Vegetable Drawer Cleanout with Mushrooms and Squashed Red Potatoes......
And the leftovers, containerized for 'takeout' to a neighbor who usually dines on double-cheese pizzas, while watching hip-hop videos.......
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YAM SANDWICH
supper snack.......leftover yams, cooked with dark brown sugar, walnuts and curried currants....baked in pastry, then sliced and dribbled with a concoction of sweet/hot remnants of mango chutney, tamarind and pad Thai sauce and 'blow torch your mouth out' fiery green dragon sauce.....served with sliced nectarines in lavender syrup, and aromatic Earl Grey tea..... Today has been a flavorful one!
Not much that could be done to ameliorate the dessert, although it had the 'look' of something 'good'; and, later...at home...not one to waste food......i made some old-fashioned vegetable soup with the greasy chicken wings that were served before the disgustingly sweet dessert........the re-processed wings were much better!
a visit, yesterday afternoon, to what used to be Loehmann's Plaza......now, renamed a more 'fashionable' Brighten Park...brought about a 'dinner stop' at "Eataliano-Kitchen-Atlanta", where our waitress insured us that this was the 'best Italian restaurant in Atlanta'........The food was a bit disgusting, however....... I asked "Are your chicken wings as good as the ones at Thaicoon...down the street? "...... So, minutes later a plate of greasy, underseasoned 'wings' appeared, accompanied by some wilted, tasteless 'celery sticks' and rubbery 'carrot sticks' and a bowl of el cheapo ranch dressing.....the 'commercial' kind that comes in those huge plastic jars..........ugh!......then come the desserts.......my dinner companion had a sugary chocolate brownie...made, of course, from a commercial mix.....(add water and, maybe, an egg and a cup of saturated liquid fat......probably corn oil), dump on some...
AFTERNOON TIDBIT......
Sliced pork tenderloin, marinated overnight in cognac, Worcestershire sauce, ground peppers, chopped garlic, & salt brine.....then, fat-rendered and cooked over a hot flame in an iron-skillet, brushed with avocado oil..... served over a flat, oil-cured tomato, flamed in the cognac, then left to soak up the pan leavings.......sprinkled with chopped, dried cilantro leaves and crowned with non-pareille green capers, pickled in vinegar.... ... and another toasted sesame pasta dish with leftover pork and Madras pickles.......
TWICE-COOKED COCONUT/TUMERIC KAKU RICE WITH SPICY BIBIMBAP BEEF, RED BELL PEPPERS AND BLUEBERRIES........
THE BEEF DURING THE FOUR-STAGE PREPARATION.......
NOT GRANDMOTHER'S COLLARD GREENS......
After watching GHANDI, I'd not the heart to crack an egg.......so, cooked some collards in vegetable stock with chopped garlic & scallions, crushed dried chilis, cumin & garlic powders, lemon grass, lime paste, pine nuts, rice vinegar, sourwood honey and dry Vidalia onion bits....with some roasted red bell peppers.....and a generous sprinkling of grated dehydrated quinoa/walnut/ginger bread.....syrupy red balsamic vinegar added, just before serving.....with a 'side' of onion bread, stuffed with Himalayan rice, soaked overnight in remoulade sauce and flakes of shaved dried tempeh and 'celebration' loaf.........
TAKING THE ADVICE FROM PROFESSIONAL NUTRITIONISTS AND SOME GRAINS OF UNSQUEAMISH EMPIRICAL COMMON SENSE........
Once they have been cooked, the oats and any insect remains or byproducts are just more protein, fats and carbohydrates for your body to digest. Aside from most American's psychological aversion, insects are nutritious, and they have been feeding upon food that is not toxic (your oats to be exact), so they should be safe to consume. The boiling water used to cook the oats will kill off any harmful bacteria that may be present as well, making it safe for you to consume. In reality, it is virtually impossible to completely remove all traces of insects from raw agricultural grain foods, which is how the weevils (or their eggs) got there in the first place. They are simply too small or too numerous to remove fully, so they are present even if you never actually see them hatch, so you have been eating them all along. It’s just that these are more mature.....
FRIED OKRA, MY WAY.....WELL......ONE OF THEM, ANYWAY.....
Alabama Boy, today.....having dreamt of Grandmother's 'fried okra'.....I just produced my updated version...... chop off the dried stems and tiny tips, then soak the okra in water, overnight, so that the cut stems will rehydrate the okra, making it juicy inside......beat a whole egg into some Siggi's Swedish-style blueberry non-fat yogurt.....coat the okra in the mixture then roll the wet okra in a mixture of organic corn meal, flour, some spicy seasoning, such as rasam powder or curry... or whatever you like....then fry the pods in very hot vegetable oil....in an iron skillet.....maintaining high heat to prevent too much oil absorption...then remove the cooked okra to a paper towel for a few seconds...then to a plate, immediately scattering some shredded or grated parmesan cheese atop.......this is more in the 'tempura' style, as the okra is not cut into sections before frying and it's 'coating' less 'gritty' than 'country-style...
COUTURE BALONEY SANDWICH
Rolled Italian Mortadella slices, pan-seared in sweet & hot chili sauce, garlic and bourbon ponzu, on toasted sourdough bread, smeared with coarse-ground mustard and garnished with cilantro leaves........ I.E. a gourmet version of the baloney sandwiches on untoasted Tip-Top white bread with French's yellow mustard.....that was served in public school cafeterias when I was a kid.......
EATING MELONS.......
THERE ARE THOSE WHO HOLD A BIG SLICE OF MELON AND LIFT IT TO THEIR MOUTHS; THOSE WHO SLICE THE MELON INTO HALVES, QUADRANTS OR SEXTANTS AND EAT IT FROM THE RIND WITH A SPOON OR KNIFE AND FORK; THOSE WHO FORM MELON BALLS AND EAT THOSE WITH SALAD FORKS OR TOOTPICKS AND THOSE, LIKE ME, THAT MAKE SPIRALING CUTS WITH AN EXTRA-SHARP BLADE, THEN EAT THIN, SQUARISH SECTIONS WITH A DECORATIVE 'PITCHFORK'......... WHATEVER WORKS... ...
REVISITING A FAVORITE MEATLESS THAI-BURMESE SOUP........
another 'take' on Thai-Burmese green curried coconut soup with gluten and egg-free angel hair rice noodles, red peppers, cilantro, parsley and really hot Scotch bonnet peppers....sweet, hot, sour , bitter and edame....full-featured to please all areas of tongue and palate.........with a 'side' of thin-sliced umbrella squash and herb-encrusted miniature potatoes in a sauce of coconut milk, garlic, chilli, dried and ground English peas and ground toasted sunflower seeds, ginger, tumeric, cumin and hammered fenugreek leaves...with some white mushrooms, marinated in lime-pickle juice, white rice-wine vinegar, and honey.....
rather dull luncheon at the Ansley Country Club this afternoon........
I DO LIKE FRENCH FRIED SWEET POTATOES, HOWEVER.....
i.e.........INDONESIAN SKILLET BARBEQUE WITH POTATOES
retaining a customary color palette, some shredded beef and potatoes cooked in avocado oil, with basil, cilantro, chopped scallions, diced yellow onions, hot chilli sauce, garlic, parsley, plum sauce, peri-peri, crushed peppercorns, sliced black truffles, oyster sauce and saus bumbu tumis..destined for enclosure within a crispy, folded paratha, cooked in the same skillet's still avocado-oiled surface, with some chopped parsley and a bit of mango chutney, hot red pepper powder and Korean gochujang ..........