Iron Chef Brooklyn

Yah, so I've been Slackass McGee lately. My bad. I'll get better again, I promise. Here are my excuses:

I was doing inventory.
I was tired.
I got sick.
I was planning things.....

LIKE IRON CHEF BROOKLYN!

Yeay it was so fun! Our secret ingredient was heirloom tomatoes. Mary, Susan (my Iron Chef co-hosts) Gerald, Midget and I hit the greenmarket yesterday morning in search of maters. We did a full lap and there were none. Zip. Zero. This was a problem. But we bought some other lovely things. I visited my farmer crush Keith, author of It's a Long Road to a Tomato. I'm still too scared to talk to him, but from him I purchased some really fragrant basil, some garlic scapes, spring garlic, and Italian parsley. Then, visiting other booths, I bought some corn shoots to snack on during our walk (if you've never had them, you totally need to because they're truly fantastic), some delicious wild cherries, and sunflower millet from Our Daily Bread. Still, no heirlooms. We hit Whole Foods across the street. Nope. Went back to the greenmarket and bought some regular tomatoes and vowed we would all lie and swear that we used heirloom tomatoes. Whattayagonnado?

As our cheftestants started arriving with food and booze, a truly wonderful spread was growing on our table. Without a hint of shyness, everyone dove in. There was much eating, and finger sucking, eye rolling ecstasy, recipe sharing and drinking to be had. It was food nirvana. Oh, and Chairman Mikey bit the pepper. What's Iron Chef without pepper biting??

Here's the full menu:
Marie: Seafood dip (crab, shrimp, tomato sauce, and 4 cheeses) served w a baguette
Tim: Gazpacho! (we added the exclamation point to make sure it was said with feeling)
Janine: Tomato quiche with peppers and pecorino romano
Joey: Pasta with tomatoes, black olives and mozzarella
Deanna: Pasta with tomatoes, onions, peppers, pine nuts, arugula and gorgonzola cheese
Mary: Crostini with tomatoes, bacon and mustard Guinness sauce (a vegetarian version too!)
Susan: Fried green tomatoes with chipotle mayonnaise and tomato salsa
Tony: Tomato tart with creme fraishe, potatoes, and gruyere

What did I make, you ask? Well! I made a quinoa croquette topped with roasted fennel and marinated tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. They was good. Real good. But then again, so was everything else.

The winner? Susan, with her fried green tomatoes!!!! She deserved the win. They were motherfucking awesome.

I think we're all hungover today. There were several wine runs. The plan was to go to the Unfancy Food Show today, however, mama didn't get out of bed until 1 pm.

As an excellent plan B, we spent most of the day in bed, eating leftovers, reading and watching the Euro Cup final. QUE VIIIIIVA ESPANAAAAAA! I called my dad and he was stoked. I texted Bert and so was he. I wish I would have watched more than 3 games than I did, but in good news, the Euro Cup being over means....two years until World Cup! I will consider taking the summer off just to watch it. No, I'm not kidding. I did that the summer of 98. My dad was recovering from having a tumor removed, and I had just moved back from Tampa and was unemployed. We spent all of June and some of July watching almost every WC game. It was great. Even better for me that I was stoned the whole time, even tho my dad didn't know. Ahhh, youth.

Tomorrow, my darling husband and I are going to see the actual taping of Iron Chef America at Chelsea Market! Hooray!!!!!!!! It's full circle Iron Chef all up in this bitch.

Anyhoo. Pics soon. More consistent blogging too. Also, commenting is highly encouraged. :D It gets exciting.

Not to be a spoiler, but...

Omg, on the for real tip, I was going to lose my shit. Bex and I were gchating back and forth. I was drinking. She was not. We were both BUGGIN! (no ', cos who has proper punctuation when yr being ghetto, I mean really?) I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest. But thankfully, the Gorgon is dead....however....she almost lived. Can't wait for the reunion show next week!

Also, full confession, I totally have a new chef crush. I'm so glad my darling husband understands that I mean this in the strictest of culinary terms. Happy new baby, Richard! She's gorge!

Tomorrow: me and Bex. Reunited. I smell trouble.

Oh. And. Um. I killed the bottle. Oops.

p.s. Midgie pics are coming soon! Hooray!

This is the end.

Not of the blog, betches! Top Chef ends tonight. I'm kinda super bummed about it, but I need to see the Gorgon die! Die, betch DIE! And I need to see Richard win. Win, Richard, WIN! If Stefanie wins, that's okay, I won't mind too much....although, Richard is a new dad and needs the cash and is kinda far superior.

