No Comment Dinner

Local hinting

Season 4 of MadMen premieres on Sunday night if anyone* wanted to invite YJDKIY over to make dinner or something. Just saying...

MadMen yourself here.

*anyone with cable! :P

Summer Plate Model

While YJDKIY was busy fixing dinner, I assigned the other YJDKIY diner cooking of the farmer's market okra. There are not many vegetables I don't love, but okra is one of them. I just can't get over the bitter gelly taste of the innards, stirfried/panfried/deepfried/broiled/boiled/stewed it doesn't matter.

He chose to stir fry these in a little olive oil, with some of my squashes, and then add pepper and feta!

I enjoyed a summer plate just like the one this fabulous arm model is displaying, but with just plain squash and onions!

-----
Some OKRA facts:

• a flowering plant in the mallow family (with cotton, hibiscus, and cocoa)
• often known as ladys fingers outside the US
• the species apparently originated in the Ethiopian Highlands
• The products of the plant are mucilaginous, resulting in the characteristic "goo" or slime when the seed pods are cooked; the mucilage contains a usable form of soluble fiber.
• It is called bhindi (hello Rajbhog, I did like it there!!!) in Hindi; it is popular in Indian and Pakistan, where chopped pieces and stir fried with spices, pickled, salted or added to gravy-based preparations like Bhindi Ghosht or sambar.
• Okra seeds may be roasted and ground to form a caffeinate-free substitute for coffee.

Open Sesame!

YJDKIY just got the second new fridge. Coincidentally, this week on CBS Sunday Morning, we got to see what's in Mo Rocca's fridge.

Since this fridge will never be this clean or this organized again

I thought we'd take a peek inside!

Fancy Brita filter shelf, lots of Silk (chocolate & original light!), condiments galore, lemon juice, Honey Moons!

Lots of Oikoses, plums, peaches, apple sauce, weggie's PB; cheeses drawer, sandwich thins, cilantro, cauli, egg beaters, long lost tin of tahini; leftover zuc cake, ginormous spinach from Sam's, broccoli, China Grove Silver King corn; veggie drawers overflowing! I think this is a pretty good representation of what YJDKIY eats in a week. Please note lack of products and presence of real food! :)

The freezer on the other hand, is all about some packaged processed goods. Frozen fishes, tofu and meats, frozen veggies, homemade pesto (!),  pierogies, boca burgers, and Lindy's! We need to work on this one. :(

What's in your fridge?

#39

Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. 

Baked goods and doughy sweets don't really do it for YJDKIY (hello, frozen  yogurt, or anything frozen for that matter!?), but occasionally I feel compelled to do some baking.

This arrived in my mailbox the other day with a Chocolate-Zucchini Cake recipe, and low and behold, I just happened to have 5 use it or lose it well traveled (Boonetacular to Emerald Isle to the Ave, that's like 600 miles!) zucchinis in my fridge.  Plus all the other ingredients!

From the time I took that picture, until the next prep photo the skies opened up and the bottom fell out. It was so dark outside, even all the overhead lights weren't enough for iPhone to take decent pics, so you'll just have to get over that now! The key to good iPhone photos is lots of indirect light (and cleaning the fingerprints/beach air slime off the lens).

I made some adaptations to the recipe, of course. 1 c. whole wheat flour, 1 c. white flour, 1/2 c. dark cocoa powder, 1t baking soda, 1t baking powder, pinch of salt sifted together

I halved the amount of called-for sugar and butter. 1 stick instead of 2 softened and 1/2 c. instead of 1 c. sugar. I also refused to get out a mixer and did it by hand. Plus 3 egg beaters, 1T vanilla and 2T cooled dark coffee

Grated zuc (I had way more than the recipe called for), coated in some of the flour/cocoa mix

Rest of flour/cocoa mixed with egg batter, mixed in some dark chocolate chips (maybe 1/2 c?)

All spread into a well Pam'd pan. I also refuse to retype the recipe, as I assume it will be posted here sometime in the future.

Baked for 40-45 mins at 350. This turned out more like brownies/bread than cake. Not sure if that was the extra zuc or lessened butter/sugar. Nomnomnom nonetheless! I totally want to trick some kid into eating vegetables with this. :P

cameraphone

YJDKIY got menu denied last night. I tried to order the macrobiotic veggies & tofu, but noooo...the waiter said the Thai version was much better and I wouldn't like it anyway.  It was tasty, but much like tanning and smoking, I don't think anyone has told this town that MSG is bad. I did get this cool carrot butterfly with my salty THAI veggies & tofu (which thankfully was less fried than normal) though. :P

The girl at the table next to YJDKIY tried to order it too and he tried to convince her otherwise, but she'd clearly been there before and stood her ground. After paying the bill and inquiring further as to the contents of said dish, only to find out it is simply miso soup ("no MSG, no anything, just miso" she said), I was kind of ticked (and since my tongue was dried out and numb from so much salt!), but at least I'll know for next time?

Dog Days of Dinner

 The week after vaca is always rough.

SUNDAY: Pizza (going to try to bust out the homemade dough again!)

MONDAY: Sweet potatoes, okra, corn on the cob, brown rice, kale if it's still good!

TUESDAY: Cauliflower in tomato cream sauce with shrimp, side salad

 Correll Farms peppers and minipeps

WEDNESDAY: Qunioa-Blackbean Soup

THURSDAY: Mac & trees, baked tofu & peppers

FRIDAY: pasta salad, fish

SATURDAY: Salad with some protein

The Party of the Century

November 28, 1966

(New York Times article, 2005)

Everyone who was anyone received an invitation to Truman Capote's Black and White Ball. Black and white attire, black and white masks. 

