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

Crispy Panko-Breaded Calamari with Fennel Pollen & Grapefruit Crème Fraîche and Grapefruit Salsa I'm pondering the utilization of squid 'ink' in my spinach pasta, even! The squid are not 'milked', like cows, after all.... They are slaughtered!

Sloppy Snacks' during today's watching of a floor gymnastics competition....in bed.......I'll accept a 9 point deduction for 'messy landings'.....and 3 points 'off' for a hot coffee spill avoidance subroutine.... Just put it in a bowl, when you've just changed the sheets.........OR....for more 'fun',  try licking up some quinoa tobbouleh from an accomodative butt cheek.....  (If a cheek bowl is not forthcoming.....I suggest dining from a bowl, atop a tray..with fold-down legs.....as you watch the tumbling gymnasts collapsing on theirs)

First......fry the uncooked potstickers in a couple of tbsp of avocado oil.....then add a favored combination of Thai and Vietamese hot-n-sweet sauces and cook in a hot skillet until caramelized......then add a half cup of water or vegetable broth and cover, with a lid or plate,  to create steam to facilitate the dough's absorption of liquids, thus tenderizing and moistening the potstickers......with a metal spatula, unstick the ruffled, filled dumplings and their sticky pan goo residue and move them to a plate, to be eaten with chopsticks,  a spear.....even a silver fork.......

   even the addition of some fresh salad greens were incapable of redeeming  this slimy, goopy glob of green oak, swiss chard, lolla rosa, tatsoi,  faro, crumbled feta  and goat cheeses, blueberries, wilted spinach and crushed garlic..... However, since the next door neighbor's dog licks up his own vomit, he thought of this as a delicacy!

      Try 'rolling up a 5" corn taco, filled with "stuff"..... here, with grated cheese, shredded cabbage, roasted chicken, tomato salsa and avocado crema....and eating it, without much of it ending up in its seated diner's lap.      I've been experimenting with Ways to roll these up, securely, into 'drippingless', 'droppingless' hand-held edibles that could be eaten with white-gloved hands......So far, this task has been an impossible one.....especially, while maintaining one's lips 'parallel to the tabletop'....   C'mon, Emily Post, you know you want another one!  I have a convenient 'Olympian' salad fork for scooping up the falling debris and a Belgian Linen lap napkin, with lace trim, to prevent those tiny bits of cabbage slaw from toppling down to the Silk Carpet.... There are specialized silver flatware devices that may be utilized, of course....for  the non-food handling, difficult  to catch and restrain,  'p...

COMES WITH FIVE (5!) PLASTIC PACKETS OF 'SAUCE' TO ADD TO THE TRAY OF FOOD....I ADDED TWO OF THE PACKETS, ONLY....HOWEVER, EVEN THAT AMOUNT WAS AS SALTY AS A COW'S SALT LICK....AND....ALMOST....INEDIBLE......EVEN AFTER HAVING ONLY A FEW FORKFULS OF THIS 'DISH' AND DOWNING A PINT OF HOT GREEN TEA....THE SALTY TASTE STILL LINGERS ON MY TONGUE...YUK!    SO....ZERO 'THUMBS UP' TO KROGER!   

 

North Indian Punjabi flatbread, called kulcha , brushed with ghee or avocado oil,  piled up with spicy chickpeas ( choley )  & shredded barbecued beef, over romaine lettuce... bathed in a horseradish and beet puree... then crowned with thin-sliced beefsteak tomato slices......  Now.....don't make a 'Mess''.......However, that certain mess, requiring a finger bowl,  is very likely, nevertheless... I suggest eating this  Punjabi Concoction with  your chowhoumd canine, rather than in polite human company.. and reserving your polite fingers for a dessert cookie...or a neatly assembled macaron....                                 and, now, that your fingers are cleaned and ready, once more.....how about wrangling this one!   

  THIN, SHAVED BEEF AND FAVA BEANS.....COOKED WITH TOMATO PASTE, DRIED ONIONS, CHILI POWDER, DRIED CORIANDER, WORCHESTERSHIRE SAUCE, GARLIC & GINGER PASTES, CRUSHED TOASTED CUMIN, TOASTED HUNGARIAN PAPRIKA,   AND PEPPER SEEDS... SERVED IN A WOODEN BOWL... WITH A WOODEN SPOON....MAKE FOR A RATHER UNCOLORFUL BOMBAY ORPHANAGE-LIKE 'MEAL-IN-A-BOWL'.....I CONSIDERED ADDING SOME BRIGHT GREEN ENGLISH PEAS....EVEN SOME GRILLED BRUSSELS SPROUTS, YELLOW CARROTS OR WHOLE BABY OKRA TO ADD SOME VISUAL APPEAL TO THIS GRUELISH GOULASH......BUT RATHER QUICKLY ATE A BOWLFUL, WITH NO ADDED 'DECOR'.....AND, WITHOUT BANGING MY TIN CUP ON THE PLANK TABLE, CRYING OUT 'PLEASE, SIR, MAY I HAVE SOME MORE?'  

  VICENZOVO  ITALIAN LADYFINGER SANDWICH, WITH CHOCOLATE/CASHEW BUTTER,  SERVED ON AN AUSTRIAN SILVER DESSERT PLATTER WITH AN ENGLISH URN OF INTENSE, BLACK SPANISH EXPRESSO....FOR DIPPING...( A MID-AFTERNOON STIMULUS).....EMILY POST SUGGESTED, A CENTUY AGO, THE WEARING OF WHITE COTTON GLOVES WHEN TOUCHING ANOTHER PERSON, BUT REMOVING THEM FOR THE DUNKING.......WHICH IS AN ETIQUETTE CHALLENGE.....AS IMPORTANT AS KNOWING 'JUST WHEN' TO REMOVE THE PATISSIRIE BEFORE IT IS 'JAVA-LOGGED', WITH THE POTENTIALITY OF STAINING ONE'S WHITE-GLOVES, UPON ONE'S LAP,  OR THE BELGIAN LACE TABLECLOTH...... the serving may be lifted, atop a carved wood support,  to bring the foodstuff closer to the lips of one's maw, thereby avoiding the risky, if short, itinerary from table to polite seclusion within the palate.... 

 I FELT COMPELLED TO MAKE A SALTY CAESER SALAD, LATER TODAY......THAT FEATURED BOTH SALTY PARMESAN CHEESE AND BREAD, FIRST SOAKED IN THE BRINE FROM PICKLED PEPPERCORNS, THEN SPRINKLED WITH BLACK PEPPER.......   

 costing less than a buck per serving.....less than the cost of a slice of pizza, kids!     made from chopped, flash-frozen vegetables, a fried pinto bean patty and a slice of tomato.....with lots of tasty, vibrant seasonings........  I calculated the cost of this luncheon bowl, as shown, at about 60 cents!    The addition of salty country ham trimmings....just for flavor and a bit of additional protein......brings the cost up to a buck!   

  having avoided 'grocery shopping' for a couple of weeks, I am reduced to much less appealing fare than this seared tuna with mango/corn salsa, crowned with fragrant mixed greens....that I would have preferred... to the bowl of cereal, dried fruit and yogurt that I settled for, instead......