I'm Cookin' Here

Turkey and more turkey

2006-10-03T12:32:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, I decided to make braised turkey legs. I'm pretty sure I've posted about that here before, specifically about my hesitance to use the phrase "turkey osso buco," which I've seen applied to similar recipes. Publix didn't have turkey legs, so I wound up getting them from Gino's, an Italian market on Johnson Street. I luckily got the last two turkey legs that they had. Apparently things are tough all over as far as turkey is concerned. I had one of the butchers there saw each leg in half , leaving me with two small drumstick-sized pieces and two softball-sized bulbs of turkey and bone. All four pieces were browned in olive oil and the rendered fat from some diced pancetta in my dutch oven and then braised with carrots, celery, onion, garlic, tomato paste, chicken broth and about a cup of red wine.

I finally got around to visiting Hollywood Vine, our neighborhood wine shop. I told the guy I wanted an inexpensive red that I could braise with and also enjoy drinking. Previously I've always used inexpensive sangiovese reds like Monte Antico. He suggested a Spanish red, Casamaro. I had a taste and at $12, it was the winner.

Really, an osso buco comparison really isn't that off base for this dish. The dark turkey meat does have similar qualities to veal shanks in color and richness. The turkey legs also have that thin sheath of fat that veal shanks do. Plus there's the whole marrow-infused-sauce thing. After a few hours of braising on the stovetop (Renee was going to use the oven for a cake), I pulled the turkey legs and served them with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes that I'd whipped with heavy cream infused with a good crumble of cheap Goya saffron. I figure if I'm making a cheap osso buco I can make a risotto milanese stand-in as well, right?

The following day, I had an enormous bowl of turkey legs and thick, gelatinous broth. I decided to try to replicate a dish I'd had with duck several years ago. I spooned out a cup or so of the cooking liquid, heated it, strained it and then reduced it by about half. I then steamed some broccoli rabe and set it aside. I reheated some turkey meat, pulled it from the bone and set that aside as well. I then threw everything in a large pan, heated it gently and tossed it with some penne pasta and lots of little chunks of gorgonzola. It wasn't identical to the dish I remembered, but it was quite good.

Dining out more often

2006-09-16T14:29:00.000-04:00

Now that I'm finally getting into a bit of a routine with school, pay and free time, Renee and I have been able to go out to eat a bit more often. Last Wednesday night we went to Beef Eater, an Argentinean steakhouse right around the corner from our apartment. I've passed by the place practically every day since we've lived in Hollywood, so it was about time that we got it together to check it out. I'd also heard several good things about it via Chowhound. They all proved true. As promised, the steaks were inexpensive ($11.50 each for a rather large skirt steak and a vacio, which is akin to a flank steak) both served with a side. We also split a huge salad of beets, artichoke hearts, iceberg lettuce and fat red slabs of tomato with blue cheese dressing. The Argentinean Malbec (Lopez, I believe) was the least expensive red on their list, aside from the house wine. It was unimpressive, but the excellent steak more than made up for it. The meal began with a few crispy dinner rolls and a large bowl of chimichurri, a thin paste of garlic, parsley and oil that's an excellent foil for the richness of the beef.

Yesterday, on our drive down to Key West, we took another Chowhound suggestion and stopped at El Puerto de Vallarta, a small Mexican restaurant in Homestead. Just a minute or two from the turnpike exit, El Puerto de Vallarta sits on a corner of US1/Dixie Highway, surrounded by autobody shops and other Mexican restaurants that, from the outside, could pass as autobody shops. Inside, EPdV's 10-or-so tables were dimly lit by the several muted televisions all showing MTV Tres. The music, from what I recall, was Spanish-language covers of old American radio hits. I distinctly recall hearing covers of "My Way" and Bobby Darin's "Dream Lover."

EPdV specializes in seafood, so that's what we went for, starting with jaiba rellena, stuffed crabs. The palm-sized blue crab shells were stuffed with a seasoned mixture of crab meat and perhaps some fish and topped with melted cheese and a drizzle of crema, a thinner version of sour cream. Next came my ceviche Vallarta, a helmet-sized plastic clam shell brimming with fat chunks of shrimp and thin slices of fish marinated in lemon juice, cilantro and slivers of red onion. It was truly amazing, both in its freshness and size. Renee went for the caldo de pescado, an equally enormous bowl of fish soup. The brick-red broth was light, slightly briney and full of large tender pieces of fish and thick rounds of carrot. Another high point of the meal was a michelada–an icy, salt-rimmed mug of beer (Dos Equis) spiked with lime juice, chilis,Worcestershiree sauce and pepper. Renee found it repulsive, but I thought it was great–spicy, bracing and ice cold. I think EPdV might become our standard lunch spot for trips to or from Key West. Hopefully next time we wont' have such a bitch of a time getting back on the turnpike.

