GASTRONORMOUS

I love these martini glasses. They are the perfect combination of old-fashioned looks and new-fangled technology. According to the Sur La Table website, this crystal ware is fortified with titanium and zirconium (rather than lead) to help it resist chips and breaks. Plus! these are dishwasher safe! Betchya can’t say that for grandma’s Waterford. [$78 for a set of 6]

Years ago, after noticing my mom had recipe cards and recipes cut out from magazines and newspapers stuffed into several drawers in her kitchen, I decided to make her a catch-all recipe binder to hold all these fluttering bits of very useful paper. I bought a little 3-ring binder and a bunch of plastic photo sleeves and painstakingly drew pictures and stenciled headings for every page of the binder. It looked cute when it was empty, but the problem came when I noticed after a year or so that a folded-up 8×10 page of a magazine didn’t fit so well in the two 3×4 spaces provided in each page. (I must say I think my Mom loved the book I made, but between you and I, probably more for the thought and effort than the actually usefulness of it–though you’d have to ask her to know for sure.)

In walks TasteBook to resolve the sloppiness that ensues with a truly do-it-yourself recipe book. You can type in your own recipes, download your own photos, or use recipes and photos from a host of cooking websites (including, I was thrilled to see, Epicurious), pick your cover photo and recipe book title, and a beautiful, glossy binder-book full of your favorites is sent to your doorstep! Sure, this is not an effortless proposal, but would be a lot less effort than doing it totally from scratch, and will be a lot more user-friedly besides. Another great feature is that because it is in binder-form, you can add more recipes over time (up to 100).

Unfortunately, gift certificates are not yet available for the service, though you can purchase the book and have it sent to someone, then they can suppliment it with their own recipes. Overall, a neat idea! [$19.95–$34.95]

I took a few days off of work and blogging at the end of last week, partially for the heck of it, and partially because the Hubs was returning from a long trip and we needed time to commune.

Thursday before he returned, I went to my first-ever tailgating party. We barbecued ribs, dogs, and burgers, plus the Predicate made a killer cucumber and radish salad (left).  I had meant to make a potato salad, but I forgot to buy an essential ingredient on Wednesday, and by the time I realized the omission, it was too late. I was, however, able to make my “rustic” white sangria. We also all brought along plenty of chips, sweets, and other thoroughly unhealthy but essential tailgating items, including some Bartles & Jaymes “wine” coolers, which, yes, still exist, and no, are still not good.

To celebrate the Hub’s return, Friday morning I decided to make a special breakfast for him: french toast using some fantastic wheat-cranberry bread from Mazzola’s bakery. Despite the fact I overcooked (ok, charred) it, it was still plenty delicious. Next time I will grill it at a lower heat, but there will definitely be a next time!  Later, I made the unusual potato salad I had meant for the tail-gating (from this recipe at Epicurious), which featured no mayo, but cilantro, jalapeños, garlic, shallots, oil, an vinegar. It was pretty tasty and unusual, though not has flavorful as I thought it would be. The recipe didn’t call for salt, but I added some to up the flavor ante, but to little avail. Next time I might tweak it a bit. Perhaps add some lime juice to the mix.

Saturday the Hubs and I celebrated our wedding anniversary (thank you) by going out to dinner and a play. Finding a decent dinner in midtown is always a challenge, and that certainly was the case on Saturday. We ended up having a mediocre meal at Morrell Wine Bar and Cafe, which I will detail later in the week. The play we saw was The 39 Steps (based on the Hitchcock movie, not the Buchan novel, which is a shame in a way). It was jolly good fun, you know, as they say in The 39 Steps.

Sunday was spent mostly relaxing in Central Park and reading the paper, which was nice. We came home to leftover porato salad accompanied by, I am ashamed to say it, chili cheese dogs! But, boy, were they delicious.

The gods of gastronomy forgive me: I don’t really like Mario Batali. There is something about him–his manner–that makes me uncomfortable. I can’t put my finger on it. But, well, I do like his food. And I like a lot of his recipes. And, it turns out, I like the products that have his name on it. They have style (and not orange clogs sort of style. Please, no. Like actual good design).

Like this enameled cast iron baking dish for instance. It is just plain, well, cute in an old-school sort of way. I may warm up (pun intended) to you yet, Mario. [$39.99, on sale, at Cooking.com]

My two little jalapeños have continued to flourish, and there is now a third little guy developing too! This new growth is despite the continuing white fly assault and now something more insidious: aphids! I didn’t know what these tiny black critters were until I called my Mom the Green Thumb and described them to her. She said they are definitely aphids and suggested I buy some lady bugs to combat the things. In the meantime, she suggested mixing some oil, water, and dishwashing soap in a spray bottle and spraying my plants with it. I have sprayed it. We will see what happens now. (If anyone has any ideas for getting rid of white flies and/or aphids, please say so in the comments!) The battle these poor plants must fight for the privilege of living in the city!

