Endless Simmer - A Food Blog

Like I said in my first Passover post, I wouldn’t be getting any timely recipes to you. And as the holiday ended yesterday I’m just getting you a little something.

Now I have to say, this wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever eaten. But the below video will surely excite you.

The fairly common Matzah Brie (fried matzah) is like our answer to french toast. The matzah is torn in to pieces, soaked in water to soften, then the water is drained out as much as possible. Next, mix the matzah with eggs and milk. A lot of people make this sweet like french toast and add cinnamon and nutmeg and once fried, cover in *kosher for Passover* syrup. But I like my breakfast on the savory side: I seasoned it with salt and freshly ground black pepper and when it was fried, I topped it with cream cheese, raw onion and lox. I based it on this recipe.

The tricky part though, is flipping this creation so the top side is equally cooked and browned.

Check out DAD GANSIE as he flips the shit out of our matzah brie. This is best watched with volume.

Camera Works: gansie

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By now, you’ve totally heard us *kvetch* that we’re waiting for the day when ES makes it BIG. And when that happens, you’ll surely get recipes that you can use ahead of time, instead of hearing about them after the fact.

Example: I’m going home for Passover this weekend. Not really sure what I’m going to make yet, so unfortunately, I can’t give you great, original ES dishes to try at your family seder. But I will be able to report back, and hopefully give you some inspiration on what kosher food to make for the following days.

So far though, my mom has requested twice-baked potatoes, and I’m thinking I’ll spike mine, SAG’s and DAD GANSIE’s with some wasabi powder. (My mom is the plainest eater in the world, no wasabi for her. Actually, I say she has a “delicate pallet” because that’s the nicest way I can think of to say she won’t eat shit.) I’ve also requested steak for dinner, because it’ll only be the four of us for the first night.

When my aunt’s family comes over for the second seder, we’ll see what group-style meal we come up with - probably turkey or brisket. DAD GANSIE’s a huge proponent of the bird year round. I’ve been asking him to post his turkey soup for a long time now (hint, hint).

Oh, and clearly we’re making matzah ball soup.

Here, though, are some interesting kosher-for-passover recipes:

Fruited Quinoa Salad [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] (via 80P’s Mom)

Matzoh Lasagna [A Mighty Appetite]

Mediterranean Fish Cakes [Culinate, Zena Chew Collection]

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And please, totally send me your Passover suggestions

Photo: Charleston Heston as Moses

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Ok so I’m live blogging tonight, and I have to warn you…. I passionately dislike our precious Padma (yeah, I said it). Her monotone, non-expressive voice, and the Top Chef promos of her popping a champagne bottle and spraying it everywhere make me want to vomit. But I LOVE TOP CHEF, and I just put a vegetable lasagna in the oven for the occasion!

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Ok we’re starting- and the preview looks crazy- people are yelling at each other, a table fell down.. what’s going on!

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Zoi is always pissed

Ming Tsai is the guest judge. Jesus, Padma just pointed to her mouth and was like “your palate, your palate is so important”

OMG everyone is so conceited about their palate - They have to figure out which cuisine is the gourmet and which is not and Padma sounds legitly pissed that someone was not correct- she’s such a bitch - so disappointed! and Stephanie sounds biiiiter

I don’t know what to think about Antonia… I think she might be the hidden gem…

Or should I say the hidden element -

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Wow only 15 minutes to make 3 courses!

Antonia: “I will make a f-ing condensed soup”

I agree with Lisa - How can you be comfortable with having a meal be an EGG! I’m sorry, but people like to eat, and they are not going to be satisfied with 1 egg in the middle of their plate.

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It’s come to our attention here at ES that despite all these food blogs, there are only so many things a person can actually cook. I mean, it takes a lot of hard work to come up with an original, tasty combination of ingredients, and even when you do, chances are someone’s already thought of it before anyway. Just ask Jessica Seinfeld. So what’s a snarky food blogger to do? Why, judge others of course. On that note we introduce our newest feature: Who Cooked It Better?

Inspired by Us Weekly’s in-depth examination of celebrity costumery, Who Wore It Best? we’ll be browsing the food world each week to bring you a head-to-head match-up in which you, the readers, get to decide Who Cooked It Better?

It’s only fitting that our first culinary clash is a fishfight between the Food Network’s two sultriest chefs. Anyone can wrap a simple broiled scallop in bacon and make it taste pretty great, but not everyone can produce the beautiful succulence that is emitted by Rachael Ray and Giada De Laurentiis on a daily basis.