Bee Heaven Brunch

2006-09-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

For Renee's birthday last weekend we had brunch at Bee Heaven Farms in the Redlands, a farming community near Homestead and Florida City. I'd originally heard about the event through an email from the local Miami Slow Food convivium. The brunch was part of several events held in the area that day, including a tour of the Fruit and Spice Park, a tour of Schnebly winery and then a potluck for local slow foodies. As Renee had to work later that day, and it was about 50 miles away, we only made it to the brunch.

Bee Heaven farms operates a CSA program that serves Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, as well as the Keys. I've been trying to convince my dad to get a share this season, but I"m not sure if he'll go for it.

Brunch consisted of fresh corn tortillas topped with scrambled Bee Heaven eggs, guacamole from their avocados and what I assumed were their homegrown black eyed peas cooked with carrots and potatoes. There were also lots of fresh herbs like shiso and oregano, as well as garlic chives (I think). To drink we had iced teas of lemongrass and limeade and allspice, both sweetened with the farm's honey. For dessert, there were preserved guava shells and cubes of firm, salty farmers cheese.

After eating, we got a tour of the farm, which included their avocado groves, bee hives, mobile chicken hutches (which I'd recently read about in The Omnivore's Dilemma), tropical fruit trees and the storage are for all the CSA deliveries. We tasted some coco plums and I even managed to come home with some curry leaves, which I've yet to find in stores here in Hollywood. I probably wouldn't have even noticed the enormous curry bush had it not smelled so strongly.

Although you can't see it here, there are wheels on the corners of this chicken pen so that it can be moved around the property, allowing the chickens to forage and fertilize in different areas.

Tamales

2006-04-26T18:47:00.000-04:00

The last time I was home, my brother and I were invited over to our neighbors' house to make tamales. Although I've made tamales myself several times and always thoroughly enjoyed it, I usually put it off because there's a fair amount of labor involved. Especially if it's just me that's making them. My neighbor Carrie treats the task like it's as easy as making toast. Maybe that's because she has three sons around the house to (ideally) help. This time it turned out that my brother and I were the help. He's a big fan of tamales, and hers in particular, so he was eager to lend a hand.

The masa or dough recipe was based on one from Rick Bayless, but after we'd measured the broth and lard (hell yes, lard) the rest we just sort of eyeballed. The filling was a mixture of pork and chicken with tomatoes, broth (I think) and spices. I didn't get the number of that truck either.

Tying tamales has always been something I regarded as unnecessary, but, as I was the guest, I did as I was asked. Actually, they're much, much prettier that way, and they can take a little more shuffling and stacking in the steamer too. I just may have been converted to tamale tying.

Carrie's husband Tom also made some killer roasted tomatillo salsa, as you can see in the second photo.

In return, I took Carrie out for Nicaraguan tamales at a small grocery on White Street next Saturday morning. Compared to the ones we made, the "nacatamales" are monsters--wrapped in banana leaves and foil and trussed with twine. The filling of chiles, pork, mint, rice and potatoes was quite a bit different too.

(As a side note, I told myself I'd keep the apologies for sparse posting to a minimum. So there.)

23/5

2005-10-03T13:22:00.000-04:00

"Unlike lychees, the meat is a peachy color and the seed is round."

That would be the fifth sentence from the 23rd post on I'm Cookin' Here. Why? Well, I was tagged for this 23/5 meme by s'kat and the food.

The instructions are as follows:
1. Delve into your blog archive.
2. Find your 23rd post (or closest to).
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions. Ponder it for meaning, subtext or hidden agendas...

I don't know that there were any hidden agendas or meanings in this post. I was just describing some spanish limes/quenepas.

As this meme was one of the things kick-started me back into action here, I think I'll do the same thing to Kitchen Monkey, in hopes that he'll post an update as well. I think I'm supposed to tag five people to do this, but, well, no.

I know, I know...

2005-10-03T12:29:00.000-04:00

It's been over a month and a half since I've posted. That's behind us now.

Some sort of recap is in order, however. I'll have you know that I haven't been totally idle. I'm writing daily for Slashfood, and still doing my weekly "Quick Bites" column at The Herald, where I've also started doing dining reviews such as this and this.

