The latest trend to hit food blogs: a 100 list of food, detailing what you have eaten, what you haven't eaten and what you won't eat. This seems to have originated from Very Good Taste (a blog that I don't read), but I found it here, at Another Glass of Champagne Please.
Here are the rules:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you,Aeove eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (These are italicized, mainly because I don't have the crossout feature in the blogging tool I'm using.)
4) Optional extra: Post a comment linking to your results.
Here we go. I've added comments to each one.
1. Venison: I remember eating freshly killed venison chicken fried steak style. A few years ago at Boulevard, Nilay, Carrie, Emil and I feasted on venison carpaccio.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros: I lived in the Bay Area until 2 1/2 years ago. I adore!
4. Steak tartare: I love. Huge thanks to Bryan for introducing me to this one.
5. Crocodile: Does alligator count? If it does, than it's a yes.
6. Black pudding. Every morning for breakfast in Ireland when I was there in May. Delicious.
7. Cheese fondue. Fondue is an Olhava Christmas Eve tradition, and once Ed and I reached cooking maturity, it became all about the cheese fondue. One of the things that I miss about family holidays.
8. Carp
9. Borscht. I lived in St. Petersburg for a summer. I love beets. One of my favorite meals ever, at a monastery, involved borscht and pelmeni (Russian style ravioli)
10. Baba ghanoush. Mashed up eggplant with garlic, lemon and tahini. What is not to love?
11. Calamari. The fried tentacles are my favorites.
12. Pho. Someday, I'll learn to make proper pho.
13. PB&J sandwich. Um, duh. I'm a white girl from the suburbs.
14. Aloo gobi.
15. Hot dog from a street cart.. In NYC. And at the ball park.
16. Epoisses. I had to look this one up - it's unpasteurized cow's milk cheese. And it's delicious, or at least the unpasteurized version, as I live in a country that is mortally afraid of any sort of germ.
17. Black truffle. Absolutely any chance. In the meantime, I have truffle salt to augment everything.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes. Rhubarb wine. Not that great.
19. Steamed pork buns. Mmmm...
20. Pistachio ice cream. Maybe as a child, but I really can't remember.
21. Heirloom tomatoes. Of course!
22. Fresh wild berries. During my first Seattle summer, I picked them off the side of the street while walking home from the gym. Then someone pointed out that they probably weren't very good for me, considering the exhaust from the freeway a few feet away. And of course, Grandma Luttrell would pick buckets of berries by the creek when I was a child.
23. Foie gras . At almost every opportunity.
24. Rice and beans. One of my favorite Mexican food staples.
25. Brawn, or head cheese. I honestly don't know. I did slice it when I spent two summers working at the Vallergas deli.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper. No - that stuff is HOT. As in, wear plastic gloves when cutting. No way it's going in my mouth.
27. Dulce de leche. Mmmmmm...
28. Oysters. Any opportunity.
29. Baklava . Delicious. About a year ago, someone at work brought in the Turkish variety. I fell in love all over again. Honey: human's original sugar.
30. Bagna cauda. I also had to look this up. Sounds delicious, but not yet. It's on my list.
31. Wasabi peas. I wonder how many cocktail sized bowls I ate in Dublin at the Westbury with my Guinness?
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. The San Francisco tradition.
33. Salted lassi.
34. Sauerkraut. I'm Polish, of course I adore sauerkraut.
35. Root beer float.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar. Does this count if you've had each, but separately?
37. Clotted cream tea. I'm assuming that this refers to the traditional English tea, and yes. Most memorable: the Pump Room at Bath.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O. Thanks to Kanaka, every year at Big Game.
39. Gumbo.
40. Oxtail. I love oxtail. Quinn's does an exceptional job. Some day, I'll be brave enough to cook it at home (the recipe from Like Water for Chocolate has ALWAYS tempted me)
41. Curried goat. Surprisingly, no.
42. Whole insects. Unless I didn't know.
43. Phaal. I'm going to italicize this one. I think I had it with Nilay and Jai in Bath, but am not quite sure.
44. Goat,Aeos milk. I just ate Goat's milk cheese last night!
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth -#60/$120 or more. Maybe when tasting at the Jameson distillery, but no. I have a whiskey drinking partner at work, and am thinking it's time to start dropping some hints.
46. Fugu. Almost an italic, but I've heard it's an amazing culinary experience.
47. Chicken tikka masala . I consider this dish Indian for beginners. It's actually not really Indian, the British invented it, and now it vies with fish and chips as the #1 dish in England.
