Brunch in 2 hours

Blame on global warming or Southern Oscillation, two weeks ago we had a incredibly warm october weekend. What does one do with that kind of awesome weather? Have a B.Y.O.B. in the park of course. The last 'B' in this B.Y.O.B. doesn't stand for bottle, although there were a few bottles at this event, it stands for brunch. Miss Nonstop, the brains for this operation, came up with the idea late Saturday evening for brunch in the park Sunday afternoon. I knew that I would have the sisters' fantastique with me which meant that if I didn't cook for all we would merely attempt one of their most daring cooking feats. Stopping at the closest store and raiding their 'easily consumed in the park' aisle.

So, i woke Sunday morning with a house full of fruit, vegetables, left pork shoulder and 2 hrs to do something with it. i started off with the sweet, because any brunch worth it's weight will have a sweet component as well as it's savory component. A few days earlier I was salivating over this recipe over at Apartment Therapy. I was currently swimming in apples from my C.S.A. fruit share, I had walnuts sitting in the pantry from some failed attempt at something earlier that fall. I even had a huge bag of french bread croutons from a B.L.T. salad I was trying to perfect the weeks prior. All I was missing was raisins which in my opinion could have been easily sacrificed so I jumped right in. Everything was sailing along until iI went to make the custard. I have a love/hate relationship with dairy I love cooking with it but my body hates it. So I always buy milk or cream and then it has a tendency to sit in the fridge when my body reminds of what's going to happen after I ingest it. I grabbed the milk I had purchased a while back checked the date, we were a little past the date but I always took those a more of a paranoid suggestion than hard fact, then I opened the bottle. It frothed and hissed and this was only after breaking the seal, not even taking the whole top off. I'm no dairy expert but my time in the kitchen has taught me one thing and this milk shouldn't hiss and froth at least not on it's own. So, I grab my keys and make a quick milk run and since I'm there the raisins get a chance to get back in the game. Except I decide to step it up a bit and use a raisin/cranberry mix instead. I spent more time than I expected on this raisin conundrum. Right next to each other in a row were raisin, dried cranberries and a raisin/cranberry mix. I pondered going all cranberry but thought that might be to tart since I was using tart apples. Then I thought 'sometimes raisins are just Boring', and this seemed like one of those times. The mix for some strange reason looked to be a cop-out like I was too much of a wuss to stand strong on either side of the raisin/cranberry debate. But then I told myself 'No, you're the wuss! The raisin/cranberry is a perfect sweet/tart mixture, jerk!' Then I realized i was arguing with myself and quickly grabbed the raisin/cranberry mix and my milk and proceeded home to finish. After my fierce debate which the world hasn't seen since 1858, the rest of the bread pudding was easy as pie. [BTW that saying is such bullshit pies are hard!]

After tossing the bread pudding in the oven it was on to the savory portion of this event. I knew I was going to do a hash because, making hash is easy and quick and I can throw what ever the hell I want into it and can still call it 'hash'. Another not as earth-shattering but quick debate came up again, this time between white potatoes and sweet potatoes. Not really much of a debate it really just a check to see if I had enough sweet potatoes to go around, which I did so let us soldier on. As I stated before hashes are so easy to make, chopped potatoes, onions, threw in some beets, a few other weird root vegetables i couldn't identify but looked really pretty on the inside and some left over pork shoulder from last week. Voila! Awesomeness in a pan. I added some eggs to it as the bread pudding left me with 3 egg whites with no home. I started this venture at about 10:30 that morning I was packed up and ready to go at about 1. O.K. so it took me a more than 2 hours to put this all together but it was still a pretty swift feat on my part.

The sisters were picked up coffee was procured and we were off to the park. We found our spot, ate our food, laughed at the guy playing guitar in the park with his dog[srsly, such a weak baiting move on his part] and enough food to go around for several people and for me to take home and have dessert for the rest of the week.

Whoa!

I can't believe it has been two years since I posted to this. I swore I did some thing in 2006! Anyway here comes the post of 2007.

In the future everything that is square is round.

Well you can go shit in your hat.


menu

• Bahn Mí Sandwich


• Baby Spinach sauteed in Garlic


• Asparagus and Crabmeat Salad


• Cassava Cake with Creme Fraiche

movie
Cherry 2000

Yesterday I couldn't spell internet, today I'm right smack dab in the middle of it.

Bahn Mí Sandwich

I had read about these sandwiches several times over the years and had tried a very unspectacular one from a restaraunt in downtown Chicago. I had a clipping from NYTimes that described a what they called a traditional Bahn Mí sandwich:




The classic banh mi filling is a combination of pork roll (essentially Vietnamese bologna), pork pâté, daikon and carrots pickled in vinegar and sugar, fresh coriander and mayonnaise. The sandwich is usually toasted, mayonnaise included, before the cool pickles and coriander are added.



