Andy Hallett, the actor who played Lorne on Angel has died:
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b106789_angel_star_andy_hallett_dies_of_heart.html
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Stop & Shop's salmon pinwheels
Stop & Shop sells salmon pinwheels - salmon fillets rolled up with a bread and (fake) crabmeat stuffing. They come packaged in pairs. I've been buying them every other week or so. To prepare, I just sprinkle some garlic powder and pepper, place a pat of butter on top, then bake in the toaster oven according to the instructions (I think it's 16-18 minutes at 375 degrees). The butter melts and makes the bottom nice and crispy. And the fact that it's salmon means the meal is mostly healthy. I'm sure there there are perservatives and whatnot in the stuffing.
Orzo and Armenian sauteed chickpeas
I've been busier than usual at work, and I haven't been able to get home at a normal hour. The result is that I'm hungry and want something quick. Fortunately, I've been doing some of my food shopping at Sevan Bakery in Watertown. In addition to lahmajoun, Sevan has sauteed chickpeas that are totally KILLER! It's (obviously) chickpeas with tomatoes, onions, garlic, sesame seeds, and either olives of very strongly flavored olive oil, and a heavenly blend of spices. I could eat it all day. To stretch out my weekly supply of this scrumptious dish, I hit upon the idea of mixing the chickpeas with orzo. I cook a half cup of orzo (I use Barilla) and mix it with a helping of the chickpeas. I think half and half works - erring on the side of more chickpeas is a good thing, especially since that is the only item flavoring the dish. It makes a quick, healthy, and tasty dinner.
Now if I could only figure out how they make those chickpeas... They soooooo freaking good!!!!!!
Now if I could only figure out how they make those chickpeas... They soooooo freaking good!!!!!!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Metal ice cube trays
I have three metal ice cube trays from my grandparents. Because they're retro I thought they were cool and wanted to keep them. I've been using the trays even though I have an ice maker in my freezer. It can take a while for the ice maker to fill the bin since it makes 6 cubes at a time, so I just use the trays to fill the bin faster.
One thing I noticed is you don't want to fill the trays all the way up. The ice will freeze over the dividers making it harder to release the cubes. And you'll want to use a towel or pot holder when handling the tray - the metal gets COLD! (This also means that metal trays make cubes faster because the metal transfer the heat from the water more quickly than plastic or silicone.)
I've never seen metal ice cube trays in stores, but since you can find just about everything and anything on the internet I did a Google search and found these sites where you can buy them:
http://berktree.com/aluminumicecubetray.aspx
http://www.thekitchenstore.com/alicecutr.html
http://www.homebrands.com/079-040054.html
http://www.ikitchen.com/079-409163.html?CS_003=740477&CS_010=079-409163
http://www.shop.com/Aluminum_Ice_Cube_Tray-8908519-p!.shtml
http://www.thetickletrunk.com/products.php?id=204&name=Ice_cube_trays [Coming Soon]
The prices vary from around $7 to $16.
One thing I noticed is you don't want to fill the trays all the way up. The ice will freeze over the dividers making it harder to release the cubes. And you'll want to use a towel or pot holder when handling the tray - the metal gets COLD! (This also means that metal trays make cubes faster because the metal transfer the heat from the water more quickly than plastic or silicone.)
I've never seen metal ice cube trays in stores, but since you can find just about everything and anything on the internet I did a Google search and found these sites where you can buy them:
http://berktree.com/aluminumicecubetray.aspx
http://www.thekitchenstore.com/alicecutr.html
http://www.homebrands.com/079-040054.html
http://www.ikitchen.com/079-409163.html?CS_003=740477&CS_010=079-409163
http://www.shop.com/Aluminum_Ice_Cube_Tray-8908519-p!.shtml
http://www.thetickletrunk.com/products.php?id=204&name=Ice_cube_trays [Coming Soon]
The prices vary from around $7 to $16.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Yankee Bibimbap
For lack of a better name, I call this dish Yankee Bibimbap. I figure I'm the American who created it, the food is based on a Korean recipe, and it's a rice dish in a bowl, so that's the best name I came up with. I'm sure Korean food purists would quibble, especially since the egg is optional. In fact, I've made this only once with the egg. I'm not sure why I don't put the egg in. Maybe it's because I didn't notice enough of a flavor change, or maybe it's because there's already a lot of food in the pot that I don't see the need to add more.
