gansie - - Page 35

by gansie

Ignoring Butter

The scene: Hannah G’s, Ventnor, NJ.

“Can I have the crab and artichoke dip and the Chamberlain salad (mixed greens, red onion, shredded swiss, cashews and apples with a sweet & sour vinaigrette) to share. I’ll have the spaghetti. Thanks.” (Whole wheat spaghetti, with butternut squash, fried fresh sage & organic spinach. And holy crap they ended up pan-frying the entire dish so the noodles were slightly crisp and the squash tasted like sweet potato fries.)

“And I’ll have the nut-crusted salmon with sides of snap peas and garlic mashed potatoes,” 80 excitedly said.

“Okay, I’ll bring out some bread and potato chips,” the waiter said as he walked inside.

Potato chips! Potato chips!

Of course I love bread and butter. In fact, I barely can tolerate bread and oil. I really only use the bread as a vehicle for butter. But, anyway, even though we ordered a fuck load of food, we were pumped for those chips.

Although, I was nervous for too crunchy, kettle-style chips. Instead we received crisp, yet slightly bendy, potato-flavored chips. Dipped in a garlic mayo.

And I ignored the butter. When was the last time you ignored bread and butter?

in Restaurants 1 comments

by gansie

Thank You Uno: Chicken Tikka Masala Officially Jumps the Shark

Chicken tikka masala already wins as the most inauthentic Indian dish of all time. The BBC calls it “synonymous with: breakdown in traditional British values and rise of multi-cultural Britain,” as it’s been crowned “Britian’s true national dish,” having been created there in the mid-20th Century.

In the United States we find this dish only at Indian restaurants and some UK-inspired pubs aggressively trying for authenticity. But that’s where the CTM deliciousness ends. Right?

That’s until I read about Uno’s “complete menu revamp.” Because of the volume of press releases sent to my inbox, I barely ever read all of them, especially when I have no interest in the subject matter. Now, I don’t have an interest in Uno’s, as it was my least favorite pizza chain (even over the despised Pizza Hut), but I was curious about how radically a pizza place’s menu could actually change.

The press release first mentioned a farro salad. I get this addition: ancient grains are having a serious moment and are seen as healthy, plus farro is deeply connected to Italy, as is Uno’s main draw, pizza.

But then it comes. Chicken Tikka Masala will join the cast with deep dish pizza and Rattlesnake pasta. I’m afraid chicken tikka masala now joins salted caramel (Uno also unveils a bread pudding with salty caramel sauce) as completely overexposed and a sure sign that a restaurant is totally fucking desperate with zero original ideas.

Original Jump the Shark (and its defender!)

in Restaurants 2 comments

by gansie

Hungry for Haiku

Coffee

We have turned our mug

a hammock of fragrant thoughts

into a cheap date

in Drinks 1 comments

by gansie

Safe at Home

You won’t believe this, but I returned to Southern California this past weekend. Yes, two trips to SoCal in two weeks. And on both those trips, I avoided eggs, which is something that offends and prolongs my hangovers, and generally makes me unhappy. Oh how I craved the Huevos Rancheros in La Jolla!

I haven’t fully investigated where the bad eggs could have landed (but holy shit, the people behind this recall are awful, and I’m ashamed to say, Democratic donors), and therefore I have avoided anything but eggs I buy directly from a farmer.

Last week I fulfilled my craving with a roasted tomato egg salad, but after a weekend yearning for greasy egg sandwiches, I knew what had to be made for lunch upon my return.

The Second Life of Corn Chowder

I don’t know why I had such a limited view of corn usage. Corn = grilled corn on the cob. That’s all. But then I let it pop and brown in hot oil and butter and threw it in with kale and roasted tomatoes for a salad.

I bought another four ears but did not have a plan of attack. And then I saw a corn chowder recipe over at Macheesmo. I never made corn chowder before, and I’m pretty sure I hadn’t followed a recipe all summer, so as the unofficial end of warmth approached last week, I fell in line and replicated a proper summer soup.

With the leftovers, however, I refused to simply reheat. Instead, I recreated a hotter, fattier soup and a slightly soggy frittata.

Corn Chowder Frittata

I think I botched this up, as I rushed to the broiler instead of letting the egg cook longer in the oven. I whipped one egg with hot sauce, salt and pepper. Then poured that over corn chowder leftovers, stirred it together and put the entire mixture into a pre-heated, buttered cast iron pan. Then I added sliced tomato to the top, with more salt and pepper and then slid it under the broiler. And waited and waited and waited. The mixture browned nicely on the top, but remained slightly soggy in the middle. I think cooking this in the oven for 15-20 minutes and then finishing in the oven, with a late addition of crumbled feta on top, would have worked better.

Artsy Photo of the Day

gansie: This is a seriously beautiful picture
80P: Yea, thanks
gansie: Well, what’s funny about it
80P: I can’t think of any more funny things about food
<<<It is the 103rd Artsy Photo of the Day that we’ve had to think of a caption for>>>
gansie: Well…
80P: I think it looks like the Loch Ness Monster
ganise: Uh…the Loch Ness Okra?
<<<Wow, it really does look like Nessie>>>

in Photos / Veggie 0 comments

by gansie

Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Egg?

Now that I work from home my morning routine is different. Instead of springing out of bed, having waited for the last of the possible “snoozes,” I now roll over, shut my alarm off and open my email. Right there in bed, with the ease of my newly updated (software version 4.0.2) iPhone.

First I check my work email to make sure nothing insane has happened, then my personal email. I receive a few blog posts directly to my email (otherwise I’m really terrible at keeping up with other food blogs that I enjoy). One of these is from Macheesmo.

Yesterday Nick wrote a thoughtful piece on the recent egg recall. As eggs’ number one fan, I knew this sort of danger was coming. But also as eggs’ fan, I know to buy my yolky treats straight from farmers. Farmers (thank you Truck Patch) that raise chickens as chickens should be raised, not cramped in an immoral amount of space and fed, well, I can’t be sure, but it’s not natural.

While most egg buyers tucked their sunny side up desires away, I, instead, dreamed of how I would use eggs in my lunch that very day.