So this is what I used to create my Bahn Mí Sandwich, first to find out what Vietnamese pork roll is called which is cha lua by the way. So off I went up north to the Vietnamese grocery for for some cha lua, pork pâté and others tasty items.

Sandwiches are pretty much as hard to screw up as making toast, (which is part of this sandwich making process) so there was not really anything exciting here except for some attention to the assembly process. There was a subsitution in the my sandwich from the one described above. On my way home I stopped by Whole Foods from some crabmeat and other vegatables. I came across some duck mousse, a contest in mind head immediately started and subsequently ended in a flash. Duck mousse vs. pork pâté, duck mousse wins out every time, which couldn;t have been a better last minute subsitution. I made another bahn mi later with the with the pork pâté and not nearly as good as with the duck mousse. Also if you can find the pickled daikon radishes that are carried at most asian groceries stories, those things are the best just plain straight out the bag!

Baby spinach with garlic

I decided to keep the rest of the menu in tune with the bahn mí sandwiches so I dug up some more vietnamese menus. this one is pretty much sauteed spinach (they called it stir-fry) with garlic. The big vietamese part was adding fish sauce (Nuoc Cham). Nuoc Cham is very salty and extremely aromatic kind of a soy sauce that's been drinking down at the docks all night. Again this was a no brainer to make and the nuoc cham gave the spinach a salty tang that was wuite pleasant.

Asparagus and Crabmeat Salad

Another vietnamese item, this one a cold noodle salad and once again a very basic salad. Cooked til tender asparagus with crabmeat and noodles. The noodles however, were no small feat, they are called bun bo hue or rice stick noodles. They are several different varieties of rice noodles that are rice noodles(at least at the vietnamese grocery store) but they are the thin ones. After figuring out which noodles to buy I then had to cook them. First you soak them in cold water for about a minute, then cook in boiling water for about 5 minutes, soak again in cold water and finally let them dry. When that is done and toss the asaparagus with the crabmeat, noodles and spices(including nuoc cham).

I like this salad, I took the leftovers to lunch the following week. The only problem I think it was the crabmeat it gets a little juicy in a way that I didn't care for but otherwise I think it's a great summer salad.

Cassava Cake with Creme Fraiche

Working on my new mantra "focus on dessert" I attacked with a Cassaca Cake with creme fraiche. Cassava is a starchy, potentially poisoinous root vegetable. I not sure who can lay claim to this but I found Filipino and Vietnamese recipes for this, so it cam eclose enough for me. If anybody is looking for a flour-free dessert to make I highly reccomend this. It could even be made [gasp!] vegan with an appropiate egg subsitute. When it is done you will have a thin dense, moist, almost custard-like cake. I love creme fraiche so easy to make and soooo good to eat. It still scares me that your basically leaving milk out to curdle, but who cares its awesome.

Cherry 2000


Why? Why are all the movies from the 80's so damn politically incorrect? I don't mean bad PC, I mean it makes you cringe to think people watched this and thought, 'that's fine, I'm cool with that'. Maybe I've become more sensitive to these things in my wiser, older age. But it's hard not think WTF? in a movie where all the women are robots, act like robots or to paraphrase one of the more enlighten gentlemam that I used to work with 'Just ain't been fucked right'.

This movies starts where every movie like this starts in the not to distant future. Sam Treadwell David[looking especially creepy] shorts out his sexroid by having sex with it in the kitchen when the dishwasher overflows. O.K., problem number #1. Why would you have sex with something that, a. is that eays to blow a fuse and b. carrying around that much electricity! Anyway, cheery is more than a robot to bang when you come home he's in love. He finds out that she's the last of her model and can't be replaced, except for a rumored warehouse in the middle of the forbidden zone. Ah, the forbidden zone, what every movie set in the not to distant future needs, a Mad Max-like area of lawlessness [which by the movie's calculations starts about 10 miles after the Glory Hole] where only the fearless dare tread.

So what's a everyday salaryman like David supposed to do? Hire a tracker of course. A no joke mercenary that knows all the tricks and traps of the forbidden zone. Of course only a strapping he-man like E. Johnson can handle this job. What?!?!? The 'E' in E. Johnson stands for Edith? That's right to evryone's surprise he comes Melanie Griffith as the tracker that will take David across the forbidden zone to reclaim his treasured 'bot. Of course underneath her tough as nails exterior is a soft as silk woman that wants to be held. But in between that love story there is improbable chase and escape scenes a band of social extremists who are out to eradicate all trackers.