I picked the largest jalapeño and sliced it really thin to go into my quesadilla on Sunday. It was (disappointingly) not very hot and had an unusual earthy flavor. Next time I will try growing some salsa peppers. I had never heard of them before my Mom told me she had a glut of them (she mentioned this after I boasted that I had 3 peppers. slink.)–more than she new what to do with. She made a bunch of delicious sounding hot pepper jam with it. I hoping to get some as a Christmas stocking stuffer (if not before, nudge, nudge).

Here is my little pepper on the chopping block! If this isn’t the platonic ideal of a jalapeño, i don’t know what is. Quite a beaut, yes?

The right way to make macaroni and cheese is: to start with a roux; from that create a bechamel; to which you add cheese and spices; and cooked pasta; which you spread in a casserole; top with cheese and/or breadcrumbs; and bake until brown and bubbly. How you make macaroni and cheese on a Friday night, home alone, suffering mightily from a concussion is: to start with Amy’s deluxe macaroni and cheese (don’t judge! a bechamel is too much for the concussion-addled brain); cook less than package directions (6 minutes, tops); mix with cheese-like goo and some extra pasta water; add some truffle oil (no, I am totally not kidding); spread in a casserole; top with breadcrumbs, microplaned parmesan, and black pepper; put in a super hot oven for a few minutes, just until breadcrumbs are toasted (any more and the pasta will be too dry). High class cuisine? Not exactly. Better than the sum of its parts? Indubitably.

(Someday I will share my special homemade macaroni and cheese recipe.)

Saturday I spent indoors (except for going out to walk the dog), cleaning a bit and resting my head, which was still feeling a bit like it was being done in my a grapefruit reamer. Leftovers and some vegetables for dinner.

On Sunday, I was feeling a bit more with it so I went to visit a friend at her for-kicks gig scooping delicious ice cream at Cafe Cluny in the West Village. They have exactly three house-made flavors at any one time, but the flavors rotate daily. Sunday, it was chocolate, vanilla, and dulce de leche. I tasted all three, and the dulce de leche was my favorite. By the time we were done chatting and I ordered my ice cream, though, the dulce was kaput. Sigh! So I had vanilla instead [$4 for 2 scoops]. The vanilla wasn’t a huge compromise–indeed it was delicious. Creamy, egg-y, and chock full of vanilla bean specks proving its authenticity. The cone (also made in house) was a great complement to the ice cream for the first few bites, but by the end had overwhelmed my palate with sweetness. A little less sugar and a pinch more salt would be preferable for me. They have a good range of ice cream flavors, from chocolate mint chip to peanut-chocolate ripple. Next time you find yourself in the West Village, I would definitely recommend stopping by for a couple scoops.

Cafe Cluny
284 West 12th St. (at West 4th)
212-255-6900

Still not feeling up to real cooking, or, well, grocery shopping, I resorted a cheese quesadilla for dinner. I know, bad me! Not the healthiest, but it did contain a fresh vegetable in the form of a jalapeño from my own window box plant! Tune in later for more on that!

Sorry, Gastronormous is going to be out of commission for a few days while I recover from the concussion I sustained Sunday (see below post for details). I am not feeling up to much eating, let along cooking, which makes for a bad Gastronormous.

Please tune in again soon, I hope to be back online in the next couple days.

Despite the continuing onslaught of white flies, our window box has produced a bounty of two ultra-tiny jalapenos! One inch-long greenie still has a flower attached to its rear end like a diaper. The other is diaperless, though smaller than the first. Too bad we already picked and used the tomatoes [pictured left, dwarfed by a ramekin] as a garnish on our quinoa, because as the Hubs pointed out, we could have made the tiniest salsa ever. The tomatoes, by the way, were tasty enough but the skins were really thick, which made me think that despite the nice color they had, we picked them too soon.

On Saturday I had a mediocre brunch with awful service at Alma. I have had great brunches with good (or at least ok) service there in the past, so this was more than a disappointment. It seems that there was a shift change after we ordered, and we were completely neglected by the new waitresses for the rest of our stay. It got to the point where we actually discussed the possibility of leaving without paying when, after having to collar the waitress to ask for our bill, she never came to pick up the credit card! We ended up just collaring the waitress yet again to pick it up. I hope this was just an anomaly. I might go back, but no time soon.

Saturday night I met Eddie and the Predicate out for drinks at a bar that absolutely lives up the the hype. The Clover Club on Smith Street has great ambiance, friendly service, and fantastic cocktails. I was immediately impressed by how accommodating (and not snobby!) the staff is. Sure, the drinks aren’t cheap ($10-11), but hey we are in the inflationary late Aughts, so why not live it up. I had the Bermuda Swizzle, which was truly the best cocktail I have ever had. It was magic in a highball. The magic must be owed to the one uncommon ingredient: something called Velvet Falernum, which sounds like it might illegal, and as good as this cocktail is, may well should be. Ignore the Negative Nellies who say the decor and menu are contrived. The bottom line is, this is a comfortable place with well-crafted cocktails and peerless service.

