Saturday, July 27, 2024

Mother Popcorn

This flavor bomb topping for air popped corn will have you doing the Funky Chicken.  After baking a sheet of highly seasoned chicken thighs, I dipped my spoon in the fat and realized the drippings would be an excellent artery clogging substitute for olive oil or butter in my evening popcorn.  In moderation, this is a satisfying way to use up, not waste that heavenly gift on the bottom of the sheet pan.  Simply pass the drippings though a strainer and drizzle on.  This was beyond incredible!
 

Thursday, July 25, 2024

Don't You Know Everything's Alright, Yes, Everything's Fine

A day off and spa day.  Thanks to gifts sent from my sister T months ago, I've enjoyed several spa days off, with face, lip, eye and foot masks, hand scrubs and general self care.
Deniz Restaurant Take out Lunch Specials - Always extraordinary tasting chicken and tabule.
In seeing more displaced immigrants living on the streets near our apartment and my work, I'm struck by just how lucky many of us are to enjoy these small, inexpensive luxuries in our lives.  By some small grace a lot of us goofballs ended up with computers and bank accounts, kitties and the ability to apply mud to our faces in order to make them smoother while enjoying delicious fare made by other hard working lucky schmucks. 
A new gift from my sister, an alleged ancient miracle mask unearthed by TikTok. I've done it once and it feels wonderful afterwards.  I would never think to put apple cider vinegar on my face, but do love it in a salad and turns out, its an excellent astringent.  
Lefty the cat, sweet....only when he's sleeping 

When Not Too Many People, Can See We're All the Same

Outside rain and menacing winds but inside Crispy Asian Lettuce Cups
It's so symbolic of life lately.  We awaken to horrific stories, hatred spewed across our screens, the grey of life.  But on the other hand, we have the opportunity to eat green things and make them spicy and crunchy, and even meaty.  
Quick Asian Lettuce Wraps
Snow peas, red pepper, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, onion, cashews, along with Hoisin, soy sauce, ginger and garlic, make this is moist little flavor bomb.





  This is joyful food sunshine.  You gotta get it where you can. 

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

How Do I Live Without You?

No Carb Dinner 
Are you carb challenged?  Has your body told you to lay off the foods that make you feel bloated and heavy?  Or perhaps you're having health issues and need to lighten up.  To keep the excitement up for your eyes and your gut, I double stacked two well seasoned turkey patties with mushrooms and onion and served it along side a hearty spinach salad with tomatoes and avocado.
The above was for P, but for me, there was no such will power.  I went for a biggie girl bowl of pasta with lots of Parm and a side salad.  I've talked myself into believing that carbs are good for me on occasion.  That I need them for the bike rides, but the real reason is that I find it impossible to live without slithery noodles in my life. 

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

I Need You to Need Me

Grilled Shrimp Spinach Salad with Avocado
Sometimes its so hot outside that your dinner needs to have cooled elements, like this giant spinach, tomato, avocado, mushroom, red onion and artichoke heart salad, dressed with a light vinaigrette. 

Giant Horseshoe crabs getting it on in the Gowanus
Lefty the cat, getting in the last fiddles with my keyboard before falling asleep mid try.

Our appetites in summer switch from wanting, I'd say needing, lighter foods, to craving fatty, salty items like pizza and cheese burgers.  The heat can do a number on logic.  I guess the key is to let the fresher food win out more often. 

Thursday, July 18, 2024

Takin' It To the Streets

Tostadas!
Tacos are amazing but my personal favorite is the Tostada.  Done right, it can be THE most refreshing food for summer.  I like when you can eat 2 or 3 of something that doesn't require a side dish.  
In this case, everything you need is already stacked on.  Cheesy refried beans, saucy cubed pork, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, cilantro, pickled jalapenos and you could go on and on.  I did a squeeze of lime but sour cream, crema or Cotija cheese would be great as well.  A second layer of guacamole is an excellent choice.  Like a Jango puzzle, the challenge is to eat it without everything toppling over.  It takes precision bites and skill but when you do it, you feel accomplished. 


