Salad - - Page 7

by gansie

Three Internet Phenomenons You Probably Don’t Need to Know About

1. Men Laughing While Eating Fruit Salad

I actually don’t think fruit salad is funny. In fact, I hate fruit salad. It’s this big soggy mess and all of the different kinds of fruit just end up tasting like each other. Who wants to eat a brown, citrus-infused banana? Anyway, apparently all of these dudes find this vitamin C filled bowl fodder for a good chuckle. Who am I to deny their joy?

(Collage by Endless Simmer; Photos from BuzzFeed)

2. Eva Longoria Scantily Poses to Save Restaurant

This probably isn’t a phenomenon at all. But girl’s gotta do something to save her failing Vegas restaurant, Beso.

(Photo: @EvaLongoria)

by Tim

A Small Southern Town in Northwest Washington

D.C. has a long list of traditional southern-style restaurants, so you’d be forgiven for wondering why it needed another. But you shouldn’t wonder after seeing Eatonville‘s unorthodox starter above — a single fried hushpuppy the size of a baseball filled with leek fondue and rock shrimp. It is seriously effing delicious.

Set on the same 14th Street corner as sister restaurant Busboys and Poets, Eatonville is named in honor of Zora Neale Hurston, the Harlem renaissance author and playwright. Hurston grew up in Eatonville, Florida, one of the first southern towns created by African-Americans after slavery ended. The name really made an impression on me as I realized how thoughtful they’ve been in putting the place together. From picket fences and rocking chairs flanking the bar to drinks served in mason jars, this was more than another DC restaurant with southern fare… I felt like I’d hopped a train to a small town in the Deep South.

by gansie

Tahini: Round Two

I seriously never stick to my kitchen word. I had, well, still have, grand desires to cook Japanese food since I returned from my trip, which I earnestly documented. Have I bravely entered the world of miso soup? No. Nothing. (Although more on miso later.)

A beautiful tagine has been sitting on a high-up shelf in my current kitchen for 3 years now. And I actually think it sat unused in a previous kitchen. In fact, I am so out of touch with this clay vehicle that I referred to it as a taNgine at a press lunch at J&G Steakhouse the other day. Although a fellow writer was nice enough to correct my pronunciation before I started blabbing about it in public.

Tahini, however, has proved a powerful tool in the kitchen and as I try to use what I have in my over-stocked life, I have returned to this paste of sesame seeds. Round two.

in Recipe / Veggie 2 comments

by BS

Getting Sauce-y in San Francisco

Earlier this year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution officially encouraging local restaurants to adopt the mantra of “Meatless Mondays,” the one-day-a-week-without-meat initiative pushed by such visionaries as Yoko Ono, Kim O’Donnel and gansie. But contrary to what you might think, not all SF chefs are hippie-dippie enviro crusaders who immediately rallied to the cause.

Ben Paula, the executive chef at Hayes Valley neighborhood spot Sauce and a proponent of putting bacon on everything was one who did respond quickly — by adding a Monday night prime rib special to his menu. After dining at Sauce, I can see why. We here at ES support eating local, lowering your meat intake and all the rest of it, but this is one restaurant where I might cry if I returned and they had dropped the pork.

We started with the app you see above, which Chef Ben humbly calls tater tots, but that’s a bit of an undersell. Creamy mashed potatoes are mixed with white truffle oil and cremini mushrooms, then breaded and fried crispy. A tasty snack even for a vegetarian, actually, but I dare anyone not to dip them in the smoked gouda and bacon fondue provided. Personally, I wanted to take a bath in it.

in Cheese / Fowl / Pig / Politics / Red Meat / Trends 4 comments

by Borracho

…And the Living’s Easy

Gansie’s recent post about avocados, citrus trees, and Hollywood celebrity sightings had me envious of all that is SoCal, including the seemingly perpetual 75 degrees and sunny forecast. I woke up this morning and it was 49 degrees outside! You see, I live in a part of Pennsylvania where it also snows or flurries every day from December to March, so my envy was coming from the fact that summer is quickly coming to an end.

