Back in the Saddle

Howdy, folks. Here I am again, back to blog another day.

So, here's the deal: I read a lot of food blogs. Some of them are great, some not so great, but the point is that I read them every day. I find myself wondering about these random people, whom I've never met, thinking about their daily lives. Ain't the Internet grand?

Damn. I just realized I have no photo above the fold for your viewing enjoyment. Welp, Internet to the rescue!

Why yes, I am the most adorable thing you've ever seen!
(Source)

 

 

 

 

Several of these food bloggers have enough readers and earn enough money that blogging is their full-time job. What with the current suckage factor of my blog, I'm not expecting any miracles, nor do I think I would want to have blogging as my full-time job. I'm a pretty private person (hence the anonymity here), and I wonder sometimes how these bloggers are able to just put all those details of their lives out there for everyone to see. Perhaps I'm a bit paranoid, but there are a lot of creepers out there, far smarter than I am about how to do creepy things, so I like to keep as much as my life off the 'Net as possible.

But hey, if I want to at least run behind this bandwagon, frantically waving for them to wait up, then I gotta at least show up, right?

So, in that vein, I took pictures of food today. For now, I have something simple. But I have chili in the Crockpot right now, and some tzatziki chilling in the fridge, so I've got some more on the way.

And now may I present to you: My lunch. Da da da daaah! (In case you couldn't tell, those were trumpets.)

Here we have a salad with:

red leaf and romaine lettuce

tomato

cucumber

carrot

baked cubed tofu from Trader Joe's 

crumbled turkey bacon

Dressed with a little drizzle of low-fat ranch

And to accompany said salad, a sandwich with:

turkey

yellow squash

cucumber

tomato 

turkey bacon 

on a honey wheat sandwich thin. 

One side is spread with cream cheese, the other with roasted red pepper hummus.

 

 

And here it is in its entirety:

I actually didn't end up finishing the salad; it was a little too much.

So here we are. Let's see where we can go from here.

Boston Restaurant Week Lunch

Cookie Monster and I recently ventured to Boston for a long weekend. While there, we did plenty of eating. But also plenty of walking. So it evened out.

On our last day, we took advantage of Boston's Restaurant Week and had a two-course lunch at Henrietta's Table in Cambridge for $15.10 each. It was a stellar deal and great food.

Here is my first course: Spinach Salad, Native Blackberries, Westfield Farm's Goat Cheese, Spicy Maple Pecan Vinaigrette

Wow. This was so simple yet so delicious. The goat cheese was mild and creamy, the berries were bright and incredibly fresh, and the candied pecans were sweet and nutty. 

The dressing (which I ordered on the side) had more whole pecans in it. The maple flavor was pretty subtle, and really, it was not all that exciting. But the salad was so good, it didn't really need anything extra.

The meal came with a bread basked with myriad flavors of bread: there was cranberry walnut (which I tried but gave most of to Cookie Monsters, since walnuts and my tongue do not get along), some kind of molasses-y bread, and a plain roll.

Perusing their cocktail menu, I saw this cocktail, and since it was my last day of vacation, I said to hell with it and ordered a cocktail at lunch. It was a very good call.

This would be the Sangria Sorbet Martini: A Scoop of Sangria Sorbet topped with Ketel One Vodka

Um, wow. The sorbet was full of  fresh fruit flavor, though I did have to heed the waitress' warning to stir it all together, lest I just be drinking straight-up vodka.

For my entree, I ordered the Assorted Grilled Vegetable Sandwich on Seven Grain Bread, Olive Relish, Creamy Cole Slaw.

Honestly, the sandwich was just ok. It came with lots of tasty grilled vegetables, but the strong olive tapenade flavor sortof took over the sandwich and muted the flavor of the vegetables. Also, it was a bit greasy. Maybe less butter on the bread and the addition of basil and goat cheese would've made it great. And the coleslaw was completely forgettable. It was quite heavy on the mayo, so I only took a few bites. I typically don't like coleslaw, and while I thought Henrietta's version could make me a convert, alas, it did not.

