Sad news on Fat Tuesday

Marisol Image

My beloved Marisol Restaurant in New Orleans - alas, it is no more.

I got an email newsletter from them this morning and went to the site to read the bad news: The first part of the question is easy to answer, albeit a bit gruesome. All of the beautiful trees in the patio were blown down. Some of them smashed part of the roof and a couple of outbuildings. The mountains of wonderful foods that were waiting to be served at our Annual Fungus Fest turned into a river of virulent ooze and have contaminated large sections of the building, including all the refrigerators. Insects and wild animals burrowed in to create even more havoc. And if that weren't enough, we were burglarized, to boot.

Addendum: As of February 27, still no settlement from the insurance company. We cannot re-open without funds, and we cannot occupy a rented building without paying rent. We have been put out of business by our insurance company. Goodbye, friends.

I had several great meals there, and a lot of fun.

I think I'll take to my bed.

Pizza with Mushroom Sauce

No pics of the food, just my frozen cat and the backyard at Killington after some much needed snow.

I like pizza. I like pizza with red sauce, but sometimes I just want something else, on pizza, something really mushroomy, or oniony, sans tomato. I don't like ordering onion on pizza because it's never cooked through enough; the exception being the pizza at the flatbread company on Congress Street, so I came up with this:

Makes enough topping for 5 medium pizzas - I freeze the extra mixture in case of emergency.

Slice two large red onions and saute in olive oil over medium heat until soft and slightly carmelized.

Meanwhile, pull out the food processor and put in the chopper blade. Chop the heck out of one yellow onion and 5 or 6 cloves of garlic, and saute in another pan with olive oil on medium heat - soften, don't burn it. (sounds like I'm talking to Geoff, who knows only two settings on the stove, "high" and "off" - other than that he's an fabulous cook) while all the cooking onions are burning your eyes, chop until fine the following mushrooms: 8 oz shittake, stems removed; 6 portabellos, 12 oz white, 8 oz crimini or any other exotic but not too expensive mushroom you can find. Hydrate a handful of dried chanterelles or porcinis if you have any and chop those too. you can slice some of the mushrooms if you prefer more texture. Add the mushrooms to the chopped yellow onion and any herb combinations you like, such as rosemary (my favorite), thyme, oregano, basil or sage (no more than a teaspoon each dry/tablespoon fresh) and cook for about 20-30 minutes on medium heat, adding wine if it gets too dry too soon. You can add a tablespoon of concentrated mushroom stock if you have any on hand. When the mushrooms look like something you could spread on a cracker, they're done. Get your pizza dough ready - we cheat and use Boboli, what can I say; spread 1-2 cups of the mushroom mixture on, then sprinkle the red onion on top, followed by shredded parmesan and mozzarella cheeses and bake in the oven according to recipe or package directions. It's a huge mushroom flavor hit. If I'm freezing it, I do it in individual portions after I've mixed the red onion into it. It isn't as pretty, but it's quick food on nights when I don't want to cook.

A new food site (new to me!)

Just got a link sent to me, so I thought I'd post it up.

Slow Food "is an international association that promotes food and wine culture, but also defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide" (taken from their site).

Basically, they want to prevent the homogenization of food around the world (thanks McD's...)

I agree. I don't want to go to Japan to eat a cheeseburger, what's the point? That's just a $3000 Big Mac. I want to taste real Japanese cuisine (or Italian, or wherever else in the world I feel like going).

Crock Pot Recall

Ok it might be old news, but since alot of us have crock pots (made by Rival) and they're probably a few years old, flip that bad-boy over and verify your serial number, so that you don't burn your house down (or have the handles break off, or whatever else is going on with them).

New England Boiled Dinner

It's not a pretty dish, but it's one I grew up with and I love it to this very day. It's a no-brainer one pot meal that comprises one corned beef brisket, water, turnips, rutabagas (urp!) carrots, parsnips (my favorite) and potatoes. Basically, you cook the living daylights (3 hours, give or take) out of the corned beef then add the vegetables about 1/2 hour before serving, boiling the hell out of them too. It's good old time New England cooking, harkening back to the days when no vegetable was fully cooked until it's been boiled for an hour. Mom's boiled dinner was no frills, but tasty. I made some uncomplicated alterations that zip it up a bit. I use all the ingredients above, but I add a couple of bay leaves, a whole onion, a couple of peeled garlic cloves, a fennel head if I have one kicking around, or some a couple of celery stalks (celery root would be tasty); lemon zest, some whole allspice berries and whole cloves, one star anise, some brown mustard seeds or a tablespoon of whole grain mustard - no more than a teaspoon of anything. You should probably put the spices in a cheesecloth so they don't become a nuisance during dinner. You can add some chicken or beef boullion to the cooking water (just watch the salt content, corned beef is salty), or some white wine - whatever's open. When slicing the corned beef, remember to cut against the grain of the meet for tidy slices, or you can just pull it apart for the stringy look.

Most importantly, make sure there is enough meat and potatoes left over for corned beef hash the next morning.

Another Reason To Avoid Them

MacDonald's Fries

LA vegan sues McDonald's after dairy, wheat disclosure

Surfeit to be published!