Anyhoo, sorry haven't been a super blogging lady lately. Work has been intense (inventory prep) and I've been trying to spend as much time as possible with Midgetation. Midgie update: he can grab the crib edge and pull himself to his knees (we've since dropped the mattress) and if we stand him up, he can hold on to his crib and stay standing with no hands from mom or dad! Also, I think he's going to start crawling any day now.

Quick food update:

-The other night, Ms Mary came over and I made: roasted baby garlic w seitan in a mustard sauce, sauteed baby bellos, sliced breakfast radishes, pea shoots in lettuce wraps. For dessert? Peppery naan with Argentine dulce de leche. International, bbs!

-I've mastered the art of hummus. Okay, you may consider it a bean dip and not hummus since I don't put tahini in it (cos, c'mon, tahini is not the most yum thing, admit it), however my bean dip/hummus/orgasm as a paste is the effing jam. This time I made my own garbanzos from scratch (not Rancho Gordo cos they haven't harvested theirs yet, ((also, I have a new RG order on the way...hooray Vaquero beans!)) but still good nonetheless).

Um, ok I gotta go...Top Chef just started...will blog when it's done! Promise! Well, maybe, depends on how the prosecco hits me.

GO RICHARD!

The Great Hazard Challenge

Alright, so I'm kinda in the swing of things again with balance of work and life. (Going to sleep at 9.30 pm lastnight was a very good decision. Kudos to me.) I was able to work all day, have Midgie play and feed time, cook dinner, and have a little me time whilst hubby runs to grab a bottle of prosecco. Did I mention what I made for dinner? Spring garlic and faux chicken sauteed in a little rice vinegar w sliced fennel and cucumbers in a dijon vinaigrette. It was delish.

Ok, so now that Hazard has her groove back it's time for a few challenges.

Challenge #1: Get yr lazy ass back into the gym. I've been so bad. Every day I make an excuse, however, TOMORROW I AM GOING. If I don't go tomorrow, I'm not allowed to have a glass of wine when I come home. I was doing so good, you don't even know...I was there 3 times a week! I was a cardio and pilates machine! My arms are the most perfect (without truly being perfect) that they've ever been and I am a whole lot less of a jiggle. I get dirty looks when I tell ppl I just had a kid THIS YEAR. So, back to the gym we go!

Challenge #2: Stop eating processed food. No, for serious. I know I talk a lot of paranoid schmack due to my readings, but....it's really so awful. So unless it naturally exists in nature, I aren't eating it. No more faux chicken. But seitan is okay. Seitan's gotta be okay. I hope seitan's okay. Okay, I'm not quite sure about it, but we'll say yes for now. Regardless, if it needs to be processed by an excess of chemicals or acids...my body will not compute it. And, I'm only eating corn if it's in kernels off a cob. No high fructose corn syrup, or dextrose, or fructose or glucose, or any other derivative! For your information, wine is okay because it's processed without chemicals. It's fine. Really. Shut up, I'm drinking it anyways.

I'm sure those challenges will be in full effect and mastered by the end of the month. So I'll need new challenges. I challenge to challenge myself monthly. I am open to suggestion. Handle that, would you? Thx.

Guilty

I must say, as much as I love my new job, I do hate that I'm away from Auden so much. Last Tuesday, I was away from him for 12 hours. That's the longest I've ever been away from him. It was heartbreaking. As much as my old job sucked, I at least got to hang out with the Midge.

I must commend my husband. He's Mr. Mom right now. He works all day AND takes care of Midgie, sometimes even having to go to DJ right afterwards. And he never complains. I've been up since 5:30 this morning, when I made his bottle, was at work by 7 am, and didn't come home till 5 pm. I took over Midgie duties as soon as I got home. Poor thing is teething...I see 2 more on the way. I have to cook dinner. I have to mop. I have to go pick up the laundry. But all I want to do is sit on the couch. Husband is still working.

I don't feel like being local and I'm completely unsustainable at this point. I want pizza. Ok, McDonald's, I understand why you exist.

I'm a bad, bad mommy. No, I'm not gonna give in. But I can daydream about it, ok? It's allowed. It's in the rules.

local? organic? sustainable? huh?

I've been reading too many books about food lately. And magazines. And blogs. I'm food obsessed, for sure. But the more I read, the more paranoid I get. I've mentioned my concern for the plight of the dairy farmer after reading It's a Long Road to a Tomato. Now I'm reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and I'm angry at corn. High fructose corn syrup is the secret devil and the government is conspiring to fatten us with surplus hybrid demon corn.

As much as possible, I want to eat as locally and organically as possible. Unfortunately, I don't have a limitless income, nor can I devote a full day just for food shopping, due to the fact that I already have a full time job, and am a full time mommy too. Also, I have a life.