Here are Cookie Monster's two courses.

That would be the Cornmeal Crusted Monkfish Sandwich, House-made Tartar Sauce, Lettuce and Tomato.

 Oh yes, and the Henrietta's World Famous Chocolate Bread Pudding with Rum Caramelized Bananas, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. It was pretty much amazing. The caramel with the bananas and ice cream was an amazing combination, and the chocolate added a little somethin' extra to the bread pudding.

The stars of this meal were easily the salad and the bread pudding. An interesting dichotomy, but a tasty one.

I really liked Henrietta's pledge to use local, seasonal ingredients. Here's what they say about that:

Henrietta's Table prides itself on "Fresh from the Farm and Honest to Goodness Home Cooking." Chef Davis and his staff are committed to finding the best regional and organically grown produce, not only to support the local farmers and community, but to bring award-winning dishes to our guests.

That's definitely something I can get behind.Well, that and bread pudding.

SuperBowl XLIV

Neither Cookie Monster nor I cared about the football game, but we felt it was our patriotic duty to watch the SuperBowl. Naturally, I had to make football food. So I bought a loin of pork at Trader Joe's and pulled out my trusty Crockpot. Into the pot it went, along with mustard, worchestershire sauce, barbeque sauce, ketchup, molasses, hot sauce and water. 10 hours later, it was a glorious mess of pulled pork. Mmm... see the greasy, porky goodness?

 I took the pork out and shredded it with a fork.

 

Then I reduced the sauce by about half, thus making a homemade barbeque sauce to complement the pig.

For Cookie Monster, I piled two Arnold Sandwich Thins (the closest thing we had to a bun) high with the pulled pork and homemade sauce.

For myself, I made a fun tasting plate centered around my vegetarian buffalo wings. Yes, I realize this is an oxymoron, but I don't care. They were good. I baked them in the toaster oven until crispy, then doused them with hot sauce. To go alongside, I made a bleu cheese dip out of plain Greek yogurt, parsley, crumbled bleu cheese, hot sauce, S&P and a little milk to thin it to a more dressing-like consistency. 

The "wings" were quite tasty. They didn't taste anything like chicken, which is fine with me. They tasted almost like a mozzarella cheese stick and they definitely had the same type of consistency.

Also on my tasting plate were celery sticks to complement the buffalo wing theme, slices of sharp white cheddar cheese, a few pita crackers, three candied pecans and some apple slices. I also had a bit of Cookie Monster's pork, and it was actually pretty tasty.

Go football!

Jamaican Jerk Sandwiches with Caribbean Accoutrements

I have been wanting to make a Jamaican jerk-spiced tempeh sandwich ever since I had a transcendent one at Deschutes Brewery in Bend. Sadly, this exquisite menu item did not make the jump over the mountains to the brewery's Portland location, so I had to try to replicate it at home.

I started off by making a marinade at home. I marinaded some chicken and my tempeh in it for a good 24 hours, using these ingredients:

• Ground allspice
• Ground thyme
• Ground black pepper
• Ground sage
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cinnamon
• Ginger
• Garlic
  
• Brown sugar
  
• Molasses
• Rum
  
• Vinegar
• Pineapple juice
• Juice of 1 lime
• Jalapenos (but they weren't hot enough)
  
• Green onions
  

To go along with the sandwiches, I got a little wild and tried to replicate Caribbean flavors. Or at least what a white girl from the Pacific Northwest thinks Caribbean flavors are. I bought a plantain and sliced it up, then sauteed til it was golden brown, like so:

I also made a mango-bean-avocado salad to go along with everything. It had kidney beans, chopped fresh mango, halved cherry tomatoes, cilantro, chopped avocado and a bit of pineapple juice to keep the avocado from going brown.

See the pretty colors?

