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by gansie

Eggs Over Zucchini

Wait, did I just watch a Phillies game last night: Shane, Chase, Raul, Ryan, Jayson. Oh wait, never mind, it was the All-Star Game, my bad.

Anyway, I’ve had some strike outs recently. And I’ve been lying. 80 admitted it first, but I brushed it off, noting his fear of leafy greens. But I kept trucking along, thinking I could fake my appreciation of the bitterness.

But alone, I faced the truth. I’ve struck out on kale.

I love the look of dinosaur kale, so when I was in a rush at the market this past Saturday I grabbed a crispy bundle of kale, zucchini and yogurt, among a few other treats (peaches are here!)

While 80 went to a bocce captains’ meeting, I fled to the kitchen, knowing I only had to create for my own tastes, which basically meant experimenting with vegetables. When I was brainstorming for my Foodie Fight, I wanted to create long strips of zucchini, but reasoned it wouldn’t work in a spring roll. But I still wanted to try that technique.

I peeled the zucchini length wise, laid the strips down on a cookie sheet, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and threw it under the broiler for only a couple minutes until it softened. The zuke turned slightly sweet and I could get away with cooking it without any fat (of course the dish’s fat would come in other forms.)

by Russell Warnick

All of England on One Bun

Living in the US has taught me one thing: no matter what, no matter where, there is always an ultimate this or ultimate that, the ultimate burger, the ultimate hot dog, the ultimate blah blah blah…

I was watching a show the other week on this very topic, and the host was traveling the country in search of the ultimate/largest cheese steak. This got me thinking — it’s not all about being the biggest (cough cough), it’s about being the best. In my university town of Leeds there is a small cafe called the Crusty Bin. This eatery would serve up the best breakfast sandwich that has ever passed my lips. With this in mind there was only one thing left for me to do: recreate the Crusty Bin breakfast sandwich.

When I first told gansie that I intended on writing a post about a breakfast sandwich that I used to eat during my university life she immediately responded with, “I want it to start with a crazy university days’ story.” I suppose I could tell you about the time I gathered at the Crusty Bin with friends after our university summer ball, when after a night of drinking this was the only place we wanted to be. However, there was one person missing from our group because he was caught only hours earlier doing the dirty with his girlfriend in a portable loo in the grounds of one of England’s finest country estates… I can’t go any further as it wouldn’t be SFW. Or I could tell you the story of how I woke up the day after my 21st birthday, which also happened to be the day I handed in my final year dissertation — with a mohawk and an incredibly painful hangover which was cured by said sandwich. But I won’t.

You didn’t read this post to hear about me, you read this post due to the mouth watering picture above.

A gooey cross-section shot and the full deets on what’s in it after the jump…

in Bacon / Breakfast / Eggs / Endless Bacon / Featured / Sandwich 17 comments

by gansie

Zucchini and Garam Masala

Back in April Nick from Macheesmo invited me to judge the first in a series of virtual cooking contests. Of course I was pumped to review bloggers’ attempts to create something interesting with potatoes and lemons, but I wanted to be on the other side.

Last week I was picked to be in this month’s fight. It’s a very simple duel, use two ingredients and make something awesome. That’s it. Except when one of the ingredients is something I’ve never worked with before: garam masala. (Zucchini is my favorite summer vegetable, so I was pretty excited to use it.)

I’ve messed around with curry a ton, but only a pre-mixed, commercial curry powder. I never really thought about making my own, of course until now. And I was seriously close to buying one, but just leaving another challenge that was all about using what’s on hand, I investigated my spice rack.

Using the link Nick provided for garam masala, I wrote down all of the ingredients that could possibly combine to create the spice blend. I then went to my kitchen and figured out I owned 11 of the spices and seeds.

Fuck it, I’m making my own.

in Contests / Featured / Recipe / Veggie 10 comments

by BS

The Top 10 Drinks Only America Could Have Invented

Independence Day 2008 inspired Endless Simmer’s most popular all-time post: The Top 10 Foods Only America Could Have Invented. So by popular demand (actually, by DAD GANSIE’s year-old suggestion), we’ve returned with a list of 10 ridiculous, patriotic ways to wash down all those corn dogs and buffalo wings. Don’t head out to the BBQs this 4th of July weekend without first consulting The Top 10 Drinks Only America Could Have Invented:

10. Irish Car Bomb

What? You thought this one was invented in Ireland? Yeah, by a leprechaun who needed something to pour over his Lucky Charms. In fact, this often-spilled, rather insensitive homage to the Emerald Isle’s Troubles was first concocted at Wilson’s Saloon in St. Norwich, Connecticut on St. Patrick’s Day, 1979. Only our most industrious country could produce minds bright enough to think “Hey, I can get drunk twice as fast if I just drop my shot right into my beer!” For the uninformed, a Car Bomb is equal parts Jameson Whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream, poured into a shot glass. Then you drop the shot into a pint of Guinness and chug the whole thing. Brilliant!

Honorable mentions: Sake bomb (pretty sure they don’t do this in Tokyo), and the Russian Boilermaker (surprise — not from Moscow).

(Photo: Penguin Bush)

9. Long Island Iced Tea

Looks so deceptively refreshing, doesn’t it? Only the most ridiculous place in all of America could loan its name to a drink that basically involves pouring everything behind the bar into one glass. For the record, a traditional Long Island is made from vodka, gin, tequila, rum, triple sec, sour mix and just a splash of cola. It tastes surprisingly un-revolting and (less surprisingly) makes you do some pretty stupid things after drinking it.