Before the Hubs left town yesterday afternoon, we got bagels and went to Fort Greene park to have a little breakfast picnic and enjoy the lovely weather. The bagels came from Bagel World on DeKalb. Afterward we decided that the ridiculously named La Bagel Delight (I mean, really, why “la” when neither “bagel” nor “delight” are French terms?) on Lafayette has the superior bagels and schmears. Lesson learned!

Yesterday a clothes iron fell on my head from a high shelf in the closet. It really hurt. With the Hubs just departed for exotic locales, the Predicate kindly came over to watch over me in case I slipped quietly into a coma. Not in the mood to cook, we decided to order in Chinese food from the only decent place in the general area; it happens to be Vegetarian Palate on Flatbush. The wontons were ok. They tasted more of deep-fry than filling. The orange tangarian [sic] beef was beefy but not orangey (or tangarianey for that matter), though tasty all the same. We sort of got into the Shanghai Spicy Noodles after thinking to add some Siracha sauce to add the spice that the name promised but dish didn’t deliver. Like Alma, not as good as in the past, but unlike Alma, the (delivery) service was speedy and friendly. I have ordered other great food from them, so it will remain in my menu rotation.

Overall, it was an interesting, if uneven, weekend in food. Both outcomes probably due to the fact that I ate out more than I usually do. More home cooking to come this week (though probably not tonight as my head is still aching!).

Serious Eats: New York offers a handy list of food events happening in the area this weekend. If you are into Michael Pollan, chili, or crayfish, it turns out this is your lucky week.

OMG! Cake Wrecks is a hysterical blog that Accidental Hedonist lead me to this week. I laughed and I laughed. There were tears. This post about a co-worker going away cake gone terribly wrong is my favorite.

For the day after the next time I make risotto: Chard-wrapped, mozzarella-stuffed day-old-risotto balls! Thanks, Bittman!

These cocktail recipes from Tabla look summery and refreshing. [via the Kitchn]

I ashamed to say that if someone asked me what burrata was, I wouldn’t have been able to tell them until I read this post by The Amatuer Gourmet. Basically, it is to regular mozzarella what molten chocolate cake is to Duncan Hines. Now I need to stop writing so that I can go buy some.

The inspiration for making this dish was two-fold. First, I went to the great little French restaurant in my neighborhood, Ici, for brunch a couple weekends ago, and I had the quinoa with roasted vegetables and pesto, which was really simple and delicious. Second, when I talked on the phone with my Mom last weekend, she told me about a bulgur recipe she makes, and it sounded like a healthy and simple weeknight meal. When I went to the store to buy the bulgur, I spied the quinoa and it occurred to me that it would be a slightly exotic stand-in for the bulgur wheat from Mom’s recipe.

Quinoa looks, tastes, and cooks like a grain, but is actually the seed produced by a flowering plant (of the Goosefoot or Chenopodium family, which in turn is related to Amaranthaceae, or spinach family, in case you are into botany). It is native to Peru, and has a long history there: it was reportedly revered by the Incas. Unlike beans, which must be paired with rice to make a complete amino acid profile, quinoa is a complete protein containing all nine essential amino acids. It is also packed with vitamins and high in fiber. And have I mentioned it is darned tasty?

The following recipe is basically the one my Mom gave me over the phone (substituting the bulgur for quinoa), and I duplicated it from memory, so forgive me, Mom, if it is at all wrong!

“Mom’s” Quick Quinoa

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and picked over
1 tomato, chopped
1 small onion, sliced thin
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp rosemary, rubbed between your hands
1/4 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups broth (or water with bouillon)
1 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

After rinsing quinoa in a fine mesh sieve and picking out any foreign debris, place sieve in a bowl and fill with water. Let quinoa soak while you do chop the veggies and do the following:

Saute onions in the oil over medium heat until they reduce in size and start to brown (almost caramelized, but not quite), adding the garlic after about 5 minutes. Add tomato and spices and cook a few minutes more.
Drain the quinoa really well, then add to the pan. Stir around until much of the water has evaporated. Add broth, bring to a boil, cover and cook for 12-16 minutes until the quinoa is done (which you only know for sure by tasting!). It should be chewy but not crunchy when done. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Right before serving, stir in the parley.

It is yummy on its own, but would also be delicious garnished with sour cream or plain yogurt and/or cherry tomatoes. This would be great as a side or main dish. You could serve it with a salad, quesadillas (what we did–see pic below), steamed vegetables, soup, you name it, be creative!

Serves 4 generously.