Easy does it

For the life of me I can't figure out why my days have been so hectic.

I made sirloin for dinner Wednesday; Thursday it was every man for himself and Friday I planned to make spaghetti but...

I spent the entire day working on a presentation (of course I had to read all of the source material).  I had just sauteed the onions and garlic when my friend called at 5 to say she was getting on the train. I was supposed to pick her up at 550, drop my son at soccer, then head to see Angela Davis at 630. It was all in the same area but the problem was I needed to cook and take a shower.

Miraculously I got the meat browned and the sauce simmering by 515 and asked my daughter to boil the noodles while I was in the shower...which she did, past al dente.  Somehow I made it to 30th Street by 6 with 3 containers of spaghetti.  She ignored my "rush job" disclaimer and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Saturday I was out the entire day and part of the night so dinner was a frozen pizza I picked up from WF.
Sunday we had a simple yet flavorful meal that took less than 30 minutes to prepare. Cod, pearl couscous, and broccoli. The only reason I made cod is because my grandmother ordered it the last time we went to Cracker Barrel...apparently cod was quite popular when she was growing up in Baltimore. 

My daughter requested that I pan sear it (clearly too many episodes of Chef Ramsey), I obliged and was quite pleased with the results.  The fish is flaky and almost sweet.  I think it's the same fish that Betty's uses...maybe I'll make a batter and serve fish and chips next time.

Balacing the beans

Abay has returned from Eritrea WITHOUT the Jebena!  I've been looking forward to learning to prepare and serve coffee the traditional way but unfortunately my green coffee beans will have to wait.  In the interim I've been able to clearly define my coffee preferences.  As promised, Zeke got the details about the DiBruno's Family Blend and now I know why I love it - Indonesian beans are my favorite (I don't know much about Honduran beans) and the roast level is precisely where I like it - full city/vienna - resulting in shiny beans and a great body.  I tend to avoid the charred bitter after taste of beans roasted at higher temperatures, unless it's a finjan al qahwah. 

I'm looking forward to experimenting at home but the missing jebena is not my only dilema.  I'm trying to cut caffeine so I've been blending 2/3 decaf beans with 1/3 regular beans.  The results have been pretty good but I think I need to get a slightly better decaf bean.  I think I may try OVC when I replenish my supply. 

Experience matters

I've become complacent with my metropolitan brie - it's fantastic for breakfast or a light dinner if coupled with almonds and a piece of fruit...honey crisp apples or red grapes are nice compliments.  The problem is, buying it has become a non-event.  I walk up to the cheese counter, grab my wedge and go...it just feels wrong.  I made the mistake of trying to engage the clerk at the South Street WF Friday night...needless to say I won't be stopping there for cheese.

I finally made it back to DiBruno's...it's the first time I noticed that the cheese is wrapped in plastic.  I was with my aunt so of course she bought olives, sund drieds, and prima donna...they were out of her French Swiss.  I ended up buying a few pickled assortments - I think peppadews are my new favorite (my daughter stuffed hers with the seasoned mozzarella balls), the house brie (almost spreadable), and the moses sleeper, a Vermont brie with a decent rind.  My daughter's on a cheddar kick so she got Beechers Flagship Reserve in honor of American Cheese month (maybe I should pull out the panini press). Matt's enthusiasm has increased and he even introduced us to a nice aged gouda...but it's just not the same without Zeke. 

I think my daughter's foreign languages (Latin & French) are becoming a bit too experiential.  Yesterday she wanted me to buy the crepe kit from Williams Sonoma.  Today it was Nutella in convenient serving size packs, but of course she needs croissants from WF to go with.  The worst part is she wants me to bring her to DiBruno's every Friday. 

Patty surprise

I think that we are finally eating within out means...eschewing our filet mignon taste to fit with our ground chuck money.

Sunday I made salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. The kids love brussel sprouts, my son likes to sword fight with the stalk.   I think brussel sprouts were one of my dads favorite vegetables but I didn't know they grew on a stalk until I got them in my CSA share a few years ago.  As long as they're not over cooked, they're simply delicious.

Tuesday I sauteed chipped steak with onions, topped with montery jack and steamed broccoli on the side.