(Photo: Krscoci)

8. Venti Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino

It’s not dessert! It’s coffee! Riiiiight. Only Starbucks could convince the skinny jean wearing, yogalates practicing, yuppie women of America that it’s OK to buy a drink that has more calories than a bucket of lard. But if it’s served in a cup, it doesn’t count as food.

(Photo: Shiok or Not)

7. The Bacontini

If there’s one thing we Yanks do well, it’s obsession. And anyone who’s every met one of us can tell you there are two things we can’t stop talking about: getting effed up, and bacon. So it was only a matter of time before we combined our two loves into one outrageous, trend-ending drink. The bacontini, now appearing on every blog, and soon enough, every bar across the USA.

6. Exercise Beer

But what to do the morning after you wake up and realize you’ve consumed nine shots of vodka and half-a-pound of bacon? Obviously, that’s when you switch over to exercise beer. The latest trend in American brews is super-low calorie beers like MGD 64, Select 55, and Michelob Ultra, which is my favorite because the ads for it actually show people drinking beer and then exercising. Finally, a way to get wasted every night and still lose weight, because you wouldn’t want to do something as drastic as, say, drink a little less beer.

Next: Top 5 Drinks Only America Could Have Invented

in Drinks / Endless Cocktails / Featured / Holiday / Lists / Top 10 Lists 41 comments

by BS

Going Deep for Breakfast

Editors’ Note: We’re very excited to have a guest post today from Aimee Bourque, who blogs her culinary escapades at Under the High Chair; great food guaranteed, clean floors unlikely.

I think we can all agree, breakfast should be a tranquil start to our day. Whether you like your mornings to begin with merely the perfect muffin or prefer a full-on trucker’s breakfast, assaults on the senses are not welcome, nor, I’ve discovered, are conversations with a three-year-old.

On an average Saturday morning in my house, I take the path of least resistance in hopes of maintaining the peace. This means serving up something featuring bread and covered in our own harvested maple syrup for the little monkeys—with bacon of course. (We’re talking about my offspring here—they’ve embraced bacon without hesitation; as for the maple syrup, well, we are Canadian, after all.) All week we’ve slogged through balanced meals, fighting bite for bite, and now I just want them to hush up and eat up while I wake up.

This Deep Dish Blueberry French Toast is assembled the night before so the only real effort required in the morning is to bake and serve. Unfortunately, the simplicity of this breakfast dish doesn’t guarantee the sought after ‘Zen’ morning. Case in point on a recent weekend: I have just pulled a bubbling French toast from the oven and things are shaping up nicely—that is, until my pre-schooler wakes up.

No ‘good morning’, no hugs, he stumbles out of his room with this announcement:

“Mummy, I just made a little bit of barf in my mouth.”

He can’t say his ‘R’s and so he says ‘barf’ with what sounds like a British accent. BAwf.

Wordlessly, I hand him his sippy cup with apple juice and glance at his father, who is present at the kitchen table but hidden behind the newspaper. As expected, there is no response from him. Uh huh, selective hearing.

My son continues:

in Breakfast / Eggs / Featured / Personal / Recipe 24 comments

by BS

The Top 10 Top 10 Food Lists

You know we love our Top 10 lists here at Endless Simmer. So today we’re spreading the love around the web and shouting out the funniest food stories we’ve ever seen presented in list format: the very meta Top 10 Top 10 Food Lists:

10. Top 10 Songs With Sexually Suggestive Food Metaphors: From Tom Waits’ strawberry sundae surprise to MC Lyte’s hot peas and butter, the Frisky brings us the dirrrrtiest food songs of all time. Wait, I seriously thought that “peaches” song was just about peaches.

9. Top 10 Creepiest Fast Food Mascots: Remember that nasty Quizno’s rat/hamster thing? Seriously, what marketing exec OK’d that? And did you know Ronald McDonald used to be even weirder than he is now? Fanpop’s list will keep you up at night.

8. Top 10 Food and Drink Hacks: Lifehacker gets all Macgyver on your kitchen cabinet, with tips on how to build a fire from chocolate and Coke, freeze perfectly clear ice cubes, and open a beer bottle with one sheet of paper (seriously!)

7. Top 10 Sightings of Religious Figures in Food: That Virgin Mary is one hungry broad! Girl be showing up everywhere from grilled cheese to Cadbury’s. This list has her and her boy tracked.

6. Top 10 Uniquely ’80s Foods: Oh, hit me up with some Capri-Sun and California Raisins! Serious Eats has this nosh-talgic list, although I don’t know how they forgot Ecto Cooler.

Next: 1-5 of the Top 10 Food Lists

in Bacon / Celebs / Featured / Lists / Top 10 Lists / TV 14 comments

by gansie

Feta and Arugula Spring Rolls

I truly love a backyard grill session. The only problem is I don’t have a grill. So besides depending on the kindness of other party-throwing friends, I have to figure out how to best bring something. I’m always either shlepping my ingredients raw (drumsticks with a chipotle-garlic mixture tucked underneath the skin), in pieces (pasta salad assembled save for to-be-grilled vegtables) or as a ready-made (dips!).

And you know what, sometimes I’d rather just go with the ready-made. It’s usually easier to transport, plus this ensures your dish will incite proper attention: while the pork shoulder and corn are finishing on the grill, your dish is the only thing consumable and guests won’t be preoccupied with the grill-mark enhanced food, yet. So think of this dish as an appetizer to the hot stuff.

So for all you sans grill, feel free to bring this no-cook app to today’s Memorial Day party. Recipe post jump.

in Cheese / Featured / Recipe / Veggie 5 comments