Friday, March 10, 2006
Oven Disaster
Earlier this week I dropped $14 on a package of two flank steaks, whose total weight was 3+ pounds. I was super motivated to cook both on the same night, after each had marinated overnight -- one in a "Tunisian marinade" and one whose marinade was going to turn into a "red wine and orange glaze," so I'd have enough food for the rest of the week. I attribute to doing all this partly due to my aversion of freezing large pieces of meat, since they take forever to defrost in the fridge, and partly due to the fact that I'm always expecting people to come over to dinner (let's not talk about how that didn't happen this time around, and how I still have tons of steak waiting to get in my belly ).
Sans a barbecue, I resorted to broiling both in the oven, five minutes per side, each. They both were smelling great, both were smoking up my apartment, and both left splatterings all over my already pretty dirty oven. And so, after I had finished with the cooking, before I was about to plop down on the sofa to catch up on some Idol and 24, I thought to myself: well now...why don't I try and use the self clean function on my electric oven? What a bright idea!
Never having done this before, I replaced the racks in the oven (one with a thermometer attached), closed the door, turned the dial to "self clean" and let the oven do it's thing. I headed over to the couch with a new cookbook, and began with my nightly dose of the tube. About 15 minutes later, when Jack Bauer was sealing off the situation room to prevent nerve gas from killing his team, just when Edgar fell to the floor in his last breathing moment, I jumped to my feet in reaction to a superfluously loud crash and bang that came from the kitchen.
The oven -- that damn oven. The thing was in the middle of my kitchen, door ajar, letting off smoke in all directions. Insulation fell to the counter, black ash all over the floor. I could not, for the live of me, understand what had happened.
Upon further inspection, I noticed my oven thermometer had exploded into pieces. The oven racks had fallen to the bottom of the over (hence the crash) and the entire belly of the oven had warped so that the sides bowed outwards and the bottom had become concave. Upon even further inspection, I noticed that on the inside of the oven door, a little sticker existed to tell you that to use the self clean function, you were to remove all racks and other items from inside the oven, and you was supposed to remove any broiler pans from the drawer underneath. Yeahhh, that so didn't happen.
And so now I'm taking part in an exercise of patience with my apartment complex's maintenance team. B'dalek, as we would say in Arabic. I'm forgetting that some services here still work on below the Mason-Dixon time zone.
Monday, February 20, 2006
For Charlotte...
Well it's been about two postless months now...
And it's not like I don't have things to write about, or photos and recipes to share with you...
First, I realized what a pain in arse it was to download certain photos from my camera to my personal laptop, and then, my sister borrowed said laptop for about a month. Soon after, I began the Medifast diet, seeing that I gained almost 15 pounds since Labor Day, so all in all, I have a handful of excuses, but also a slew of posts waiting in line to get tackled: French pastries in Las Vegas, almost sugarless whole-wheat mango cakes, highlights from Super H Mart, pignoli cookies and lime curd. So just let me get back on my game, aight?
My dear friend Charlotte left a not-so-friendly comment on this blog's last post. It reads:
lali, your blog blows chunks.
no offense,
charlotte
Ew! I mean, what the hell is that all about? So in honor of Char, and to provide just a bit of entertainment in her oh so boring Med school life, this post is dedicated to something typically French: Pissaladiere Provencale!
This was a super-duper easy recipe to make. I cheated a little and left off the anchovies, added some cherry tomatoes and used kalamata olives instead of black olives, but overall, I tried to stay true to form. Here's what you need: 2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced; Store bought pizza dough, left to rest and then rolled out on a baking pan; Cherry tomatoes; Olives (your choice); Salt, pepper and herbs. To put this together, first preheat the oven to 350 F. Saute the onions in olive oil over medium heat until soft and caramelized. This will take at least 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. After rolling out the pizza dough, brush with some olive oil, sprinkle some herbs -- thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano whatever -- fresh or dried, spoon down the onions, distribute the roughly chopped olives and halved tomatoes and throw into the oven until the crust is lightly browned. And that's it!
Do I still blow chunks?
Monday, December 19, 2005
Eclipse di Luna
There are a handful of restaurants in Atlanta that are consistently and indefinitely on my to-do list, and they've been on the list for a really really long time. Establishments like One Midtown Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Tamarind, Woodfire Grill, Stony River and others just seem to escape my dinner plans, time and time again. And it seems as though these eateries remain unvisited simply because I don't have the appropriate partners in crime. Sometimes it's my fault -- that I'm on a budget and don't want to throw down $45 for a steak. Sometimes it's not my fault -- that I have friends that don't like to drive more than 20 minutes away in order to do something (yeah, Ames) or they can't drive at all due to a knee injury (hey, Char) or they always seem to have plans with the rest of the world but me (whaddup, KA).
