Endless Simmer - A Food Blog

1991
Generic Chinese Restaurant
Cherry Hill, NJ

So it’s my first time at a Chinese place.  I’m terrified.  And I’m so young that I don’t even see the humor of being born in the Year of the Cock.

I look at the menu, although I already know I don’t have to order anything.  And I didn’t.  My parents sneaked in chicken nuggets and fries.  But I did secretly enjoy a spoonful of my Oma’s egg drop soup. (I liked something egg-related, shocking, I know.)

This horrifying tale of childhood fussiness is to say, kids sure are different these days.

Meet Thomas.  He’s a Jr. Chef of America.  And he can whip up a serious Mac Attack.

Cooking for Kids: ‘Jr. Chefs of America’ [Express]

L’shanah Tovah

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As gansie so helpfully pointed out last week, shopping at the Park Slope Food Co-op has significantly upped my food snobbishness quotient. I’ve given up the sharp cheddar for the Spanish goat cheese, cook with all kinds of crazy meats, and of course eat veggies that are organic, local, carbon-neutral, etc, etc…

But it still makes me feel kind of stupid, because half the time in the produce aisle I don’t know WTF I’m buying. Sometimes a random grab of something weird-looking turns out to be monstrously delicious, while other times the seemingly simplest purchases blow up in my face.

Case in point: Last week I brought a quite nice-looking yellow squash. Or so I thought….

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Washington, D.C.: I know you’ve mentioned your dislike of waiters “auctioning plates,” but I’d like to raise the issue again — with a twist.My boyfriend and I eat at restaurants pretty regularly — 2-3 times a week, at a mix of price points. But one thing that’s become pretty constant lately is waiters delivering our food and automatically assuming the salad or the fish goes to me — when 9 times out of 10, it’s what my boyfriend has ordered.

He’s the health nut. I’m more apt to order something involving pork belly or red meat.

It would be funny if it wasn’t happening so often.

Tom Sietsema: Restaurant Rule No. 234:

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Forget Ice Cream! You guys were all over Maidelitala’s Tofutti Cutie plug:

Liza: “I was a lactard as a child, and I depended on Tofutti (yes tofutti “ice cream” did exist in the 80s) so I was delighted to see this childhood favorite back and in “cutie” form. (and because when I was little I thought Tofutti was a silly word and it made me laugh when I saw it again) I’m addicted!!!!”

JoeHoya offers up an alternative: “I still prefer Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches…only 10 more calories and 6 more grams of sugar, but 4 fewer grams of fat and more protein and fiber. Plus they come in mint and chocolate/peanut butter!”

And Sarabelle has another: “I have to say, my fave dairy free ice cream is SO purely decadent coconut milk dairy free ice cream. so yummy. They also have lowfat so delicious ice cream sandwiches, you have to try them. Thanks gansie for addressing the needs of the lactose challenged! Any idea why people grow into lactose intolerance?”

-Back in the world of real dairy, Liza also sides with gansie on toning down the fancy cheese scene:

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It doesn’t always make sense to have a woman involved

(link via ES fan mariah carey)

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I’m a little late getting to this story, but it has absolutely floored me, so I just had to share.

I’m sure everyone here has had the privilege of eating a Pringle or two in their lifetime. Or, more likely, seven or seventy or seven thousand. Once you pop, you can’t stop. It really is true. More than a few times in my life, I have sat down and eaten an entire tin of these things in one sitting. There’s just something about them–you could eat Pringles all day long and still be hungry. Now, after all this time, I’ve finally found out why that is–THEY AREN’T FOOD.

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Thank you for your suggestions on what to do with my crazy blended vegetable concoction.   But like a true blogger, I really didn’t listen.

Chickpeas and Serrano Spiked Blended Vegetables

Toast a handful of pine nuts.  When starting to brown, set aside.  Warm up the sauce in that same pan.  In another pan, warm through chickpeas and precooked bulgur wheat.  When everything is warmed up, spoon sauce on plate.  Top with chickpeas, bulgur wheat and pine nuts.  Or if you don’t care about presentation, throw everything together and heat up.  Blogging means extra pans and plates, unfortunately.

If your coworker happened to give you a fabulous sack of homegrown tomatoes (thank you Edy!) then top the dish with raw chunks of tomato (sprinkled with kosher salt.)

If you hate tomato, skip that step.

Oh, and not that I even know what this does for my body, nor what it really tastes like, but you can sprinkle nutritional yeast over the chickpeas. I’m trying to find more uses for the yeast.  Although my two nut. yeast experts — Maidelitala and Elizabeth — claim you can’t mix it with yogurt.  We’ll see.

Tag clarification
So this is not Indian, I know. But with the slight heat and chickpeas and cumin and yogurt, 80 and I felt like it had an Indian flare and texture.

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Holy poop it’s finally here.

Endless Simmer would like to congratulate bobby c for winning the Spice Master challenge!

You can learn all about the magical bobby c on ES’ newest way to exploit our readers, Endless Eater Hall of Fame.

And, bobby, please email contests@endlesssimmer.com so we can send your Amazing Taste seasoning packets to you (or to the friend/enemy of your choice.)

Thanks to everyone for playing.

PS–we’re still accepting entries for the Pine Nut contest.  Better luck next time, JoeHoya…

Photo: Disco Music

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Sometimes I’ll be at home and I’ve already cooked dinner, and I’ve already made lunch for tomorrow (and the next day) yet I still feel like cooking.  Well, this is when it gets dangerous.  Especially this time of year with all of the amazing vegetables available from the farmers market.  Actually, let me take that a half step back.

I’ve finally had my first fight with the market.  I could deal with the limiting hours (only 9-1 on Saturdays from May through November); I could deal with the price spikes (a bunch of parsley for 3 bucks instead of 50 cents at Bestway); but I was not prepared for invaders.

So I was taking lettuce out to be washed for a salad and all of a fucking sudden - there was a SPIDER in my bag-o-greens.  I didn’t scream.  I backed away.  I was pisted.  I was scared.  And then I gently tied the bag together - spider inside - and threw it in the trash.  My love affair hit its first bump.  And I might be off the salad for the rest of the summer.

Regardless, so there I am, in the kitchen, having already cooked what most people don’t even put together in a week, and I’m ready for more.

Recipe for something, post jump

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