48. Eel. Sushi staple. And some delicious eel at Quinn's a few weeks ago.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin. Had it, hated it.
51. Prickly pear. Not a prickly pear, but does the syrup that Richard uses to make me margaritas count?
52. Umeboshi. No, but I want to try these Japanese pickled fruits.
53. Abalone. A great thing about living near the California coast. I remember eating growing up.
54. Paneer. Mmmm..saag paneer.
55. McDonald,Aeos Big Mac Meal. Once, when I was in high school, because I had a coupon. I don't remember how it tastes, and doubt I'll ever have another one as I hate almost everything that McDonald's stands for.
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini. I'm going to say vodka counts as I rarely drink gin.
58. Beer above 8% ABV. Did you really think I wouldn't bold this one?
59. Poutine. Featured on Smith's menu. A Canadian dish combining fries, gravy and curds, baked into delicious goodness. (Smith does a similar dish, also with demi glace and if you're especially decadent, foie gras.)
60. Carob chips. Nature's chocolate, to quote Kitty Forman.
61. S,Aeomores. It would be more often if I did nature activities, like camping. I also make a killer S'mores ice cream cake.
62. Sweetbreads. I'm thinking menudo counts. And I have a feeling that I've had sweetbreads, just don't know where. Sweetbreads were a standard menu item at the Napa Valley Inn, my family's favorite restaurant growing up, where we had a waitress who knew us, knew our drink orders and our food preferences.
63. Kaolin. It's clay and mud, sometimes mixed in with food. No, although if the apocalypse hits, then maybe I'll revisit.
64. Currywurst
65. Durian. Never eaten, but want to try. Must remember next time I'm at an Asian market.
66. Frogs,Aeo legs. Amazingly, I've never eaten. Someday.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake. Beignets in New Orleans. Churros at a fair. Yummy sugary goodness.
68. Haggis. I ate every morning for breakfast in Scotland. Delicious. When seasoned properly, organ meat is some of the best stuff for you.
69. Fried plantain. Interesting that I despise bananas (practically made a co-worker leave a conference room to finish eating her banana a few weeks ago), but prepared properly, I think plantains are lovely. Especially the ones that I ate with almost every single meal in Panama.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette. Pork intestines. I don't think so, but they sound delicious.
71. Gazpacho. This reminds me - it's August and time to make gazpacho.
72. Caviar and blini. Mmmm...ultimate decadence, particularly with some good champagne or vodka.
73. Louche absinthe. Can I tell you how excited I am that absinthe is now legal in the U.S.?
74. Gjetost, or brunost. Oh yeah, baby. Stinky cheese.
75. Roadkill. I'm fairly certain I ate cat the summer I lived in Russia. Kittens played in the restaurant we frequented, and then one day, they were gone...and we had a lot of meat in our stew.
76. Baijiu. Not yet, although it sounds quite similar to shoju, a bottle of which I have in my liquor cabinet waiting for me to crack open.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie . I can honestly say I have never had one. And I probably never well - the hostess fruit pie goes against all of my non-processed food rules.
78. Snail. It tastes like steak, with garlic and butter
79. Lapsang souchong. Can't get past the smell.
80. Bellini. The only reason this is a no is because I absolutely hate peaches (Parents, never, ever force your children to eat food they find disgusting. Trust me, it will scar them in ways you never imagined). But every other sort of champagne and juice combination is loved, including the standard mimosa, the poinsetta (cranberry and champagne) and pomegranate juice and champagne.
81. Tom yum. Thai. Yum, indeed.
82. Eggs Benedict. A staple at Venus Cafe.
83. Pocky.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. The French Laundry! I'm surprised De Kas isn't the Michellin list.
85. Kobe beef. So delicious.
86. Hare. For some reason, I'm thinking rabbit does not count.
87. Goulash
88. Flowers. Edible ones are delicious, on drinks, in salads...
89. Horse. I'm conflicted. I've heard that horse fat makes the best french fries ever, but not sure I can eat Flicka's friend, even though they do scare me.
90. Criollo chocolate. I'm not exactly sure what kind of chocolate this is, but considering the amount of chocolate I've consumed in 35 years, I have had to had this.
91. Spam. I ate fried up as a kid. Not such a big fan as an adult, but admit that I love it as musubi (Hawaiian way on rice)
92. Soft shell crab. Mostly, in spider roles.
93. Rose harissa. In Morocco, a few years ago.
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano. Mmmm...mole...
