nerditry

Lo siento mucho, no pictures this go round.

Last night, posse member Jimmy invited me and the lady to join the rest of the crew over for some grilling at theirs. He says it’s chill and he’s got some burgers ready to go on the grill and plenty of beers, whatever I can bring is just fine.

I’m not going to the store, I’m going freezer, fridge and pantry warrior and figuring out how to maintain my name and still bring something reputable. He’s got the turf handled with burgers, I think let’s surf with the shrimp being patient in the freezer for such an occasion. What else, what else?

Shrimp needs textural contrast, I just picked up some good looking apples at Costco, had some onions in the bullpen and the rest of the odds to make those ends.

Tools:
Cutting board
Knife
Mesh strainer or colander
Medium stockpot
Bowl of ice water
Spatula (bowl scraper)
Large serving bowl

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (31-35 is about right on)
3 apples cored, peeled, halved

-I used really crisp Pink Lady apples, otherwise use Braeburn, Gala or Granny Smith (adjust the sweetness for Smiths)

1 medium sweet onion, halved on the width
1/2 bell pepper (any color), seeded, ribs removed
1 clove garlic, finely minced
3/4 cup mayonnaise (may need an extra tablespoon or two)
1/4 cup blue cheese dressing

-If you don’t have this, get some good, funky, crumbly cheese and 1/4 cup of full fat sour cream

1/8 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 tbs honey
1 tbs white sugar
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tbs hot sauce

-Here’s the deal. I added some Texas Pete, wasn’t hot enough. Did the remainder with some semi-nuclear hot sauce from a Guyanese friend’s personal recipe.

Large pinch of ground black pepper
2 tbs white vinegar (for poaching liquid)
4 cups of water
1/2 fresh lemon or lime

Let’s Build:

1. Bring 4 cups of water and vinegar up to a fast simmer. Let this sit ready on the stove.

2. Combine mayo, mustard, blue cheese dressing, hot sauce, minced garlic, mustard, honey, white sugar, granulated garlic and black pepper. Let this chill out so the flavors can combine for 15-20 minutes.

3. Slice the onion into half moons as thinly as you possibly can. Sharp knives make your work easier and the kitchen safer. Place in the serving bowl.

4. Since the apples into half moons, 1/8″ thickness. Place in the serving bowl and squeeze the lemon/lime to keep them from oxidizing (turning brown).

5. Finely dice the bell pepper. You thought it wasn’t going in the bowl?

6. Add the shrimp to the poaching liquid, cook NO MORE THAN 45 SECONDS!

7. Immediately drain the shrimp and add to the ice water to halt their cooking.

8. Once the shrimp has cooled, add it to the apples, onions and peppers.

9. Add half of the dressing, gently…GENTLY! stir it through. If you’re hesitant about how to gently mix it, use your hands instead of the spatula.

10. Continue adding dressing until you like the consistency.

11. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least an hour.

So, this dish was very popular, infinitely gratifying for me as a cook since it all came off the top. Here’s some thoughts I had afterward on variations.

1. Use the sour cream, omit the blue cheese, add 1/2 tbs jamaican curry powder.

2. Toast and add halves of walnuts or pecans.

3. Omit hot sauce, add hot chiles diced as finely as possible to suit your own tastes.

4. Replace shrimp with poached bay scallops or poached and shredded chicken (dark meat).

Hope you have a chance to try this fantastic salad. Make sure you report back on the rave reviews!

I grew up hating spaghetti and tomato sauce. We never had any sauce which hadn’t originated in a jar and it was dressed up mostly with chopped up veg like mushrooms, green peppers and onions. Buuuuut, none of those were usually cooked prior to inclusion in the sauce, so they didn’t add much and were more of a klugey obstacle in a boring dish.

Also, I really have never dug the food served at Southern Italian restaurants which were some combination of mozzarella, red sauce and pasta. Same way that I’m generally not down with Mexican restaurants which (stolen from Jim Gaffigan) are any combination of beans, meat, tortilla, lettuce, tomato, shredded cheese and mebbe the orange-tinted rice (though I really like the way those places make fajitas since I can’t replicate them at home).

