Old People Diner Serves Delicious Sling

Down the hotel street in Poway CA, we went to a diner in the middle of afternoon in which we six (not counting the waitress) were the youngest people by at least 40 years.  And yet, great hip hippy southern California –sun kind of vibe.  Indications that this is where families go, however: there were color sheets, with crayons, and so you can bet we left our mark, oh yes indeed, six young adults asking if anyone has green or yellow in their crayon basket across the table. 

Was it called The Incredible Egg?  I think maybe.  It’s in a strip mall, it looks out onto the street.  I wouldn’t book a flight for the sole purpose of going here, but I’ve found myself down the street from it twice in two years of travel, and I feel like sincere little breakfast places are meant to be shared and talked about, they’re special, since having breakfast out usually signifies something special or at least out of cereal-in-the-kitchen normal.

So this was hash browns done nice and crispy (which is so much harder to do than should be, but the chemistry of potatoes is deceptive, it takes make-ahead planning to drain the excess water out of potatoes), with an omelet/egg dish creation comprised of Swiss cheese, mushrooms, broccoli, and (oh good choice) avocado.  Totally delish.  Fresh California.  Hanging with the long-retired.  Eating breakfast in the middle of the day.  And what was joyful about this dish also was that it was pretty much a pile of cooked things, there was no artful shmear, no starched plating.  Hot food on a warm plate.  Where’s your fork? 

Breakfast and TMI in Des Moines

Oh I do not remember the name of this restaurant.  It was just down the street from the sculpture garden in central Des Moines.  White table clothes, a sort of Euro-name.  I place I might pause on my scrubbier days and think “Am I underdressed for this?”  But I wasn’t too scrubby and I needed some breakfast (the free hotel breakfasts I’ve been living off of are dreadful, soggy starchy full of chemicals, but they’re right at the base of the stairs, practically the foot of the bed).  But no hotel breakfast to be had, so no excuse not to have a grown up for-real meal.  This was a really big breakfast, I didn’t realize when I ordered, and the staff just let me eat and people watch.  The food was fine but not amazing – the omelet a little salty, the bread good, the fruit impressively fresh for the middle of winter in Iowa, the coffee Midwestern.  The service really nice and professional, and the restaurant is beautiful in an Italian way – white table cloths, high ceilings, glass hanging fixtures, windows, natural light.  Sunday upmarket families having brunch.  Perfectly nice. 

Except, and here is where I stop talking about food, the fellow next to me spent his entire breakfast, and his visiting long lost old friend’s breakfast, and MY ear space in a small-table eatery talking about his NOSE.  The saga of his nose, he kept having nose bleeds, he kept picking his nose, he thought he had cancer, brain tumor, some rare blood disease, he baffled (and took up space in) Japan’s medical system, in Iowa’s medical health system – I want whatever coverage he has.  Drama drama drama, nose nose nose.  In the end, you know what the climax of listening to this loud puff talk about his nose bleeds was?  No disease, no cancer.  He’d picked a hole right through his septum.  That’s why it was bleeding through the whole medical adventure.  The man couldn’t keep his damn finger out his nose.

Let that be your lesson of the day.  The End.    

Cali Hears Jersey

“We went to dinner at a place called Chino Latino.”

“What kind of food was that?”

“It was Asian Latino fusion.”

“Was it Peruvian?  Peruvian food has a lot of Japanese influence.”

….no it doesn’t.  But instead I’ll just change the subject.

Paducah Sandwiches

Wouldn’t you want to buy a sandwich from this guy? 

Paducah, Kentucky.  A way under rated place.

Omelet, Potatoes, Asparagus

Boil and lightly salt and butter potatoes.  Steam asparagus.  Make omelet with tomatoes, cheddar, and a little salt and milk in the batter.  Beautiful food can be this easy.

Kufda–That’s How I Spell it, it’s Phonetic

Kufta with pilaf, salad, and what looks like left over quiche.  And some olives!  Man, I know how to make a plate.

This is the recipe I sent to Andrew’s co-worker, who demanded to know how to make “those vegetarian meatballs” after tasting Andrew’s lunch one day.

Dad taught me this
when I was a little girl, and was more cook-to-taste than measure and
write it down  chef, so my retelling retains the looseness.  Make it
taste like food is the best advice ever, I think, on culinary matters.
ingredients:
about a pound of ground lean lamb, beef, or gimmie lean meat
lookalike. i used the sausage version last time.
fresh chopped parsley, to taste but enough to be noticed, two
tablespoons anyway.
chopped onion, half a big one or a whole little one.  I use white, but
red would make things sweeter.
salt and pepper to taste, and whatever other spice you’re feeling
frisky about adding
two eggs
some breadcrumbs, probably no more than a cup, the amount depending
on how wet your meat is.
some cooking oil for pan frying. I used olive last time and have used
canola.  I prefer olive, but if you’re cooking real meat, it doesn’t get
hot enough without smoking.
What to Do:
Combine the meat, eggs, parsley, spices, and enough breadcrumbs to
bind things into a not-soupy but not- stiff mixture.  You want to be
able to form it into meatballs, but if you make it too dry they’ll end
up oily from the pan.  I grew up squishing everything together with my
hands.  Dad would say ‘Your sweet little fingers are the secret
ingredient.’  It’s messy, but I still do it like that, partly out of
sentiment and family tradition, but it also allows you to really
combine everything together and get the right texture.
Heat up the oil to frying temps.  You can roll out either little
spherical meatballs or cylindrical ones (which are easier to cook on
all sides).  Brown on all sides (they should be wet enough to not stay
perfectly round, but melt into flat sides while still staying
dimensional – no pancakes), cook all the way through and presto,
kufta!
Depending on the size of balls you roll, this yields about a dozen.