96. Bagel and lox.
97. Lobster Thermidor. I believe I have, maybe at the French Laundry (or at least a variant).
98. Polenta. A staple in my house.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee. Not yet.
100. Snake. I may have, in Hawaii when I was 17. But I don't know.
Twenty items that I haven't tried. Two that I won't eat. Not as impressive as I would have thought, but gives me some culinary goals.
A few things are missing from this list: brains (no, but want to try); kim chee (Korean pickled cabbage, absolutely delicious); raw quail eggs (excellent on sushi); squid ink (deep and dark flavor, reflective of the color); red beans (as in the Asian dessert variety); marrow; a Twinkie; pickled lemon; pickled herring ... do you have any others?
Sitting an extra day on this post gave me some time to think. My first thoughts were around the completeness of this list - it seems to be a bit heavy on the Western food experience, and really, not that obscure or exotic. Come on, who hasn't tried chicken tikka masala? And where are some of the more obscure Indian and Asian dishes?
But then, it occurred to me, for many people, this food list is exotic. Even though I think chicken tikka masala is beginner's Indian, a lot of people probably would never try it. It contains odd spices, it's not American, it, and so many others on this list, push the boundaries of what we consider "normal" or "acceptable". I forget that not everyone shares my attitude of "try everything". Or find out ingredients and immediately hate a dish because it contains something they think they don't like. Or live in a geographic area where Olive Garden is the epitomy of good Italian food.
I guess acceptable food is in the eye of the beholder. But really, people's unwillingness to try the unfamiliar kills me.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
The 75 Cent Tamale
I spent last week in Baltimore, DC and Denver. Before getting to the topic at hand, a few notes:
--If you ever go tubing, avoid families by showing up after 1:00, spring for the floating cooler, and plan on stopping somewhere along the river bank for something from that floating cooler. Despite taking not having taken my words of wisdom, tubing down the Shenandoah was pretty cool, both from a "hey, I'm tubing" and temperature sense. Plus, the historical nature of the Shenandoah, including historic battlefields, was somewhat inspiring. And then, a very nice picnic after with Tony's excellent potato casserole, my new favorite grape/feta/mint picnic salad and a few other treats.
--Baltimore is a shell of a city. It feels depressed. Beautiful row houses are boarded up and disintegrating. Crime is rampant. With the exception of a few blocks, the city is dead at night. A few people are trying...and the rest aren't. As you'd expect, the food scene is pretty sad. I did have good Afghani food (thank you Tony) and very nice brunch at Jillian's (at the free to the public at all times Baltimore City Art Museum, thank you Julie). I really do thank the visionaries of Seattle and San Francisco (plus the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake) for ensuring that I'm able to live in such vibrant, lovely cities.
--If you're going to Baltimore, don't fly into Reagen International. It turns out that despite being in a colony where it's easy to knock through 5 states in a day, Reagen isn't that close to anything, except the capitol.
--Morton's in Bethesda is overpriced and not worth it. I'm also trying not to be bitter that the bartender didn't tell me about the burger special (Sunday nights only, delicious looking hamburger with sides and fries, all proceeds for some children's fundraiser, the plates coming out of the kitchen looked far better than my crab cake and chopped salad).
--I've gone on two business trips with Char. Both times, I've ended up sick. We now share an office. I think I need to start watching my back.
Now, to the real point of this blog. Denver. Or more specifically, the $0.75 tamale.
With the exception of the airport, I've never spent any time in Denver. Tracy has always sung its praises, and I've heard many good things about Colorado in general. After spending a few days in Denver, I have to agree, it's pretty damn cool.
Twenty years ago, someone had a dream. The downtown area is revitalized, seamlessly blending commercial stores and restaurants with Old Frontier construction, especially once you get past the commercial strip; the frontier buildings reminded me of downtown Napa and Yreka, both also frontier towns. The Denver Arts area intermingles effortlessly with the Capitol building (did you know before reading this entry that Denver is the capitol of Colorado?), the Colorado river and the convention center (where the Democrats are heading). And amazingly, unlike other areas, such as LA and Seattle, the convention center doesn't look like it was dropped into the middle of the city, but rather, thoughtfully integrated within what already existed.