To top the sandwiches, I quickly pan-grilled a few rings of pineapple. I also sauteed some red peppers and onion in this pan to top my sandwich.

I put the whole wheat bun with some cheddar cheese in the toaster for a few, then topped with a pineapple ring.

Here is Cookie Monster's sandwich, made with chicken tenders instead of the tempeh. After I had cooked my tempeh through, I added his chicken and dumped in the rest of the marinade, which reduced into a lovely jerk sauce to cover everything.

Here is my tempeh with the peppers peeking out from underneath.

And my whole plate. I doused the sandwich with a bit more of the reduced marinade/sauce before putting its top on.

All in all, this was a really good recipe, but I did not use enough spice. I actually went into the kitchen and got the jar of pickled jalapenos out, adding a few to my sandwich. The extra spice really added a lot, and I plopped a few more into the leftovers.

This was also a pretty good likeness of my beloved Deschutes sandwich. I did not use focaccia bread, obviously, because I try to make my food indulgences in restaurants and eat healthier at home. But the flavors were very similar, and this was a really good and different dinner.

Go me!

Turkey Jambalaya (with Scallops too)

I had some scallops in the freezer that had been there for a really long time, so I came up with a way to use a lot of them: jambalaya! I made two separate kinds: non-seafood for me, and scallop for Cookie Monster. Here is how I started things out: some chicken andouille sausage, zucchini, onions, garlic, carrots, bell peppers and a bunch of spices. I think I used oregano, basil, sage and some Texas Heat. I think I might've used some chili powder, cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes, too. This is the peril of cooking the way I do--I can't remember what I put in stuff and sometimes I can't replicate it exactly!

Then I dumped in some chicken stock and tomato sauce to make a soup.

Then I dumped in some sushi rice (the only white rice we have) and leftover turkey from the holidays (a great use for it!) and let it cook up in the soup. It thickened quite a bit, so I added a bit of chicken stock now and again to keep it from getting too thick.

As soon as Cookie Monster got home from work (I usually have dinner almost ready or done when he gets home. How '50s housewife am I?) I dumped in the rest of the packaged of defrosted baby scallops to make it more jambalaya-like (since we didn't have any shrimp). I just cooked the scallops through, which took about 5 minutes, and it was good to go!


To go with the soup, I made Cookie Monster a turkey, cream cheese and cherry preserves sandwich. It was really good! Just like Thanksgiving leftovers, except the cherry made it just a touch sweeter.

Egg and Proscuitto sandwich

I live close enough to work that I can come home on my lunch breaks when I have hour-long lunches. Here is something I whipped up for a simple, quick yet utterly scrumptious lunch. I tried to get some protein in since I don't always get enough, and these are the ingredients we had on-hand.


I lightly toasted some artisan bread from Trader Joe's and spread mashed avocado on each side. Then I put a layer of baby spinach leaves over that. Meanwhile, I was sauteeing a few mushrooms in a pan, and then I crisped up a slice of proscuitto. Normally I don't really do the cured meats thing because the texture of the chewy fat grinding against my teeth makes me want to retch. Blech! But when you put the proscuitto in a hot pan for about 2 minutes, it shrivels up (which is really cool to watch! Ok, ok, I know. I am not normal. Oh well) and gets crunchy, thereby removing the nasty-fat-teeth-grinding-retching equation and instead contributing a lovely, crispy light meat flavor to my sandwich. To go on top, I cooked up an egg to over-medium, since I love cutting into the egg and having the yolk run all over everything. I like to sop it up with the bread.

This lunch was awesome!

Hmm, I use that adjective a lot. Perhaps I should branch out. Here are some options: magical, stupendous, marvelous, incomprehensible, inconceivable, incredible, unbelievable, unimaginable, unthinkable; extraordinary, phenomenal, rare, sensational, spectacular; singular, uncommon, unique, unusual, unwonted; conspicuous, notable, noticeable, outstanding, remarkable; impressive, striking; animating, energizing, enlightening, enlivening, exciting, galvanizing, invigorating, stimulating; alluring, attracting, attractive, beguiling, bewitching, captivating, charming, enchanting, entertaining, enthralling, fascinating, interesting

I think I'm set for a while.