So when I finally-somehow-luckily am able to check off one more of my "to do's," I'm a very happy camper. It just so happens that a month or two ago, before Atlanta became subject to North Face weather, a bunch of Israelis with whom I work ask me to join them for a bite at Eclipse di Luna, a tapas joint that I heard my friends (see above) mention time and time again but have never been to. And it just so happens that EdL is just around the corner from my apartment (764 Miami Circle Atlanta, GA 30324 / 404.846.0449).
What's nice about going to tapas with a bunch of unsuspecting Israelis is that they don't know what half of the things on the menu are. This means that I get to be dictator for a night and get to dominate the food order. It turned out that I was sitting down with a whole lot of picky eaters. One didn't like anything spicy, another didn't eat vegetables, you get the idea. But what was worse was that they didn't trust the combination of flavors described on the menu. For example, when I suggested we order the empanada de espinacas (spinach empanada), I heard a couple of "ewwwws" in reference to the saffron aioli, manchego and garbanzo beans that were components of the dish. Nevermind that we ordered two more because everyone loved it so much.
So we ended up ordering the follows:
- Costilla Espanola (Spanish-style ribs in aged balsamic vinaigrette) $4.25
- Albondigas de Cordero (Spiced lamb meatballs braised in sherry broth and topped with an almond-cilantro relish) $3.95 (see picture below)
- Atun Fresco con Corazon de Palma (Seared tuna crusted with coriander and oregano served with marinated hearts of palm salad) 4.95
- Patatas Bravas con Romesco (Spiced Potatoes with Romesco) $3.25
- Hongos Crimini con Ajo (Crimini mushrooms in garlic with preserved lemon and herbs) $3.95
- Brochetta de Bistec (Red wine marinated beef skewers with chimichurri) $4.75
- Calamares Frito (lightly fried calamari with pico de gallo) $4.50
- Tomato Fresco (Homemade mozzarella, tomato, basil) $3.95
- Empanadas de espinacas $3.25 (see picture below)
and lastly...
- Esp'arragos con Manchego y Aceite (Asparagus grilled with shaved manchego cheese and virgin olive oil) $4.25 (see picture at the top of the post)
Keep in mind that we were 6 people, so this amount of food was perfect for the combination of picky/light eaters and serious omnivores that were seated with me at the table. The rest of the table drank sangria, but I was fine with my water. Really just about everything we ordered was tasty. The calamari was excellent (we ordered two portions), and the tuna was very well received. I probably would avoid the meatballs on my next go around, but even they were not that bad.
All in all, a good time with good food and good company. Word of warning: don't even think about going to EdL without making a reservation in advance. Even with ours, the wait was near 45 minutes long.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Tacos (Part Dos)
I have this one "easy button" in life: whenever I'm super hungry, super broke and super in a rush to get home and watch my daily dose of primetime TV crime dramas, I venture a little ways up Buford Highway and grab some tacos from a variety of local locales. I've experimented with only a few taquerias in that area, simply because I'm intimidated to go in many of these establishments on my own. This is primarily due to the strange fact that there are so few females that dine in any of these places, but mainly I stick with my usual suspects because I feel sorry that I don't speak Spanish. I wouldn't care as much if I didn't look the part, but because I look like I would speak the language, I always hate it when I don't understand what people are saying to me. What makes things even tougher is the fact that I want to start going beyond the al pastor, asada and carnitas to try something new. But when I start asking questions, that is when I get into trouble. I remember the last time I was at Taqueria Michoacan (3328 Buford Hwy / 404.321.0600), I asked about this one taco that was on the menu. I remember asking "que es...." and pointing to the item. The waitress didn't know what it was, so she went to ask the cook. She came back with her answer, but the only part of it that I was able to catch was "carne." Ok, so I was going to eat meat. I ask, "es bueno?" She says "si." What did I really expect her to say?
