Me vs. The Menu

Cookies (what I've learned)

Measure exactly.  Use unsalted butter.  Sift the flour with whatever the recipe calls for.  Whip the sugar and butter for no less than 10 minutes - creamy needs time.  When it all comes together you're only 1/3 of the way there.  You've got to cool the dough for a while; a long, long while.  The colder the better.  When it comes time to cook, use the top rack with another empty pan underneath.  Watch the first batch closely, times vary from batch to batch, but usually not within the same batch.  Enjoy cookies all the time - making them, eating them, and sharing them.

my LOST meal

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Along with what seems like the entire world, I decided to tune into ABC for tonight's epic LOST series finale.  As a tribute to the show's never ending surprises and twists, I decide to have some salmon steaks made up as I went along...kind of like the storyline (or "arc" for you writer-types).  After a quick trip to the neighborhood grocery, here's what I came home with - salmon steak, cilantro, garlic, scallions, lime, honey, and peanut oil.  Assemble as follows - First, make the sauce by blending 2 cups loose parsley, 3 tablespoons peanut oil, 5 cloves garlic (perhaps too much, but I heart garlic), 2 pinches of salt, 1 tablespoon honey, and a little water until it has a consistency to your liking.  Second, cook the salmon in a cast iron skillet (my favorite).  Bring the skillet up to medium for about a minute, add the oil and raise the temp slightly.  Next, add the seasoned salmon (salt & pepper only) to the skillet and cook on one side for about 4 minutes.  Flip the steak over and add the thinly sliced scallion.  Cook the steak until the scallions are crispy and the salmon is to your liking.  Layer the salmon steak over the crispy scallions and add the cilantro-honey glaze.  It wasn't perfect (that's why there's no pictures) and the exact ingredients, quantities, and procedures might evolve, so I'll keep trying.  If you try it or if you have some suggestions let me hear ya...also, if you have thoughts about the finale, you should probably post them here.

smorgasbord (most...links...ever)

( image taken from living-language.org )

Webster's defines "smorgasbord" like so...

Main Entry: smor·gas·bord
Pronunciation: \ˈsmor-gəs-ˌbord\
Function: noun
Etymology: Swedish smörgåsbord, from smörgås open sandwich + bord table
Date: 1879
1 : a luncheon or supper buffet offering a variety of foods and dishes (as hors d'oeuvres, hot and cold meats, smoked and pickled fish, cheeses, salads, and relishes)
2 : an often large heterogeneous mixture : mélange

With that in mind, let's catch-up on a few things...

First, I won the yearly Cinco de Mayo guacamole contest at work.  More clear, I tied.  Even more clear, I cheated.  Well, not exactly "cheated" more like "campaigned for votes in a effort to draw attention to my obviously superior recipe in an attempt to garner support."  Is that really cheating?  I thought so too; so I stepped down from the champions' podium and allowed the real winner to bask in office culinary glory.  It was deserved...who would have thought a great guacamole recipe would come out of New Jersey?  Anyhow, here is the guacamole recipe I used.

Second, who doesn't love cast iron cookware?  I know I can't live without mine.  Mostly I use a plain old fashioned 12" skillet by Lodge .  I got mine years ago, but I think it's finally coming into form.  I use it constantly - on the grill (at least when we were in Texas), on the stove top, and in the oven.  The best part - it's super easy to clean.  Just don't use soap.  Warm water, scrub it down, and pop it in a warm oven for fifteen minutes to dry.  Finally, a lite coat of olive oil keeps it ready for the next use.  Now, I know these have become increasingly popular and there are a variety of options out there, but I've got my eye on this one by Fjorn.  By the way, check out Fjorn's philosophy against "throwawayism."

Third, several months ago I came across a recipe for Momofuku Milk Bar's compost cookies.  This unusual recipe features a foundation of crushed potato chips and pretzels. Throw in a good mix of whatever you deemed best in cookies and you have a fantastic treat.  They were devoured at both the wife's office and mine as well in minutes.  About David Chang - he opened his first restaurant, Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village in 2003.  According to his website, momofuku means 'lucky peach' in Japanese; it could also be a reference to Momofuku Ando the inventor of instant noodles.  In the years that followed, Chang opened Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Ko (a 12 seat restaurant that takes reservations in advance, online only, on a first-come-first-served basis, without regard to social status or income.  I'm still gaming to get into this one), Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar, and recently the French-Vietnamese inspired Má Pêche inside Midtown’s Chambers Hotel.  As a cookie recipe with chips would seem to suggest, Chang has a penchant for recipes with odd ingredients.  If that sort of thing interests you, there is a cookbook available and this interesting blog which features the recipes geared for two.