This is the last 80's movie for a while there are plenty crappy movies from just last week that we can graze over. I apologize for this being like 5 years late I've been busy, really busy.

catches bullets with his teeth?/discomfort

Somethings should be left alone.


menu

• Cinnamon-scented fried chicken with buttermilk waffles


• Cardamom mashed yams


• Gingerbread with whipped cream

movie
berry gordy's the last dragon

When I invited my guests I asked them to vote on what the dinner should be, korean or comfort. Secretly I was hoping for comfort, I was in the middle of a disgusting project thatwas taking all of my time. I didn't think I would have time for a complicated dinner and really needed some comfort in the deepest sense. Fortunately for me the votes came 6 to 2 in favor of comfort over korean, with one korean vote changing to comfort at the last moment. So after working on Saturday morning(wasn't the first wouldn't be the last), I came home took and started on dinner.

Cinnamon-scented fried chicken with buttermilk waffles

When going for comfort food there's very little that can surpass fried chicken. This is pretty much a basic fried chicken recipe with some cinnamon added for aroma. The cinnamon doesn't much in the way of flavor but does add an sweet, earthy fragrance to the chicken. I wasn't to excited about the crispiness of the skin. I didin't do an egg wash on the chicken just directly in to the dry mix. I So the dry mix didn't have much to grab on to, in addition I think my pan temp. wasn't consistent.

The buttermilk waffles again were a basic recipe for waffles nothing special here. The only thing that I have to say about them is there consistency. The were floppy and a little undercooked. I think my waffle iron is broken, or what's more likely is that I was just not paying attention to the waffles while cooking and kept pulling them out early.

Cardamom mashed yams

This was an attempt to satisfy my need for using cardamon, I originally wanted to make black walnut-cardamom ice cream for dessert but there was no time for that this time. Straight forward mashed yams except I went for heavy cream and buttermilk instead butter.

Gingerbread with whipped cream

I wanted to make creme fraiche, but I never looked at a recipe for it. That's when I found out the biggest part of making creme fraiche is letting it sit for about 36 hours. So I decided to make it anyway for use later and throw together some whipped cream instead. Gingerbread, one of my favorite desserts as far as comfort goes, spicy, not sweet and a great substrate for and creamy goodness.

This is attempt at the most basic of desserts has given rise to my new mantra, 'focus on dessert'. the last two dinners I have made dessert as an almost afterthought. Well not really an afterthought but I was going for the just-out-of-the-oven freshness so I would wait until the last minute to cook. What happened both times was over-cooked desserts. Although this time it was mostly due to the fact I enjoyed some herbal delights and completely spaced out watching the movie whilst the gingerbread burned.

So the next dinner will have dessert either prepared well in advance or well after everything else is made[and leave the herbal goodness until after dessert is done].

berry gordy's the last dragon


Sometimes comfort should be left alone until needed. For me this movie is comfort. It takes me back to the first time I saw this movie with my family, hearing my father laugh out loud[a laugh that I have inherited] at the absurd scenes and plot twists[and he had plenty to laugh at]. Then to the hundred times I have watched this movie in my parent's basement on still finding it funny and completely incomprehensible. This was my personal comedy show. Watching it with a group of people puts in a completely and horrible light. Kind of like singing your favorite song in the shower and thinking you're really good and then getting up and performing the song at karaoke and realizing you don't know any of the verses only the chorus.

Chad said best, 'This came out in 1985, the year berry gordy went insane.' I don't remember exactly but I think this was supposed to be a big deal for Motown, maybe their purple rain or quadrophenia or something. It was definitely more like this. It came out at probably the worst time, right after the 80's were the 80's and the 90's were still discarded flannel in thrift store waiting to become something coveted. It probably wouldn't be that bad if it was just a bad urban kung-fu movie but it's a one-two punch of bad movie with equally bad music as well. Stevie Wonder's phone-it-in 'Upset Stomach' and the so bad and un-p.c. it's beginning to sound good raw dog's [that's right raw dog] 'Suki Yaki Hot Saki Sue'. There's also the let's throw in it because they're our best selling act right now DeBarge 'Rhythm of the Night'. There's so much more I can tell this will have a continuation when I find these songs, they will be posted for your enjoyment.

I haven't even really even talked about the movie yet especially Julius J. Carry III's entrancing performance a 'Sho' Nuff'. If you have never seen this movies think Busta Rhymes except, cartoon evil Busta. I hero who talks in a halting bad chop socky way even though he supposed to be a black guy from harlem. Also Eddie Arcadian who is so cartoon evil he makes Sho' Nuff seem almost rational. The secret gem of this movie, actually there are way too many gems for this movie, but William H. Macy little role is delightful chuckle. I can go on and on about this movie I love it, look for screen grabs and some audio clips later.

vegetable rocket-punch/black people are always right

menu

• capelin & flyign fish roe with cream cheese on rice crackers


• sesame-soy custard


• kabocha soup


• walnut-miso green beans


• gobo-mushroom sushi


• lemon-hazelnut sole


• chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream and brandy cherries

movie
surburbia

caviar & roe with cream cheese on rice crackers

This was a impulse no-brainer, while shopping at Mitsuwa for the rest of the ingredients for dinner I came face to face with the sushi department. I was not entirely confident about the menu at the time so I needed a something I knew was a easy hit, flying fish roe alternating with atlantic capelin roe nestled in cream cheese on rice cracker. Salty and creamy, you just can't lose.

sesame-soy custard

This was the one I was most excited and scared about, vegan custard? How the hell is that going to work? I think the custard in the title is mostly for lack of a better term for it. The secret for it is kanten (agar agar), a seaweed based gelling agent. This is weird stuff when cooked it starts to thicken, fast! It's also a cleaning nightmare, not as bad but no unlike leaving cream of whear or oatmeal out to dry.