My challenge is often to see how good of a meal I can make in the time in between getting home from work (30-45 minute drive) and when I’m out of patience to do anything other than eat. So I look not for shortcuts, but alternate methods of quality cooking in a condensed period of time. A pressure cooker mentality applied to other methods and techniques. From that, I turned my desire to make an excellent, long simmered red sauce into a 30 minute, chunky tomato sauce that turns the switch on a regular pasta dinner.

Roasted Tomato and Red Cubanelle Sauce

Tools:
Knife
Broiler pan covered tightly with aluminum foil
Spatula (not pancake turner)
Cutting Board
Food Processor (Or a blender)

Ingredients:
1 large red Cubanelle pepper, seeded, cut in half lengthwise
4 medium tomatoes, ripe, quartered, seeded
4 fresh garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tbs dried oregano
1/2 tbs dried thyme
1 tsp dried red chili flakes
3 whole black peppercorns
Olive oil

1. Preheat broiler and place rack on 2nd highest row.

2. Combine last six ingredients in mortar and pestle, grind into a paste. Marinate tomatoes and peppers for 15 minutes.

3. Place vegetables on broiler pan with enough space so they aren’t touching.

4. Roast until skins start to char.

5. Turn vegetables over to opposite side until lightly charred.

6. Place hot vegetables and marinade in food processor, pulse until halfway to desired consistency.

7. Add salt and more olive oil to taste, pulse to desired consistency.

8. Serve hot over hot pasta or let cool to room temperature.

This will keep in your fridge for a day or so. I don’t anticipate it lasting that long.

These are what I had available the first time I devised the recipe. If you happen to have onions available, use a small one or half a medium cut into quarters before roasting. If you’ve got fresh herbs, add some of those when it goes into the food processor.

Leftover wings went for lunch today and I managed to abstain from decorating my shirt with it. So continuing my tour of Asia, we look farther East to Thailand on the map and farther back in my pantry for ingredients.

Tools:
Large sautee pan with lid, high sides preferred.
Knife
Can opener
Stirring spoon

Ingredients:
114g Can of Maesri Masaman Curry Paste
1/2 to 1 lb peeled, deveined shrimp
14 oz can of coconut milk
1″ fresh ginger, sliced into 4 pieces then smashed
5 small green chilis, stem removed and smashed
1/2 lb potatoes, .25″ dice
1/2 cup warm water
2 tbs cooking oil

1. Add cooking oil to cold pan and heat medium low.

2. Add curry paste and stir for 2 minutes to evenly coat the bottom of the pan.

3. Add half the can of coconut milk, ginger & chilis and slowly stir through curry paste to evenly combine.

4. Heat until lightly simmering, add potatoes, remaining coconut milk, water and potatoes. Stir to combine.

5. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

6. Add shrimp, stir through to coat with curry and cover again for 5 minutes.

Serve with bread or rice.

Makhani Butter Chicken Wings Closeup

Wings have gotten expensive. $2.59/lb at Publix including a $.20/lb discount is pretty high. These prices seem like nearly double what I was paying a couple of years ago. At that time, I was trying to do wings in the oven which is really good when you don’t want the grease and mess of deep frying.

Tonight’s recipe starts with a packet of Shan’s Butter Chicken mix (if you were inclined to buy online from MyEthnicGrocer). Instead of using the instructions, I took the leftover uncooked wings over their option of bite size pieces of chopped chicken and reworked the recipe a touch.

Ingredients:
1-1.5 lb separated chicken wings
1 box Shan Butter Chicken mix
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 large onion, halved lengthwise and sliced about .25″
2 cups of pureed tomatoes, no skins or seeds, passed through a sieve once more.
Cooking oil (I used olive)

Tools:
Large saute pan with lid or dutch oven with lid
Tongs
Wooden spoon
Knife

1. Marinate the chicken in a large ziploc bag using the entirety of the spice packet, with a tablespoon each of oil and water. Seal the bag and mix until all of the chicken is coated. Marinate overnight in fridge.

2. Brown the chicken wings in between medium-medium high till crispy on each side, probably in two batches.

3. Remove the wings and add the onions, saute momentarily until soft.

4. Add the milk, melted butter and tomato puree and bring to a light boil.

5. Add the wings back in, lower to medium and cover.

6. After 10 minutes, spoon the sauce on top of the wings, cover 15 more minutes.

7. Serve with potatoes or rice and spicy naan.

Makhani Butter Chicken Wings with Potatoes and Spicy Naan

Via our friends at Slashfood is a time for you to play dress up in public and get something delicious from chicken sandwich kingpin Chick-Fil-A.

