Spicy - - Page 15

by rooms

Follow the Follower: Is it Chowder?

So, my hubbie brought home a recipe from a coworker one day that was a take off on the Olive Garden‘s “Tuscan Soup”. I am not a frequenter of the Olive Garden, but had already had a recreation of this soup at a friend’s house and enjoyed it thoroughly. We started making it more or less from the recipe and have loved it for over a year now. Sometime in the last couple of months we lost the recipe. So now that I am making it from out of my head, and have tweaked a little here and there, and this last time we made it, the soup came out the best ever, I’m pretending it’s my ~~recipe~~ version.

I will share the deliciousness with you post jump, and you can help me come up with my own name for it and answer the question, “Is it a chowder?”

in Pig / Recipe 4 comments

by gansie

I’ll Beet the Green Out of You

Yes, I know, I want to put an egg on everything.

When I was visiting Rooms in Maine, I toured her very lovely garden. That bitch has everything (or at least will later in the season): parsley, cilantro, chives, dill, kale, beets, rhubarb, lemon balm, tomatoes (like 6 heirloom varieties), peas, lettuce, mint, um, idontknow, and I’m probably missing 3 or 4 things. It’s redic.

So after I filled with luggage with goodies from Tran’s, I had Rooms cut me some herbs and greens from her garden to take home as well. And while the herbs were a little smashed up, the kale and beet greens stayed fresh.

And yea, I had no idea you could eat the greens that sprout from beets (see bottom right corner for sample beet green). I think they’re more delicate than kale, but more or less taste like any green that’s been wilted in oil. And I really can’t wait til I have a yard with a garden and a gardener. The beauty that is walking outside, just a few feet, to pick some fresh herbs, is simply a cook’s dream. Or at least mine.

Post jump–my Tran’s/Rooms inspired noodle dish

by rooms

Ain’t Nobody Dope As Me I’m Dressed So Fresh So Spicy

Okay! The first recipe for the first veg harvested from our very own garden this year! I’m so excited! We’ve already been using our radishes for a few weeks on salads, but radishes actually intensify in flavor, and can get pretty spicy the longer you leave them in the ground. Ours were getting quite bitey, and some almost carrot sized, so we needed to harvest them.

Then we needed some way to consume a large amount of spicy radishes, hence the invention of the delicious bounty of goodness pictured above. Looks fabulous, huh?

Recipe after the jump (plus bonus recipe!)

in Recipe / Veggie 3 comments

by gansie

Hot Sauce Makes the World Go Round

Unlike my brother, I’m not the type to smother almost everything I eat in hot sauce. But, I do respect his ability to withstand most of his food with an extra kick.

I discovered Uncle Brutha’s hot sauce at Eastern Market. A few years back they sold it outside the market at a table. I bought my brother their two signature sauces:

Fire Sauce No. 10 – Four Chiles and Garlic
Fire Sauce No. 9 – Chile Verde Garlic and Ginger

SAG quickly became obsessed and every time I came home to visit he’d request new bottles. Luckily, the man behind the Uncle opened a store right near the Eastern Market. It was wall to wall hot sauces and spices. I would look around at the millions of brands featuring millions of chilies, but I would always walk out with the Uncle Brutha’s brand.

Unfortunately, when EM burnt down, a lot of local businesses went down with it. Via Metrocurean I read in the Wash City Paper that Uncle Brutha’s was closing at the end of June. 80P and I stopped by for one last visit and to buy SAG some hot sauce. I finally bought myself bottles of the sauce, although we will be able to find it at Whole Foods. (I highly encourage you to stop by one last time!)

But this brings me to a completely different story. While 80 and I were waiting for a table at Granville Moore’s, we walked next door to drink a beer at The Pug. I glanced at the menu and noticed an absolute steal – a dog and chips for just a few bucks. Basically an unheard of cheap eats. And while I scanned the bar for toppings, I was especially pleased to see a hometown hot sauce on the bar: Uncle Brutha’s.

This weekend, while UB’s fans were stocking up, I ran into The Pug owner.

Boxers and Hot Dogs: The Pug [Express]

Bison Country: A Four-Footed Spring Treat [Express]

in Uncategorized 7 comments

by gansie

Snap, Crackle, Jalepeno Popper

All I ever want to do on summer weekends is crash BBQs. And, yes, I’m using the term BBQ in the outdoor, light up the grill, party kinda way. I was able to crash one on the Saturday of Memorial Day. Our lovely vegetarian/lactard friend Maidelitala invited me, and as my guide, I decided I would make something that she could actually eat. That dish will be for another post, as will the dish I made for the other Saturday party that I got to too late to bring my food.

This post will star my Monday BBQ contribution. For Vi and Jerry Sizzle’s party, 80P made his signature chipotle dip and I also brought a whole pineapple to grill for dessert.

The main attraction was my above treat, grilled jalepeno poppers. Now, I don’t know what necessarily constitutes a “popper.” Does it have to be breaded? Does it have to be deep fried? Does it have to be rolling underneath a heat lamp at 711?

in Cheese / Holiday / Veggie 12 comments

by gansie

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.

in Politics / Recipe / Red Meat / Veggie 3 comments

by BS

To be Considered, You Must Submit One Full-body Shot (Bikini or Nude) and a Recent Pay Stub Showing Proof of Employment at the Olive Garden

No, that’s not the skeeziest craigslist roommate ad of all time, it’s merely the submission guidelines for Playboy’s newest themed pictorial “Girls of the Olive Garden.”

And this isn’t a joke, apparently the men’s mag has run out of college conferences to profile and has turned to everyone’s favorite purveyor of free breadsticks to find America’s next top nude model.

The inspiration for the contest is a woman named Kendra Wilkinson, whose illustrious life accomplishments include her roles as one of Hugh Hefner’s pretend girlfriends; and as runner-up to Shar Jackson on MTV’s Celebrity Rap Superstar. Shar Jackson, for the record, is Britney Spears’ ex-husband’s baby mama (and she’s a rap superstar, but you knew that).

And, Kendra’s a blogger! You see, Kendra’s mom is a former Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader and a proud resident of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which qualifies Kendra to blog about the Eagles.

With the Hef pushing 83, Kendra is apparently pulling the shots over at Playboy, and because she loves the Olive Garden more than life itself, she’s decided to feature their waitresses in a pictorial that is totally not endorsed by the restaurant chain (although NY Post reports they won’t fire their employees if they pose).

After the jump, Kendra explains what it takes to make it as a girl of the O.G.

in TV 13 comments