Bring It On

I've been cooking like crazy this week. Often I feel that my food, though pretty, lacks real flavor and that "God damn it, this is goooodd." that I'm looking for. Or maybe I've eaten at too many restaurants. This might also be due to the fact that I rarely make the same thing more than once or twice. I don't have a repertoire of dishes I excel at. I'm working on changing that but I am a perfectionist. And yet, while I write this I can't believe I still haven't done it. So I'm a lazy perfectionist.

The fat girl in me was coming out this week and I sought out comfort foods that I could grub down on. I decided on lasagna. We were missing ricotta, mozzarella, basil and only had a little tomato sauce but I didn't let that bother me. But get this, I made pasta from scratch for the first time. We bought a pasta maker a few weeks ago and though J has used it many times I usually whimpered away. Good fresh pasta requires tough burly hands which I unfortunately (and thankfully) do not possess. Have you ever seen Mario Batali's hands?? I enlisted the help of Mayo (never thought those words would ever come out of my mouth, but I mean the person and not the spread) and he walked me through it while on the evil black box.

Making pasta from scratch isn't a joke-it's tough work. If you thought I was a pansy making Pici! you should have seen my face kneading pasta dough. Kneading dough is a pain in the ass. It requires at least 10 full minutes of paw pain. During the process I thought to myself, 'Who needs fresh pasta sheets anyway?' but I'm not a quitter (or least trying not to be) so I persevered. In the end, it was all worth it and I realized that it was quite simple but still a pain in the poon.

I don't know if you could really call this a lasagna but I made do with pecorino romano and a little parmigiano reggiano. I also wasn't sure if I was supposed to boil the sheets first or just bake them. I chose the latter and it was fine except the first layer burnt a little but that was because there wasn't a thick layer of cheese to cover it! I was determined not to go grocery shopping this week.

Sausage, roasted peppers, spinach. Who says you need ricotta? Maybe a little would've helped.

Later that same day we decided on ____ Noodle (Asian-y?) soup. Last week I made a nice roasted chicken and finally got around to making stock from the lovely bones. Sounds so familiar doesn't it?? I've never met a man who read that by the way. Are you out there? The stock was sublime. I threw in not one, but three bay leaves, peppercorns and fresh herb from the Farmer's Market and simmered away for about 5 hours. We saved the wonderful juices from the roasted chicken and added it to the stock. I even froze it ziploc bags and used all the nerdy suggestions from Cook's Illustrated. I wonder if I'll ever be one of those psychos that freezes stock in ice cube trays. Not that I don't wish I had that in the freezer, I just don't have enough ice cube trays.

After making fresh lasagna sheets and subjecting my hands to pain, pain and more pain. I told J I was making Asian-y chicken soup and he suggested fresh egg noodles. I never back down from a challenge so I used this opportunity to practice making pasta dough again. And my little masochistic self agreed. Sure enough, it was a little easier the second time around. I was encouraged to throw the dough at the counter and it proved to be one of my favorite things.

I've been using good chicken broth from cartons (I blame Rachel Ray) but after using homemade, I don't think I'll be able to go back. The egg noodles turned out very well, I knew it wasn't super authentic but in Chinese restaurants they serve thin egg noodles so why not wide? I sauteed a good amount of ginger, two whole cloves of garlic, a few whole peppercorns, two bay leaves and threw in a whole cinnamon stick to the broth. I added soy sauce and a tiny bit of fish sauce and let it simmer. The broth was rich and full of depth. So much better than the stuff from the carton. Adding the cinnamon stick really does wonders to the soup. Who knew?

Sucky ass apartment lighting. Can't bring ourselves to purchase lamps.

Another thing I've started doing is frying garlic slices with tiny bits of shallots. They add great flavor and are nice little brown fried crispy things. I added the leftover chicken we had, baby bok choy at the end and a little tofu- a cheap, soft, healthy source of added protein. Top with green onions, thin slices of raw onions and cilantro. Maybe a few shakes of crushed red pepper flakes if you're feeling adventurous. I go crazy with lemons but that's just me. Afterwards J told me he thought I said I was making regular chicken noodle soup which meant I could've used rice noodles. But I'm glad we didn't.

Lastly, apple cinnamon coffee cake for dessert/breakfast. I've never used apples for a coffee cake but it made the cake [in Giada voice] moist, light, fluffy with soft hints of apple. I browned Granny Smith apples in butter, sugar and cinnamon. The cake was mostly for J, who loves all sweets like no other. It turned out very nicely and stayed moist for days, which is rare for a coffee cake. Even the topping was good. Cook's Illustrated again. Why are they called coffee cakes?

This was taken on day 3, the top was much better looking on day 1. Small plate man.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and play a $.10 tournament. I know, I'm living the life.

Blanco

Dinner?
Food Porn is now a gringa!

If you're ever stuck in an airport...

