Valentine's dinner at Trattoria al Forno
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
food on my mind
I'm a lover of great food and cooking. One of the most important things I've learned from cooking is that the quality of the ingredients you use makes all the difference in how good-or bad--the food tastes. Stellar ingredients can transform a so-so dish into something spectacular. here is a list of ingredients that i could not imagine living without:
Sea Salt or kosher salt, instead of iodized salt
Take that salt in the blue cylinder with the umbrella girl and throw it away--right now. It's disgusting and too salty, and the only thing you should ever use it for is to gargle or clean with. Sea salt and kosher salt don't cost a lot more (Trader Joe's has a huge can of meditteranean sea salt for 99 cents), yet the difference in taste is worlds apart.
Freshly ground black pepper
My pepper mill cost two dollars (and it was filled with peppercorns) and I love it to death. I have no idea why people settle for gross pepper that looks and tastes like flakes of black construction paper. Good salt and pepper are probably the two most important things you can do to make food taste immediately better. I'm not being snooty--try it, you'll see!
Parmesano-Reggiano
If it doesn't have little pinpricks on the rind that spell "REGGIANO," it isn't the real thing. Granted, this item is pretty expensive, but it's so, so, so, so good, and is delicious grated on anything. Even strawberries and melon slices.
Fresh Garlic
Enough said.
And to prove my point, make the following recipe with the above ingredients and be amazed:
Famous Potatoes
3 Russet potatoes, cut into medium sized peices, skin on.
Extra Virgin olive oil
Sea Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Lemon Juice
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
(Optional: Rosemary or thyme)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees farenheit. Combine all ingredients, adding rosemary or thyme if you have it on hand. Pop into the oven for 60 to 90 minutes, checking on them every 20 minutes or so to stir them around and make sure they don't burn on top. If desired, grate Parmesano reggiano on top before serving.
Guaranteed to make you fall off your Atkins diet wagon.
Sea Salt or kosher salt, instead of iodized salt
Take that salt in the blue cylinder with the umbrella girl and throw it away--right now. It's disgusting and too salty, and the only thing you should ever use it for is to gargle or clean with. Sea salt and kosher salt don't cost a lot more (Trader Joe's has a huge can of meditteranean sea salt for 99 cents), yet the difference in taste is worlds apart.
Freshly ground black pepper
My pepper mill cost two dollars (and it was filled with peppercorns) and I love it to death. I have no idea why people settle for gross pepper that looks and tastes like flakes of black construction paper. Good salt and pepper are probably the two most important things you can do to make food taste immediately better. I'm not being snooty--try it, you'll see!
Parmesano-Reggiano
If it doesn't have little pinpricks on the rind that spell "REGGIANO," it isn't the real thing. Granted, this item is pretty expensive, but it's so, so, so, so good, and is delicious grated on anything. Even strawberries and melon slices.
Fresh Garlic
Enough said.
And to prove my point, make the following recipe with the above ingredients and be amazed:
Famous Potatoes
3 Russet potatoes, cut into medium sized peices, skin on.
Extra Virgin olive oil
Sea Salt
Fresh ground pepper
Lemon Juice
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
(Optional: Rosemary or thyme)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees farenheit. Combine all ingredients, adding rosemary or thyme if you have it on hand. Pop into the oven for 60 to 90 minutes, checking on them every 20 minutes or so to stir them around and make sure they don't burn on top. If desired, grate Parmesano reggiano on top before serving.
Guaranteed to make you fall off your Atkins diet wagon.
today's dinner
on tuesdays I have class from 10:30am until 8:30pm, and the food is so disagreeable at school that i can't bear to eat it, so if i haven't packed my own lunch i starve until i get home around 9pm.
this means that i spend all day thinking about what i will cook for dinner. today, i came up with a lovely bruschetta chicken pasta. i used leftover bruschetta that i made over the weekend, but here is the recipe from scratch. If you already happen to have bruschetta lying around, the pasta dish takes less than 15 minutes to make, and ten of those are for boiling the pasta. I never measure things, I just throw them together and adjust accordingly, so all measurements are approximate:
Bruschetta
8 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 package of fresh Basil, chiffonaded or chopped
2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt or kosher salt (i have no idea how much, as it depends on how salty your salt is. certain brands are saltier than other brands)
Fresh ground pepper
2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
2 Shallots, finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Dash of balsamic vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesano-Reggiano
Mix all ingredients and let sit for at least 10 mins so the flavors sink in. Better yet, eat it on top of bread and use the leftovers the next day to make the following dish:
Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
Any kind of pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)
Leftover Bruschetta
Shredded meat from leftover store-bought roasted chicken
Lemon juice
Shallot, chopped
Fresh ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesano-reggiano
Spring mix salad or Radicchio
Cook pasta until al dente according to directions on package, drain, set aside.