One of my recent columns was about blue crabs, like the one you see here. Actually, truth be told, that claw wasn't connected to a crab when the picture was taken. It must have come loose in transport. I took advantage of that and snapped lots of photos, as that was the only one of nearly 20 huge, sapphire-colored claws that wasn't trying to bite me.

In my blogging absence, I've also been home to Key West a few times.

We grilled some sardines from the Waterfront Market.

I hit up 5 Brothers more than a few times for a midnite and a buchito.

And I also spent a few evenings at the family gin mill.

There was also the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival in September. Telluride has a great farmer's market, which is where I found this tigger melon.

Pan Cubano

2005-08-12T20:04:00.000-04:00

This is what I miss up in Sarasota. Really.

Ceviche

2005-08-06T17:01:00.000-04:00

Fresh yellowtail marinated or "cooked," if you will, in lime juice, cilantro, jalapenos, red onion and tomatoes. Not too many better ways to take advantage of the fresh seafood here. I would love to make ceviche more at home, but the places up there that I trust to have fresh seafood are a bit of a hike from where I live. This isn't something I would do with a tilapia filet from Publix ("They're still nice and frosty," the seafood guy once told me with pride.)

Kent Mango

2005-08-06T09:38:00.000-04:00

Let me just say that I hope there are still enormous hills of these mangoes at Robert Is Here when I go back on my way to Sarasota. I'll surely pick up more than a few. After settling for those hard, stringy Tommy Atkins mangoes for a while, this seems like an entirely different fruit. I know I compared the monstera to custard before, but really, it's very accurate. The flesh of this mango has no fibers and it literally melts under the pressure of your tongue. Uncut, the smell was noticeable from across the kitchen. Once I'd sliced off the cheeks or lobes from either side of the seed, the aroma became much more intense. Aside from that distinct and pronounced sweetness that mangoes have, I could also taste some acidic, lime-like notes, and maybe even something a little heavier, almost like vanilla.
I had heard the meaty sections of the mango referred to as cheeks before, but in browsing another mango site, I also heard the red patch near the stem end referred to as the shoulder. I like the functional metaphor.

Tropical Fruit

2005-08-05T09:50:00.000-04:00

I drove home to Key West on Monday. I think I wound up making the best time yet, which was just about seven hours, give or take a half hour spent at Robert Is Here in Homestead. For those unfamiliar, Robert Is Here is a fruitstand and milkshake shop that sits among the tomato fields and palm nurseries on SW 344th Street. When I worked at the Waterfront Market, our produce buyer would occasionally purchase hard to find tropical fruits from Robert Is Here, and that's how I first came to know of the place. This visit had perhaps some of the the most interesting items I've seen there so far. Particularly interesting was the monstera deliciosa that you see above. I had heard the name of this fruit before, but I guess I never connected it to what it was. The taste is similar to a sugar apple in that it's sort of a composite of mango, banana and pineapple. My first reaction to its taste was to compare it to something artificial, as it was more intense than the regular flavors of any of the fruits I mentioned. At $5 a pop, it had better be intense.
As you can see, the hexagonal scales have started to flake away. The pulp beneath is to be eaten, the scales are not. We learned this last night after trying a few of the scales and discovering that eating them was akin to gargling fiberglass. The pulp, however, has a custard-like texture--slimy and yeilding. I now have to wait for more scales to flake off before I can start eating more of it. As I understand it, the pulp is as unpleasant as the scales until they separate from each other.

More visually impressive, but not nearly as tasty, was this dragonfruit. Actually, I found the pulp, which was similar to a very ripe pear, to be just slighly sweet and otherwise bland. It was similar to smaller cactus pears, maybe with slightly less of the berry-like taste that I associate with them. It sure was pretty though. I had kind of hoped to get one of the white-fleshed ones, but the red is pretty striking as well.

I also came home with a Kent mango (background in the first picture), but I havn't cut into that yet. I'll post an update when I do. Almost all of the mangoes I have access to in Sarasota are the stringy Tommy Atkins variety. The Kent is supposed to be less fibrous. It also smells amazing, like a mango ought to.

On this day...

2005-07-20T08:02:00.000-04:00

That's right. One year ago today, I started this blog. A lot has changed since then. More later, perhaps.

It ain't love, but it ain't ba'a'a'a'd

2005-07-13T17:57:00.000-04:00

I went into publix yesterday afternoon looking for a steak. I came out with two lamb chops instead. They were so tiny, like little t-bone steaks that fit in the palm of my hand.