The Korean recipe that inspired this dish is Hobakseon, or Stuffed Zucchini, from Korean Home Cooking by Soon Young Chung. The first and last time I made hobakseon I learned that it's very difficult to stuff hot zucchinis. But I liked the way the beef tasted, so I took that part and combined it with an older dish I made up years earlier - beef sauteed with onions, garlic, kidney beans, corn, rice, and jerk sauce. Only I left out the jerk sauce, replaced the kidney beans with black beans, and added yangnyum gochujang - seasoned chili paste.
Aside from the high sodium, this dish is pretty healthy, especially if you use lean ground beef.
Beef/Veggie/Rice mix:
0.25 lb ground beef
some chopped mushrooms, approx. 4-7
1 can black beans
1 can corn (I like to use shoepeg or white corn as it's sweeter)
1 chopped green pepper (or red or yellow)
1 slice zucchini (optional)
1 egg (optional)
4 tsp finely chopped onions (I use shallots)
2 tsp crushed garlic (approximately 4-6 cloves)
2 tsp toasted ground sesame seeds
2 Tbl light soy sauce
1 Tbl sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
ground black pepper to taste
1-2 Tbl cooking oil (canola, olive, sunflower, whatever you use to saute)
2-3 C cooked rice (approximate - I just cook the smallest set of rice according to the package)
Combine beef, mushrooms, onions, garlic, sesame seeds, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl. Mix well, cover and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Heat cooking oil in a deep frying pan. Add chopped pepper and zucchinis. Saute until lightly cooked. Add beef mixture. Cook until beef is just done. Add black beans and corn. Stir until beans and corn are cooked. Add rice and mix together. If you want, add egg and stir it in so it scrambles and cooks in the mix.
Serve in a bowl with chili paste on the side.
***
Yangnyum Gochujang - Seasoned Chili Paste:
This recipe is from Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee and makes 1/2 cup, although I always seem to end up with a whole cup.
4 Tbl Korean chili paste (gochujang, or gojujang)
2 minced garlic cloves
2 Tbl sesame oil
1 Tbl soy sauce (I like to use Tamari soy sauce - it's saltier but has more depth than regular soy sauce)
2 tsp sugar or Korean malt syrup (mool yut)
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
1 chopped green onion (optional - I use a shallot instead)
Combine all ingredients until they are well mixed. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator. It will last for over a week.
***
To eat the Yankee Bibimbap, mix in the chili paste to taste. If you are unaccustomed to Korean food, or spicy food in general, you should go light and add more as you wish. A friend of mine who had eaten Korean food before added too much chili paste the first time she ate this. She "misjudged the heat."
The dish has a salty-sweet taste because of the soy sauce and sugar, which sets off the sweetness in the corn. The chili paste gives it a smoky heat that I think goes well with the beans. As you might guess, you can substitute any of the ingredients for something else. Don't like black beans? Try kidney beans. Don't like green peppers? Use something else. The last time I made this I went vegetarian. Instead of beef I just used a whole package of mushrooms.
The recipe makes a good bit of food. I haven't figured out how many servings come out of it, but it will usually give me half week of lunches and dinners. And this is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day.
The Korean recipe that inspired this dish is Hobakseon, or Stuffed Zucchini, from Korean Home Cooking by Soon Young Chung. The first and last time I made hobakseon I learned that it's very difficult to stuff hot zucchinis. But I liked the way the beef tasted, so I took that part and combined it with an older dish I made up years earlier - beef sauteed with onions, garlic, kidney beans, corn, rice, and jerk sauce. Only I left out the jerk sauce, replaced the kidney beans with black beans, and added yangnyum gochujang - seasoned chili paste.
Aside from the high sodium, this dish is pretty healthy, especially if you use lean ground beef.
