Egg-ceptionally Weird

Ok, for those interested in something really unusual, check out this article from last week's New York Times Dining section. An excerpt below to pique your interest:

"Some of the eggs were the size of a miniature marble; others as large as one fully matured inside a shell. Some yolks had already begun to form the albumen, the white, and a couple, one of the farmers said, would have had a shell by the next day."

Read the rest of What the Egg Was First by Marian Burros

Warm salads are the new "chicken caesar"

[Originally posted on my 43things]

It seems that warm salads (specifically grilled romaine) are showing up more frequently on restaurant menus these days. I first encountered grilled romaine cooking at an Outstanding in the Field event, and have been noticing it menus ever since.

I just enjoyed my own spin on the basic technique, by topping a bed of grilled romaine (cut into thirds, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper before placing on a hot grill, flipping once) with smoked trout, capers, and slivered hearts of palm. A killer homemade creamy, garlicky dressing made the meal.

This homemade “caesar” dressing is easy to make, and cut through the rich, smoky fish quite nicely: two smashed garlic cloves, minced mixed with juice from one half a lemon, about a teaspoon of dijon, and salt and pepper. Slowly drizzle olive oil to emulsify (1/4 cup? But who’s measuring…) and then whisk in about 1 tablespoon (adding in thirds) of non-fat, Greek style thick yogurt.

Photo: Me finishing my first grilled romaine salad at O.I.T.F. © James Chan 2006

Take my word for it

Seriously. Trust me here. Go make this sandwich now:

Peanut butter, cucumber and mayo. Yes, you read that correctly, but just for emphasis - peanut butter, cucumber, and mayo.

The peanut butter provides the roof-of-mouth-stick-effect, the thin layer of mayo delicately balances said effect, and the cucumber provides a toothy crunch. Some tips on constructing this gem of a sandwich follow. I'll be sure to add photos the next time I fix one of these for myself.

This sandwich is somewhat of an adopted family recipe, and works best on an adopted family bread - Gifford bread. Now, Gifford bread is not readily available in your local grocery store (in fact, not available in any grocery store), but what you're looking for is a hearty, whole wheat-ish, molasses bread that will provide a tacky surface for the peanut butter to stick to - wonder bread won't get the job done here folks.

Also, English (seedless) cucumber works best here, peeled to remove any bitterness, and sliced medium thin.

Now on to the spreadables - while i generally prefer crunchy peanut butter to smooth, the latter seems to work better in this application, and definitely get the salted kind. Whatever you do, make sure it's natural peanut butter, which shouldn't have any ingredients other than peanuts and salt (this is generally good advice, btw, in order to avoid those nasty hydrogenated fats). As for the mayo, i actually use a low-fat mayo here in place of a full fat variety, which may be too rich in this setting. And don't slather on the mayo! Save the slathering for the peanut butter. We're going for more of an oil-slick effect here.

Order of operations (ask me about the peanut butter sandwich construction technical specification some other time): generously spread peanut butter on one slice of bread and top with peeled cucumber slices. Thinly coat the other slice of bread with mayo. Sandwich the two together and nosh away.

What to do with that 2-buck Chuck

Have a couple of bottles of $2-chuck sitting around? Don't want to go through all the trouble of making sangria? The Basques of Northern Spain (sangria is a Southern Spanish libation) have come to the rescue: make Calimotxo. That's "call-ee-mo-cho." There are more than few variations on theme, but the essential combination is 50% Coca Cola, 50% red wine. Let me qualify that: 50% Coca Cola, 50% cheap red wine.

For more on this "unexpected" combination check out:
MattBites
Wikipedia

The Next Big Thing in Pizza

I was floored when I first learned about okonomiyaki. Both because of how delicious it looked, and because I couldn't believe this has not caught on in the U.S. (at least not that I'm aware of).

In the land of McGriddle sandwiches (eggs, cheese, and meat packed between two "maple-syrup" flavored pancakes - look for the golden arches), this would seem to be the perfect evolution of pizza. Basically, this Japanese "fast food" consists of a large pancake (or fry bread?) piled high with whatever the heck you want.

When okonomiyaki joints start popping up on every corner, remember, you read about it here first.

Now go eat something weird.

Eat Something Weird

I like food. I especially like discovering new food. Given this, one of my greatest annoyances is going to dinner with someone who always orders something "safe". Chinese? Sweet and sour chicken. Mexican? Beef burrito with rice and beans only. Pizza? Pepperoni and cheese. Burgers? Beef patty with mayo. Vegetables? Ha!

While it's easy for me to dismiss these people as boring or un-adventurous, these "safe" choices may be more that simple preference. According to Wikipedia,

A supertaster is an individual who lives in a more intense taste world...As a whole, supertasters are less likely to enjoy and thus consume certain foods, although individual supertasters can certainly enjoy and consume these foods. Documented examples for either preference or consumption include:

• Alcoholic beverages^[8]
• Brussels sprouts^[9][10][11]
• cabbage^[12]
• Coffee^[13]
• grapefruit juice^[14]
• green tea^[15]
• kale^[16]
• spinach^[17]
• soy products^[18]

Supertasters are genetically disposed to dislike bitter flavors.

However, I am not a supertaster. I have no excuse. Why is it then that I find myself ordering "safe" food when far more interesting options exist? That's where Eat Something Weird comes in. The goal of this blog is to motivate myself to venture outside of my routines and discover something exciting. With any luck, as I document my experiences eating "weird" food, someone will be inspired to eat something new.