My friend Thomas moved to NYC and one of the first things missed and searched out with a purpose was Chik-Fil-A (also Arby’s). Also the busiest drive through I’ve ever seen at a location in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

While we’re on the subject of fast food, let me show you the present that has passed you by. I’m done with saying something is the future if it already exists, I hear this all the time in reference to things that change with popular culture like music, architecture, fashion, auto design. If you can put your hands on it now, what’s going to come out of that is the future.

The Ghetto Big Mac is a sign of the times and a harbinger of innovation. Respect to these dude’s ladies for enduring what could only have been cataclysmic.

All thumbnails are clickable for a 1000×750p

Jays @ Rays : Special series at The Ballpark
(Disney’s Wide World of Sports)

National Anthem

Rays Pitcher Jason Hammel

Rays All Star 3B Evan Longoria

Rays Closer Troy Percival

Fud!

Platanos Maduros al Tostone
(almost ripe plantains in the style of tostones)

Red Snapper on the Grill

stay delicious+
!nerd up

All sorts of things going back to Octoberish

Ric and I went to the poker room in Melbourne and found this guy sneaking around the parking lot of a restaurant.
The Cabildo in Jackson Square, New Orleans French Quarter. Went there with Dad and Poppy for a few days.
First attempt at baked Macaroni and Cheese. I had rigatoni and it didn’t work out great. The bechamel wasn’t smooth enough along with too much red pepper and gruyere. Next time simplicity and complete preparedness will be observed.
Goat Cheese and dried Herbs de Provence Quiche
Smoked Chicken and Cheese Quiche
Side view of a slice
Indian spiced, pan fried tiger shrimp. Amchur + Turmeric + Chile Powder + Paprika + AP Flour + Salt + Pepper
Calyn created her own scar appliance with stage makeup. Looked great and realistic from a normal distance.
Ric went as Wesley from The Princess Bride. Calyn went as a zombie bitten cheerleader. Ric looked a pedo with that mustache brewing all month
Jack

Bindi masala = Okra, Onion, Tomato, Turmeric, Amchar, Paprika, Garam Masala, Salt, Canola Oil
Chicken = Thighs marinated a day in Yoshida’s Gourmet Sauce, baked and basted till George Hamilton
Ducks = The flock of friends who live around the lake

Strap in friends, this is a mini opus

I hope you’ve noticed, but once in a while I mentioned Gordon Ramsay.

Picture it, Sicily, 1933 (n. Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot). The finale for Hell’s Kitchen with Rock vs. Bonnie. Trained, diligent, entirely focused, smart and consistent against the ultimate home/professional cook in waiting just off culinary school and a fire purely for cooking. While I was pulling for Bonnie, I don’t think that winning would have been the prize for her as it is for Rock. I felt a connection to her keeping that brain in wait for a few rounds, feeling that she was a gifted kid, probably out-thinks herself in a lot of cases and for all of her extensive vocab skills still curses up shit so nasty it gets cartoon @%^*! subtitles.

She’s going to have a lot of doors open to her now just from recognition and may have an easier time transitioning that into whatever career it will be than starting in the hotel kitchen. She seems more apt to run her own, smaller restaurant or being a teacher in the long run…just a hunch.

So, Rock turns the handle and shows over. In the credits, the announce for anyone who wants to try out for Hell’s Kitchen to check out the website. Sent in my request for the information and two weeks later, there’s a casting call in Ft. Lauderdale for the show. Fast forward to this past Saturday, I’m up at 8 for the Farmer’s Market, up till 4 am for Panetta’s bachelor party :

Won $45 at the Seminole Casino with $2 Red Stripes. Ate, drank and made fun of Alex at Charley’s Steak House with a Veal Porterhouse and one of those seafood fancifulness plates se incluyo king crab, steamed shrimp, calimari, scampi, boring seared tuna and stone crabs. 2001 in Tampa is strange as it’s no liquor with a 1 drink minimum. On the floor of a La Quinter.

please join me for the home stretch

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