Tracy briefly mentioned that Denver has good Mexican food, which immediately set my foodie instincts aflutter. While walking to Tamayo, a very tasty and slightly upscale Mexican restaurant for lunch (so good, we ate there twice), we passed a few carts selling a selection of burritos and tamales. Street food, in my opinion, can only be good...and the next day, we were stopped. If it were bad, we reasoned, we would have only spent $1.50. If it was good, that would be $1.50 of deliciousness.
Luckily for us, the red chile pork tamale was in that second category.
The masa was the perfect blend of not too dry, but moist enough to stay together. The pork was braised, slightly spicy in the red pepper sauce. I fell in love on the spot, practically choking back tears as I ate. Pure perfection, wrapped in a corn husk. The tamale was worth more than $0.75, in my mind.
"I'm going to buy some to take home," I told Char, and promptly marched up to the seller. A conversation later, he promised me that I'd have two dozen to take home the next day, a dozen of the green chile and cheese, a dozen of the red chile and pork. He claimed the chile and cheese were "very good", and who was I to doubt the man that had brought me red chile pork tamales? Char and I decided to split the cache.
See that picture below? Look closely. That's my suitcase, holding a dozen delicious green chile and cheese tamales. I have always kept a few gallon size ziploc bags in my suitcase for emergencies, of what sort, I didn't know until now. Tamale emergencies.
Tonight, I made a grilled tomato salsa and guacamole, heated up a few tamales, and feasted. The dish, prefeast, in the picture below. Tomorrow night, I'm looking forward to the pork tamales. Good Mexican food...so hard to find here, so delicious (and cheap) elsewhere.
By the way, we had to stay in the Denver Ritz Carlton. Powers outside of my control upgraded me to a suite, which was only slightly smaller than my condo. I gave the five-minute tour of my suite: sitting room, bedroom (most comfy hotel bed ever), dressing room and giant bathroom. Two HD TVs meant some serious Olympic viewing time, reminding me that it's time to upgrade from the analog and rabbit ears to HD for football season. Oh, and Elway's oatmeal brulee, delicious. Think creme brulee, but with creamy oatmeal enclosed in the warm sugar crust.
--If you ever go tubing, avoid families by showing up after 1:00, spring for the floating cooler, and plan on stopping somewhere along the river bank for something from that floating cooler. Despite taking not having taken my words of wisdom, tubing down the Shenandoah was pretty cool, both from a "hey, I'm tubing" and temperature sense. Plus, the historical nature of the Shenandoah, including historic battlefields, was somewhat inspiring. And then, a very nice picnic after with Tony's excellent potato casserole, my new favorite grape/feta/mint picnic salad and a few other treats.
--Baltimore is a shell of a city. It feels depressed. Beautiful row houses are boarded up and disintegrating. Crime is rampant. With the exception of a few blocks, the city is dead at night. A few people are trying...and the rest aren't. As you'd expect, the food scene is pretty sad. I did have good Afghani food (thank you Tony) and very nice brunch at Jillian's (at the free to the public at all times Baltimore City Art Museum, thank you Julie). I really do thank the visionaries of Seattle and San Francisco (plus the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake) for ensuring that I'm able to live in such vibrant, lovely cities.
--If you're going to Baltimore, don't fly into Reagen International. It turns out that despite being in a colony where it's easy to knock through 5 states in a day, Reagen isn't that close to anything, except the capitol.
--Morton's in Bethesda is overpriced and not worth it. I'm also trying not to be bitter that the bartender didn't tell me about the burger special (Sunday nights only, delicious looking hamburger with sides and fries, all proceeds for some children's fundraiser, the plates coming out of the kitchen looked far better than my crab cake and chopped salad).
--I've gone on two business trips with Char. Both times, I've ended up sick. We now share an office. I think I need to start watching my back.
Now, to the real point of this blog. Denver. Or more specifically, the $0.75 tamale.
With the exception of the airport, I've never spent any time in Denver. Tracy has always sung its praises, and I've heard many good things about Colorado in general. After spending a few days in Denver, I have to agree, it's pretty damn cool.
Twenty years ago, someone had a dream. The downtown area is revitalized, seamlessly blending commercial stores and restaurants with Old Frontier construction, especially once you get past the commercial strip; the frontier buildings reminded me of downtown Napa and Yreka, both also frontier towns. The Denver Arts area intermingles effortlessly with the Capitol building (did you know before reading this entry that Denver is the capitol of Colorado?), the Colorado river and the convention center (where the Democrats are heading). And amazingly, unlike other areas, such as LA and Seattle, the convention center doesn't look like it was dropped into the middle of the city, but rather, thoughtfully integrated within what already existed.
