Snack Time - - Page 13

by gansie

Power Snacks

80P and I threw together a bit of a last minute party on Friday night. And because I’ve been so busy at work, I wasn’t able to properly plan or shop. But somehow I whipped up three apps just from my pantry and fridge in about an hour or so. Now I know that sounds kinda obnoxious, like, Oh, gansie, come on, you’re a food blogger, of course you can throw together party snacks. But seriously, I was impressed with my own kitchen prowess (my new favorite word.)

While I won’t go into the details of the shit show of a party, (yes, that’s right, we played power hour like a bunch of college kids) I will gladly give an overview of the night’s snacks. If we were encouraging our friends to drink a shot of beer every minute for an hour, we clearly needed to provide snacks to help soak up the PBR.

Roasted Poblano and Garlic Scape Dip

I made this dip earlier in the week when I was in a cooking mood, but never got around to eating it. I know – crazy. Now I did struggle with this dip a bit. My dip dogma is heat. If there isn’t a certain spiciness or kick I’m not going to bother. I thought the poblano would add enough of a kick, but it was really mellow. And garlic scapes don’t have the bite of garlic, so that didn’t add to the kick factor either. This dip was more of a refreshing feeling, especially scooped up with the cucumbers.

After I roasted and peeled the poblano, I roughly chopped it and threw it in the blender. I added 2 garlic scapes into the blender along with a spoonful of sour cream, about 4 oz of cream cheese, cumin, lemon juice, salt and pepper. The mixture will be fairly thin, so let it firm up in the fridge before serving. I added an extra sprinkling of pepper on top. For the cukes, I thinly sliced them and then cut them in half.

More party recipes post jump

Syn, Syn, Syndicated

Just letting you know, I’ve become Robert Novak. No, really. People now pay to reprint my writing. I know. Crazytown. So, watch out for a gansie coming to your local Onion…New York, Chicago, Wisconsin, Austin, Denver, Minnesota, San Francisco…

Oh, and I never read. This story for the Onion was quite a struggle and I severely bothered my friends over this feature.

Read and Feed

What used to be a way for suburban mothers to get out of the house has now evolved into a way for young, single 20-somethings to get out of the house. While book clubs may vary drastically in theme (feminist, history, Oprah), participants (co-workers, neighbors, Craigslisters), and fun (glass of wine, bottle of wine, bowl of marijuana), all book clubs rally around food.

Some book clubs meet at a centrally located restaurant where they can linger over dog-eared pages, drink from communal
pitchers, and let other people make the food—but that can lead to members spending more time contemplating the pages of a menu than those of their literature.

Instead, class up your next book-club gathering and create a meal based around your book choice. (Or, alternatively, choose your book around a meal.) Here are some fine page-plate pairings to get your literary and culinary mind in gear.

Ron Paul, The Revolution
w/ Broiled Steak and Chipotle Dipping Dauce

If you think hope is audacious, don’t care about villages, and are through trying to live up to daddy’s example, perhaps you’d be more interested in the political upheaval espoused by 10-term congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. His The Revolution touts the glories of the Constitution, reveres the vision of the Founding Fathers, and rages at what’s wrong with our current government. While chewing through this meaty treatise on libertarianism, pay tribute to Paul’s Texas roots by chewing through a broiled steak.

In a Pyrex dish, marinade a cut of flank steak with extra-virgin olive oil, crushed garlic, cumin, oregano, chili powder, kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper; toss in some red wine too, but only if it’s from California—Paul’s an isolationist. While this sits, mix together sour cream, one chopped chipotle in adobo sauce, plus some adobo sauce, salt, pepper, and a few squeezes of a lime to create a smoky, hot dipping sauce. When the guests arrive, stick the steak under the broiler for two minutes, then flip it and cook it for another two minutes. Transfer to a cutting board, drape it with tin foil, and let it sit for seven minutes. Slice against the grain and serve it with your sauce. Keep your utensils in the drawer.

Who Killed the Mentos Kiss Cam?

Earlier this week, Mentos launched one of the most oddly skeezy advertising campaigns the Internet has ever seen (which is saying a lot), and now it has mysteriously disappeared!

The concept of the Mentos Kiss Cam is pretty bizarre: a busty blond in a skimpy swimsuit emerges from the ocean, comes this close to your computer screen, instructs you to turn on your webcam, and you’re supposed to make out with her. Not kidding. She actually waits there until you move your mouth up to the computer, and then you get to French her. In case you’re into dudes and/or horses, there’s an alternate make-out option involving a dashing white knight on horseback.