VcMuffin

So here we have a VCK version of a McMuffin--a VcMuffin, if you will. And you should. Because McDonald's is evil. Really, I haven't eaten there in a very, very long time. Like, years. Since I don't eat meat, none of the burgers appeal to me. I didn't even really like the French fries, since I worked at Dairy Queen for two years, and DQ's fries were far superior. Plus, oftentimes they were free. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating for one fast food joint over another.* It's just that I was in the kitchen at the DQ and knew, at least, where my frozen French fries had been before I ate them.

I'm not a proponent of any fast food. I think it's a once-in-a-while indulgence (I mean, I get a mean Taco Bell craving when I'm...how shall we say?...inebriated). But I think a lot of Americans look to fast food as a quick-fix to the "I'm hungry" scenario and never really think about what's going into their bodies. There's really nothing wrong with a beef hamburger with a nice, thick slice of (real) cheese on top on a whole wheat bun every once in a while. But when there's a day's worth of sodium, cholesterol, trans fat, sugar (really? In a burger?) and other countless bad things in a single item of food, well, I don't care who you are, you know it's bad for you.

That's why I try to make homemade meals for me and Cookie Monster every day. I think the body is so important and so many people take it for granted. Am I perfect? God no! Do I try to give my body the things it needs to thrive for years and years to come? Yes.

So anyway, this long and drawn-out tirade is simply a way to introduce the breakfast sandwich I made for Cookie Monster a few days ago. I used a sort of Egg in the Hole recipe, which basically entails cutting a hole in a piece of bread, toasting it in a pan, and then cooking an egg in the hole while the other side toasts. Simple.

I used a mini whole wheat bagel as my bread vessel (which, conveniently already has a hole in the middle! Thank you, inventor of bagels, you lovely, wonderful Polish Jews!). I toasted one side of the bagel in a skillet with a little Earth Balance. Then I cracked the egg and put it in the middle of the other side of the bagel. I melted some white cheddar cheese on top of the cooking egg, and then got really excited when I remembered we had some proscuitto in the fridge. Yes, I am amused and titillated by small things. So sue me.

Now, since I'm a half-assed vegetarian, proscuitto oftentimes turns me off. The fat develops a chewiness that I absolutely loathe about meat. But, when you put proscuitto in a hot pan for about 10 seconds, it makes a great sizzling noise, shrinks down to half its size and, best of all, gets crunchy, like bacon, thereby taking the yucky fatty chewiness out of the equation. So, that's what I did. Nevermind that I was making this VcMuffin for Cookie Monster, not me. Oh well. Sometimes I project my food weirdness onto him. He didn't mind. He got a warm breakfast.



So, the moral of the story is, after one of my longest posts to date about a freakin' breakfast sandwich: Well, I'm not quite sure. I guess it's: Don't eat fast food. It's really, really bad for you. And have breakfast. It doesn't have to be anything fancy (but it can't be a Krispy Kreme either). And read ChezVCK regularly.

*Ok, so the one fast food restaurant I will defend is the best fast food chain in the world: In 'N Out Burger. I will defend them for this reason: there is nothing that comes out of the freezer in this restaurant. Everything is fresh and made on the premises. You don't see any Sysco trucks delivering anything at this place. I mean, you can watch the employees stick a whole potato into a device, and then, magically, you have the makings for French fries! I defy any McDonald's, Burger King, Jack in the Crack or any such ilk to do the same! And I'm advocating for a fast food joint, and I don't even eat their meat! I eat their grilled cheese, which is the burger with everything except the burger! Yes, I'm aware that I'm strange. Let's move on. Sadly, I do not live anywhere near an In 'N Out, so I have to drool at their website occasionally. There's no shame in having pity on me. I'll let you.