While they came up to room temperature, I got out the mortar and pestle and made a paste of garlic, chopped fresh rosemary, cumin seeds, kosher salt, cracked pepper and olive oil. I rinsed the chops--as I do with all meat from the grocery store--and placed them both on a small plate. I smeared them with the garlic paste, flipping them a few times, at first to work in the flavors and then because I liked the domino-sounding click of the bones on the plate. I then put the chops on a rack and broiled them for about three minutes per side. Served with some frozen peas and tomato wedges with salt, it made a pretty good dinner. Usually, I'll dress peas with lemon juice, but, well, no gots, so they went onto the plate plain. Luckily the drippings from the lamb and its paste were enough to coat them, making a nice glossy dressing.

As for the lamb itself, the cumin really added an extra-meaty dimension to the taste of the meat. The flavors of garlic and rosemary were strong, but I was glad to find that the cumin still stood out. I suspect that the chops would have been even better grilled over some coals, but firing up the grill is a little too much work for a cut the size of a beer coaster.

This was another one of those times when pictures weren't possible because as soon as the food was ready, it was on the table and being eaten. I'll surely make it again though, and maybe take some pictures.

Maybe you like a...how you say?...hot dog?

2005-06-30T20:55:00.000-04:00

My hot dog story from this Wednesday's Herald.

As French as I get

2005-06-26T18:04:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how it happened, but dinner on Friday included both of the French dishes I know how to prepare--moules mariniere and pear clafoutis (above).

I'd invited a visiting New College friend over for dinner and had decided about a week in advance to make mussels. It had been months since I'd prepared steamed mussels at all, and the last few times, I'd made this Thai version. My moules mariniere is essentially mussels steamed with white wine, chicken broth, butter, shallots and fresh thyme. I've seen other versions that add heavy cream to the broth but I don't really see that as necessary. Also, I did some homework and read Julia Child's and James Beard's versions of the recipe, both of which tell you to put everything in a heavy pot, cover it and turn on the heat. Not so for me. Hardly any more time consuming, I sweat the slivered shallots in a few tablespoons of butter, toss in the fresh thyme, stalks and all, and then add white wine and stock, probably about a cup of liquid all together. To this I add the cleaned, picked over mussels. I put on a tight fitting lid, increase the heat and give the pot a good shake. As the mussels open, I transfer them to a bowl. When all of them have opened, or in some cases proven themselves already dead by not opening, I transfer the broth to another bowl and serve both with toasted baguettes. The mussels were small, delicate and briny. The real star of this dish, however, is the broth--rich with butter and wine, but also very light and clean, tasting of thyme and the ocean.

As for the desert you see above, I had originally wanted to make the traditional clafoutis with cherries, since they are prevalent in the markets now. At least, they were prevalent. By the time I got to the supermarket on Friday afternoon, there were none left, save for the uber-expensive organic cherries. I just couldn't bring myself to buy half the produce for more than twice the price. (For more gripes of this nature, check out what Bad Things has to say lately.) Pear clafoutis is just as good, and so that's what I made.

Perhaps the simplest and most elegant-looking dessert I know how to make, clafoutis is little more than a sweet custard poured over fruit and baked. This version came from Bittman's How To Cook Everything. The cast iron pan makes for a nice presentation as well as a good brown crust on the finished custard. Usually my clafoutis sticks to the pan, but this time, by greasing the pan up with more butter than you'd like to think about and dusting it with sugar, it came clean. A final dusting of powdered sugar really ups the wow-factor.

So far I've only experimented with Bittman's recipe and one from Saveur, which I found a little too egg-y. If anyone has any other clafoutis recipes, please pass them along.

Glossy...

2005-06-26T15:56:00.000-04:00

Sarasota Magazine's website now has a copy of my article that appeared in their May issue. Please let me know what you think.

I'm not sure...

2005-06-25T19:37:00.000-04:00

...what these people are up to, but it looks serious.

Another gem, courtesty of the livejournal image feed.

Dinner beside the sink

2005-06-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

I had Pizza Hut for dinner last night again for lunch today. Despite it being a veggie lover's pizza, something a little healthier was in order this evening.

For better or worse, most of what I ate tonight I ate in the kitchen, standing up, cooking other things.

I began with some celery and blue cheese dressing. I've been craving wings lately (more on that later, I hope) and so far, this is the closest I've come. I also had some carrots and raw broccoli with the dressing. The rest of the broccoli was steamed and eaten with a squeeze of lemon juice. All the while I had some small red potatoes cut in sixths and boiling in a pot of salted water. When they were tender I drained them and fried them with butter, olive oil, kosher salt, cracked pepper, rosemary from the garden, and a smashed garlic clove. The potatoes were brown and crisp--much more crisp than the photos I took of them. When they were done I finally sat down with a Caracole amber ale and finished my dinner.

