The Most Sublime Thai

Since moving to Chicago, Bry and I have been immered into Thai cuisine. It may be because there are literally 10 Thai restaurants on a 4-block radius that deliver. I've become a fan of pad see ewe : a sweet/salty broccoli & wide rice noodle stir-fry, that I have decided works best with beef. Of course, there's my favorite, tom yum soup, a hot and sour aromatherapy that is usually garnished with cilantro. I'm very particular about my tom yum. Some places add those horrid tomato slices, that only soak up the blistering hot liquid and explode like a molten gushers' candy in your mouth, ruining the rest of your meal. There's also the infamous broccoli florets floating in your soup, giving off a skunky overcooked broccoli stench that f's with the aromas. I like to stick with tradition when it comes to these things. On the coldest week of the year, this past January when the pipes froze and we had no way to take a hot shower, Bry and I treated ourselves to a big bowl of Tom Yum soup to warm the senses. Our restaurant of choice was Opart Thai House in Lincoln Square. I tried a new dish, called Mu Pad Prik King, which is a dry curry dish, which means that it doesn't have the addition of coconut milk, and is closer really a stir-fry. It's an entanglement of al dente green beans, pork or other meat, julienned ginger, and a curry paste commonly made of galangal, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, shrimp paste, garlic, shallot, and chiles with a few variations. Now, it is possible to buy those cans of curry paste, lord knows I've tried em. But, the only real way to enjoy Thai is to start fresh...galangal root, ginger, garlic, you know, the good stuff. Otherwise, you'll end up with a meal that tastes canned...salty, preserved. Yuck. Recently I came across this handy dandy 'Sumeet', a wet/dry spice grinder that can act as a mortar & pestle. I've yet to try one of these out, but it sounds enticing for the home, perhaps. Need to do more research. Might be a bastard cousin of the eggwave.

Sei Italiano?

So, I've decided to leave the corporate kitchen, and head to a smaller place in my neighborhood that has been receiving excellent reviews. It's a small place, with a female chef who is a self-described "surfer girl" from Southern California. I'm excited to get a chance to work with her finally. Not much cooking going on around the house lately. Although, I have a plan to buy this pasta machine that I've been eyeing for a while. There's nothing like having an uneventful pasta dish (in this case lasagna made for comida) to make one want to go straight home and create a better version. So, now I've got a hankering to make lasagna, but I'm going to have to make my own pasta sheets, of course. And to think, I used to be limited to the world of only dried lasagna sheets (or the dreaded no-boil pasta....I know, I should be shot). Once you fall for fresh pasta, it's all over. No longer will you be able to choke down the horrible Italian-American flabby noodle and red sauce dishes you used to think were pasta. We're talking the real deal here. And let's not even get into risotto. I couldn't bring myself to buy the pasta attachment for the Kitchen Aide, which allows the cook to let the machine do all of the tiresome rolling. There's a certain romantic aspect of hand-rolled pasta that completely loses it with a machine-rolled, machine-powered noodle.

And on a side note, you have to hear this author/blogger's opinion of Rachel Ray and Food Network stars

Plumber's Crack / Pickling 101 pt. 2

...My brain hurts. So the week long of below zero temperatures in Chicago have ultimately left us without running water! The landlord has been dragging his feet getting here, then decided it would be a great idea to turn on the forced air heater downstairs (which hasn't been used in over 3 years to my knowledge...as it's landlord storage in the first floor apartment.) So, not only was I sick in bed today, and we've got standing/rising water in the kitchen sink and no running h20, but also a yummy cloud of dust and smoke began to fill up our apartment. Luckily, I have my new handy dandy air purifier, which alerts me to the air quality in a given room. Well, the meter hit the furthest level of POOR today. Wow, and I thought it would take a diesel truck parked in the living room to make it that nasty. Nah, just years and years of asbestos and dust mites. Bryan remarked that, "I feel like I have cataracts," while he squinted at me from down the hall, through the mist. Yep, it's time to find a new apartmy. On a lighter note, the plumber is inspecting our damage right now and we'll soon have a prognosis.

As for the pickling, I've learned quite a bit with this first go-around. You always learn the most from the biggest kitchen disasters, right? Well, unless you like soggy pickles, I wouldn't suggest doing any of that blanching that the recipe mentioned. I picked someone's brain about picklin' at work, and his suggestion was to bring your vegetables to a boil in the pickling liquid...adding the longer-cooking times as needed. The cauliflower takes the longest. It's going to take some more experimenting to get the right texture and flavor. Also, don't make the mistake of using 'white distilled vinegar' for your pickles! Yech! If you wouldn't enjoy it in a salad dressing, or soaking up one of your favorite veggies,why use it! White wine vinegar is more expensive, sure. But, it is worlds better and has so much more depth of flavor.

Pickling 101

Have decided to do something a little different for Superbowl Sunday this time around. Bry and I had a low maintenance dinner of "antipasti sandwiches" the other day. Bought some rosemary ham from TJ's, Prosciutto Americano from W.Foods (was decent and affordable), along with sweet & spicy peppers, salami, buffalo mozzarella, arugula, Roma tomatoes, and some nice focaccia. Let's just say we're going to take it to another level with the homemade gardiniera I'm making today. Found this great recipe c/o the Smitten Kitchen c/o Gourmet Mag. Can't wait!

Giardiniera (Pickled Vegetables)
September 2006 Gourmet Magazine

For pickling liquid:
2 ½ cups distilled white vinegar
3 cups water
¾ cup sugar
5 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
½ teaspoon dried hot red-pepper flakes
For vegetables:
1 head cauliflower (2 lb), trimmed and broken into 1- to 1 1/2 -inch florets (6 cups)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 carrots, cut diagonally into ½-inch-thick slices (2 cups)
4 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch-thick slices (3 cups)
1 cup drained bottled whole peperoncini (4 oz)
1 cup large brine-cured greens olives (preferably Sicilian; 6 oz)*
½ cup oil-cured black olives (6 oz)
Prepare pickling liquid:
Bring pickling-liquid ingredients to a boil in a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan** over moderate head, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Transfer to a 4-quart nonreactive bowl and cool about 30 minutes.
Cook vegetables:
Bring about 6 quarts unsalted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot. Have ready a large bowl of ice and cold water. Add cauliflower to pot and boil until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to ice bath to stop cooking. Cook remaining vegetables separately in same manner, allowing 4 minutes each for bell peppers*** and carrots and 2 minutes for celery. Drain vegetables in a colander and spread out on 2 large kitchen towels to dry. Add cooked vegetables, peperoncini, and olives to pickling liquid, Weight vegetables with a plate to keep them submerged, then chill, covered, at least 1 day.
Makes about 10 cups
Pickled vegetables keep, covered and chilled, 1 week.

*I personally don't care for olives or peperoncinis, but I do like to add sliced Serrano peppers...
*Smitten kitchen recommended reducing bell pepper cooking time to 2 minutes for crisper results

Movie Time

An excellent interview on NPR's Fresh Air, with Guillermo Del Toro (director, Pan's Labyrinth). At first viewing, the film didn't meet up to my expectations. I'll give it a second chance after this interview. Perhaps I saw the film too soon after becoming obsessed with Mirrormask...(one of my new favorites). I'll write a detailed comparison at a later date just for shits and giggles.

Weiner Post 1

Bry and I are working on adopting a couple a dogs. We applied for these 2 cuties but I don't know if we'll get them or not.

Luke and Maddie

Of course, these two scrappers are also adorable...

Sampson and Champ

First Posting

Hopefully I'll like this blog title better than the last one...