Pictured in the left-hand corner is the entry from our first cheftestant, the New York-born, former Macy’s candy counter clerk and aspiring queen of all media, Rachael Ray. Thankfully, RayRay resisted the urge to make an entreetizer or stoup this time and went semi-classic with her scallops, which are marinated in Teriyaki sauce, wrapped in thickly-sliced bacon and served on a tantalizing toothpick. Rachael gets creativity points for adding a slice of water chestnut and piece of pickled ginger to each scallop. Full recipe here.

In the right corner is our challenger, Rome-born, Hollywood-raised brand new baby mama Giada De Laurentiis. Giada went for a refreshing take here, blending up a tomato-basil-olive oil rub for her scallops, and kicking it up a notch by wrapping them in prosciutto. These scrumptious shellfish look pretty gushingly gourmet on their bed of fresh arugula, although perhaps a little hard to handle. Full recipe here.

So, dear readers, your thoughts please…

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With all of this talk about Obama’s race speech, the FIFTH fucking year of war in Iraq and the divorce of the cutest Beatle and his model ex-wife, we’ve over looked the *breaking news* of effed up food stories.

- Quick - go back to school. The veterinarian industry will soon have a shortfall of qualified docs to deliver grass-fed food. [Workforce Management]

- Not only are “gays worse than terrorists” but now they’re turning our fish intersexed. [DCist]

- Corporations, tired of the MSM, are trying to own the free-thinking blogosphere. ES will soon reveal our first flirtation with commercial hell. [AP]

Photo: Flick user Pete Rocks

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Editors Note: This is going to be a long Editors Note, way too long for all italics.

Hi, it’s gansie. So I really do hate when a blogger starts getting, um, well new gigs and writes incessantly about the new gigs and stops writing about what you originally came to the blog for. Here’s an example. This is all to say, of course, that I am going to talk about myself and my new gig as a famous person.

Last weekend I was asked to be a JUDGE for a contest. Yes, me, a judge. ES’s good friend, Britannia, passed my name along to be the food judge for the third annual Progressive Dinner. (Full Dis - In order to make this contest fair, Brit decided to stop commenting and posting for the duration of the contest planning.)

But this night was way more than just a dinner. It’s 120 gay men, spending close to 10 thousand dollars, enjoying a night of: eating, drinking, dancing, lip syncing, decorating, and wearing itty bitty underwear-as-outwear. It was fucking amazing. Luckily my sister was in town to be my “assistant” as I ate my way through the night.

Continue to read about the actual food.

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New Yorkers told not to eat tuna sushi [NYT]

New Yorkers buy tuna sushi anyway [NYT]

New Yorkers elicit Presidential candidates’ view on tuna sushi [NYT]

Photo: WaPo

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So the other day I went to Whole Foods (Paycheck/Mortgage) since they are one of the few places around with a good seafood selection. I wanted to cook this spicy red snapper dish (link below), but I ended up with Cod. Oh well. Since I followed the directions for the most part (major exception being no cooking in a cast iron pan), and since I can’t stop taking pictures of food, here is my night of cooking and eating without words. Follow along at home with the recipe…

Click for recipe

Not pictured: I cooked the asparagus in the oven after tossing with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Gansie made her famous bulgur wheat.

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BS and I totally act like we’re the messiah when it comes to cooking. Well, there’s one person that can top us every time.

So I don’t think we’ve really talked about it in this forum, but in the old neighborhood, back when BS was a District resident, we held Iron Chef-like contests. The rules changed a bit each time, but the basic scenario was 80P and my old house-mate Julie would pick three ingredients. They would then text them to the contestants at about 5:30 (post-work) and we’d have to use each ingredient at least once over two courses - no recipe/internet searches allowed. We’d then serve our creations, later that night, to the gathered neighbors, explaining dishes and methods. At the end of the delicious meal, the diners would vote.

BS and I both had our unfair share of wins, but Vio would always kick our ass in some sort of fashion. She’s a master: she bakes, fries, grills and experiments with crazy taste combinations. I hate her, of course, because everything she cooks is absolutely awesome and gorgeous. Her downside - we’ve yet to convince her to join the blog.

Last night during our weekly Project Runway dinner and watch parties, she grilled (yes, taking advantage of the warm January weather) an amazingly tasty swordfish. And since she won’t blog, I’ve stolen her makeshift recipe:

Coconut-Curry Swordfish

Marinate the swordfish in: lite coconut milk, red curry paste, minced garlic and ginger and just a pinch of salt. (The garlic and fresh ginger were pulverized in her new toy - the mini Cuisinart.)

Let it soak up the mixture for about 30 minutes on each side and then throw it on the grill, making sure you char on cross-hatches.

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