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January 25, 2006
the beauty of oil and vinegar
Twisty at I Blame The Patriarchy posts pictures of her dinners and that is really one of my favorite parts of her blog (though I do sometimes like to get my blame on). Pappa al Pommodoro Good way to get rid of your stale bread. cut some stale bread into 1/2 inch cubes. or, if you only have fresh bread, toast it in the oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes. saute this in a pot with some olive oil and a few cloves of chopped up garlic. The bread will really soak up the olive oil. careful not to burn the garlic. add the tomato stuff and red pepper flakes if you want them. I have tried all kinds of stuff here, and it always seems to turn out fine. Canned tomatoes are fine. Fresh tomatoes with maybe a little extra liquid and tomatoe paste have also been fine. Just make sure you add enough that the bread can soak it all up and get mushy. You want this to end up the consistency of a very thick stew. definitely moist, but you could put it on a plate and eat it with a fork if you wanted to. add salt if it needs it, but usually the tomato stuff is salty enough. When you're just ready to take it off the stove, tear up some basil leaves... lots... and stir it in. you still want them pretty much raw and fresh. About 10 seconds before you start eating it, grate some parmesan on it and sprinkle on a little more olive oil. The key here is GOOD olive oil. You know when it kind of tastes the way fresh grass clippings smell? mmmm. salad The dressing is that same nice olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a little dill. And some fresh ground black pepper. This is so damn simple I'm not sure why I'm posting the recipe except to insert a note about how sublimely awesome a really good balsamic vinegar is on such a simple salad. My roommate's sweetheart is from Modena, so I got a few tips from her on this: First, get balsamic vinegar from Modena. Second, they are often numbered. This means something. We have a 5 and a 12. The 12 is thick and sweet, the 5 more like the typical tangy stuff. That's really all we know about the numbers. I had heard somewhere that with the right kind of Balsamic, you could put a little on vanilla ice cream and have a delicious dessert. I always wondered about this it seemed so ill-conceived. But this new vinegar we got, it tastes just like raisins (it is made from grapes); I could totally see how you could treat it as a sweet.
Posted by amanda at 02:16 AM | TrackBack
January 18, 2006
eating contest
Come February 11, some of us will be organizing a field trip to the Queen Mary World Chili Cheese Fries Eating Championship in Long Beach. We really really hope to see the adorable and gluttonous Sonya Thomas there. (this link courtesy of damnyou, who continues to earn his name.)
Posted by amanda at 08:37 PM | TrackBack
another braised eggplant
I've discussed my penchant for braised eggplant here before, and speculated about other possible seasoning for it than I used in my original recipe. Since my roommate is very vegetarian, my fish sauce consumption has really gone down lately. I have since tryed soy sauce and ginger, which was not bad but was missing some of that delicious tanginess contributed by the fish sauce. But at last we have a winner.... It's all about the black bean sauce. two eggplants + a brick of soft tofu. Might do half a brick of tofu though. It's good to have some to contrast with the eggplant, since the eggplant really sucks up the braising liquid and the tofu does not, so you get chunks of relatively bland and salty. But I think we could have done with a little less tofu... when we boxed up the leftovers it was mostly tofu left. Do the initial browning in sesame oil with a dash of sesame chili oil. first throw in a few of those big whole dried chiles that you see in sezchuan recipes sometimes. when those start to smell a little burnt, then put in the eggplant. the key is the braising liquid. Put the tofu in at the same time as the braising liquid. Cover till the eggplant is mushy and then reduce. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds and green onion (which I forgot this time) just before serving with rice. This is very tasty, but soft eggplant and soft tofu need something to contrast... I'd suggest some crisp vegetables. Some sort of slightly bitter green would be good. On the other hand, we had a jicama/cucumber/carrot/thai chile pepper/lime-ok-well-lemon salad. Both had a kind of subtle, not-overpowering sneaky heat to them.
Posted by amanda at 08:18 PM | TrackBack
you're right in liking us
(thanks, goonley.)
Posted by amanda at 08:16 PM | TrackBack
January 11, 2006
found recipe
I was re-reading (ok, skimming) my copy of George Marcus's classic "Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography" when I ran across this note in the margin: 1 small onion I'm not sure exactly what I was getting at, but I interpret the lines as separating stages of preparation, basically "let this cook for a few minutes or reduce or whatever". I'm guessing that this would be a pretty mean black bean / lentil soup. A year from now, I will look back at my Networking Lab notes and find a shopping list for eggplant parmesan, gorgonzola and arugula risotto, pappa al pommodoro, and mulled wine. I got crepe-making equipment for Christmas (not one but TWO crepe pans and a cookbook), so I will report back on my experiments with things like chocolate soufflé crêpes, and ratatouille with cheese crêpes, etc.
chicken bouillon
paprika
black pepper
oregano?
allspice
cinnamon
serrano chile
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tomato juices
mango
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garlic
ginger
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water
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tangerine juice, water
black beans
lentils
smoked tomatoes
Posted by amanda at 02:08 PM | TrackBack