February 2010
1 post
Gorgonzola Party
I wanted to have a go at a Gorgonzola-based recipe my brother makes, so I bought a block of it from Costco… a big block. I used it for dinner the last two nights with pretty good results—it has a salty character that doesn’t make things creamy like you’d expect most cheeses to do.
Steamed Asparagus + Mushrooms + Gorgonzola + Sausuage
Well, that pretty much says it all....
October 2009
1 post
Cabbage Casserole
After reading several recipes that each had pieces of things I liked, I decided to just wing it with the ingredients I had on hand (and make it closer to a green bean casserole).
One head of cabbage, chopped.
One pound of ground beef.
One jar of alfredo sauce.
One can of mushroom soup.
Fried onion topping.
Steam or boil the cabbage while you brown the ground beef. After draining the beef,...
August 2009
3 posts
2 tags
3 tags
June 2009
1 post
4 tags
April 2009
1 post
Broccoli Soup
I can probably count the number of times I’ve eaten broccoli soup on one hand, but yesterday’s veggie pickup was just screaming soup: fresh broccoli, soup celery (little miniature celeries), fresh carrots, green garlic, and fresh dill. I picked up some white cheddar on the way home. I browsed around for a couple of recipes, eventually sort of winging it on my own…
Ingredients:
...
March 2009
2 posts
Parsnip, Beet, and Fennel Soup
I dropped off the rest of this week’s veggies at Diama’s mom’s house this morning and she cooked us dinner. Not really having any idea what to do with anything, she peeled everything and tossed it in a soup. The sweetness from the beets went great with the spring flavor of the fennel (for lack of better description), while the parsnips added most of the substance.
CSA Cole Slaw
Our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) just started back up, so it’s time once again to start experimenting. I was going to cook us up some cabbage last night (a shame our delivery was the day after St. Patrick’s Day), but after taking stock of our ingredients (we also had fresh carrots, parsley, and what I thought were scallions) a cole slaw seemed perfect. I diced the cabbage,...
February 2009
1 post
Pear + Brie + Bagels
We were out of cream cheese yesterday morning, so I had to get creative. There was most of a wheel of brie left in the fridge and some fresh pears, so I tossed both into the Magic Bullet and liquified it. It was pretty soupy, and I half-thought I’d gone to far on the liquefaction… but it turned out great. I just spooned a hefty amount of brie/pear concoction onto each half of a bagel,...
January 2009
1 post
Champagne Brunch at Cliff House
Yesterday, I went with Diana and her family to the champagne brunch at Cliff House in San Francisco. The brunch is about half the price of the one at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay, but it would be generous to say the food was half as good or half as plentiful. The selections were fairly limited—other than a few salads (there was a butternut squash salad with walnuts and pomegranite seeds...
October 2008
1 post
5 tags
Grilled Mussels and Feta Burgers
After the UGA game went off, I felt like grilling. While picking up some ground beef at the grocery store for burgers, I happened to walk by the seafood case and see that mussels were only $4.99/lb. I’ve never tried cooking mussels, and wasn’t even sure you could grill them—though I did vaguely remember seeing Bobby Flay grill some once.
Back at home, I did burgers first. I...
September 2008
1 post
The New Hotness In Wings
I’ve been thinking about how to use the Big Green Egg more like an oven lately, and something I do every now and again is cook chicken wings in the oven. So last night, I tossed them on the egg instead. I filled up a ceramic casserole dish with the wings, doused them with a bit of salt, pepper, and garlic, and then put them in at around 350. Other than draining them a few times (juicy!) and...
August 2008
6 posts
Smoked BBQ Pizza
We got a new roommate last week, and he’s a big pizza fan. When I got home last night, he’d already prepared some bbq chicken chunks and was rolling out some dough. Rather than cook it in the oven, I showed him how to fire up the big green egg—tossing in some hickory chips for good measure. The pizza was great (red onions, bbq sauce instead of tomato sauce, cheese, and bbq...
Kahlua Smores = Best Smores Ever
I saw something on the Food Network awhile back that piqued my interest: using a fondue pot over a campfire to melt chocolate. Because, though marshmallows melt easily, the chocolate never really goes all gooey for s’mores. Brilliant! I didn’t pay attention to the actual recipe, but the concept was enough.
We went to Crater Lake over the weekend, and instead of stocking up on...
Grown Up Food
I went home yesterday and made what I like to call “grown up food.” I steamed som broccoli & carrots, sauteed some spinach, roasted some potatoes on the big green egg, and grilled up some filet mignon. What occasion? It was Monday, and I wanted steak.
As my parents used to do when I was in high school, I bought an entire filet from Costco and sliced it up for freezing with my...
Freedom of Choice
I went to Subway for lunch today, as I often do, only to find that the “limited” promotion for the $5 footlongs that’s been going on for the last couple of months has ended. They’ve now got a $5 everyday “value menu” with a smaller selection of subs, and my usual sandwich—the Subway Melt—didn’t make the cut. The spicy italian is on there, as is...
fancy pants pizza
We had some organic tomatoes from the farm this week, and they were awesome. To go with them, we got some prosciutto, some fresh mozerella, and a loaf of bread. Just for kicks, we sauteed up some spinach, too. Bread + cheese + prosciutto + spinach = mini pizzas. Yum.
