Food Blog:
Cook In.
Eat Out.
Miss Tenacity.
New Mexico.
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Sunday, February 27
Bitter Lemons
[prelude] Last night, I made pizza. In the usual fashion, which is to say a lump of dough, stretched out as thin as it will possibly go, lightly smeared with thick tomato sauce, then topped with basil, cheese, and pepperoni on one side, and blitzed at 500+ degrees for about 8 minutes. The crust wasn't as chewy as I like but all of the flavors were good.
Afterwards, I had a very preheated oven that wasn't going to cool off anytime soon (due to the 4 pizza stones in there), so I decided to roast some veggies. Unfortunately, I didn't have many roastable items around, so out of the fridge came a red onion and a lemon, both chopped roughly. Out of the freezer came a bag of farmer's market green beans and yellow hot peppers. These had past their prime and I hadn't figured out what to do with them, so into the big chill they went. All of these veggies were splayed out onto a cookie sheet then misted with olive oil, and left to roast for about an hour.
Nigella, I believe, roasts chopped up lemons with her chicken and then eats them with the meal later. It is possible that my lemon wasn't that great, but when I ate a piece of the roasted yellow leather it had a very harsh bitterness that sadly did not hold up to the otherwise rich and heightened lemon flavor of the peel. I could have peeled the little pieces, but I was definitely too lazy to do that.
When breakfast time was upon the late Sunday morning, I started making a big and very thin omelet with habanero salsa stirred into the mix, quickly heated up the veggies (sans lemon but with a squirt of lemon juice) and then folded the whole contraption onto itself. It was indeed a big pile o' food, but being just a bunch of veggies and a one egg omelet, it was lightly filling and warming from the yellow hot peppers.
Tonight I think I'm feeling like some lentil soup.... mmmm.
Time posted: 11:49 [permalink]
Thursday, February 24
One Visit Blunder
Being a somewhat (or mostly, depending on the day) rational and objective person, I believe that when one wants to evaluate a restaurant fairly, one must go at least twice to accomodate for the potential "off day"/catastrophe/variations.
However, there are some places where that is really difficult to do after the first visit. Places that fill you with dread at the prospect of that follow-up trip, such that both the return visit AND the review of the place will ultimately just never happen.
To spare the hapless locale the possibility of humiliation, I won't name it here. But I had a "Philly Sub" for lunch today which was served on a soft and not-too-bad roll, stuffed with roast beef whose flavor was completely sucker-punched by the rest of the toppings - minced and overly-cooked onions and green peppers, CANNED mushrooms, and some kind of white cheese that might have been provolone but I didn't ask and couldn't really taste. The whole thing was flavorless and a big disappointment, since I had contemplated going to a different locally-owned place (yes, this restaurant was local, too) and of course now I wish that I had.
At least now I can cross it off my list of "need to try" and mark it "ick - 1 visit".
Time posted: 14:35 [permalink]
Tuesday, February 22
D is for Dessert, and Doh!
A few days a week when I think I've just got to have something sweet, I will go one of two routes:
1) a piece of lovely dark chocolate, dried fruit, or candied ginger.
2) a rectangular-in-shape pressed blob of various ingredients, the latest of which was this:
Ingredients: "Protein Blend (Soy Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate, Whey Protein Concentrate), High Fructose Corn Syrup, Honey,Cocoa (processed with alkali), Almonds, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Fructose, Sugar, Ground Almonds, Toasted Soy Pieces. Contains 2% or less of: Cocoa Butter, Lecithin, Dextrose, Natural Flavors, Fractionated Palm Kernel Oil, Oligofructose, Annatto added for color, Maltodextrin. Vitamins and Minerals: Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Phosphate, Alpha-Tocopherol Acetate, Magnesium Oxide, Ferric Orthophosphate, Vitamin E Acetate, Phytonadione, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Niacinamide, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Potassium Iodide, Zinc Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Copper Gluconate, Manganese Sulfate, Chromium Chloride, Sodium Moybdate."
In a word, blech. Note that the above concoction had these nutritional daily amounts in it:
Potassium 6%
Vitamin A 50%
Vitamin K 25%
Vitamin B12 25%
Zinc 25%
Thiamin 25%
Biotin 25%
Selenium 25%
Vitamin C 100%
Riboflavin 25%
Pantothenic Acid 25%
Copper 25%
Calcium 10%
Niacin 25%
Phosphorus 15%
Manganese 25%
Iron 25%
Vitamin B6 25%
Iodine 25%
Chromium 25%
Vitamin E 100%
Folic Acid 25%
Magnesium 10%
Molybdenum 25%
Whew. Of course, I do take a multivitamin every day, so perhaps this is designed for someone who does not? I highly doubt that people who eat these food products are the types that are NOT taking their vitamins, so if they also eat breakfast cereal and the myriad other fortified products out there, it might be wise to give up that multi.