Wednesday it was patties again.  I wanted to do a red gravy (sauce) but couldn't mentally reconcile that with potatoes so I did pasta with sauteed asparagus. I pan grilled the patties and topped the pasta as if it were a meatball. 

I don't think I cooked again until I made pancit on Saturday using frozen chicken thighs, a kohlrabi, and some bok choi that was lingering in the fridge. 

I'm embracing the reality of the economic downturn. 

Alternative

My daughter wanted to get out of the house so I suggested a walk along Kelly Drive followed by ice cream sundaes.  After a failed attempt at jogging (5K in 3 weeks), my daughter thought sundaes might not be a good idea and suggested smoothies instead.

I had a better idea - cocktail. 

Pureed mango, pureed strawberry, topped with raw agave, light cream, bananas, almonds, and pistachios...absolutely divine.

I followed my "dessert" with scrumptious spinach & asiago ravioli.

Oops

After my walk this morning I stopped in WF to refill the water, get a piece of brie, and grab something for lunch (it's Thursday so I have to plan lunch in the morning).  I ended up getting a bag of brussel sprouts because they were on sale and the ones we had for dinner last night were very good and some other miscellaneous items.  I also decided to diverge from burger night and make my grandmothers version of chicken caccitore in the crockpot before I head out the door. 

I headed to the cheese department and grabbed a piece of seaside for the kids and tasted an australian aged cheddar that I was hoping would be just as good but it was salty.  Then I asked for prima donna and the clerk offered me parrano as an option.  I asked for a sample and it was very nice.  I have gone to WF and frequently asked for prima donna and have been offered a range of aged goudas but this one hit the spot and it's cheaper.  I found a rind of robusto (parrano's cousin) in the fridge from June...I must had gotten distracted by the cherries. 

That's when I saw Brandon and started hassling him about the plastic wrap...he gave me some waxed paper to shut me up.  Then I told him how ridiculous it was that they never have prima donna...he enlightened me - there are some unnatural ingredients in prima donna hence WF doesn't carry it.  We talked a bit more and I learned that he's the head cheese guy and also makes  the mozzarella for the store.  He admitted that there any store associate can work in the cheese department but said that there are 3 people who know quite a bit about cheese.  Brandon reads the Cheese Primer and knows more about cheese than I initially gave him credit for.

Faux pas

I made two colossal mistakes yesterday.  First I drove by 9th Street and forgot to stop at DiBrunos and then I bought a piece of le petit 60% brie from Whole Foods.

The kids were happy to go to WF because they wanted more seaside cheddar.  My daughter inquired about other similar cheddars but since she wasn't talking to a cheese monger she wasn't able to broaden her repertoire.  I did ask why they suffocate the cheese by wrapping it in plastic, he said it was so that customers could easily see and buy what they wanted but offered to rewrap my purchase in wax paper.  He did agree that plastic wasn't a good choice for the bries and blues.  The crazy thing is that they sell cheese paper.

The second mistake was the brie.  The other day I struck up conversation with two Parisienne women and I noticed they had le petit in their shopping basket so of course I decided to be authentic and eschew the metropolitan brie that I've come to love.  I was foolishly impressed that it was so soft and squishy.

As soon as I arrived home, I unwrapped the cheese and was almost overcome by a pungency that bordered disgusting.  I convinced myself to forge ahead into authenticity so I cut a decent hunk to eat with some grapes.  It tasted as bad as it smelled.  I told myself that there would be a few bumps on this cheese path but when I returned to the kitchen and the smell was still lingering, I had no choice but to return the remaining brie to WF and get the metropolitan. 

Habitual Habesha

Folks were kind of expecting me to make a carrot cake to mark my daughter's 13th birthday but there was no time for that.  I did however make one of her favorite meals - qulwa and okra.  She probably could eat habesha food daily and she often comments about the simplicity of it - free from common allergens. 

My days have been flying past me and today was no different.  I took beef cubes out of the freezer on Saturday with the intention to cook them Sunday but that didn't happen.  This afternoon I had a small window in which to cook so the only thing I could do was improvise. 

I had to figure out how to do what should be a slow cooked meal in a pressure cooker.  I'm not a fan of the qulwa stir fry because I prefer simmered.  I sauteed the onions, tomatoes, and berbere and let that simmer while I cut up the meat.  I turned off the pot, ran a few errands then returned home and put the meat in the pot and turned up the pressure.  By the time I cooked the okra the meat was ready...we set up the injera, then dug in. 