Tracy briefly mentioned that Denver has good Mexican food, which immediately set my foodie instincts aflutter. While walking to Tamayo, a very tasty and slightly upscale Mexican restaurant for lunch (so good, we ate there twice), we passed a few carts selling a selection of burritos and tamales. Street food, in my opinion, can only be good...and the next day, we were stopped. If it were bad, we reasoned, we would have only spent $1.50. If it was good, that would be $1.50 of deliciousness.
Luckily for us, the red chile pork tamale was in that second category.
The masa was the perfect blend of not too dry, but moist enough to stay together. The pork was braised, slightly spicy in the red pepper sauce. I fell in love on the spot, practically choking back tears as I ate. Pure perfection, wrapped in a corn husk. The tamale was worth more than $0.75, in my mind.
"I'm going to buy some to take home," I told Char, and promptly marched up to the seller. A conversation later, he promised me that I'd have two dozen to take home the next day, a dozen of the green chile and cheese, a dozen of the red chile and pork. He claimed the chile and cheese were "very good", and who was I to doubt the man that had brought me red chile pork tamales? Char and I decided to split the cache.
See that picture below? Look closely. That's my suitcase, holding a dozen delicious green chile and cheese tamales. I have always kept a few gallon size ziploc bags in my suitcase for emergencies, of what sort, I didn't know until now. Tamale emergencies.
Tonight, I made a grilled tomato salsa and guacamole, heated up a few tamales, and feasted. The dish, prefeast, in the picture below. Tomorrow night, I'm looking forward to the pork tamales. Good Mexican food...so hard to find here, so delicious (and cheap) elsewhere.
By the way, we had to stay in the Denver Ritz Carlton. Powers outside of my control upgraded me to a suite, which was only slightly smaller than my condo. I gave the five-minute tour of my suite: sitting room, bedroom (most comfy hotel bed ever), dressing room and giant bathroom. Two HD TVs meant some serious Olympic viewing time, reminding me that it's time to upgrade from the analog and rabbit ears to HD for football season. Oh, and Elway's oatmeal brulee, delicious. Think creme brulee, but with creamy oatmeal enclosed in the warm sugar crust.
Quinn's
Hands down, Quinn's is one of my favorite Seattle restaurants. It's just not that it's located within a 15 minute walk of my house, or that the bar cranks out excellent drinks and has an impressive beer menu, or that the wait staff is friendly, cool and crush-worthy, but also, most importantly, the food is amazing. Wait, that's amazing as in a-MA-zing. As in, not one bad meal in the probably 15 times I've dined since it opened last October.
Quinn's calls itself a gastropub, which means that the traditional pub food is there, but elevated to another level. Rarebit? That's served as a warm pretzel with a complex cheese sauce. Salad, yes, but spiced up with new ingredients; my favorite is the bread salad, with fennel, radishes, olives, cucumbers, lettuce and of course, grilled bread. Hamburger...wagyu beef with a pile of delicious fries. Meat, in the form of braised oxtails with gnocchi. Foul, duck confit. Bangers and mash, elevated to a housemade sausage with lentils. Fish, in the form of scallops. Braised eel. Oh, and the list continues...
A few weeks ago, I ended up at Quinns three times in one week, once with my brother, once with Gabe, Jess, Lisa and Tracy, and once again with Lisa, plus Andy, as they helped me snap out of a blue funk with good food and drink. It was an excellent weeklong adventure...Along the way, I snapped a picture of the salad and savory cheesecake, with fresh raspberries and a raspberry dressing. Oh, delicious. The photo looks delicious, the taste is even better.
BTW, I met the head chef in the bathroom line. A Boston Southie, polite enough to want me to cut ahead of him in line. "No," I insisted. "You are feeding all of us. I can't go ahead of you."
Quinn's calls itself a gastropub, which means that the traditional pub food is there, but elevated to another level. Rarebit? That's served as a warm pretzel with a complex cheese sauce. Salad, yes, but spiced up with new ingredients; my favorite is the bread salad, with fennel, radishes, olives, cucumbers, lettuce and of course, grilled bread. Hamburger...wagyu beef with a pile of delicious fries. Meat, in the form of braised oxtails with gnocchi. Foul, duck confit. Bangers and mash, elevated to a housemade sausage with lentils. Fish, in the form of scallops. Braised eel. Oh, and the list continues...