Item #2 should really be replaced with a similar looking product, but altogether different. It is formed and blocky looking, a deep brown color, like the item above. But the similarities end there.
"Ingredients: Dates, Almonds, Walnuts, Unsweetened Coconut, Unsweetened Cocoa Powder"
Now the moment of truth, the nutrition profile:
Potassium 10%
Vitamin A 0%
Zinc 6%
Thiamin 6%
Vitamin C 0%
Riboflavin 8%
Copper 20%
Calcium 6%
Niacin 6%
Phosphorus 10%
Manganese 20%
Vitamin B6 6%
Vitamin E 10%
Folic Acid 4%
Magnesium 20%
And "strangely" enough, by starting out with real ingredients, nothing weirdo-sounding like "copper gluconate" needs to be added to bring many of those numbers well above zero. Yes, some of them ARE zero, but that's what your multivitamin (and the rest of your daily diet!) is for, no?
If you'd like to see the magical block of goodness in all its detail, just click here.
I think I'll have some dried fruit, now. And then brush my teeth.
Time posted: 13:55 [permalink]
Monday, February 21
Foofy Breakfast Quesadilla
I got home this evening and decided to make an old favorite, a breakfast quesadilla (*see note below). Then I remembered I had just bought some buckwheat flour, and recalled a post on C&Z about making buckwheat crepes to celebrate Mardi Gras. Hmmm....
So I mix me up some buckwheat crepe batter, and set it to rest in the fridge.
1/3 c buckwheat flour
1 egg
1/4t salt
1/2c milk
1t butter, melted and browned
Mix the flour & salt, and the egg & milk separately. Beat in the melted butter to the milk mixture, then mix that into the flour. Combine well, and chill 30 minutes to a day.
Once you take it out of the fridge it might be kind of goopy, like how egg whites are before you beat them. This might be because I didn't use any white flour at all, as my recipe suggested. Oh well. I just added a little water and it was thin enough to work with.
In a hot skillet, swirl a little butter and then pour in just enough batter to coat the pan as you swirl that around. Cook just until starting to brown on the bottom, then carefully flip and do the same on the other side. Should be about a minute or less on each. Now transfer to a warm plate to rest as you make the rest of the batter. My batch of batter would have made 5 crepes (7in skillet), but I only made 3.
As the first one was resting, I topped it with some sliced gruyere.
Then the 2nd one was down and the 3rd on the way.
After all crepes were ready I fried an egg and slipped that between the top 2 brown discs, making a crepe-cheese-crepe-egg-crepe sandwich.
And then, after stopping briefly to capture the moment, I ATE:
*P.S. I did find a place with breakfast quesadillas on the menu, hallelujah - the restaurant at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center here in ABQ. Here's the proof:
Time posted: 20:53 [permalink]
Tuesday, February 15
Sushi Hama hOverload
I am shockingly undereducated when it comes to raw fish. I have eaten it at exactly one place - Sushi Hama - and then less than a dozen times. Good sashimi exists in this town, and I resolve to actively seek it out (with the assistance of my trusted local sources) and enjoy it more often.
Do NOT get me wrong, Sushi Hama is very good stuff. It is always the same guy doing the preparation, and he so tenderly slices and arranges all of the ingredients from tuna to cucumber you'd think he planted the garden and hatched the roe eggs himself. The mackerel is splendid, and I've heard that mackerel can be a sushi restaurant's weak spot. They do not have toro, nor sashimi offerings (nigiri and maki only). So I will venture forth to the other known choice spots in town: Noda, Sushi Gen, I Love Sushi, and Shogun, to name a few.
Time posted: 14:03 [permalink]
Thursday, February 10
Get Yer Butt Down to Relish, Chop-Chop!
Had lunch today with the raging masses of Relish regulars, which thankfully started clearing out just as my food was ready at 1pm.
My companion had the usual of a Cubano sans pickle (travesty!), and I tried one of the newer salads called the Chop Chop. What the hell is supposed to be in a chop-chop, anyway? Based on my extensive reasearch (Google, duh), I have found that a "chop chop salad" or a "chop salad" doesn't seem to have a common theme, which leads me to believe that it is a diced leftovers salad - all the stuff that you've already chopped up and don't have anything better to do with than toss it in a bowl, dress it, and serve it up. Not that that's a bad thing, of course. Most of the chop salad recipes I've found include some kind of meat, usually fish or chicken. One included green beans and beets, others listed tomatoes and scallions.
