Cooking And Eating....“Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es”

an unsent letter, moved to the 'stack'.....left me hungry for some complex flavors....like this concoction of string beans cooked in toasted sesame oil, with toasted sesame seeds, dill, the 'usual' mix of Herbs de' Provence, layered from a hot/spicy layer with sriracha hot chili sauce to gyoza to garlic, dill and basil pesto.....with roasted red-skinned potatoes, rolled in garlic, pan- sautéed with crunchy pan-fried asiago cheese...... I needed some exotic flavors for lunch, today......organic yellow carrots with tamarind sauce, flavored with orange peel and ginger; skinny green beans sauteed with tamarind and pink grapefruit juice and a mix of steamed red rice, barley and quinoa......

 I nspired by the hand-made noodle-making on an episode of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown....even after seeing them, served with hare brains eaten with bunny rabbit jaw bones; bird intestines ripped from the abdomens of still-breathing fowls; and sea cucumbers, poached in coagulated osprey's blood.....I made some pad thai with tofu and shrimp to frustrate the hot chili fire gods with my blander 4 am supplication........now....it's both bed time and breakfast time.....and the time-confusions of a man, unhitched from normal sleep patterns....by 11 a.m....there'll be a zombie in the mirror and coffee in the cup.......by 8 p.m.....I'll be sleeping through the presidential dog fight....

mid-morning wake up.....Thai-seasoned 'otherwise Italian' meatballs, in a tangy, highly-spiced South Indian marinara....with dissicated, then toasted Parmesan/Wasabi Ranch green peas.....a simple enough inspiration from having watched the first 'Chopped' challenge, ever, to have had no one eliminated before the 'dessert' course.......and, Maneet Chauhan, I skewered the 'balls', to spare your virtual fingers.......

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......  

  A relatively languid day....and, since I'd just cleaned and organized my kitchen....it was time to make another big, tasty mess...... Without soaking, add long-grained brown rice to cold water and bring slowly to a simmer, adding sliced chile-spiced mango, sliced chunks of crystallized ginger, grated coconut, as much garam masala as you wish, some thin slices of dried Thai papaya spears, a handful of yellow raisins, a few slices of dehydrated garlic, a tiny bit of yellow sea salt and some very coarse-ground orange peppercorns. While this is cooking, saute some tiger shrimp, crabmeat or lobster in toasted sesame oil, sprinkling in a dash of hot rasam powder to achieve a bright, edgy aroma.....toss in some cashew nuts and some sliced scallion greens......cool the cooked shrimp to a few degrees below room temperature and pile the shrimp onto the shaped and formed rice...... served upon a salad of favored greens and broccoli sprouts, lightly flavored with fine rice vinegar......in...

  OKRA, COCONUT MILK, YELLOW CORN, CILANTRO, BAY LEAVES, GIANT BUTTERBEANS, A MORTAR OF GROUND SPICES AND HERBS, RASAM POWDER, CRUSHED TOMATOS, DICED SCALLIONS, GRATED RED BELL PEPPERS, FRESHLY GRATED COCONUT, DICED GARLIC, TUMERIC, CHILI PASTE, GRATED CRYSTALLIZED GINGER, CHOPPED PARSLEY, LEFTOVER SLICED AND SHREDDED CHICKEN THIGHS, LEFTOVER WHITE TABLE WINE, PULVERIZED PISTACHIO NUTS, GARLIC & TUMERIC PASTE AND PULVERIZED UNCOOKED SUSHI RICE.....

  Although these 'reapers' are on my 'tomorrow' luncheon plan.......certainly, a day for serving large goblets of water at the dining table.......

  THE 'KID' IN ME WANTS THE CASHEW/ALMOND/PECAN BUTTER AND BANANA SANDWICH ON TOASTED SOURDOUGH BREAD, SMEARED WITH MANUKA HONEY.. THE 'GROWN UP' IN ME THINKS HE WANTS THE 'GARDEN SALAD' AND ROASTED CHICKEN SANDWICH,  ON TOASTED PECAN BREAD..... BOTH ARE TASTY AND NUTRITIOUS; HOWEVER, THE 'BANANA SANDWICH' HAS TWICE THE CALORIES......

 

My friend/client, Henry, must have stopped by our 'booth' at the Antiques Show at least 15 times, trying to coax me into showing him a collection of Constellation and Seamaster Watches......Finally, in desperation, he began to bring food offerings....knowing of my love for spicy Thai cuisine........so, for lunch, some delicious Vietnamese egg rolls, then.....only an hour later........another treat.........Poor Henry....he must still 'wait' until I'm in the 'mood'.......which must be tomorrow, I suppose.........So....more food tomorrow morning, I'll bet!

cubed potatoes, scallions, crystallized ginger, chopped dried apricots, English peas, coconut milk, crushed garlic, scallions, cumin, fenugreek powder, red and green chilis.....served over short-grained Japanese rice, cooked in vegetable stock with powdered tumeric, cashew and sunflower seed oils and just a touch of Scotch bonnet peppers, very thinly sliced, then removed before plating.........

and......'take 2'   served with 'snail shell' pasta....cacio e pepe.... in a cheesy/truffle goo with lots of ground peppercorns..... 

  "Product of Indecision" which began, yesterday afternoon.....with the original intention of making a creamy risotto, but bored ...after an hour of 'stirring' to absorb a couple of quarts of vegetable bouillon....within the time constraint of having a Vegan Dinner 'on the table' in time for dining before 8:00 Symphony, I decided to speed this up by upping the temperature to toast the risotto, which began to transform....with the addition of dark pomegranate molasses, grated garlic, coriander, parsley, chopped scallions and the more traditional grated aged, Parmesan cheese....cooked in an iron skillet until nutty and drier, then covered with thin tomato slices, painted with basil pesto and well-peppered. Utilizing the time, gained by not having to stir the risotto for another half hour, I fried some firm tofu, powered with rasam, in black sesame oil, and added some green curry sauce to mollify the sesame oil overload, and a cup of fresh blueberries, ...

  French Broth with a carrot that grew in the compost heap and mushrooms that were clustered on a fallen treetrunk...