cubes (you can fry them if you like) right before serving and this will thicken it too but some cornstarch or arrowroot will do the trick too. Piece of cake.
With some ground lamb we experimented with Keema. Brown the ground lamb (or beef or whatever) drain it, and set aside. Infuse some oil with cloves, cardamon pods, and bay leaf. Once that is piping hot add garlic and ginger paste, turmeric, cumin, garam masala, chopped tomatoes and onion. Throw in some yogurt and cream then add the meat and peas. I think this one needs some heat, so add some Thai chiles or serranos for good measure.
It pretty much took all afternoon to make all this but I make it sound like it was easy. I did have some help from my sous chef Diana, it was a good time. I also attempted to make my favorite hot sugary balls of fried dough -- aka Gulab Jaman. The recipe I used advised me to make a dough with carnation powder, Bisquick, yogurt (there it is again!) and a little milk. Roll out a bunch of little balls and deep fry them until they look like delightful hush puppies. Meanwhile you should make a syrup to soak them in with water, sugar, cardamon pods, and a splash of rose water. Soak the hush puppies in the syrup and well, they double in size! This part was unexpected. The shape didn't hold and things got a little mushy. They tasted pretty good but aren't the gulab jamun I'm used to from restaurants. I'll prob try again with a different recipe or the same recipe with some modification. I have loads of Bisquick now and I'm not a fan of pancakes. What to do...?
I've been a long time fan of Anthony Bourdain, particularly an avid viewer of his shows A Cook's Tour and No Reservations. His book Kitchen Confidential has been on my wishlist for months and I've picked it up nearly a dozen times but never purchased it until a few weeks ago.
I'd recommend this to the foodie and nonfoodie alike just because of the typical Tony-style crude humor, obscenity, and debauchery that amuses all, regardless of food knowledge. What struck me most about this book though was his description of his first oyster -- the first moment he knew that food was important. Ever since finishing this book, I've been trying to pinpoint that time in my life when I first started to take food seriously -- when food started dictating my every move. I ate a lot of awful stuff growing up and am having a really hard time deciphering the good memories. After all, we remember the bad memories more often than the bad. Like the time when I gorged myself on Chinese food and projectile vomited all over our new carpet, or the time I puked in my mom's shoes, or etc. I used to be one the pickiest eaters of all time, now look at me. As Tony says, "I'll try anything once."
My fondest food memories in childhood probably come from biting into fresh fruit and having the juice run down my chin. Good fruit in our local crap hole Food Lion was pretty rare, and exotic fruits like plums(!) and peaches were a special treat when my mom would bring them home. I distinctly remember eating an entire bag of small oranges in one sitting as well. When our cherry trees were weighed down with wonderful dark red plump berries, I would be stained from head to toe with cherry juice. Our old fashioned cherry seeder was always my favorite chore -- I'd grab handfuls of pitted black heart cherries and shove them in my face.
I have fond memories of visiting 'exotic' restaurants with my mom on our weekend shopping trips. I don't think any of these places exist anymore. We'd splurge on French food at La Petite Aurbage where they actually had steak tartare on the menu. I would gag at the thought. Chinese food, Thai food, authentic Mexican were also some of the more exciting adventures we'd take. The things I ate at these establishments were less than adventurous. Its going to take me some time to figure out what it was that forced me to develop my palate -- what it was that steered me in the direction of food enthustiast.
Adam, the Amateur Gourmet (whose book I'm terribly excited to read!), did a post a few weeks ago of the 10 best things he had eaten that week. I was thinking of his post and all the tasty tidbits I'd eaten this week. Unfortunately, I've been camera-less this week so you'll have to use your imagination.
Ginger Ice Cream
Diana and I had lunch at the one and only Thai restaurant in town, Songkran, which is normally pretty awful but I had heard rumors that they were doing some serious changes so I thought I'd give them another shot after my 5-month absence. My eggplant 'special' was less than special -- overly salted like everything I've ever eaten there. Dessert was another story. We decided to splurge on their ginger ice cream and honeydew melon sorbet. Both were quite wonderful but the ginger ice cream was heavenly! The idea didn't really appeal to me on hearing it but that's why I jumped to try it. This alone makes me want to break down and buy an ice cream maker tomorrow.
Roasted Garlic and Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes
I made these last night to go along with some sauteed veggies and Coho Salmon fillets with mint butter. Since my mom insists on always using an electric mixer when making mashed 'taters instead of using some elbow grease with a masher, I gave it a try and made a HUGE mess. There was potato all over my shirt all over the walls -- on everything within a few feet radius. I was intentionally not careful while beating though, because I was having so much fun making a mess. I ate these again today as a snack and they are still wonderful.