John Orr's, on the other hand, included all of the above and more: cubed chicken, tender white fish, grape tomatoes, green beans, beets, scallions, cucumbers, black olives, spring greens, feta cheese, dried sumac, and a lemon vinaigrette. The taste was complex but refreshing and when the plate was cleared it was also satisfyingly hearty. Nonetheless, I still had to try some of the baguette that was served with the salad, dredging it in the green puddle of luscious olive oil and rosemary. Mmmm, olive oil....
Time posted: 14:01 [permalink]
Wednesday, February 9
On Being a Food Fiend
Being a food fiend (use any phrase/word you'd like... foodie, gastronaut, gourmet, etc) coupled with also having tendencies towards "nutrition nut", I like to invent dishes that suit both ends.
Case in point - my cream of celery-walnut soup. Filling, delicious, and tons of good nutty fat in it.
Example #2 - personalized "instant" oatmeal. Instant oatmeal is, of course, convenient. That, honestly, is its only selling point. Even the flavors are not inventive and nearly always far too sweet and chemical-y. Strawberries 'n Cream, where the description from Quaker is that it "has the flavor reminiscent of refreshing summertime strawberries covered in dairy cream", while the 'creaming agent' is non-dairy creamer (read the 3rd ingredient)? Yick.
I decided that I like oatmeal enough during the day at work that I should make something like instant oatmeal but much more appealing to my taste buds and my GI. It starts thusly: 1/3 cup old fashioned oats (the 5 minute+ kind) go into a Ziploc snack sized baggie. Note to those that don't see my kitchen drawers: I love baggies, all sizes and shapes and thicknesses. They hold my frozen chicken stock, bulk meats that I separate into portions and toss with a marinade before freezing, cooked veggies/rice, cutting board detritus to make stock with later, etc etc etc. Baggies, in my opinion, are BETTER than sliced bread. Who needs slices, anyway?
Ok, continuing onward with the oatmeal. To each baggie gets added the flavorings, for example:
SPICE MIX
1/4 t each of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, salt
2T powdered milk
1T ground walnuts or almonds
CREAMY BLOO
1/2 t cinnamon
3T powdered milk
1T dried blueberries (from TJ's, naturally)
PEANUT COCONUT
1T shredded coconut
2T powdered coconut milk/cream
1T ground peanuts
I make about 10 at a time and then stash them in my desk drawer at work. Preparation is not instantaneous but its also not hard: dump one baggie into a 2-3 cup bowl, and add 1 cup of water. Nuke until it boils, then cover and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. After it looks about the right consistency, nuke again to desired temperature, and its done. So far the peanut-coconut flavor has been my favorite. I might even do a savory one next time, with black pepper, toasted dried onions, and other spices.... yum!
Time posted: 13:24 [permalink]
Saturday, February 5
Saturday Morning Oatmeal
Like most Saturdays, I am up relatively early - 7ish - but unlike most Saturdays, I am not darting off to go for the usual trail run. Therefore, I can have it 'be' a Sunday and make coffee, lounge about, and make some oatmeal.
I hope I never tire of oatmeal, as it fills such a perfect spot both in my morning, in my belly, and on my tongue. Usually I try to make steel cut oats, but having an abundance of regular old-fashioned rolled from my granola escapades over the holidays, I am using that instead.
This morning's combination was:
1/2c dry oats
1 1/2c water
1/2c milk
1 blood orange, segmented
1 tangerine, segmented
dash of vanilla extract
pinch of brown sugar
pinch of salt
handful of granola
This filled my usual breakfast bowl nearly full and was the perfect thing to eat on a slightly cool morning here on the side of the mountain. And coffee, of course. There's always room for coffee.
Time posted: 08:20 [permalink]
Friday, February 4
Clam Ciao-dah!
Ok, so the photo is appalling, but I haven't gotten the knack of my phone's camera yet. About a week ago I was thinking about soup, but didn't want a clear broth (for once!). I had recently picked up some canned clams and decided to use those to make a very quick chowder.
First sweated a chopped shallot in some fat, then added flour to the mix and cooked that until light tan. In goes 1 cup of hot milk, whisking so no lumps remain, and then added more hot water to the desired consistency. Green onions, freshly chopped, and a few carrot shavings were also added to impart some color to the white-on-white base.
I drained the clams and rinsed them thoroughly to remove most of the salt and "canny" flavor, then added them to the soup, along with S & P to taste. Topped with croutons, it was a nice little meal for one. :-)
Time posted: 09:57 [permalink]
Thursday, February 3
Matthew Brewer
A sad story in the Trib today about the sudden death of one of Albuquerque's chefs, the owner of Cafe Bodega named Matthew Brewer.
Cafe Bodega is on my list of "places I'm embarassed I haven't been to yet", so I never got to sample his renowned cooking, except for the soup they brought to the Souper Bowl last weekend. Mr. Brewer was just 39.
Time posted: 08:55 [permalink]
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CONTACT ME: tenacity -at- gmail.com
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