So I order an al pastor, a chorizo and my mystery taco "para llevar" (to go), and chill out with the all male population watching a spanish equivalent of the Grammy's, I think. I get home, unwrap my little parcel, turn on Criminal Minds, and get to eating. My system is this: one bite of each taco, alternating each bite with either smokey chile red salsa or tomatillo green salsa. In the picture above, you can see the al pastor and the chorizo tacos. The one folded over to the left is the mystery one.
Mystery taco it remains. It was, shall I say, beefy, but hell, I don't know if I was eating beef cheek, beef ass, or beef hoof. It was a bit fatty for my taste; the meat seemed to be attached to a membrane and it freaked me out. I don't like random animal parts! So I didn't finish it, but gobbled up the other two. Really, I should have known better, but it was a good experiment nonetheless. So if you are here in the Atlanta area, know your Mexican food and feel like having a Highway adventure, holla back. Leave me a comment, that is.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Financiers
As all good things come to an end, so did my package of financiers (check out my last post for the full story). Unfortunately, this first attempt in recreating them turned out something of a semi-failure. Yes, they were in fact tasty little buggers, but no, they did not have the consistency I was looking for. A few things should have rang the alarm bells:
1. The recipe (see below) calls for "finely ground almonds," which I attempted to do using whole blanched almonds and a mini food processor. Apparently, my almonds were not ground finely enough, because the end result had a sort of cornmeal-y texture. I have since found almond flour and will use that on the next go around.
2. The recipe makes no mention of almond paste. This seemed a bit strange to me when every other recipe that I found used it, and furthermore, how was I to achieve the almond paste internal texture without it?
3. "5 to 6" egg whites is a lot, don't you think? I think this also contributed to the demise of my financier renditions since it caused the texture to be somewhat fluffy and airy. That is not what I was looking for. I was looking for almost underbaked density.
4. My crappy electric oven. I'm telling you, the temps indicated on the dial do not correspond to the temps in the oven. I've just about had enough of it, and can't wait for my Viking. Or, at least, move out of a rental apartment.
Well, here is the recipe that I used. Feel free to play around with it a bit. I'm definitely going to try again soon with new ingredients and different molds.
Almond Cakes (Financiers)
Recipe courtesy of "The Food Lover's Guide to Paris," Patricia Wells
2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter, melted, for buttering 21 financier molds
1 cup (140 g) finely ground almonds
1 2/3 cups (210 g) confectioners sugar
1/2 cup (70g) unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup (185 g) egg whites (5 to 6)
3/4 cup (6 ounces; 185 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Preheat the oven to 450°F(230°C).
With a pastry brush, use the 2 tablespoons melted butter to thoroughly butter the financier molds. Arrange them side by side, but not touching, on a baking sheet. Place the baking sheet with the buttered molds in the freezer to resolidify the butter and make the financiers easier to unmold.
In a large bowl, combine the almonds, sugar, flour, and salt. Mix to blend. Add the egg whites and mix until thoroughly blended. Add the 3/4 cup butter and mix until thoroughly blended. The mixture will be fairly thin and pourable.
Spoon the batter into the molds, filling them almost to the rim. Place the baking sheet in the center of the oven. Bake until the financiers just being to rise, about 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to 400°F(205°C). Bake until the financiers are a light, delicate brown and begin to firm up, about another 7 minutes. Turn off the oven heat and let the financiers rest in the oven until firm, about another 7 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the financiers cool in the molds for 10 minutes. Unmold. (Note: Wash molds immediately with a stiff brush in hot water without detergent so that they retain their seasoning.) The financiers may be stored in an airtight container for several days.
Makes 21 2 x 4-inch (5 x 10-cm) financiers.
Wait a sec -- do you notice something else wrong with the recipe? Look at the quoted yield: 21 financiers that are 2 x 4 inches? When have you ever seen a financier that large? I used mini muffin pans, and got about 30 of them. That's a definite add-to-my-alarm-bell-ringing-list issue.....
I'm going with Martha next time.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Treats from Payard (via my Dad)
You might have noticed that the deadline for the "Asian Persuasion" food blog event came and went, and since it is quite evident that I haven't posted anything on the topic since, you've most likely realized that I have failed in my mission to be more social...food blogging social, that is. I was going to join in a cookbook swap, I intended to get in on a food blogging secret Santa event, but apathy kicked in and I didn't take the plunge. No matter, however, I have other things to tell you about.
Before I continue, though, I'd like to ask ya'll a favor. Please click on over to Accidental Hedonist's 2005 Food Blog Awards and nominate your fave bloggers (me, included -- vote Couscousit for "Best New Blog" of 2005!). I've already submitted my thoughts and I hope you do the same. The deadline for nominations is this Friday, so get on it!