Ribs on a weekday?
I love ribs, but for some reason I only ever cook them for special occasions. Last time I was at Costco, I decided to break that pattern. I guess you could argue that they’re a little expensive for a “normal” meal, but at $25 for three racks of the things, it’s not so different from the $25 I routinely pay for all-you-can-eat sushi. Only this is all-you-can-eat ribs. No...
July 2008
9 posts
Pancakes + Plums
I talked Diana into making us some pancakes this morning. I’m not a big fan of syrup, but I’m not opposed to pancake toppings in general. While she made the pancakes, I sliced a few plums. Once the pancakes were done, we sauteed them with a little bit of butter and honey until they were essentially liquified, then poured that hot mix over the pancakes. Yum!
Kitchen Sink Stirfry
Wednesdays are new veggie days for us, so last night I decided to use up as much of last week’s veggie shipment as possible (being out of town Fri-Sun didn’t put much of a dent in them). I started by simultaneously boiling a handful beets and steaming a couple of heads of cauliflower over the same pot (with a sprinkle of turmeric and cumin for flavor). In a big wok next to that, I...
Damn You Cookie Fate
Kourambiedes are my all time favorite cookie. It’s basically the Greek version of a sugar cookie, made with ground almonds (or almond flour) and sometimes dusted with powdered sugar. They’re close enough to regular sugar cookies that I usually just go for those when I’ve got a craving.
I set out for an afternoon snack specifically thinking I was going to avoid the sugar cookies...
Chipotle Sausages + Salsa Verde, or "Not Quite...
We had another bag full of peppers from the farm this week (and no one had even touched the bag from last week). Diana was taking a belly-dancing class, so I decided it was a perfect night for “Man Food.”
I took all the peppers, a spoonful of minced garlic, a few scallions (also farm-fresh), and a handful of grape tomatoes leftover from the weekend, and a bit of salt and tossed it all...
Penne with Cilantro Pesto
I’m excited to go pick up a new haul of veggies later today, but we were finishing up the last of last week’s batch yesterday. I’d been itching to try a cilantro pesto since feasting on some I picked up from the farmer’s market a few weeks back, and the inclusion of a huge bunch of the stuff definitely boded well for my taste buds. I had all the ingredients lying around...
Grilled Trout+
Picked up some whole trout last night from Costco (only $4/lb… can’t beat that) and some miso salad dressing to marinate them with.
Before tossing the fish on the grill (on cedar planks!), I started some somewhat-chopped fingerling potatoes that I’d drizzled with olive oil and coated with rosemary. After about a half-hour head start on the potatoes, I added some mushrooms and...
Grilled Turnips
This weeks bag from the farm had a few turnips and a nice haul of new potatoes. My roommate was cooking lamb chops on the grill tonight, so I sliced up the turnips and potatoes and tossed them on alongside the meat. There were also some banana peppers, so I diced a few of those and dropped in a fair bit of last week’s leftover parsley. The results were pretty good.
You really can’t...
Purple Cauliflower
After a meatlicious weekend, Diana insisted we cook up some veggies tonight. We’ve got a couple of days before our next shipment from the CSA comes in, so we’re working through our bag o’ veggies. She stir-fried us up some spinach, carrots, and purple cauliflower with some garlic and basil. Who needs meet?
Trying Kale
I’ve been on a waiting list for a little while, but last week I finally made it into a local CSA. $20 a week for a bag full of fresh, local veggies is a pretty sweet deal in my book. I picked some up yesterday and it had a bunch of kale in it. I’ve never had kale before, so I de-stemmed it and sauteed it with some olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. Pretty tasty stuff—I was...
June 2008
9 posts
Spice Up Those Raviolis With Some Capers
Over the weekend a huge jar of capers made its way into my refrigerator. I made those raviolis I got from the farmer’s market a couple of nights ago, and I decided to toss a couple of fork-fulls of capers on with the bolognese sauce. Rockin’!
Figs + Margaritas = Win
Los Altos has a farmer’s market every Thursday through the end of the summer, so I popped by it today. Besides netting some tasty looking cilantro pesto and some home-made raviolis, I got some blueberries, raspberries, and figs. This is the first time I’ve seen figs for sale in CA, so I was pretty pumped. After spending $400 at Costco after the farmer’s market, I was in need...
Blue Diamond Hazelnut Nut-Thins
Besides the fact that I’m endlessly amused that someone actually made a product called “Nut Thins,” these things aren’t horrible. I’ve gotten used to anything marked as “healthy” or “rice snack” or “wheat & gluten free” is going to taste like butt—but these are at least snackable
Baklava in the Afternoon
There’s a Draegar’s about a block down from my office that sells Baklava. The grocery store is usually ridiculously overpriced (and Baklava seems like something that would sell for higher than average), but oddly enough you can get 6 oz of it (3 big squares) for $3.25.
Other snacks are good, but nothing kills my afternoon munchies quite like a few pieces of baklava.
1 tag
Hello World
I’ll admit that I’m slightly obsessed with food. Twitter’s great for discussion, and my day-blog is great for ranting and raving… but sometimes I just want to talk about food. What I’m planning on cooking, how it turned out, how I’d do it differently, what restaurants sucked, which ones were gems.