Fourth, I've been on a Breaking Bad marathon recently.  If you haven't seen this show and you love really tense, engaging, uncomfortable, character-loving-then-character-hating dramas check it out.  iTunes - get it.

Finally, and so I can give you more links than anytime before, here are a few recipes I have lined up in the queue:

Lemon-Scented Pull-apart Loaf

Brussels Sprout and Pancetta Pizza

Chocolate Bourbon Truffle-Turtle Tart

Baked Falafel

Flaky Cheddar and Ham Biscuits

Raspberry Buckle

Lemony Risotto with Asparagus and Shrimp

Orange Chicken

Sopa de Lima

Food Art is Food Fun!

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and we're having the annual guacamole contest at my work.  Hopefully I'll do better this year, than I did  last year.  Either way, I'll report in after tomorrow with the recipe for my submission - until then it's a super secret.  Not that big of a deal, not like Food Art - check it out.

You Know What I Like?

PopChips and Lemon Hummus.  Mmm-mmm good.  A co-worker introduced me to PopChips and ever since I've been hooked, when I'm not dipping them into hummus, I usually go for the Barbeque flavor.  They are by far the best flavored chip going right now.  Try some and you might just get hooked too.

Edible Garden

We've been kicking around the notion of buying a home, and with a home comes the chance to grow an honest to goodness garden.  Until then we're left to window sill gardens (limited), or sneaking the occasional planter onto the fire escape (illegal).  By now, I'm sure you have seen the upside down tomato planters, but here are two recent finds have us thinking in an entirely new way - check out woollypockets, and DYI window farms.

Saturday Special

My wife made a favorite recipe this weekend - crab cakes.  They were the best.  About four years ago she went to Chicago for a convention and happened to order them at Keefer's Restuarant.  If you want to make them at home too, here's the recipe.  We decided to place them on a mix of greens tossed with a light a vinaigrette and opened a bottle of grenache to complete the course.  To show my gratitude I made the desert - apple crisp.  It was lacking, but she assures me that she can fix that too...next time.

Friday Night Bites

To kick-off the weekend we finally took the opportunity to make it over to Sweet Afton.  I've been wanting to check out this establishment since it opened in Astoria last August.  Well, we went, we saw, we tasted and we were not blown away.  Don't get me wrong it was good, not great, but good. 

The service was way better than the complaints online; our waitress was attentive and friendly.  The food, however, was just so-so.  We ordered the fried pickles, hand cut french fries, and Irish sausage rolls. What?  It's a bar...we had bar food. Know this - I love pickles and I would fry my cat's tail if I thought it would taste great.  The fried pickles at Sweet Afton are more like Puff Pickles, the batter was doughy and rubbery not crispy and flaky like the word "fried" suggests to me.  The french fries were average and the puff pastry wrapped sausage rolls were great until I dipped them in the HP Sauce that accompanies the dish.  Maybe I've suckled on the A1 sauce infused teet of America too long, but I much prefer that sauce to the British alternative, and I should have known better.

And the drinks (did I mention it was a bar?) were well...interesting.  We both ordered the Spicy Cherry Margarita.  As the menu maintains this drink is a mix of Habanero infused tequila, cherry preserve, simple syrup, and lime.  True to it's name, it's spicy and took me nearly 40 minutes to drink.  For comparison, it usually takes me ten minutes to finish the average margarita; 5 minutes if it's been a long week.  Given the time issues related to the first round, we decided to only stay for one, but there were a couple of other choices I'd come back for next time.  So, I guess what I'm saying is that despite the bar food, the bar drinks mean I'll probably be back.

No Freakin Way

Guess where these coffee beans come from.  YIKES!

Quick Question

Do you prefer sea salt, kosher salt, or table salt?

Lest we think these are the only choices, there are apparently loads more available.  Then there are those arguments about the health benefits of one over the other; or maybe not.  And if that's enough to inform your choice, there's even a book about the History of Salt.

Me, I use sea salt on prepared foods, table salt in recipes, and kosher salt where specifically called out.  I use pickling salt when I'm in a quandary.