Treating My Heart: Vietnamese Salad August 29, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Health, Recipes.Tags: basil, cilantro, iceberg, lime, noodles, sesame oil, udon
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Have you ever finished a weekend full of sausage and felt like your heart just might burst if you don’t give it some green? Yeah. That’s why Sundays there are always green meals happening. Recently, I had my fill of meat so I had to do a fat-free, hi-ruffage salad. Because I care.
Vietnamese Salad
2 servings of udon noodles
2 scallions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 cup bean sprouts
3 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
Dressing:
2 parts fresh lime juice, 2 parts tamari, 1 part sesame oil
You’ll probably want to start with two juicy limes and work your way from there.
And, instead of tamari, you can use low-sodium, high-quality soy sauce. (Or fug it, some leftover Chinese Packets)
Boil your noodles, toss with half the dressing. Pour into a large bowl. Throw the lettuce on top. Then the rest of the herbs, scallions and sprouts. Top with the rest of the dressing. This makes two large servings. Your tiny beating heart will thank you. (Although, this really goes well with thinly sliced beef, rolled around a slice of onion, grilled.)
Too Much Meat: Pickled Pig Feet August 29, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Restaurants.Tags: anthony bourdain, bar food, pickled, pig feet, pork
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I wish I was Anthony Bourdain. What a friggin bullshiv life. Getting paid and being famous for traveling and eating shiv you wouldn’t. Well, I would. I’ve always prided myself on my non-judgmental stomach. Hard as steel I’ve always said. Well folks. I found my limit. And who woulda thunk it – it turns out to be a common bar food: Pickled Pig Feet. Vom. It seriously looks and tastes like raw grizzly meat with some salad dressing on it. If you have the cohones, try some. Send me a pic of it. I’ll make you famous by posting on More Meat.
From Waste of Space to Fillin My Belly: Chilled Cucumber Soup August 21, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Health, Recipes.Tags: cucumber, dill, soup
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Our favorite fancy friends like doing fancy things. That’s cool. R and I like fancy too. We went to Saul. I hated the teeny tiny portions but I loved loved the canape of Chilled Cucumber Soup. Now, in the past I have been known to say that cucumbers are a waste of stomach space. But mush them shivs up, add some cream and salt and you got yourself a winner. I found a good ol recipe and threw it together. Check yourself:
4 major cucumbers (like, the kind that make you feel embarrassed a little), peeled, seeded, chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 cup of milk
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 cup of fresh mint, minced
1/2 cup of fresh dill, minced
1/2 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley, minced
cayenne to taste
sliced scallions for garnish
First things first, get a handle on your cuke. (giggle. remember the eggplants?)
Next, mash your garlic into half the salt creating a paste on the cutting board with a knife. This is real fun and easy to do and makes you feel like michael chiarello. When all your stuff is chopped, toss everything into a blender (you may have to do batches, so dole out the liquids accordingly) and pulse till you get a smooth consistency. When blended all nice, put into covered bowl and refrigerate for an hour. Serve with scallion and spoon. Eat and feel healthy. Dont try to make out cause your bref be all garlicy.
Grampa Nick All Up In My Belly: Lahmajun August 21, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Recipes.Tags: lamb, lemon, middle-eastern, pita, tomato, yogurt
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Tonight the parents came over to ours for dinner. Thought I would do a little root connecting and cook a lebanese meal. Since i dont normally cook in such a style I had to follow recipes. I did a Chilled Cucumber Soup (sounds gross, I know) and a Minced Lamb Pizza called, Lahmajun. Alright, I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t think the Cucumber Soup is lebanese. It just sounded good to say the whole meal was themed-out. Donit? See the next post for that recipe.
I found both recipes online. The Lahmajun called for making dough and baking pizza foreal, but I just made a meaty topping and put it on toasted pita bread. And you know what? That’s just fine, so shut up. Plus, since they like, raised me up, they’re gonna think I’m cool whether or not I’m baking my own dough. Anyway, after a good swath of yogurt, them pizzitas were magically delicious. Try this:
1 small white onion, finely chopped
1 small red pepper, finely chopped
1 lb of finely ground lamb
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp all spice
1 tbl of fresh lemon juice
1 tsp of red pepper flakes (or to taste)
2 cups of tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 tbls tomato paste (omg, those tubes are the bizzle)
finely chopped flat leaf parsley, (1 cup?)
salt to taste
olive oil
lemon and yogurt for garnish
Suate the onion and red pepper in the olive oil for 3 minutes. Add the lamb. Stir the meat up with a spoon constantly so that it breaks up. (although, there is a fine line here cause you don’t want your meat to be tough > be gentle to those morsels). Cook for 3 minutes. Before the lamb browns, add cumin, chili powder, all spice, and lemon. Immediately add the tomatoes, tomato paste and parsley.
If you are going to bake this into raw dough, set it aside and let cool. Find some other site about pizza dough making cause you’re not going to find it here.
OR
Place your hot lamb mixture on toasted pita bread. Serve with a squeeze of lemon and swath with yogurt. Eat and think about Grandma Nick.
I Suck: Baba Ghanoush August 12, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Recipes.Tags: crostini, eggplant, lemon, pickled
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So basically, I improvised on some homemade baba ghanoush and I failed like above. R and I toured Lawn Guyland a few days ago and stopping at farm stands was a priority. I found these perverted looking asian eggplants so I had to have them. Making the baba was an afterthought. Shoulda been a neverthought.