The custard was actually pretty good, the only problem was the recipe for called for soy sauce and a dab of wasabi. The soy sauce worked well with the nuttiness of the sesame seed and I the wasabi worked well, however I think I put too much. It kind of overpowered the custard a bit.

kabocha soup

This was almost disaster only averted by my inability to calculate my portions correctly. Kabocha is a mild, faintly sweet, pumpkin-like squash. It's a total pain in the ass to peel. Crisis comes as again my inability to calculate portions rears it's ugly head. The recipe called for 6 oz. block of tofu I was planning on doubling the recipe so I bought 2 packages of tofu. However, the packagesI bought were 12 oz blocks! As I was sauteeing the tofu it looked it was a bit much for sqaush based soup. I also purchased two kabocha squash, so I had plenty of squash left over to quadruple the recipe without too much damage.

The soup was really good despite my fuck up. It's pretty much like miso soup really light, but nicely accented with some scallions.

walnut-miso green beans

By far the easiest thing to make here. A nutty flavor which always seems to go with green beans. The only problem here was the beans. They weren't the freshest beans and totally lost their snap when blanched, fuckers.

gobo-mushroom sushi

Gobos are funny looking, long brown root vegetables that are about a inch in diameter. They have a dark,earthy flavor that could run the danger of being too, how should I put it, brown-tasting. This dish refers to sushi in the technically not colloquial sense. The rice is made with water and rice vinegar which gives it quite a bite. It does mix very well with gobo and shiitake mushroom.

lemon-hazelnut sole

The recipe called for Meyer lemons, but I couldn't find any so I went with the normal variety. This was almost too easy just toast and chop some hazelnut, grate some lemon peel, coat sole fillets and grill.
The end result was awesome, simple and elegant.

chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream and brandy cherries

This dessert was something I put together for a little bit of weight after a fairly light meal. Kind of a disconnected black foerst thing. It would have been perfect except for my stupid oven, over cooked the cupcakes. I was always forget to keep an eye the oven, it always bakes really fast. It wasn't a total failure it dried them out a little bit. I could tell it was a little dry when I brought out the extra whipped cream everybody went for a little bit more.

Overall things went great, the four main recipes were adapted from Yumiko Kano from the New York Times. Yumiko runs Sen, a 14-seat restaurant in Tokyo [which sounds like my dream restaurant]. She serves only vegetable-based meals, not in a vegetarian sense, but more in focused area in which to create. This is what drew me to them. I not a fan of subsitution vegetarianism, if you don;t eat meat then don't eat. But don't just subsitute portabello mushroom for burgers. Start with vegetables and build from there.

suburbia

My how things look so different after a few years. There was a time that my friends and I couldn't drive past a bus without somebody saying "give me that bottle!". I don't remember this movie being sexist or racist but with this seems to be something that happens from now and then in punk rock.I also don't remember it being as bad as actually is. The acting is horrible and the plot, groomed for maximum drepravity. The first scene with dogs? WTF? An equally strange scene is the next where a poser gets her comeuppance and stands naked and screams for like 5 minutes while being taunted by all the true school punks.
While this for me was a revisitation of what was a defining moment fro just about everbody I knew who, a one point in their lives were all about teen angst and punk nihilism, it wasn't an international phenomenom. Some my guests were from Canada and this was their first experience with suburbia, which they all found quite amusing.
My favorite moment that I didn't notice before was Officer Bill's, Jack Diddley's dad, stunning array of Member's Only Jackets. My other favorite is the best citizen group ever, Citizens Against Crime.

Enter the chamber...

This is my foray into my adventures as a stuntcooker and daredevil diner.

Stuntcooking is defined by the fact I have no idea what I'm doing. I can follow recipes and put together a meal however, I have not been able to attain the 'alchemy' of cooking. Given a random assortment of ingredients I could maybe put something together but who knows what'll come out.

Daredevil dining is more of the same, not in a fear-factor-eat-some-rancid-maggots sort of way but more in a try some new and different things sort of way.

Anyway, this is a recalling of my ongoing series of dinner parties, the food I attempt to make and the bad movies I show during those parties.

Enjoy!