Here's my attempt at local sustainability:

Yesterday, we had lattes from Crest Cafe, the new coffee joint near our house, which exclusively sells a Williamsburg coffee brand. I have to research and see if the coffee is farmed by 12 y/o Mexicans or if it's Fair Trade. Then, we went to Urban Rustic to buy Saratoga sparkling water for our trip to the McCarren Greenmarket. Saratoga is in the state...kinda local. At the Greenmarket, purchased spring garlic, leeks and gorgeous radishes. (Apparently, ramp season is over. GAH!) I noticed that Ronnybrook farms was there, and I felt guilty that my Fresh Direct delivery that morning included my Organic Valley milk that's from Wisconsin. Note to self: stop buying Fresh Direct milk and support the local dairy farmer, his distress made you sad, remember, fool? Then, I got really inspired and decided we should go to Marlow and Sons, cos I heard they have Rancho Gordo beans there and I'm out of damn flageolets. (Do I sound like a jackass yet? It seems as though I do, but I digress.) Marlow and Sons market is WAY smaller than I had previously anticipated, and while, they do have some really great finds there, and they do have RG beans...they were out of flageolet. Bastards. We bought some ciabatta, then it started raining and we headed home. As a snack, we ate a platter of radishes with some parsley garlic butter I had just made and the ciabatta. Effing awesome.

While I was home, I realized that I had purchased $150 of crap from FD (granted, this includes baby formula, baby cereal, baby food and diapers), $20 of assorted goods from Greenmarket and M&S, and I barely had enough to make dinner. So, off to Sunac I went to buy some non local peppers (there were none at the GM) and non local but organic bananas. I got inspired again, and decided we should visit the fish monger because Gerald has been craving oysters for like a year, and it's time he had some. So we bought some semi local oysters. At $8 for a dozen and $2 for shucking, Gerald almost peed his pants with joy.

So, what did I have for dinner? I roasted some non local peppers, mushrooms and garlic and cooked some frozen gnocchi that's probably from another planet and secretly has the government surplus demon corn somehow someway in it. It was super delicious, but my attempt to eat local/organic/sustainable got fucked along the way.

There's always next week. Sigh.

an tici pation

So, right now, I'm kinda feeling like that Sunday before the first day of school. You know what yr going to wear. You have yr new Trapper Keeper. You have assorted pens and pencils. A plethora of lined school paper. You vow that this year, yr gonna be organized, and it's going to be different and yr actually gonna do all yr homework and work ahead on yr papers that are due 3 months later and not procrastinate like you have every other time. There's that feeling that anything can happen. Are you still going to be a dork this year? Will so and so notice?

Okay. So maybe it's not exactly that. I'm just starting a new job. A new fabulous job. And I'm not quite sure what I'm going to wear, but I've got a good idea. I do know what make up I'll be wearing. (For Bex: the brown Chanel eyeliner, the MAC Patina, Mascara, foundation, powder, blush and that peach Clinique gloss you gave me...I know that's yr fave on me.) But, I do have that little butterfly in my stomach flittering...wondering if they'll like me...if they'll reaaaally like me. I am not going to have coffee because I'll get too hyper and frighten them all off.

In other news, I'm making TWO, count em TWO, different beans at the mo. I'm making a chili with my Rancho Gordo Scarlett Runner beans. They're simmering in half of a Spanish onion, about 37 cloves of garlic, a green pepper and some cumin and crushed red peppers. The Rancho Gordo Flageolet's are simmering in Spanish onion and garlic. I'm going to make a salad with some fennel, parsley, mixed greens, cukes and some feta for tonight. The chili is for tomorrow. I was smart this time and started soaking the beans last night, so hopefully this shit isn't going to take ten years. I'm also experimenting with the Flageolets and hoping that my onion and garlic mire poix is sufficient compared to the shallot, celery, carrot and garlic one I'd made before. Don't get me wrong, they tasted fantastic...but there was something not quite perfect. Someone commented about cooking beans in a pressure cooker in like 30 minutes. I'm effing jealous. I want one.

Here's the new kitchen wishlist:
-Le Creuset cookware
-a new stovetop espresso maker (Darling Husband killed the last one.)
-a whisk
-prep bowls
-a Peugeot pepper grinder in the piano finish (shut up, it's effing beautiful)
-a test tube spice set

Note to husband: almost all of these items are available at the Brooklyn Kitchen, as you might have noticed, because I LINKED THEM. You know, that place that's one block away from our house that I love? Just so you don't ever say, "I didn't know what to get you" ever again.

Anywho, wish me a good first day of work tomorrow. I hate being the new kid. (The one that's too old to be a kid anymore.)