First Pomegranate as an Adult
My first pomegranate experience was in elementary school or maybe 6th grade after learning about the Greek goddess Persephone. I told my mom I wanted to try a pomegranate and somehow she managed to find one in our produce challenged local Food Lion (I'm rather puzzled by this). I took it to school for show-and-tell but I don't really remember eating more than a seed or two. Siripon had them cheap this week so I stocked up for our Rosh Hashanah party tomorrow night. Cutting this thing open to behold hundreds of glistening seeds all grouped together like jewels, was a pretty amazing experience. I'll be making a salad with them tomorrow night.
Bok Choy with Bacon and Pine Nuts
Diana cooked this up over at our place this week and gave me permission to steal it. Bacon renderings bok choy and pine nuts made for a wonderful combination that I will be making very soon myself.
Homemade Toaster Strudel
I had some leftover puff pastry and guests wanting dessert so I improvised. I thawed some frozen black cherries and blueberries. In a bowl I whipped ricotta a few tablespoons of whipping cream with a tad of icing sugar, vanilla, and Cointreau. Once the puff pastry puffed, I topped one square with the whipped mixture then a spoonful of fruit then another square of pastry. They were pretty impossible to eat with a fork so we just picked them up and ate them like sandwiches, which reminded me of all those toaster strudels I used to eat before school -- saving the icing packet until last, sucking it down by itself.
Garlic and Chive Boursin Cheese
Boursin cheese is my new favorite thing in the world. I salivate just thinking about it. I've mentioned the wonderful cracked black pepper kind in previous myspace blogs, but I can't seem to find it anymore at the grocery store. They used to have several different spreads to chose from but now they just have garlic and chive. This was so good I ate it for breakfast! Normally I'm a little freaked out by eating non-breakfasty food for breakfast but this cheese makes you warm and fuzzy all over. Enough said.
Kuentz-Bas 2004 Alsace
This is a mystery wine. I have no idea the blend of varietals but its good! It went nicely with last night's meal. Honey, tart pear, and a crisp finish.
Rosh Hashanah feast for next time!
My lack of blogging is a result of being in the middle of finals and countless other exams the past two weeks. I've been eating out a lot and throwing together quick curries and other simple, unextraordinary eats. After finals I have a week off to do nothing but be lazy, catch up on reading and work my poor little kitchen to death. I intend to bake and bake and bake and whip up all sorts of things that I've been meaning to learn how to do or just experiment with. I'm terribly excited.
The only thing of note that I threw together was this wonderful fig, feta, and mâche salad with honey balsamic vinaigrette I had absolutely no idea what mâche was but it looked so wonderfully soft and silky in its container. It was just that. Mâche is also known as Lewiston cornsalad, mache, mâche, doucette, rampon, lamb's lettuce, field salad, nüssli, nüsslisalat, rapunzel, and Rampien. I prefer 'rapunzel,' but lamb's lettuce seems to best describe the texture and softness of the green. It makes for an excellent pre-fall salad.
Last weekend's potluck was so much fun, we decided to give it another shot this weekend. Instead of having surprise-randomized types of dishes, we settled on a theme -- sort of. It turned into a tapas style meal but with fall type foods -- fall tapas.
We each made a ridiculous amount of food. The table only could hold about half. I made a white cannellini bean dip with toasted oregano pita chips, Cuban bread toasts with either tomato, parsley, and feta mixture on top or roasted red pepper, feta, and caper topping. In addition, I threw together a simple asparagus and artichoke heart frittata, and roasted fennel orange salad with mint. That was just a third of it all.
We also had... sweet potatoes roasted with sesame seed and toasted coconut, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread pudding with caramel brandy sauce, cognac glazed carrots, bacon wrapped dates, fried plantains, and Gruyere and bechamel cauliflower. To wash all this down, we downed a bottle of Gewurz, Sin Zin, St Francis Claret, and Pumpkin Ale.
Afterward we had to walk it off on the beach and just sit and digest slowly. I'll mention the recipe for the roasted fennel salad because its wonderful and it was requested of me to make it yesterday despite all the other food we had. Its a piece of cake to throw together and it really is wonderful.
Roasted Fennel and Orange Salad
1 roasted fennel bulb (either slow roasted in the oven or sauteed stovetop until tender)
1/2 large red onion thinly sliced
2 oranges segmented and juices reserved
2 tblsp chopped mint
2 tblsp chopped fennel fronds
for the dressing,
whisk orange juice, salt/pepper, while drizzling olive oil until emulsified
Dress the salad and serve cold or at room temperature