It was a simple and very satisfying meal with an unusual arch to it. I guess what I mean is that because I cooked while I ate, by the time I sat down, I was already fairly sated. The potatoes were by far the richest of the three "courses" and did serve as a good end to the meal. Maybe I'm thinking about it to much. I tend to do that when I cook for myself and eat alone. Not that it's a bad thing. Wow, anyway.

For dessert, I took pictures of a small dish of cherries. This shot was one of the better ones of about 40. I cut down on the glare on the cherries by masking the halogen lamp in my bedroom with a few sheets of charmin. Crafty, eh?

Cheese of the Week #7: Cashel blue

2005-06-17T18:11:00.000-04:00

A creamy, veined Irish cheese, Cashel is one of the more subtle blue cheeses I've tasted. It was quite buttery at room temperature, not at all crumbly like I had expected. Also, it didn't have as much of the saltiness that I tend to associate with blue cheese. I'm not sure if salty is exactly the word I'm looking for.

Still, it had lots of the flavors I would expect from a veined cheese. Also, at roughly $5 for this wedge, it was a great deal. All respect goes to Patrick for pointing this one out to me.

Craft hour (without the hot glue)

2005-06-12T09:10:00.000-04:00

This is just a fraction of the Thai chilis that my one small plant has produced in the past few months. I can't use that much heat in the kitchen on a regular basis, so I decided to dry them. Those internets had a ton of resources about how to make ristras or strings of chilis. Most of them seemed to be geared toward larger peppers, but I think mine came out just fine. They're drying nicely in my kitchen. Once they're completely dried out I'll probably store some whole and pulse some in a food processor.

Can I just say...

2005-06-04T19:49:00.000-04:00

...that some Jehovah's Witnesses damn-near made me burn my scrambled egg this morning. Now I'm not knocking the door-to-door religion, but, man, I only had one egg in the fridge and I really did not want to screw it up. I told them as much, and they seemed to get the picture.

Awwww We Grillin' Tonight...

2005-05-30T20:04:00.000-04:00

With the weather getting hotter down here in Florida, what could be better than standing in front of a large tray of burning coals for an hour?

I tried a recipe from my new Mario Batali cookbook last night. I'm not really sure why he calls them "beef birds," as the recipe intro provides no explanation. It's simply skirt steak, pounded thin, layered with prosciutto and sage, and then skewered and grilled. Although I skipped the chunks of pancetta that were to be interspersed with the skewered 'birds,' they were still amazing. The proscuitto that got exposed to the high heat crisped around the edges and gave a nice saltiness to the steak. I served them, as suggested, atop a salad of escarole ('schkarole) and shaved red onions, dressed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. The grilling didn't stop there though. I grilled another skirt steak, straight up, and served it with a Thai-style cucumber salad with lime, chili and mint.

For the vegetarian company, I grilled some zucchini and cherry tomatoes and served them with a feta-sour cream sauce. Props to Gourmet for actually enticing me to make something from their magazine. That's not to say that their recipes are bad. I just never really feel excited about too many of them. Usually, when I do make them, they're always quite good. This was no exception. To finish, I grilled some pineapple, which everyone was too full to really enjoy. I should mention that the meal began with about three dozen gyoza courtesy of Kitchen Monkey. Always a crowd-pleaser. There were also more fresh roasted peppers, olive salad, and Renee's deviled eggs.

I would also be doing a great disservice if I didn't include a picture of Renee's piggy cupcakes. I can't even tell you how excited she was about these-- and rightly so. She even obliged me with an albino pig, as I'm not really down with dyed frosting.

Home-grown Rapini

2005-05-28T18:32:00.000-04:00

When I went out to water the garden this morning, I noticed that one of my rapini plants had finally set a flower (see above). I've never grown rapini before, and I'm not sure what the window of time is for eating it, but as it's a bitter green, I figured I should eat it before it goes to seed and becomes even more bitter.