For dessert, a heaping pile of chilled watermelon!
Lefty the Cat
Years ago I kept a book of ideas and the Mexican Cone was one that I thought might come to life. A crispy fried corn tortilla rolled like a waffle cone, filled with beans, meats, cheese and topped with pico, tomatoes and onions to mimic sprinkles, scoops of sour cream  and guac to mimic.  This would be a street food that you could order and walk around the city, a walking taco if you will.  This business above, I passed while walking to get my hair did, is different, but a very similar idea using crepes, T-Swirl Japanese Crepes.  I like to believe that if I had wanted to succeed in life financially, I could have.   

Wednesday, July 17, 2024

You're Dirty and Sweet, Oh Yeah!

Went to see Longlegs, a refreshing American horror film by Oz Perkins, starring Nicolas Cage (at his absolute finest btw).  When he was on the screen, I felt my whole body arch like a cats back.  Giddy with frightened excitement, I would say.  Absolutely taken aback for sure.  His character teetered right at that cliff edge of sanity that you felt yourself being pushed over and I for one didn't fight it.   This movie will become a cult classic, most definitely.  I loved it!

I ordered the Make it Beefy Queso and chips, which was out of this world.  I don't know what they do to make it so smashing, possibly wine I suspect.   And we split a chicken tenders dinner and the cutlets were the size of breasts but delicious and as tender as the name implies.  There is something sensual about eating in the dark that I've come to love.  A restraint of sort, not able to see your food forces you to use your other senses in a way that feels playful.
Later we split some pizza slices and salad at home and gushed on Cage's performance. 
The Gothic tower that lost funding and now stands unfinished and at night looks ghostly.

The CityPoint Marketplace downstairs in the basement from the theater, was filled with foodies, cooler air, music and afternoon drinkers.  Jerk, Sushi, Mexican, BBQ, pizza, burgers and desserts to choose from along with some other delights that I feel its my duty to check out soon. 

 

Monday, July 15, 2024

And It Shouldn't Surprise You at All

Last Minute Beef Stew

Do you ever wonder what people think of you?  It's not a good idea to spend time wondering.  We often have meetings with those silly icebreakers at work that force us to share one thing about ourselves that people might be surprised to hear.  I don't imagine anything would surprise them because I can't imagine they've considered me for more than 2 seconds in their lives.  

One thing I'm known for that only I know, and surprises me, is my habit of bringing frozen meat out of the freezer to thaw without having a clear idea of how it will be used.  Something I never do is buy pre-cut meat for stew, but this time I did and it seemed that my dinner decisions had been made easy for me already but I needed to make it happen that night.  After work I quickly cut the chunks into a smaller dice in order to speed up the cooking process.  I browned them in flour and salt and tons of black pepper and then added broth, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves covered and simmered for an hour before adding potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, and when it was almost done, frozen peas.  And no surprise, this was much better the next day for lunch. 

Sunday, July 14, 2024

One Way or Another

Occasionally, one goes to make a dish but we're not settled on one thought and it becomes another thing entirely.  Originally, I had wanted basic, pure Chicken & Noodles.  But no, I needed lots of vegetables to offset the amount of carb intake and a rich, spicy broth suddenly felt right.  It's very difficult not to lean towards Mexican flavors, especially when a traditional dish can be transformed slightly to accommodate.  
This was that recipe.  The chicken broth was enriched with hot sauce and cilantro, jalapeno peppers and lime, which made avocado on top make sense. 


I added a boatload of chopped vegetables and slow simmered them in the spicy, chickeny broth before adding the noodles.



This was highly satisfying and my giant portion proved to be enough to call dinner when paired with a half dozen Saltine Crackers.  

Half of a NY everything bagel with cream cheese onion and tomato freshly made for breakfast.  

Sunday, July 7, 2024

Glowing, Flowing, All Around You

Any posole is going to be more time consuming than most one pot dishes but this quickened version is a sure-fire way to get your fix in less time.  I added one step and that was to roast the chiles first.


I threw in a pound of ground turkey to my browned pork. I don't care because it was good, especially when you get a little brown on that turkey.




I also added roasted poblanos because I like chunky soups chocked full of all the stuuuuuff.

(clip owned by The Quiet One)



I've said this before but Posole is Menudo's cuter, younger brother and even though I love them both, the former is easier and the satisfaction level is very close.