 (Candice Bergen's famous mask, Christies)

New York's Plaza Hotel. 500 friends, 15000 enemies

  (Tallulah Bankhead and the Glitterati, from Hubpages article)

Supper was served at midnight and included chicken hash. YJDKIY had no idea the history of this dish when selecting the recipe, and frankly I found it a little too stuffy. So, as per usual, I made up my own!

5 large red potatoes diced (side note: YJDKIY has been perplexed of late as to the best way to put things in a boiling pot of water. I always seem to splash said boiling water onto my hands and yelp. Even sliding them off a cutting board causes this to some extent. Today I tried cutting them on the plastic produce bag, which is flexy and could be eased directly into the water for a second allowing the potatoes to be dumbed UNDERwater! ok, so that was a side tangent).

Diced green and red pepper (from Correll Farms...these were SO yummy and crunchy and watery. PS That is a great article on CF farmer David), diced CF and YJDKIY tomatoes, and green onions. (For once I didn't put garlic in it!?)

Organic chicken tenderloins, pulled and sauted with garlic powder (seriously, you thought I could have no garlic?) and fresh dried basil!  

Side tangent: It is getting increasingly hard to find acceptable meats (which was a good reminder tofu would probably sub fantastically in this recipe). I was ok with the Smart Chicken Organic, but I'm not sure I trust their claims. The website says organic diet, no pesticides/herbicides, free range, and certified humane, the package doesn't and I'm a little weary of the way that is worded and the vague guidelines anyway (i.e. "access to" natural environment doesn't necessarily mean totally free range). I'd like to see their farms. I guess it is better than other options, so I'll go with that. I digress...

Once the chicken has cooked, add 3T of tomato paste and water. Continue cooking 5-7 more minutes, then combine cooked potato and chicken. Saute veggies just until tender and combine everything in a large pyrex casserole.

Bake 30-40 minutes on 400, topping with a tiny bit of cheddar cheese for the last 10 minutes. Finish by broiling on 500 for 5 minutes.

Plated with lemon-butter steamed asparagus, and there you have the party of the century. Or at least the dinner of the day.

(PPS, this was by no means a quick recipe! Granted I was multitasking, but it took nearly 2 hours from start to finish!)

Things that have certainly not happened to YJDKIY on the last day of vacation

1. broke sewing machine needle on the lightest weight fabric ever
2. opened kitchen cabinet to have pyrex fall on head
3. missed trash can when emptying vacuum cleaner compartment
4. narrowly missed stepping on little black snake in tall grass by basil plants
5. remembered forgetting to put garlic in pesto only after spooning into ice cube tray to freeze
1. remembering forgetting to put salt in pesto only after scooping out of tray to put back in food processor to add garlic

Not really at all

I'd planned for Pasta, Pesto & Peas, but wound up with this instead...

4 cubes frozen pesto (thawed and watered down a bit)
Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Bowtie Pasta
Farmer's Market greenbeans (cut & sauteed with garlic)
Baby spinach added to the greenbeans for the last 5-7 minutes
All mixed together and topped with a little fresh lemon juice and grated parm

I could have eaten four servings of this. Homemade pesto might be one of my favorite dishes (of any variety...pizza, on pasta, on veggies, you name it!).

Local Huh....vegetable edition

What are these things and how do I eat/cook/prepare them?!

Soupy

Rosemary White Bean soup!  The actual recipe...plus I added some carrot to thicken it up and provide a little more healthy. I think otherwise, it was pretty close.

Served with garlicky kale instead of planned spinach! YJDKIY keeps wanting to eat more kale even though I know the grocery store kind isn't nearly as good as the farmer's market kind. Alas.

Vacation Market

I got a rare treat today! The Wednesday Morning Farmer's Market. I wish they were open every morning...and evening for that matter. :P

Peppers: $1 each
Onion: $1.25
Squash & Eggplant: $4.85
Tomatoes: $2.15
Green beans: $1.65

Revolution?

YJDKIY is back on the The Ave, with no groceries in sight! So, for breakfast it was time to try out this new product from Better Oats: Oat Revolution Old Fashioned Instant Oatmeal in Apples & Cinnamon. I picked these up a couple of weeks ago based on their whole oatiness for just such an occasion. I by no means recommend these over real oats, but the mostly decent ingredients (we could seriously do without the #2 sugar and guar gum).

These would be great for a health(ier) breakfast item in-hotel. Call me a sucker for product packaging, but I love that you use the packet for water measuring!

Overall, they were definitely sweeter than I prefer, and the tiny serving (although only 130 cals) kept me full for a total of 2 hours, MAYBE. For future reference, I'll probably make two and if on the go, add a knead and squeeze from Justin's!

Seafood. SEE FOOD!

Since YJDKIY is at the Crystal Coast for bit, and couldn't really be convincing (to myself) enough to go out for seafood, we brought it home from Cap'n Willis Seafood Market.

It's pretty hard to cook in someone else's kitchen, but at least its fun when you're working with 1974 versions of everything!

Appetizer: Lump (the most lumpiest!) Crab Cakes from Luther Lewis & Son in Davis, NC

Dinner: Clams and Shrimp

Side: Salad (four people cooking in this kitchen!)

Dessert: Food Lion FroYo with strawberries and granola!

Actually Kind of Awesome

YJDKIY find's this political ad featuring NC's own Richard Burr kind of entertaining

wrap me up

Lunch in a Pinch

Light Italian wrap
Chopped up MSF chikn pattie (cooked)
Baby Spinach
Grated Mozza
Pizza Sauce

micro for 30 seconds until melty!

Nothing says eastern NC like....

It's probably been 20 years since I've been in a Piggly Wiggly, but nothing tells me I'm close to the beach like that sign!