June 2011


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Friday Fuck Up: Ricotta, Don’t Fail Me Now!

Yes, I realize this is a gorgeous plate of pasta. Whole wheat noodles, swirling high, bombarded with thick rods of asparagus and topped with green garlic and grated parm. But what are those darn clumps of white? Fucking ricotta.

I bought a tub of ricotta from the far mar (although you can apparently make ricotta yourself) for my strawberry ricotta sticks, and wanted to use the rest of it up quick. I thought a creamy ricotta based sauce would be fantastic for my spring pasta medley. Well, ricotta doesn’t really melt. Or smooth out. Or blend in. It just kinda forms into these lumps of cheese. I tried to let it absorb in the pasta cooking water. I added more butter than I care to admit. And still nothing. Blobs of ricotta.

The meal in its entirety still tasted good, but not what I had envisioned. Is it even possible to turn ricotta into a sauce? Please help me not fuck up again!

in Cheese / Veggie 5 comments
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Tired of Adult Popsicles Yet? We Didn’t Think So

You like fruit, you like vodka, you like popsicles — shoot, you like a lot of things. So to help move you more quickly towards all your likings, we found a way to combine the three aforementioned likes into one.

Before your skeptical brow can arch upwards, let us say — yes, you can freeze vodka. After some quick experimenting and an afternoon of mixing and an evening of freezing …Strawberry Peach Vodka Collins Popsicles are yours for the licking!

And careful, these are deceptively kid-like in flavor but packed with adult enjoyment.

 

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in Desserts / Endless Poptails / Featured 27 comments
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Summer Cocktail Season: The New Moscow Mule

A couple of weeks ago I received a text from a friend who was having dinner at DC’s newest taqueria, El Centro, D.F. He asked me if I had ever tried a Moscow Mule. I immediately had a flashback to New Years Eve 1995. I was 15 and my older sister had taken me under her wing to a nightclub in my hometown in England. If you’re familiar with the UK bar scene you’ll know that they’re not too strict on ID and age restriction — I used a fake birth certificate to get in the door — and well, I don’t remember much other than drinking the night away on one too many pre-bottled Smirnoff Mules, to the point of not ever drinking them again.

I had a perverted hope that El Centro, D.F. would be serving these pre-mixed bottles, but my hopes were dashed. Instead I found a seductively crafted cocktail from El Centro’s beverage director, Brennan Adams. I’m not sure what has happened to the Moscow Mule I first encountered and quite frankly, I don’t care. Adams’ version, with its summer fresh tones, splash of beer, and peppery aftertaste, is a whole new kind a mule. I spoke with Adams about his drink, explaining it was too good not to share, and he was kind enough to give me the recipe.

 

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in Drinks / Endless Cocktails / Personal / Recipe / Restaurants 2 comments
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Liz Lemon Food Fix: Working Out Never Tasted So Good

Enjoy your weekly fix of Liz Lemon singing, crying and dancing about her love of food.

More Lemon:
Liz Lemon's Top 15 Tips for Better Eating
Top 10 Liz Lemon Food Moments (in GIFs)
All Liz Lemon Food Fix
in Desserts / TV 4 comments
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Peanut Butter Bacon Hot Dogs. Seriously.

This past weekend I journeyed to Tacoma, Washington to visit my dad. I”m pretty unfamiliar with that area of our state, so I assigned him with the task of picking a cool place to meet. My dad is a man with excellent taste, so I knew he would not disappoint. And boy was I correct!

We ended up at the Red Hot, an unassuming little joint that specializes in creative hot dogs. The menu revealed that the Red Hot has been featured in a variety of local media and even appeared on Food Network”s Chef vs City. All this is well and good, but let”s get to the real The driver ed games will also help students find financing through the U. question on everyone”s minds: does the Red Hot offer a hot dog slathered in peanut butter?

YEP.

Upon spying this option, called the Hosmer Hound Dog, I remarked that it probably was delicious but I felt too guilty ordering it. Little did I know that fate had other plans. A super friendly local, who was sitting next to us at the bar, had overheard our conversation and asked the waitress to bring us two of the Hosmers, his treat.

I”ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.

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in Bacon / Endless Bacon / Featured / Pig / Restaurants 7 comments
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Avoid Your Mother (Sauces)

Don’t worry about not mastering the French or Chinese Mother Sauces, you can easily create a creamy and tangy dressing from a few items in your fridge. In an I-need-to-make-dinner-in-30 minutes attempt last night, I buzzed around mustard, tahini, horseradish, hot sauce, manchego, oil, the slightly-cooled pasta cooking water, salt and pepper for a quick sauce on top of Israeli couscous with asparagus, almonds, avocado and green garlic.

The sauce turned out really well and I sourced it all from some hidden gems just in my fridge. Here are some more ideas on how to get the most from all those jars taking up shelf space.

5 Fridge Finds for Better Sauces

1. Mustard

Mustard makes everything better. It adds a creamy texture and a zingy flavor. And just like the New Kids On the Block, there’s a member of the mustard family out there for everyone. We usually keep a  dirty (aka spicy or brown) mustard, a grainy (with mustard seeds) dijon mustard and have recently purchased the British nose-stinger Coleman’s. Each has a unique flavor that can match lots of cuisines. And I’m currently in the market for a super hot Chinese mustard (suggestions welcome), maybe as a coating for eggplant?

2. Tahini

My dad is the only person I know that makes (veggie-filled) hummus on a weekly basis. Most people let their sesame paste sit until the next infrequent hummus affair. Tahini brings depth and thickness, and almost has a raw nut butter flavor. It plays well with plenty of other items, easily blending into a sauce with lemon and cumin, miso and cilantro, or feta and scallions.

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in Celebs / Cheese / Lists 1 comments
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