SUNDAY LUNCHEON.........
Posts
THIS YEAR'S 'LONG, HOT SUMMER', COUPLED WITH LOW LEVELS OF POTASSIUM IN THE GEORGIA CLAY SOIL, PRODUCED SOME TOMATOES WITH WHITISH, FLAVORLESS CENTERS AND 'HALOS' BENEATH THEIR SKINS.......
NEVERTHELESS, A FEW GRAINS OF SEA SALT BROUGHT OUT ENOUGH MOISTURE TO PRODUCE ADEQUATE FLAVOR AND TEXTURE TO THE LOVE APPLES, DESTINED TO BE SLICED AND PLACED ATOP SOME TUNA SALAD......THEN ENVELOPED IN A TOASTED CROISSANT, SMEARED WITH LEMONY MAYONNAISE.....
ASSURANCE FOR A GOOD NIGHT'S LUCID DREAMING......
A 4 am featureless 'gourmet's hunger attack' seldom leads to beautiful, table-ready cuisine........Here.... an odd, clumsy concoction of pastry, curried vegetables in a creamy asiago cheese sauce with coriander and mango/pear chutneys, pickled beets, walnut powder and the last of the fig preserves and shavings of Membrillo Casero Quince Paste.....To ensure the creation of creative pre-dawn dream sequencing....which, not having been notated, is already forgotten......
Hot, Spicy Food is best when served from wooden bowls.......into 'cast iron' stomachs.......
out shopping for condiments with a friend earlier today......I bought a '5-bottle pack' of hot 'sauces'.....one was 'Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce'.... So, motivated after a conversation with two acquaintances from Haiti....also 'hottie' lovers....I rushed home, cooked some crispy chicken thighs, tossed them with the 'bonnet' sauce, some tangy/sweet Mandarin orange preserves, wild and brown rices, walnuts and shredded coconut.....adding a bit of Green Dragon Sauce to 'make certain' my concoction's Hotness.......Whoa! Tongue-throbbingly assertive...... but Perfect!
A REISSUANCE OF A POST FROM A DOZEN YEARS AGO........"I never bought the sugary candies or drinks at the Lyric Theatre's concession stand, when...for a nickel more.....one could get bittersweet chocolate covered candied tangerine peel strips at the Confectioner's Shoppe, next door." ....
this 12 year old post, from a Gather 'food' article that I wrote...for an online NPR Blog....{now, dead in the water, after being de-funded by President Philistine, during his first dictatorial Reign} alerted my brain to insist that I devour the last of the chocolate 'bark' that I made a few days ago....thinking, then, that it would last a week, as it was transformed into various visual projects; however, my favorite 'chocolate blade' has emptied the slab, as I lick the tiny remnants, leaving only regrets that I didn't produce another kilo of satisfaction.........the leftover cauliflower did not fare as well........who would awaken in the middle of the night to eat cauliflower? Maybe, Adele Davis would have... ...
MY "BLOODY CRUSTACEAN SALAD"
atop a slaw of crinkle-cut radishes, shredded red and green cabbages, toasted dill pickle brioche croutons and red leaf lettuce, drizzled with dill pickle ranch dressing...rests some cold jumbo cooked shrimp, bathed in a bloody mix of horseradish & beet relish and tomato ketchup.......
Alas....who keeps cattle bones in their fridges....for their marrow? Alton, of course!
As I watched Alton Brown....roasting beef bones, then digging out the tasty bone marrow.....spreading it on toast....I began to salivate like a hungry canine.......Having no bones in the fridge, yet....still 'wanting'.....I toasted a slice of sourdough bread, pan-fried it in ghee......and dumped the very last shreds of spicy Indonesian shredded beef and some roasted broccolini onto the fat-soaked caramelized toast, after spreading it with some finely chopped basil, parsley and garlic, marinated in olive oil...... Close Enough, Alton~ Oddly....I've never been fond of bread re-cooked in butter or margarine.....unless a layer of molten hard cheese is atop it.....So, a grilled cheese sandwich would have been my desperation ploy, likely..... .