There’s no data yet on how many Americans were fired this week for licking their computer screens, but we do know this: After much viral mocking, the Mentos Kiss Cam is gone! No explanation on the site aside from the tagline “be back soon.” Did Mentos realize they had overstepped the line in marketing candy? Did someone make out so hard that they crashed the site? Or are they preparing a bigger and badder version of the Mentos Kiss Cam? Only time will tell.

Fortunately, the promotional video is still available on YouTube, minus the interactive aspect. Fair warning: this video may or may not be safe for work, depending on your office’s policy on outrageously excited nipples.

in Uncategorized 3 comments

by BS

Matzah Minus the Meh

As most of you know, Passover is the time of year when Jews celebrate the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. Our ancestors had no time to leaven their bread before fleeing Egypt, so in their honor we forgo fluffy dinner rolls in favor of dry and flat matzah.

Now here’s what I don’t get – I love me some baguettes and brioches, but unleavened bread can be fantastic in its own right. Tortillas, flatbreads, crackers – none of these things need to rise, yet they are all way more delicious than simplistic and flour-heavy matzah. So yeah, I can handle unleavened bread, but why can’t we go with a more exciting variety? Naan? Roti? Ritz crackers? Wheat Thins? One of Rachael Ray’s crazy triscuit concoctions? What about pita? That one’s even Jewish. OK, so maybe I’m no rabbinical student, but as far as I can tell, each of these types of unleavened bread would make for an infinitely more exciting Seder table than matzah, without technically breaking the rules.

Many people claim to love matzah, but it’s more likely they really just love whatever tasty topping they put on matzah to cover up its meh flavor. Because it tastes like nothing, you can really put anything on it. There’s the grade-school-nostalgic peanut-butter-and-jelly matzah, the bagel-imitating everything matzah, even fancy-pants smothered-in-nutella matzah. In an attempt to unite my Irish and Jewish heritage, sometimes I spread an ample serving of Kerrygold over matzah. It’s delicious, but of course it’s really just the butter I love. There’s even a Passover game where the adults hide the matzah throughout the house and the kids spend the evening searching for it. Honestly, I think everyone’s hoping it never gets found.

Seriously people, if we ever want to be as big as the Christian holidays, we’re gonna have to come up with more than this second-rate Easter egg hunt. I mean, these people have Cadbury’s creme eggs for Christ’s sake – we can’t compete with that! I’m not trying to offend anyone, but it’s been a few thousand years now, and we really need to come up with a more exciting matzah.

Wait, wait, wait. Hold the phone. Forget everything I just said. I’m getting word that matzah can be made into candy. A-mazing.

Explanation after the jump.

Artsy Photo of the Day

Sorry everyone, this cookie is now in my belly.

in Desserts / Photos 0 comments

by BS

Oh, That’s Whatchamacallit

AOL Food put together this pretty great quiz that tasks you to identify the inside of 20 different candy bars. It’s fun and surprisingly challenging, although it should come with a fair warning that it both stressed me out and made me hungry.

Mmm…check it out.

(and let us know how well you do)

in Uncategorized 12 comments

by gansie

Where’s Your Banana-Chocolate Milk Mustache?

I hate milk. Straight milk, that is. Sure, I take it in my coffee and in milk shakes (which should really just be called ice cream shakes) and when I was a kid I used to drink chocolate milk. But straight milk makes me nauseated. And I can never do the smell test when the milk is bad because every time I smell it, even if it’s a new jug, I think it smells like throw-up. So I’m saying that to say – I have to sneak milk into my diet by using other methods. Hence the delicious drink I will shortly describe.

For some reason (fine, when do I ever not talk about food) I was telling Elizabeth, my old house mate’s new house mate, about my banana and PB sandwich and how I wish I knew other ways to use up post-ripe bananas. She then told me about this nutritious and tasty drink starring a ripe, but frozen, banana. It’s a really simple – throw everything in the blender – type of drink. Her version is much simpler, and much healthier. But I’ll give you mine first. You know, because god-forbid I ever follow a recipe exactly the way it’s supposed to be.

I did measure, though.

Banana-Chocolate Smoothie

To start, when a banana starts to over ripen, slice it into rounds, put it in a ziplock bag and throw it in the freezer.

In a blender: 1 frozen, sliced banana, 1 cup skim milk, 1 tablespoon hot chocolate mix (sans marshmallows), 2 tablespoons light chocolate syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon honey. Blend until smooth.

Elizabeth’s recipe included the banana, skim milk, vanilla extract and cocoa powder (I tried to find it at my local market, but I don’t think they had it.) It’s not supposed to be a sweet drink, but I wanted more chocolate taste and I wanted to add the the thickness that honey brings to the party.

Photos: 80P

in Breakfast / Drinks / Recipe 10 comments