Cream Dream

I had no game plan at the PathMark this week. I went in hoping to find inspiration in the fresh seasonal produce. All the vegetables were wilted and on their last leg. Maybe last week's storm prevented the trucks from delivering? Regardless, I ended up with mixed bags of things on sale with no clear idea of how they'd go together. But that can be good. Sometimes I come up with a new dish when I have to be creative.

Then this morning on my ride to work while the icy sleet was pelting me in the face I realized I forgot to thaw out the chicken thighs. Tragic. What a rookie move. So I came up with a quick one pot supper tonight using arugula pesto. P doesn't really do pasta, so I have to disguise it somewhat. And the pasta vegetable ratio has to be skewed.




I wanted everything to be green because all you see outside now is dirty snow, white skies and black puff jackets. I found baby asparagus at the fifteen dollar store so I chopped those up and mixed them with peas and made the arugula pesto using walnuts, thyme, parsley and chicken stock. I had some turkey sausage that I chopped into small cubes and fried up with the onions and garlic to get a little crisp, then mixed that with some bow-tie pasta. I added a 1/4 cup of non-fat ricotta while the pasta was hot and then the veggies and pesto. Kind of a little cream dream.




The bright green color is refreshing and the ricotta gives it just enough smoothness to make up for all the lost olive oil, although I did use some. It tastes like a rich cream sauce but its not at all. The asparagus still has some bite and the peas just melt with the sauce while the thyme gives it fresh flavor. I'm stuffed after a small bowl.

Suspicious Minds

Mysterious mass bird casualties strewn about the streets and now 100,000 fish washing up dead on the river. They're saying this is not uncommon. So why don't we hear about it all the time? Why are they telling us now and not before? I'm not one of those quacks that think this all means its the end of the world. Its gonna take some locusts for me.

But it does make you pause. I've been pausing a lot lately. You have to admit there are a lot of strange things going on out there. Things are more chaotic, like with the weather. Yeah, there are tornadoes but not in Brooklyn. Yeah, there's thundersnow, but in the midwest, not in New York City. Yeah birds die but not for reasons no one can figure. Yeah it snows and we can't get to work but not for 3 days (damned Union shenanigans!).

In order for me to believe what people are dishing out I have to understand it. It has to ring true. 5000 birds got scared by fireworks and all crashed into each other? Hmmm. I guess it could happen. It sounds better than them all crashing into the power lines because they don't see well at night. No, actually none of the answers have been satisfactory. But like I said, I don't have anything specific that I feel is going on, I'm just not buying the crap they're feeding us most times. That's what separates me from the other nuts. Usually people believe in specific conspiracies. I have very vague and more complicated delusions.

For example I'm thinkin with our luck tonight we will win the 340 million dollar jackpot. And then...tomorrow will be the end of the world. The birds are just a distraction.

Due to the birds in the media this crack pot was all over the web saying the rapture is coming on May 21st, 2011 and somehow part of the 'end' started today. So on my way riding home I thought, what would I want to eat on the first night of the last days on earth. My mom's cheese enchiladas. But there was a but. I had to make the pork chops that were thawed and I was staying off the heavy cheese dishes post-holiday. What to do?

So in the end, it may have been due to all these freaky happenings and chaos that I had the nerve to put the two dishes together and throw caution to the wind. The idea was a risk. Instead of Little Sid's special recipe enchilada sauce I made my own tomato based chili sauce using masa harina as the roux base. That actually gave great flavor and texture.

Maybe like the tropical hurricane winds coming from the south and the mixing with the cold front, this dish became the perfect storm. Whatever the reason, these enchi-pork chops kicked butt! There is something that happens to regular fresh cut onions when it mixes with the sharp cheddar and enchilada sauce, similar to the perfect chili cheese dog. And then top that with cold lettuce, tomato and a little avocado. Don't walk, RUN to your grocery store and make this simple dish. You will NOT be disappointed.

Break on through to the other side

The holidays are over. The snow is melting. I'm back on the bike instead of taking the bus and subway, or worse, walking, trudging through slushy Red Hook streets trying to get to work.



Things are getting back to normal. There is such a build-up for this time of year that when its over I can't help but feel so relieved and wonder how do we ever get the energy to go through all this nonsense? The true holiday and seeing family & friends is great. ALL the other stuff is a little grueling. Its been said many times, many ways but how did we turn such a beautiful holiday into this horrid, stress filled shopping nightmare. I don't even buy presents but you can't escape it in some form or another.

I was someones secret santa at work. Now its been a chore to get the ding-dang present there on the same day this kid works. And that's stress you don't need, buying a cheap gift for some coworker that you barely know but that won't get ridiculed by everyone in the department. And its a tough crowd believe me.

And then the apartment. I tried to make the living room look somewhat festive so now I have to drag out a lawn bag full of pine branches that have already found their way in just about everything.

I was so happy to bring out all the little knick knacks and candles that make it feel like Christmas and now I can't wait to get it all packed up, vacuumed and stored away. Funny isn't it? Funny how you get so tired of the everyday same 'ole and when change does happen you long for routine and the familiar becomes comforting again.

In honor of the norm I made a simple dinner last night. Just a ham sandwich with mayo, lettuce, tomato, red onions and I added slices of avocado to replace the cheese. I served that alongside Pop Chips and wild rice and beans.




It'll take a couple of weeks to really get things all the way back. I need to thoroughly clean the fridge. I need to restock all the food staples and get back to healthy eating instead of all the leftover plates. Fortunately, January's dance card is completely open.

There is beauty in routine but only when you can break out of it entirely from time to time. That's true with most things I suppose.