Fast food

I have been on a bit of a whirlwind this weekend and have been eating on the run as a result. I took a pause and sat down at Manakeesh for lunch yesterday; their baba ganouj is delicious. After more errands we stopped by Le Bercail to see if it was the same as Soliel de Minuit (the owner called me last week to announce the grand opening that we have been awaiting since February).

I like poisson but my daughter prefers dibi; since she was paying, that's what we had. There doesn't appear to be a standard for this cuisine, it varies from place to place and chef to chef but this was decent; I'll make my final determination once I try the poissson, yassa, and okra.

This morning my husband was complaining about the liver I didn't make for dinner last night. Despite the fact that I had to get the kids to Sunday school in Devon by 10:15, at 8:30 I decided to prepare the liver for breakfast.

I quickly seasoned and put it in the marinator while I started the coffee and sliced onions. I noticed a half bag of red potatoes so I thought homefries would be a nice addition particularly since the kids wanted chocolate chip pancakes but we had no eggs.

By 930 we were walking out the door with our breadfast in to-go containers. 

Faux flatbread

I had taken a pack of ground beef from the freezer so I had to come up with something tasty for dinner that didn't involve noodles.  I took a shot at a kafta flatbread and had decent results.  I mixed the beef with cumin, cilantro, mint, onions, garlic, cloves, coriander, and other seasonings and let the concoction sit for 10 minutes or so.  I wasn't confident that I had the right blend of seasonings but I had to go with my best guess as I've never cooked Lebanese food before. 

I had my daughter roll out a TJs refrigerated pizza dough then I flattened the meat onto the dough...I couldn't decide if I should brown it first but I thought it wouldn't take long since I was using grassfed meat and the oven was very hot.  It was finished in less than 10 minutes and I topped with pickles and olives (tomatoes aren't really in season).  I think I'll try a lebnah and zatar version for breakfast this weekend. 

For dessert I attempted to make a cocktail - a refreshing Lebanese fruit, cream, and nut drink.  I really had no idea as to how to construct the drink or what kind cream to use so I assembled it like a parfait:  pureed strawberries, evaporated milk (might go with condensed next time), crushed almonds, pureed mango, crushed pistachios. 

Although I forgot to make a veggie on the side, dinner was pretty darned good. 

Noodle blitz

I am all noodled out.  Saturday I showed my Girl Scouts how to make spaghetti and meat sauce.  We were away and didn't have a lot of seasonings so we bought a jar of sauce and despite their initial protests we sauteed an onion, two heads of garlic, and a red pepper and let that simmer with the meat in the sauce for 10 minutes or so; needless to say they were quite pleased with the results. 

Sunday I tried Vietnam Cafe with my daughter.  I suppose the proximity of Vietnam to Thailand explains the similarity of the ingredients, but the taste is different.  The menu is 75% pork and I wasn't keen on farm raised shrimp so our pickings were slim.  The Muc Nuong Xa (grilled squid) was absolutely delicious and although the Cha Gio Chay (spring rolls) were more flaky than crispy, they were a bit disappointing.  The Hu Tieu Cai Thap Cam was a rice noodle soup with a clear broth was very good with the jalapenos, bean sprouts, and lime served as condiments.  The Ga Chanh was essentially a general tso's chicken and broccoli; totally disappointing - the server admitted that it was an Americanized version of the authentic dish.

For lunch Monday I went to Lemon Grass and had my regular - pad kee mao...I'm starting to wonder if I should add tamarind to my sauce so that I can reproduce the flavor at home.  I was able to pull off a $7 dinner last night of spaghetti topped with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and peas that I simmered in an arrabiata sauce - absolutely delicious and no one seemed to mind the missing meat because they were preoccupied with the missing dessert. 

Finally today I went to Thai Kuu with a friend, and as I suspected it was Americanized cuisine despite the claims on their website.  The tell tale sign was the duck sauce that accompanied the spring rolls.  Of course I had tom kha and pad kee mao and it was good but not bursting with authenticity.

I think I've had enough noodles to last for awhile.  Tonight dinner will be a bit of a scavenger hunt...I plan to finish off the piece of seaside cheddar that I picked up this afternoon.