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and add shallot and chicken, saute until warm. Add bruschetta, saute to warm. Add pasta to the pan and stir around until well mixed. Add salt to taste. Fold in spring mix salad, add pepper and parmesan.
this means that i spend all day thinking about what i will cook for dinner. today, i came up with a lovely bruschetta chicken pasta. i used leftover bruschetta that i made over the weekend, but here is the recipe from scratch. If you already happen to have bruschetta lying around, the pasta dish takes less than 15 minutes to make, and ten of those are for boiling the pasta. I never measure things, I just throw them together and adjust accordingly, so all measurements are approximate:
Bruschetta
8 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 package of fresh Basil, chiffonaded or chopped
2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt or kosher salt (i have no idea how much, as it depends on how salty your salt is. certain brands are saltier than other brands)
Fresh ground pepper
2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
2 Shallots, finely chopped
Squeeze of lemon juice
Dash of balsamic vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesano-Reggiano
Mix all ingredients and let sit for at least 10 mins so the flavors sink in. Better yet, eat it on top of bread and use the leftovers the next day to make the following dish:
Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
Any kind of pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)
Leftover Bruschetta
Shredded meat from leftover store-bought roasted chicken
Lemon juice
Shallot, chopped
Fresh ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesano-reggiano
Spring mix salad or Radicchio
Cook pasta until al dente according to directions on package, drain, set aside.
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and add shallot and chicken, saute until warm. Add bruschetta, saute to warm. Add pasta to the pan and stir around until well mixed. Add salt to taste. Fold in spring mix salad, add pepper and parmesan.
i eat them when they die
bob the VIII, my dearly departed rosemary plant, is delicious. this weekend i made rosemary pork chops smothered in a shallot and garlic red-wine reduction sauce swirled with butter, accompanied by a duo of russet potatoes and sweet potatoes roasted in olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, rosemary and herbs de provence.
Me and my roommate are always out on the balcony saying things like "Omigod, Bob's dead! We killed him...not another one! Hmm...let's eat him."
I wonder what our neighbors think of us.
Me and my roommate are always out on the balcony saying things like "Omigod, Bob's dead! We killed him...not another one! Hmm...let's eat him."
I wonder what our neighbors think of us.
Monday, February 21, 2005
rain rain, go away...
what the hell? am i mistaken or did southern california slide up the continental shelf and into the vicinity of seattle?
jesus h, it has been raining SO much lately--it's depressing. if i wanted torrential downpours to ruin my days and cast gray shadows on everything, i'd move to the rainforest.
suddenly there are like fifteen million snails everywhere, leaving gross trails of slime and making you abruptly disgusted when you hear the *crunch* and feel the ooze of smushed snail under your shoe when walking through parking lots at night.
PLUS, the bottoms of your pants get dirty.
as if all this weren't bad enough, it's cold. and sometimes windy. perfect weather san diego my ASS.
I'm regretting not owning an umbrella, and am thinking of buying one, except i somehow feel it would be an admission of defeat.
my apologies to anyone who lives in michigan, or...anywhere cold and rainy.
jesus h, it has been raining SO much lately--it's depressing. if i wanted torrential downpours to ruin my days and cast gray shadows on everything, i'd move to the rainforest.
suddenly there are like fifteen million snails everywhere, leaving gross trails of slime and making you abruptly disgusted when you hear the *crunch* and feel the ooze of smushed snail under your shoe when walking through parking lots at night.
PLUS, the bottoms of your pants get dirty.
as if all this weren't bad enough, it's cold. and sometimes windy. perfect weather san diego my ASS.
I'm regretting not owning an umbrella, and am thinking of buying one, except i somehow feel it would be an admission of defeat.
my apologies to anyone who lives in michigan, or...anywhere cold and rainy.
Friday, February 18, 2005
what you say!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
travel
just got back from san francisco today. i had a great weekend running around eating everything in sight, including:
a huge salad a Cafe Intermezzo in Berkeley
egg tarts from Golden Gate Bakery in Chinatown
Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae
crab and fried calamari from the street vendors at Fishermans Wharf
Frisco would be such a lovely place to live in if it weren't for the godawful parking situation and those crazy hills.
