A GREAT Soup

2/1/2012

What to make for dinner?

I am still getting over this head cold type thing so I have no desire to cook at all, but the rockets are here so Dave is not a helping hand.

Ooh, lucky me! On Monday I had chopped up red, green, yellow and orange peppers, and there was still about a cup left and a shallot, also found half a spaghetti squash and a pack of frozen fish appeared. It was looking like soup.

Heat Pan, add about 2T oil, throw in 1 rough chopped shallot-S&P, saute a minute add about 1 cup peppers(season) add 3T Tom Yum paste (I will add picture because this brand rocks!) saute about 1 minute more, as long as it takes to get the paste evenly distributed in the vegs. Add in one can coconut milk, 1 can water and the package of fish. Bring to boil reduce to simmer for 10 mins. Meanwhile I found some mushrooms and a tomato - sliced shrooms, diced tomato and added those. Heated spaghetti squash and divided it into bowls. Got an avocado and sliced it up.

Served up soup over squash noodles, garnished with avocado and a slice of lime and a dash of fish sauce.

freakin' awesome!

Arabian at the Knights!

February 11, 2012 we're hosting a medieval concert and belly dance

extravaganza!Arabian at the Knights is a benefit for the vets from Memorial Hall - Abraham Lincoln Post #11 G.A.R.

We're raising money so they can apply for 501-C-3 non-profit status and get some much needed repair work done on their hall.

The evening will have Diabolis In Musica playing and 30 of the best belly dancers from the area performing to raise some funds. It's only $15 (till 2/8 in advance, $20 at the door)for a night that starts at 7PM

and ends at Midnight at the Oasis!

21+, cash bar, lavish meze buffet with Middle Eastern goodness and a whole lot of bagpipes and shimmies. Ooftah!

Event is at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 75 West School Street, Charlestown, MA 02129 (for your GPS).

For tickets - email diabolisinmusica@gmail.com, call Joe Z. 781-648-9126 or Sioux G. 617-833-8292 or pay online at WePay here.

It is going to be incredible!

Ethiopian Food

We had Ethiopian food last night.
All homemade and easily my NEW favorite cuisine.
A ton of spices create a fantastically TASTY and generally sneaky hot meal.
Really spicy, and lots of heat but a totally different kind of burn.
Everything should have been loaded with clarified butter but I halfed it in the spicier stuff.
We agree that it was pretty much right there with what we've had in Ethiopian restaurants.
The red lentils were a slight miss. Everything else-fantastic.
Maybe I'll offer some leftovers to the guy with the store where we got the bread.

Oops, not ALL homemade.
I did not make the injera(groovy spongy-stretchy-sticky-sourdoughy flatbread that is also your dining utensil). I have nothing but big FAIL there.
I have tried 3 times now and yesterday's flavor was spot on,
but it has become obvious that the cooking requires MAGIC!
This sucks because I mail ordered Teff Flour, not cheap and it has to ferment a few days before cooking. So my 3 day investment didn't pay off. I did a ton of homework here too. I am going to have to find someone to teach me how to make it, or settle for buying it. (6 sheets for $5 = ridiculous $$)

Dishes were -
in English
Spicy chicken - basic Ethiopian started of a ton of onions and spices, saute, add tomato paste and wine, add chicken simmer till falling off the bone and delightfully yummy. This recipe was not the classic Doro Wat, but a variation that was super tasty and sneakily hot.

Collard greens - collards rough chopped with onions and spices, slow cooked till tender and sweet/spicy

Yellow lentils - big yellow lentils, mild seasoning-cardamom,cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, paprika, cumin, salt , pepper, fenugreek, clove. Simmer herbs in oil, add onions and saute till translucent,throw in lentils, add chicken stock, cook till it's a paste. Eat.
Burp.

Red lentils - tiny lentils in a really sneaky hot sauce. Insanely tasty and the heat comes on slow. Process like above but more/different spices and some red wine as well. SOooo good.

Vegetable stew - cabbage, carrot, potatoes, onion in a mild curry sauce.

Beef tartare (kitfo) - chop up meat, 'toast' cayenne in some butter without burning either, allow to cool to about room temp, mix into meat, salt to taste, eat, get glazed expression of delight.

Seasoned cheese - faked IAB with cottage cheese/greek yogurt/lemon juice/S&P.

We didn't make honey wine :(

International Bazaar

We took a trip to the International Bazaar
(Brighton, MA)
on the way back from the New Balance outlet
(Dave needed sneakers)


The main theme is Russian, but they have all sorts of food,
including a number of Turkish favorites.