A few weeks ago, I ended up at Quinns three times in one week, once with my brother, once with Gabe, Jess, Lisa and Tracy, and once again with Lisa, plus Andy, as they helped me snap out of a blue funk with good food and drink. It was an excellent weeklong adventure...Along the way, I snapped a picture of the salad and savory cheesecake, with fresh raspberries and a raspberry dressing. Oh, delicious. The photo looks delicious, the taste is even better.
BTW, I met the head chef in the bathroom line. A Boston Southie, polite enough to want me to cut ahead of him in line. "No," I insisted. "You are feeding all of us. I can't go ahead of you."
My New Favorite Summer Salad
Whenever there's a small dinner party with friends, I kind of dork out. There, I've said it.
So not surprising, when Pete suggested having dinner at his house, I went to work. He foolishly assumed that I'd bring dishes already premade, but alas, he was wrong, and I may have done some non-permanent damage to his kitchen. It was worth it - I made the very excellent grilled vegetable bread salad and satisfying blueberry cobbler. Thanks to Paul for cooking the vegetables, and helping to cement the vegetable salad as one of my favorite recipes of the summer (made even better by the fact that all of the ingredients can be found at my local farmer's market).
Here's the grilled vegetable salad recipe, from Cooks Illustrated. First, dressing. Lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic, olive oil, dijon mustard, fresh thyme, salt, pepper. Then, cut up, mix, olive oil up and grill bell peppers, red onions, zucchini and eggplant (my favorite); when done, toss with some dressing. Also, toss spring lettuce with the dressing. Think ratatouille, minus the basil. Also, grill a piece of bread along the way. On a pretty plate, layer the bread, lettuce and vegetables, top with shaved parmesan and enjoy the deliciousness.
I liked the summer salad so much, the next day, I cleaned out the fridge, went to the store and made a super gigantic batch. I've made two salads, and last night, tried to make a dent in my phyllo dough (long story, never get recipe inspirations after a few too many greyhounds when you live within stumbling distance of a grocery store) by wrapping the vegetables and a generous portion of goat cheese in the dough. Delicious.
Sadly, my salad pictures did not turn out. But, here are some of the phyllo dough pics for you to envision and think about (plus, if you're really curious, either come to my house for dinner and let me recreate, or look at the Cooks Illustrated picture).
I also have enough vegetables left for something else. I'm thinking a spin of Carrie's vegetable tart, with pie dough wrapped around the veggies and cheese.
So not surprising, when Pete suggested having dinner at his house, I went to work. He foolishly assumed that I'd bring dishes already premade, but alas, he was wrong, and I may have done some non-permanent damage to his kitchen. It was worth it - I made the very excellent grilled vegetable bread salad and satisfying blueberry cobbler. Thanks to Paul for cooking the vegetables, and helping to cement the vegetable salad as one of my favorite recipes of the summer (made even better by the fact that all of the ingredients can be found at my local farmer's market).
Here's the grilled vegetable salad recipe, from Cooks Illustrated. First, dressing. Lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic, olive oil, dijon mustard, fresh thyme, salt, pepper. Then, cut up, mix, olive oil up and grill bell peppers, red onions, zucchini and eggplant (my favorite); when done, toss with some dressing. Also, toss spring lettuce with the dressing. Think ratatouille, minus the basil. Also, grill a piece of bread along the way. On a pretty plate, layer the bread, lettuce and vegetables, top with shaved parmesan and enjoy the deliciousness.
I liked the summer salad so much, the next day, I cleaned out the fridge, went to the store and made a super gigantic batch. I've made two salads, and last night, tried to make a dent in my phyllo dough (long story, never get recipe inspirations after a few too many greyhounds when you live within stumbling distance of a grocery store) by wrapping the vegetables and a generous portion of goat cheese in the dough. Delicious.
Sadly, my salad pictures did not turn out. But, here are some of the phyllo dough pics for you to envision and think about (plus, if you're really curious, either come to my house for dinner and let me recreate, or look at the Cooks Illustrated picture).
I also have enough vegetables left for something else. I'm thinking a spin of Carrie's vegetable tart, with pie dough wrapped around the veggies and cheese.
Friday, August 01, 2008
One Year of Home Ownership
Last weekend, I hit my one-year anniversary of home ownership. Until yesterday, it was good. Then the water happened.