The next few months will be filled with a lot of travel. I'll be in Vienna in March for an international commercial arbitration competition, and then in late May I'm going to Shanghai for a week to hang out, then to Hong Kong for an internship for 2 months, and then to Thailand or some other area of southeast asia to (hopefully) volunteer for the tsunami relief. I can't wait!!!!!
a huge salad a Cafe Intermezzo in Berkeley
egg tarts from Golden Gate Bakery in Chinatown
Ghirardelli hot fudge sundae
crab and fried calamari from the street vendors at Fishermans Wharf
Frisco would be such a lovely place to live in if it weren't for the godawful parking situation and those crazy hills.
The next few months will be filled with a lot of travel. I'll be in Vienna in March for an international commercial arbitration competition, and then in late May I'm going to Shanghai for a week to hang out, then to Hong Kong for an internship for 2 months, and then to Thailand or some other area of southeast asia to (hopefully) volunteer for the tsunami relief. I can't wait!!!!!
Friday, February 11, 2005
Bob the VIII
Bob the VIII is a rosemary plant the lives on my balcony. He is the replacement for Bob the VII, a basil plant that sadly left us after an unfortunate overzealous bruschetta incident (note to self and roommate: plants need leaves to photosynthesize).
Bobs, VI, V, IV, III, II and I all share a similar sordid history, victims of underwatering, overwatering, strange little bugs, overfertilizing, and other causes i haven't quite figured out yet.
All of my palm trees are named Marley. Marley the First narrowly escaped death when I moved and gave him to my dad, who planted him in the backyard where he is flourishing. Marley II is barely hanging by a thread, in Tim's backyard--some strange fungal infection.
I have tried naming them differently to see if it maybe it might help, but Ivy and Crazy Bob (a corkscrew rush that my friend Pamela rightly called "the pubic hair plant") expired at roughly the same rate. I thought it might be that the plants themselves were of poor quality, but I've bought no less than ten for Tim, and his pad is a veritable greenhouse of lovely, flourishing flora and fauna of all species. I asked him if he got me a plant for Valentine's day, and he said of course not, he would never be that cruel to the plant.
I guess you could say I'm not too good with plants.
Anyway, I hope Bob VIII lasts longer than his predecessors. Rosemary bushes are supposed to be hardy--but then again, Bob II was a Rosemary.
Bobs, VI, V, IV, III, II and I all share a similar sordid history, victims of underwatering, overwatering, strange little bugs, overfertilizing, and other causes i haven't quite figured out yet.
All of my palm trees are named Marley. Marley the First narrowly escaped death when I moved and gave him to my dad, who planted him in the backyard where he is flourishing. Marley II is barely hanging by a thread, in Tim's backyard--some strange fungal infection.
I have tried naming them differently to see if it maybe it might help, but Ivy and Crazy Bob (a corkscrew rush that my friend Pamela rightly called "the pubic hair plant") expired at roughly the same rate. I thought it might be that the plants themselves were of poor quality, but I've bought no less than ten for Tim, and his pad is a veritable greenhouse of lovely, flourishing flora and fauna of all species. I asked him if he got me a plant for Valentine's day, and he said of course not, he would never be that cruel to the plant.
I guess you could say I'm not too good with plants.
Anyway, I hope Bob VIII lasts longer than his predecessors. Rosemary bushes are supposed to be hardy--but then again, Bob II was a Rosemary.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
my sweatsuit
i bought this velour sweatsuit a month ago, and i wore it without washing it, and realized that it smelled gross, like dryer rot. i thought it might be due to some packing material or plastic it was stored in at the shop, or the fact that i had not washed it before wearing, so i washed it. twice. it still smells funny. you can't tell unless you bury your nose deep into a gathered bunch of it and inhale deeply, but it still grosses me out because i'm a real stickler about my clothes smelling stale or improperly dried. i don't really know how i got to be this way.
so as i sit here, taking periodic deep inhalations of my bunched up velour sweatsuit, i am filled with deep consternation at what can only be shoddy manufacturing.
no wonder it was on sale.
so as i sit here, taking periodic deep inhalations of my bunched up velour sweatsuit, i am filled with deep consternation at what can only be shoddy manufacturing.
no wonder it was on sale.
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