Here is what we got:
1 bottle White truffle oil
1 1/2 gal tin of olive oil
3 Mac apples

8oz blueberries
3 nice big tomatoes
1 BIG brocolli crown
1 10 oz goose liver 'pate' (German)
1 lb stick of "baby" chicken bologna
1/2lb chopped chicken liver spread
1/2 lb herring and onion salad - I'd call the preparation gravlax style -salty sweet w/onions and dill

1/2 lb lardo-but russian version-not very seasoned, and very spready-

1/2lb+ Black Pudding (blood sausage)<<- this was THE BEST!
2 doz HUGE eggs
1 lb fake seafood sticks
1 liter juicebox sour cherry
chunk of smoked gouda cheese
chunk of muenster cheese
chunk of some Croatian cheese
bottle of South African 'champagne'
12oz can Sour Cherry juice - mmmmm
1 2oz package "fish lunch"
1 pint of labneh
the mega pack of Finn Crisp crackers
1 head purple cabbage

a big bunch of parsley
about 1lb of fresh beets

jar of taramsalata(cod fish roe spread-yum)
1 8oz jar of Ajvar (hot papper spread-it's HOT)
1 kilo of kasha

The price was great too. Really.

Send me a guess. You'd be amazed.

So dinner was a plate of crackers and tasting of many things

Creative Eating For Chinese New Year

Killing 2 birds with one meal...or what you do with no room to cook.

Chinese New Year "feast" was a celebrating of bizarre-fusion-asian.
The guidelines/parameters were set by the pantry, Rachel Ray's time allotment and serious lack of counter space.

We had no fresh veggies beyond onion and garlic and really no meat beyond frozen hamburger so pretty much any regular Chinese options were out
We did have a container of leftover dumplings from a previous Chinese themed dinner and a lot of Japanese stuff to go with the New Year's Resolution to make more sushi (not doing so well there). Re-Resolved with this meal which included sushi variants.

There are no process photos so...WHAT WE ENDED UP WITH

A platter of Inari, Onigiri and fake fish "sashimi" - sushi rice made in the steamer on the right side of the sink, the pan comes out when it is done. Rice seasoned in a small bowl for various purposes. Onigiri mold makes 2 at a time, inari wrappers in a small can ready to fill, 1/4 Nori sheets in a small package. All fit on the right side of sink as well. But that was it for space.










Steamed dumpling, fish cake, fish balls and shrimp - steamed in serving containers in a double decker pan on the stove
Tempura/panko shrimp and onions - prep on left side of stove, cooked in enamel apple roaster because it is so narrow at the bottom- saves oil(we only had "workhorse" olive oil) served on the lovely paper plates we have been using.

We still had half a bottle of that La Vielle Ferme from a couple days back, and it needed drinking, so we gave it a shot. I'll admit to 1/2 a glass to try it with everything, but the other half was still there later that evening after we worked downstairs. "nuff said.



PS - If you live in the Boston area and know of any places selling Kewpie mayonnaise, PLEASE let me know.
Dave works in Chinatown and can't find it anymore, Super 88 in Malden and Dorchester came up lame as well. Porter exchange is probably going to be our only hope, but they are sooo expensive and I was hoping for something closer.

On the table

Pretty basic dinner

and, of course,

a 'secret' ingredient.

I think this was Saturday.

I was tired.

Dave cleaned and steamed the beans.

I think he took this photo as well.

• Chicken thighs - Slow cooked in broth/onions/garlic and secret ingredient and assorted other stuff. From the color of the juiceness, I'm guessing there's paprika and turmeric
  
• Steamed green beans - salt and pepper
  
• Turnips - Parboiled then tossed in butter in fry pan, white balsamic, S&P
  
• Tortillas - Butter, fajita pan
  
• Pickles - Mechalaney - we *heart* these.
  

Ingredient revealed - Goya jamon...

I use this in everything; scrambled eggs, meatloaf, casseroles, pea soup, grilled cheese, whatever.

Tastes like ham.

Salami fail

We "put up" a salami near the end of the fall.

It was doomed from the start.

It's first day was snappy and cool and it went out in the shed/stairwell at Dave's apartment.

Then the weather promptly changed.

It got warm and humid. Muggy, warm, rainy, damp. All sworn enemies of the homemade salami.

So, we brought it inside and hung it in a box infront of a fan.

It started to dry out lopsided. One side shrunk really fast because it was getting the fan.

We kept turning it and flipping it and hoping for the best.

Then it was time to move.

We wrapped it in foil with the intention of finding it a nice cool dry spot int the new house.

It sat on a shelf at room temp, wrapped in foil for 2 weeks.

This morning I noticed it on the shelf and took off the foil.

Half of it was covered with mold, I won't include embarassing photos.

I cut it open for the heck of it and there was a nice moldy cavity on one side.

The fan idea probably made it dry out too fast. I also think the recipe didn't have enough fat.