First World Cooking Brings It to You in a Jar and a Sack

MMM, I love Indian, such a forgiving throw it all in way to cook. 

Made both the chicken and tofu/paneer dishes with great help from canned sauce.  Janfriees Curry by one of the local grocery store-stocked manufacturers.  Sautéed the chicken to heat it, it was last night’s left overs and were bound for oblivion if I didn’t make something of them.  Added half the jar (saving the other half for the veg version, and besides, there wasn’t enough chicken to cover a whole jar’s worth), and thinned it out with my trusty plain yogurt.  Mixed and let simmer to boil off some of the yogurt liquid and make it more sauce and less soup.

The veg version started with steaming the fresh spinaches.  I have the bad luck of overcooking veg when I steam it, as I forget that they’ll cook further after I add whatever else to it.  So I held half the pack back, knowing this about myself.  Got to steaming, put a little white wine in, probably added nothing by doing so, added the packaged paneer in sauce straight from packet.  I remember from my road days there being more meal in this packet of instant paneer in a packet, but it was awfully sad in the pot.  So I added the rest of the curry-in-a-jar, a little dollop of yogurt, salt, and a little water to wash the jar out – it was thick stuff, and I hate throwing out part of what I purchased for lack of being able to get it out of the jar.  Added the rest of the spinach at the last minute and let it just green and faint a little before it all went to the table.  Served with mango chutney, and rice.

Does This Mean I’m Famous Now?

I’ve gotten spam-pinged by three Thai restaurant coupon bots, based on the highly technical correlation with my love letter to Thai Recipes.

I don’t know how I feel about this.  The internet it out there, and it wants to present me….with its own junk.

Vegetable tart on olive oil pastry – FAIL

This turned out dry, sandy, totally not something you wanted to eat.  As heart healthy as it was with the granola-grunchy ingredients, it lacked the fat that brings the mouth feel and flavor that the topping deserved.  I’ll put the extra topping in an omelet, it will be redeemed.  It came from Veg. Times I think, but I don’t want to embarrass anyone with the credit for this.  Look at it, memorize the outlines.  When you meet it online or in a cookbook: Don’t make it.  PSA for the day

 

Whole Wheat Yeasted Olive Oil Pastry

Yeasted crusts are more rustic than French-style short crusts. They’re also easier to manipulate — they don’t crack and tear. Remember to roll this out thinly so that it doesn’t become too bready.

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature, beaten

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour (more as needed)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the sugar, and allow to sit until the mixture is creamy, about five minutes. Beat in the egg and the olive oil. Combine the flours and salt, and stir into the yeast mixture. You can use a bowl and wooden spoon for this, or a mixer — combine the ingredients using the paddle. Work the dough until it comes together in a coherent mass, adding flour as necessary. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead gently for a few minutes, adding flour as necessary, just until the dough is smooth — do not overwork it. Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a draft-free spot until doubled in size, about one hour.

2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gently knead a couple of times, and cut into two equal pieces (or as directed in each of this week’s recipes). Shape each piece into a ball without kneading it. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap, and let rest for five minutes. Then roll out into thin rounds, as directed in each recipe, and line pans. If not using right away, freeze the dough to prevent it from rising and becoming too bready. The dough can be transferred directly from the freezer to the oven.

Thanks New York Times!

I love the Time’s Dining section.  It talks about the food business, it talks about food, it talks to food people, it’s smart, it’s weekly, and some times they give me a big recipe present, like this “DIY” guide to making condiments and tasty fridge-fillers: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/dining/16diy-recipes.html?ref=dining&ref=dining#view=intro

Go look at it now, as the Times (understandably) announced via email today that it is switching to a subscription-based access plan for its online content.  It’s only fair that I now get to pay for the (not freely gotten or dispersed) information I’ve so enjoyed for so long, but now I also can’t willy nilly send people to go look at the Times for whatever article.  I prefer this to the loss of my much-favored Dining section, but while you’re reading this now, before March 28th, go, click on the link, and see what I’m talking about.  Or go buy a copy of today’s paper, the recipes are in these cute little colored rectangles so you can cut them out and stick them on the fridge.

Brooklyn hipatude I can take in small doses, and the Times more or less gives me those doses; these recipes are for us, the younger, hipper “Oh I made it myself” recognition seeking readers of the paper.  The older readers just go down and buy the stuff.  So with “hipatude” having been said, I’ll disclaimer that these are pretty … New Yorky recipes, and there’s a bit of poseurism to it, but com’on!  It’s such an easy entrance, and even if you could have figured this out yourself or if you already knew it because your kickass country grandma showed you how to make fromage blache (like Dad sort of lemonade out of lemons showed us how to make farmers cheese), now you have a very simple (and vetted) version to compare against your own.  Make some Nutella!  How is that not a good idea!