My battery of recipes for rapini is pretty limited. Really all I ever do is saute it with garlic and chilis. Today was no exception; however I also threw in some Italian sausage, some freshly roasted red and yellow bell peppers, and some shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano. It went together like this: (1) Remove sausage from casing and brown with a little olive oil and crushed, dried chilis. (2) Add thinly sliced garlic and saute for another minute or so. (3) Add rinsed and very roughly chopped rapini. It should still be damp from rinsing, and when I say roughly chopped I mean that I cut a large bunch into three segments. (4) Cover and set heat to low until rapini wilts. (5) Return heat to medium high and add chopped roasted peppers. I've used jarred roasted peppers in this dish in the past, but fresh are much better. Just char the peppers under a broiler or over a flame until the skin is completely black. Seal them in a bag or in a bowl to steam the skins off. Peel without rinsing, remove seeds, and do what you like. Lately I've found it even easier to split and seed the peppers before charring them, but I think you loose some of their juiciness that way. Anyway, you can't really go wrong.

I served the whole mess, topped with the parmigiano, over a split, toasted baguette.

Birthday Dinner

2005-05-23T10:42:00.000-04:00

Renee and went to the Beach Bistro for my birthday last Sunday. Since this place is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Florida, I was, of course, skeptical. Still, it's not like it wasn't my idea to go there in the first place. I guess I'm just skeptical of fine dining in general. I've had some less than stellar experiences at restaurants where, despite the food being good, the staff's attitude toward young diners thoroughly ruined the meal.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case here. Our waiter was about our age, and I think that helped. Also, he was admittedly new to the job and thus eager to please. He only referred to Renee as "the lady" once, and even then it sounded sincere (as compared to that time a waiter said to me, in a less than genuine manner, "And what will siiiiiiiiir be having?").

With that worry out of the way, the rest of the meal was very enjoyable. The small dining room felt a tad cramped, but the fact that its floor to ceiling windows look straight out onto the Gulf of Mexico helped. I guess I've been sort of desensitized to the draw that the ocean seems to have for a lot of people. The view was great, don't get me wrong. It just doesn't captivate me.

And what did we eat? Well, I'll tell you. We started with a cheese course, which included three American cheeses, one French, and one Spanish cheese. The menu said the course was all American cheeses, and honestly I was a little surprised to find that Manchego in there. Next, Renee had a tomato and Maytag soup which I liked more than my spinach salad with duck and bacon dressing. The mixture of bacon with the shredded duck reminded me of pulled pork. For our main courses, Renee had a roasted duck with a raspberry sauce and a pepper sauce. I opted for the punch-bowl sized serving of bouillabaisse, which was probably the best I've had. We passed on dessert, but the staff brought out a praline encrusted round of vanilla ice cream anyway.

Would I go back? Probably, but not for a little while. I'm still trying to reconcile how I feel about fine dining. I think the best method I've come up with is telling myself that the price of the meal reflects how we were treated, which was very well. I guess I just think of food as such a basal thing, created from simple ingredients. Also, some of the best food I've had has been from street vendors and roadside stands with absolutely no pretense. I've had more good experiences there than in fancy restaurants. Maybe that's just because I don't go to too many fancy places. That said, I'm sure I'll continue trying out upscale restaurants. Just not with the frequency that I hit the taco trucks.

Cheese of the Week #6: Jasper Hill Farm Constant Bliss

2005-05-21T17:37:00.000-04:00

A raw milk cheese from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont, Constant Bliss was very buttery around the edges and slightly more toothsome in the center. I'm not sure which of the textures I preferred, but the oozy, coffee-and-cream-colored edges had a bit more tanginess to them. Again, I'm curious to try some of their other cheeses to see how they compare. This one was a little pricey, and I'm not sure I'd buy it again, at least not for a little while. Still, a good subtle cheese with great textures. Well worth trying.

Another weeknight triumph

2005-05-17T18:55:00.000-04:00

Not really knowing what I was after, I stopped at Publix on my way home from work. I came out with some salad greens, corn on the cob, and a strip steak. Needless to say, the corn and the lettuce are still in the fridge. The steak went on the grill pretty much asap. In the time it took for my charcoal chimney to get the coals gray I put together a Thai-style salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, chiles, Thai basil, lime juice, and fish sauce. I've found that you can't really go wrong pairing that with a steak, whether it be hot off the grill or left-over.

As for the steak itself, it was a $6 steak. What can I say. It was decent, but a little grainy in texture. I don't know why I decided to get the strip instead of the t-bone. I guess I didn't want that much steak. If anything, what I wound up with was just the right size.

I'm still sorting through the foot and a half stack of Gourmet magazines. So far the best thing I've found is a recipe for clams casino, which I probably havn't had in about 10 years. It's been far too long. Clams, bacon, butter, some peppers? C'mon.