School buses are beginning to pop up on every block, some leaves are becoming slightly tinged with yellow, and political ads are everywhere. Fall does have its culinary benefits; things like pumpkin pie, green chicken chili, agave and cinnamon acorn squash, pumpkin ravioli with sage butter, fresh orchard apples and the roast chicken with sausage and apple stuffing that I make with those apples….OK so maybe fall’s not all bad, but I am getting off track.

It is still summer and in the hopes of filling the remaining weeks of it with delectable meals for all those in ES nation, I thought I would post my top 3 “summer” dishes. Summertime food to me does not have to be complex or have exotic ingredients.It is quick, simple, fresh, can often be cooked outside and pairs well with any adult cold beverage (my favorite lately has to be Flying Dog brewery’s Classic Pale Ale). Take a look and feel free to shout out your top summer dishes in the comments.

3. Grilled Sweet Corn with Chili-Lime butter

Variations of this have popped up more and more on many a cooking show, but for good reason; it may be one of the simplest and tastiest sides out there. Corn’s flavor doesn’t last long. As soon as it is picked, the sugars in each kernel start turning into starch, so the key is to get it fresh. Whether it is a farmers market or a roadside stand, you can find it almost anywhere during the summer. I have seen recipes suggest that you should soak the husks in water and other such steps, but I firmly believe that down and dirty is the way to go. Husk the corn, toss it on a hot grill and turn regularly until the kernels have a slight char. While the corn is cooking begin melting a stick of butter and add the juice of 1 lime. I leave the chili powder for everyone to sprinkle on themselves because some like it hot and some don’t. If you are feeling up to it, you can always make your own chili powder, which far outshines any store-bought option. For this dish, I recommend toasting dried chipotle peppers (smoked jalapenos) in a skillet for a few minutes on medium heat until they become nice and fragrant. After that, just grind them up, sprinkle and serve. If the citrus and heat doesn’t do it for you, make your own butter. Some ideas for flavors to incorporate could be roasted red pepper, green goddess, raspberry, almost any herb….the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

in Recipe / Veggie 4 comments

by gansie

Slow and Low Isn’t Always Preferred

For real, I’m not just trying to pimp out 100 Ways to Use a Tomato. I also am a tomato lover and need ideas on what to do with all of the tomatoes laying claim to my kitchen. Because I am a virtual worker I also have time to cook during the day, or at least be watchful of items while they are cooking.

This means I can finally soak and cook beans and not rely on cans. I can cook down tomatoes for a thick sauce. And while we’re on tomatoes, I can roast tomatoes in a low, slow oven. (And please give me suggestions for other dishes I can cook all day.)

I spied my inspiration in the third row, second column of the 100 tomatoes post: a parade of shriveled, red splotches.

in Recipe / Veggie 15 comments

by forkitude

Deviled Eggs are the Devil

So, I will say deviled eggs are one thing I did not expect to be making at the restaurant. I haven’t had a deviled egg since 1990. Perhaps I was wearing shoulder pads when I ate it.

Deviled eggs just appeared on our new menu acting as a focal point for our wedge salad that I must say looks quite sexy for a wedge salad. A bold move that has gone over quite well so far.

How difficult could a hard boiled egg be? Fifteen soft boiled eggs later, I decided that hard boiled eggs are not my friend. And as it turns out, yelling and cursing at the eggs does nothing to aide in the cooking process. In my efforts to make the perfect hard boiled egg, and for fear of overcooking them, I wasted a carton and a half of eggs and felt like a culinary disaster who should not have changed careers.

Perhaps I should have consulted How To Hard Boil an Egg for specific instructions. I should have laid the eggs on their sides the night before to “center” the yolks for the perfect deviled egg. And maybe I should have read them a bedtime story so they would have had a good night’s sleep before the big day. I bet they love Good Night Moon.

What seems like the most simple of culinary tasks can make prep feel like a disaster. Screwing up deviled eggs can also make you feel like everyone in the kitchen is staring at you. But have no fear, I will conquer the deviled egg. I was taught never to put all my money in one basket. Now I know not to put all my uncentered eggs in one pot of boiling water either.

So, spill it ES-ers — what kind of hard-boiling secrets do you all have?

in Eggs 9 comments