So, basically, I did all the things you would think was right. I swathed in olive oil, a roasted with mo garlic, and when charred, I scooped out the silky/stringy insides and mashed the hell out of it. Don’t quite have a food processor yet, so I was going for a country look (ugly look). But then, cause I have no self control, I kept adding stuff. And the more I added, the worse it got. Into the baba went salt, pepper, cumin (all good so far), but then I added my weight in lemon. And in the end, an entire bulb of garlic turned out to be way too much for two tiny peeny eggplants.
I toasted some delish bread and dumped some of the baba on the crostini, and topped with pickled roasted red pepper (the best part, by far), served, and watched R out the corner of my eye to see him gag.
What I do wrong, yo?
Rooftop Dumplings August 5, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Restaurants.Tags: beef, cabbage, chicken, dumplings, mushroom, pork, sirachi
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Asian again. R and I had dumplings from Eton yesterday for dinner with a cold bottle of white wine on the roof of our apt building. It was such a brooklyn moment that i had to take pics. Plus, much props to Etan, the newly opened dumpling place in Carroll Gardens. The dude that owns it was a personal chef prior to opening his store. The mostly take out place, although he has about 3 tables, dons a hot plate for cookin. A HOT PLATE. He uses a hot plate to make his dumplings. Love how this guy can take like 6 bucks and open a place in bk, hire a few dudes to throw his dough around and make his dumplings from his recipes. $3.50 for 5 dumplings is a deal. Also found out he does catering. Go there.
We had pork and beef, chicken and mushroom, and veggie cabbage. Sauces included a duck sauce, caramelized vinegar, chili oil and Sirachi, all of which here homemade, except for the Sirachi. (remind me to do a whole post on this special sauce.)
Expect a dumpling recipe to come.
FINALLY. Grilling Meat Almost Directly In The Mouth. August 5, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Restaurants.Tags: beef, kimchi, korean bbq, tofu
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(disclaimer: crap pictures taken with a phone.)
Sunday evening we went with 7 friends to a restaurant in Korea Town called Shilla and had Korean BBQ. The meal was so amazing I thought I would make you drool a bit.
We sat around a large table with 2 grills in the center. This is where the main meat dishes would get cooked. Before the raw meat got to the table, the waiters delivered like, 8 or 22, I don’t know, small bowls of tastiness. I asked my friend who took us there whether they were to be considered apps or condiments (eat now or later, basically) and I think he was being polite when he said to eat them now cause he didn’t eat them to till the main food came. Guess what the rest of us did. View empty bowls here:
After the first round of OB beers were drank and most of the small dishes were consumed, they brought over large platters of raw pork and beef. The pork looked exactly like thick cut bacon. The dude put the slabs on the hot grill and a minute later used large scissors to cut into bite size pieces. Then he took handfuls of kimchi and raw garlic and put on the edges of the grill so when the pork fat was rendering, the golden juices would stroll down and cook the kimchi and garlic.
The beef seemed to be marinated in a sweet sauce which tasted like teriyaki (excuse my ignance) and was grilled also over the garlic. Accompanied by large romaine leaves, the beef was delish rolled in them with a fermented bean paste.
We also ordered Kimchi Stew. This is a steaming hot bowl of pork chunks (I’ve also had it with pulled pork, which I think is better), tofu squares, rice cakes and, as you can guess, kimchi. This. Was. The. Bomb. You can expect to see a recipe for this in the coming weeks cause I must learn how to make this.
And finally, I must give props to the sides dishes because they were each so delish (except for the mayo apples – ew.) They brought dried and salted tiny tiny fishes (cursing myself for not having a picture of those suckers), whose heads kept falling off, but were really cute. Kimchi, spicy daikon, spicy zucchini, pickled zucchini, salt in sesame oil (cleary a condiment), a mayo potato salad with apple chunks, spicy salad greens, broccoli heads in a spicy red sauce, and… what did I forget… anyone?
Now, you know me by now, I love me some pork and spice and oily goodness, but this was, in the end, a bit much for my body. My mind said yes but my stomach said, Oh hell no. I need a Korean remedy for uncloggin my arteries, too. Can anyone suggest one?
(You know I’ll be back in K-Town soon though, right?)
Eating The Beach August 1, 2008
Posted by sicatmeow in Recipes.Tags: bread, mussels, seafood, summer, tomato
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Ever since our first day at the beach of 08, I have been going through a Mussel phase. It’s kinda gross, I know. It’s like visiting a farm and seeing cows and then going through a steak phase. What can I say? I go to the beach > I smell fish and see Mussels > I want to cook and eat them > fat ass.
R found this recipe from Bitman I believe. So, I took the same, classic ingredients and did the same. This might be the easiest, cheapest and most impressive meal we do.
Oh, it is imperative that you couple your mussels with a good bread. I’m talking, go to the bakery and get a country loaf. You can do fries too, but who the hell wants to do that in the summer. Here we go.
Steamed Mussels with Garlic and White Wine
2 healthy servings of fresh, live mussels
white onions, chopped
garlic, lots, sliced thick
3 vine tomatoes, chopped (or, half vine and half beef steak, if you want to spend less)
1 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of broth, chicken or veggie
olive oil and butter
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil and butter in a large pot. When the butter is melted, toss in onion. A minute later, add garlic. Salt. Can be a bit oily here, which will be less so as you add more stuff. When the onion and garlic is cooked, add chopped tomato, salt a bit more, and cover.
When the tomatoes have liquefied a bit, add wine and broth (which would have been sitting out so it isn’t so cold) and cover for another sec to bring back the heat. Add the mussels which have been rinsed. Stir and cover immediately. Cook for 4 minutes.
Serve in a large and deep bowl with mo bread, crisp white wine and another bowl for your discarded shells.
Tell me this ain’t fancy as hell.