Now turning to the topic of this post: after returning from NYC's pastry adventures over a month ago, I was on a serious baking kick. So much so, that I finally was able to convince my parents to buy my a KitchenAid 5-quart Artisan mixer for the holidays (thanks guys!). I had been doing lots of online searching for a French bakery/patisserie here in Atlanta, with no avail (I have since found such a location...but I'll write about it this weekend when I go visit), so when my cousin Galit, who lives in Las Vegas, said she was coming to visit my sister and I a couple of weekends ago, I thought I'd ask her to pick me up a bite or two from Jean-Philippe Patisserie. I soon found out that my parents were coming to visit us that same weekend, so I put in an order with my dad: financiers, canneles, and macarons from Payard.
My dad and I share the same anal-retentivity, so when one of us asks the other for something, the other normally comes through, and we both come through quickly. And I know that I don't normally ask for things that I don't deserve or that are outrageous, so when I so ask, I usually get. And so it went, that after telling me that he just didn't find time after work to swing by the bakery to pick up my goodies, he finally surprised me with two distinctive yellow cardboard boxes at my doorstep.
Although significantly sweeter than those I tasted at La Maison Du Chocolat in NYC, these came in some fantastic flavors. The white colored macaron is vanilla with passion fruit ganache, the yellow-orangy ones are butternut squash, and the green is traditional pistachio. There was some chocolate-espresso-mocha action going on with the brown and tan colored ones.
Unfortunately, by the time my dad had arrived at Payard, they were out of the canneles. Or maybe they didn't understand what my dad, in his heavily accented broken English, was asking for. Regardless, it was an excellent surprise-not-so-surprise gift, and I enjoyed the suckers every hour on the hour, all weekend long.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Suppli' al Telefono
I don't know about you guys, but I hate throwing away food. I even feel bad throwing away the white rice that comes with Chinese food. Not that it's any good the next day, but still, its a whole two cups of rice! And that's a lot of food...
All these food bloggers out there, many of which you have already seen me mention, will tell you about their great recipes for leftover rice, be it white rice or day old risotto, what have you. Adam makes a rice pudding with his leftover Chinese white rice, and Clotilde make rice cakes with leftover basmati. I, having just perused through my new Mario Batali cookbook, decided to make suppli' al telefono. These little guys are basically fried rice balls stuffed with some mozzarella cheese, and are very popular in Rome. They are called suppli' al telefono because when you bite them, the melted cheese flows out in a long string, like the wire that dangles from the receiver when you pick up the phone.
So with Mario's inspiration in my heart, to my carton of Chinese white rice I added fried onion and garlic (that I deglazed with white wine and some water in which I had soaked some dried porcini mushrooms), a whole lot of chopped Italian parsley, some parmigiano cheese, an egg or two and some salt and pepper. In another bowl, I chopped up some mozzarella cheese and the porcini mushrooms (which had soaked for about 20 minutes). Here is what the two mixtures looked like:
With wet hands, I scooped out some of the rice mixture, made an indent with my thumb, and stuffed in some of the cheese mixture. I rolled each into a ball, making sure the cheese was completely incased with the rice, sprinkled them with bread crumbs, and then added them (in phases) to a large saute pan in which I heated some olive oil. After browning on both sides, I transferred them to a plate lined with paper towel.
I ate them with some tomato sauce, and was a very very happy camper.
So the moral of the story is, there is always something you can make from your starchy leftovers. You can make a similar concoction with leftover mashed potatoes. You don't have to use mushrooms. You can do anything your want with them! Fried anything can never turn out badly. Trust.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Asian Persuasion
On December 6, Dine and Dish #5 will take place. The theme is ASIAN PERSUASION, and I'm supposed to eat anytime between now and Tuesday the 6th, write about it and email the link to The Delicious Life who will sum up everyone's experiences and link out to everyone else's posts by the 7th.
I have no clear direction on this yet, there are no real guidelines here, just "food and fun," but I'm sensing that perhaps some karaoke fun is to be had? With some chopsticks? I don't know. But I'm going to call out KA and ask for her assistance/guidance/inspiration. Particularly around the karaoke thing. It's a good excuse to hang out with her anyways, and....you know, maybe a step in the right direction to get over my stage fright. If I'm going to join a salsa dance company, I need to get over it, right?