Beef/Veggie/Rice mix:
0.25 lb ground beef
some chopped mushrooms, approx. 4-7
1 can black beans
1 can corn (I like to use shoepeg or white corn as it's sweeter)
1 chopped green pepper (or red or yellow)
1 slice zucchini (optional)
1 egg (optional)
4 tsp finely chopped onions (I use shallots)
2 tsp crushed garlic (approximately 4-6 cloves)
2 tsp toasted ground sesame seeds
2 Tbl light soy sauce
1 Tbl sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
ground black pepper to taste
1-2 Tbl cooking oil (canola, olive, sunflower, whatever you use to saute)
2-3 C cooked rice (approximate - I just cook the smallest set of rice according to the package)
Combine beef, mushrooms, onions, garlic, sesame seeds, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl. Mix well, cover and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
Heat cooking oil in a deep frying pan. Add chopped pepper and zucchinis. Saute until lightly cooked. Add beef mixture. Cook until beef is just done. Add black beans and corn. Stir until beans and corn are cooked. Add rice and mix together. If you want, add egg and stir it in so it scrambles and cooks in the mix.
Serve in a bowl with chili paste on the side.
***
Yangnyum Gochujang - Seasoned Chili Paste:
This recipe is from Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee and makes 1/2 cup, although I always seem to end up with a whole cup.
4 Tbl Korean chili paste (gochujang, or gojujang)
2 minced garlic cloves
2 Tbl sesame oil
1 Tbl soy sauce (I like to use Tamari soy sauce - it's saltier but has more depth than regular soy sauce)
2 tsp sugar or Korean malt syrup (mool yut)
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)
1 chopped green onion (optional - I use a shallot instead)
Combine all ingredients until they are well mixed. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator. It will last for over a week.
***
To eat the Yankee Bibimbap, mix in the chili paste to taste. If you are unaccustomed to Korean food, or spicy food in general, you should go light and add more as you wish. A friend of mine who had eaten Korean food before added too much chili paste the first time she ate this. She "misjudged the heat."
The dish has a salty-sweet taste because of the soy sauce and sugar, which sets off the sweetness in the corn. The chili paste gives it a smoky heat that I think goes well with the beans. As you might guess, you can substitute any of the ingredients for something else. Don't like black beans? Try kidney beans. Don't like green peppers? Use something else. The last time I made this I went vegetarian. Instead of beef I just used a whole package of mushrooms.
The recipe makes a good bit of food. I haven't figured out how many servings come out of it, but it will usually give me half week of lunches and dinners. And this is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day.
Monday, March 2, 2009
My new favorite kick ass song
I thought my new favorite kick ass song was Franz Ferdinand's cover of Blondie's "Call Me" on the War Child compilation CD. It has been displaced by "Cherry Lips" by the Archie Bronson Outfit. Seriously, this song just burns it up.
(I got "Cherry Lips" off iTunes, which had playlists from Battlestar Galactica stars. The song was on Jamie Bamber's playlist.)
(I got "Cherry Lips" off iTunes, which had playlists from Battlestar Galactica stars. The song was on Jamie Bamber's playlist.)
Tour Filter - A tool for the clueless music lover
I love music, and I like going to concerts, but I am cursed with a seeming inability to know who's giving a concert. Thus, I have missed out shows by Morrissey, Peter Gabriel, Pet Shop Boys, etc. I am reliant on others to clue me in. The last concert I went to was Feist, and only because a friend asked if I wanted to go. Otherwise, I would have been utterly clueless she was playing at the Bank of America Pavillion, never mind that she was even on tour.
Luckily, a friend told me about Tour Filter, which lets you know when your favorite artists are playing in your town. I just set up my account, and already I see that Morrissey is playing in Boston on the 29th. I was unaware of that. So maybe now I'll actually catch some shows instead of hearing about them lat minute when it's too late to get tickets or make plans to go.
Luckily, a friend told me about Tour Filter, which lets you know when your favorite artists are playing in your town. I just set up my account, and already I see that Morrissey is playing in Boston on the 29th. I was unaware of that. So maybe now I'll actually catch some shows instead of hearing about them lat minute when it's too late to get tickets or make plans to go.
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