First, Pete, carpool driver for the day, forgot me, leaving me stranded at work. I took the Connector (Microsoft's superb employee bus service), but to get to the pickup stop, had to slog through gushing rain. I was soaked when I reached the bus stop. Ironically, I took my umbrella out of my bag that morning, thinking that it was too much dead weight.
Then, a few hours later, while talking on the phone, I heard a weird dripping noise. It took me a few minutes to realize that it wasn't nature, but inside my home. Drat, I thought. The damn windows are leaking again. Then I realized that the sound was coming from the bathroom. Water was pouring out of the ceiling fan. My home had turned into the final chapter of Solaris.
As a positive, I met my upstairs neighbors, who are very nice and friendly. We think we've figured out the problem, which while it's going to need to be fixed, isn't one of those "uh-oh, we can't use the shower for days and days" types of problems.
All night, I dreamed the sounds of gushing water. That may have been the real rain, playing with my dreams.
This morning, halfway through my shower, the water suddenly stopped draining. For. No. Reason. Whatsoever. Jiggling the plug did nothing. Now, I own a plunger and half a bottle of highly corrosive and toxic drain unclogging agent. It turns out that dropping little nubs of soap down the drain is not a good idea; we theorized that the little bit of thin bar that I dropped yesterday wedged itself horizontally in the drain, the perfect size to completely block all water flow.
Is it just me, or has water been a theme over the past 24 hours?
My brother and sister-in-law had planned an outdoor wedding, but at the last minute, moved inside because of dark and menacing clouds. That was a wise decision, because we could hear the mad pounding of raindrops throughout the entire ceremony. I remember the rabbi saying that in the Judaic tradition, water is a sign of luck, happiness, success.
Hmmm...
About the lack of blogging. I have sooo much to write about, and I don't know when it's going to get done. Really, it's been work. I've been on a project that has stretched for eons, and lately, has caused me so much gray hair and angst and upset, that bad feelings have spilled over into all parts of my life. Things have been better over the past week, in part because my very understanding manager, who realized just how bad it has been when I said, "I have not been this bitter and cynical about anything related to work since I left IDC", made an executive decision that I am to transition off as soon as possible. Happy days will soon return.
Perhaps the water is bringing good tidings.
First, Pete, carpool driver for the day, forgot me, leaving me stranded at work. I took the Connector (Microsoft's superb employee bus service), but to get to the pickup stop, had to slog through gushing rain. I was soaked when I reached the bus stop. Ironically, I took my umbrella out of my bag that morning, thinking that it was too much dead weight.
Then, a few hours later, while talking on the phone, I heard a weird dripping noise. It took me a few minutes to realize that it wasn't nature, but inside my home. Drat, I thought. The damn windows are leaking again. Then I realized that the sound was coming from the bathroom. Water was pouring out of the ceiling fan. My home had turned into the final chapter of Solaris.
As a positive, I met my upstairs neighbors, who are very nice and friendly. We think we've figured out the problem, which while it's going to need to be fixed, isn't one of those "uh-oh, we can't use the shower for days and days" types of problems.
All night, I dreamed the sounds of gushing water. That may have been the real rain, playing with my dreams.
This morning, halfway through my shower, the water suddenly stopped draining. For. No. Reason. Whatsoever. Jiggling the plug did nothing. Now, I own a plunger and half a bottle of highly corrosive and toxic drain unclogging agent. It turns out that dropping little nubs of soap down the drain is not a good idea; we theorized that the little bit of thin bar that I dropped yesterday wedged itself horizontally in the drain, the perfect size to completely block all water flow.
Is it just me, or has water been a theme over the past 24 hours?
My brother and sister-in-law had planned an outdoor wedding, but at the last minute, moved inside because of dark and menacing clouds. That was a wise decision, because we could hear the mad pounding of raindrops throughout the entire ceremony. I remember the rabbi saying that in the Judaic tradition, water is a sign of luck, happiness, success.
Hmmm...
About the lack of blogging. I have sooo much to write about, and I don't know when it's going to get done. Really, it's been work. I've been on a project that has stretched for eons, and lately, has caused me so much gray hair and angst and upset, that bad feelings have spilled over into all parts of my life. Things have been better over the past week, in part because my very understanding manager, who realized just how bad it has been when I said, "I have not been this bitter and cynical about anything related to work since I left IDC", made an executive decision that I am to transition off as soon as possible. Happy days will soon return.
Perhaps the water is bringing good tidings.
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