Seattle's Sea-Tac Airport's not such a bad place to be. It's completely renovated so everything is new and sparkling clean. I think it's one of the cleanest airports I've ever been to in my entire life. They have decent restaurants and places with good beers on tap. These pictures were taken last year during Thanksgiving's "snow storm." Translation: two inches of snow. Shriek! Now that it's cooled down a bit, I'm thinking of fall and winter. I know, I'm a looney.
When we got stuck waiting for a flight, we sat at Anthony's, one of the many seafood places in Seattle. The taller, better glass is, I believe , a Deschutes Black Butte Porter. It's rich and smooth with hints o' chocolate and coffee. One of my all time favorites. The shorter, stubby glass on the left is craziness.
Fish and Chips, another one of my favorites. Halibut + Deep fried goodness = happy cat.

I just wanted to show off my skillz as an amateur photographer. What?

David: You know how I know you're gay?
Cal: How? How do you know I'm gay?
David: Because you macramed yourself a pair of jean shorts.
David: You know how I know you're gay?
Cal: How?

David: Because you serve soup in bread bowls.

Though I find them a bit frou frou, I think a bread bowl could be a delightful way of serving soup!

In the end, J succumbed to my superior beer. He hates to order the same as me but we always end up eating and drinking the same thing. It's love, love. Ah, I love ordering the better thing first.

We're back bitches!

Mayo and I are finally back in LA. We drove straight from mild Seattle to the sweltering heat of our Weho neighborhood (damn you West LA people- you get actual wind!) last week and have been without interweb for nine whole days (more if you count the drive). Whew, the Comcast man finally arrived today and made my day complete. Now I don't have to talk to J anymore, we can ignore each other for websites!

I know you cats are thinking, can this biyatch post pictures of anything other than sushi? I wish the answer was no but yes, here's Bill, getting ready to punch you in the face.

It's good to be back and it's nice the weather has cooled down a bit. I'll have to post some of the cold foods I've been chowing down on recently and what I've been eating with Bill Gates.

Pain

The purpose of today's post is to whine. I want sushi so bad right now it hurts. I can't go out for it right now because my wallet is mad at me. After reading KT's posts on her trip to Japan and seeing FM's Summer of Sushi, I just want to pet deer and eat roads and roads of sushi wearing a yukata. Plus it's hot today (an anomaly in Seattle). Unfortunately we went for a small dinner (just a teaser, not a crazy festival) at I Love Sushi a few weeks ago and had some amazing salmon. The color was unbelievable—but alas, no pics. I've noticed that Seattle's salmon is excellent but their yellowtail is fair; LA is the opposite: fantastic yellowtail and fair salmon. About an hour before we were supposed to leave LA, we were extremely short on time, starving and wanted sushi. We couldn't go to Zo because we knew that if we went there a.) we'd never leave, there would be too much traffic and it was too out of the way so we had to go somewhere close to our apartment: Sushi Dan, the fucking rockin' sushi place on Sunset. We were extremely weary but needed our fix. The yellowtail actually wasn't bad, buttery and smooth. If any of you are ever in need of a fix and find yourself at Sushi Dan (I hope you won't), don't ever order the salmon sashimi. Ever. The Mexican sushi chef (also interesting) was really nice, spoke Korean to me and showed off his knife to me and gave us huge cuts of farmed, orange salmon (think of the worst Costco salmon ever). While I appreciated his generosity, sushi joints usually don't give you anything extra or free), I winced after my first bite. I'd also steer clear of those crazy rolls too, but you already know that. So yes people, even the yellowtail at Sushi Dan was decent. Unbelievable. Damn, I miss Sushi Zo. I'm itching so hard, I'd gladly eat the yellowtail at Sushi Dan right now.

I'm having a deep fried Kosher chili dog for dinner tonight. Okay, I just finished eating two chili dogs and feel like I'm going to die. J also deep fried the franks (I think he's trying to kill me), causing the extra food coma. I'll shut the fuck up about my cravings now. I blame food blogs and food shows. I guess that's how my sister felt after reading my post on Sushi Zo.

Friday the 13th

Boo! Don't these images give you a fright? Happy Friday the 13th! Please make sure your volume is on for the suspenseful score and click here for Shocking Cats!

I've been taking some time off in cold Seattle but have been eating lots.

Remember, if a black cat crosses your path today, it's good luck, not bad luck. Let's all be nice to our furry feline friends today, if you don't like them that's cool, they don't like you either! Cheers.

Isn't this terrifying?

Free Shipping offer on Nueske's bacon

Not only does Forn Porn LA provide you with long, boring posts about food she loves, she saves you clams.

Nueske's, possibly the best bacon in zee world is running a free shipping deal until March 27. Check it out here...

I dig thick bacon and ordered the slab last time but they also offer thick sliced bacon as well. It doesn't shrink as much as other bacons and it's the same stuff they serve at BLD, Hungry Cat and other great restaurants.