Bangor Metro magazine is publishing one of my favorite photos from this blog - they're doing a feature on fiddleheading (a sure sign that spring is coming - sad to say)


Thanks Tori!

No More Calcium Supplements

Today's big news that calcium supplements do not significantly protect bone health means I don't have to take those nasty chewable chocolate things anymore. That being said, for those of you watching your weight, keep eating lowfat yogurt and cheese.

Comments on Recipes From a Very Small Island

I avoid writing cookbook reviews; to me, cookbooks are either "cool" or "useless" or they "totally blow." Pretty profound, huh? I do enjoy reading cookbooks - even those I never cook from; I read cookbooks in bed; I could spend entire days in bookstores browsing cookbooks. I really, really like food photography, but many of my favorite cookbooks have no pictures at all, maybe a drawing here and there.

So last week I picked up Recipes From a Very Small Island by Linda and Martha Greenlaw - I like the book design, the recipe selection, and of course that it's a New England book. I think I bought it partly because it had a recipe for Geoff's favorite boat drink, the Dark and Stormy (Gosling's rum and ginger beer). It also has what looks like a good recipe for Braised Lamb Shanks with Dried Apricots and a recipe for Molasses Cornbread that I can't wait to try. All in all, I think it was a good buy. I have two major criticisms however: misleading food photos. The first one occurs on page 22, accompanying the Maine Shrimp Remoulade recipe.
Anyone who knows Maine shrimp can see that those pictured are NOT. Granted, the photo caption states:

What's wrong with the way Maine shrimp look? They are God's beautiful tasty creatures too, as seen in this photo on the
Maine Lobster Direct website:

Don't they look yummy?

The other image that really frosts my cupcake is on page 152 -

the Braised Chicken with Garlic and Fennel. I'd like to think that I know braised meats. Does that look braised to you? Read this (abridged, take my word for it, no grilling occured, I just didn't feel like scanning the second page) recipe and tell me how those grill marks got on there, when the chicken is supposed to be browned in a Dutch oven? This grilled chicken is garnished with thyme, not the fennel, garlic, carrots and potatoes it's supposed to be cooked with. It's insulting, is what it is. I can't understand why the Greenlaws obviously caved in to some skinny black turtleneck wearing "I-don't-eat-food-I-just-style-it" food stylist or photographer who said that the lovely, moist, braised chicken would look so much better with some charred bits on a dry plate. Where's the juice, I ask? Where's the caption "No, this is not braised chicken" on this pic?

I do like this cookbook, and will probably use it this very week. I forgive you, Martha and Linda, for succumbing to food stylist glamour.

Chinese New Year in Boston

We went to the China Pearl in Boston for Dim Sum on Sunday. It was a busy day thanks to the Chinese New Year celebrations.



High Res Clip

Low Res Clip

Short Ribs Vindaloo: Outcome

YUM!

Bright, but not so hot that I'm gasping. More like a post-coital warm and tingly glow.

The only drawback is the manditory fat skimming before plating it. Short ribs are not a heart-healthy meat choice, but that's why they're tasty.

Will make again.

Short Ribs Vindaloo

Even as we speak, I'm making a non-traditional version of fiery Vindaloo using beef short ribs. I have only a vague idea how they will turn out. I was anxious to try the Penzeys Vindaloo blend I just got, had no lamb on hand, and the short ribs were the quickest thing in the freezer to thaw out.

In a heavy pan (see photo) I browned about 3 pounds of fairly small short ribs in oil; added two smallish onions, chopped, over a tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger and 4 cloves of smashed garlic, then about 1/4 cup of tomato paste. I mixed 3 tablespoons of the Vindaloo blend in 2 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of salt and 6 tablespoons of vinegar. I used rice vinegar this go round. I brought it all to a boil and hurled it in a 325 degree oven. You can add some small potatoes in the last hour - that's my plan. I think it will probably take a couple of hours of cooking time total.

One hour in, the cloves, vinegar and beef are filling the house with a mouth watering fragrance.


I'm going to serve it with basmati rice and a fire extinguisher. I'll let you know how it came out if we survive.

Pickled Pork Lips and Battle Natto

The funniest, most vulgar quasi-food blog I can't stop reading is The Sneeze, particularly the Steve, Don't Eat It! section, which is vile and freakin' funny as hell.

I Built My Own Surreal Weenie at Freaky Franks and was particularly pleased with the dog topped with whipped cream and circus peanuts, although the blue tartar control gel and buffalo wing topping combo was enticing as well.


Other interesting posts include PopCornspiracy and Simply Jif Saga.

Those with delicate sensibilities who can't bear to see the word "fuck" in print should probably skip this site. I of course have sent links to all of my uncouth friends.

Back-of-the-Box Cornbread

Am I a recipe snob? Do I avoid using the recipe on the package merely because I'm elitist and believe that anything out of a cookbook must be better? When Geoff makes cornbread, he just uses the recipe on the package of cornmeal, rather than digging out the Fanny Farmer Cookbook.

After eating his cornbread, I'm not convinced that it makes a difference. I must now admit that from time to time, I have used the tollhouse cookie recipe on the package of Nestle chocolate morsels. Yeah, it's still a good cookie.