11.30.2006

HUNGRY MAN






I know what you’re thinking – delivery two nights in a row? You lazy schmucks must feel really ashamed. Yeah … not so much. We’ll cook tomorrow, OK? Get off our case. We’re having people over and I’ll make a damn spread fit for a king. BELIEVE.

Anyway, tonight we went for Hiro delivery. It’s pretty solid and Meena has a usual order. I actually switched it up tonight to magnificent results.

Meena did the:
- shrimp shumai
- chicken tempura roll
- spicy tuna crunch roll

Alec switched up the usual with:
- miso soup
- maki combo A (I usually do combo B, fyi) featuring spicy salmon roll, california roll and tekka

Now again, I know what you’re thinking … cheesy combo roll dinner, Alec. Well, I’m not ashamed. I was hungry! AND it was pretty good. Combo B has a yellowtail and scallion roll, but I must say, this spicy salmon was much better. Not the chopped up bits of salmon spicy roll crap … this is just a solid piece of salmon and a bit of the old heat. The only bad thing about Hiro is that they never bring enough wasabi. I had to sub in a little red pepper sauce toward the end. Which … is fine, actually. I’ve noticed that one of the “mysterious” sauces Cube 63 uses is actually just that … standard red pepper sauce you can get at any store or bodega (that big bottle with all the asian characters on it … no clue what the real name is).

But enough about my dinner. Meena’s items were wonderful as usual. Shrimp shaumi is one of the best (surpassed only by Cube 63). Anyway … we’re going to have a little wine from the Spanish place down the street (Tinto Fino) because it’s Thursday and we can, beotch.

11.29.2006

NAN-COOKING NIGHT





So we bailed on the home cooked this evening and opted for one of our favorite delivery joints – Baluchi’s. Best delivery Indian in the business. We don’t really deviate much from our go-to take-out specials. Meena has her favorite and I have mine:

Meena sticks with:
- fish pakora appetizer
- tikka masala dinner

Alec needs the:
- chicken tikka appetizer
- lamb vindaloo dinner

I don't often try the pakoras, but they look nice. They’re a little tough and dry … but I think that’s the idea. The tikka masala is serious. Every Indian place on the planet serves it but theirs is the best. Believe. We’ve tried every spot on Indian row looking for better.
My chicken tikka appetizer is rad and it’s even better when they actually send all the condiments. Tonight, everything arrived.
Although it’s not pictured, the vindaloo was great. I destroyed it before I remembered to take a photo. It’s not all that beautiful though, so I’m really not denying you anything. I promise. Tonight wasn’t quite as hot as usual (normally your lips burn when you’re halfway through, fyi) but it was still really good. I only knocked back about 1/4th of my nan. At the end of the meal … I’m smelling like onions and insane full.

11.28.2006

THE BIG EASY




For the main course, we went with a tried and true favorite – the pizzetta. I’m not even sure that’s how it’s spelled. Whatever. It’s our go-to meal when we can’t really get into anything else. I’ve been making these things with all sorts of stuff for years and just really resurrected them here in the East Village a few months ago. You can do this thing with ANYTHING on it … but we’ve established our favorites. Tonight was no different.

Ingredients:
- flour tortillas
- shitake mushrooms
- anchovies (from Argentina)
- sun-dried tomato pesto
- tomato sauce
- smoked gouda
- smoked mozzarella
- barbecue chicken
- caramelized onions
- dried basil

Everything was pretty solid as usual. Went with the white plates. I can’t lie … thought it would look better in a photo. I was wrong. I think it’s best to stick with the longer serving plates. Even if ours are crazy colored … it looks better. I think this pesto is pretty much done (although it has been very good) and the anchovies from Argentina will not be purchased again. I’ll stick to the tried and true favorites from Gracefully. But everything was good and I’m fat and full. Time for one more glass of Chianti and another episode of Sleeper Cell.

DON'T JUDGE A BOOK ...





Tonight we started with a little pesto shrimp salad. You'll begin to notice that more often than not, we don't really use recipes. We usually just get inspiration from something we had at a restaurant or saw in a magazine and go with what we have on hand or what looks good in the store. We had this really great shrimp salad at Oakley’s in Indy last weekend, so I thought I’d use up some of the sun-dried tomato pesto for this appetizer.

Ingredients:

- shrimp
- sun-dried tomato pesto
- sesame seeds
- miracle whip
- garlic clove
- white onion
- green onion
- sesame oil

Verdict? Not bad. The taste was pretty good, but it’s not quite what I had in mind when I started out. There was probably a little too much sauce for the amount of shrimp. But I think we both agreed … not a bad beginning. Oh ... forgot to mention. Presentation = crap. Literally. The color of the pesto isn't that pretty and the whole dish took on the hue. THAT needs work

11.27.2006

SELF





So the next item of the evening was Meen's second foray into a recipe we read about in Shape on our flight home from Indy. Last night we did it with shrimp. Tonight she stayed true to the recipe and kept it real with the scallops.

And the ingredients are:

- sea scallops (half pound)
- chicken broth
- soy sauce
- garlic cloves
- teaspoon of soy sauce
- red pepper flakes
- shitake mushrooms
- bok choy
- sesame oil
- udon

Sometimes we take note of the measurements we’re using, but more often than not, it’s just instinct and taste. I’m not going to tell you to use three garlic cloves rather than two. Who am I to tell you how much garlic tastes good to you? Who am I to tell you how to cook? The purpose of this thing is just to tell you what we’re eating, anyway.

Moral of the story? This was pretty delicious. Even though it’s a Monday, the scallops were nice and Meena seared them well. I added red pepper sauce because I need stuff to be hot. I think she used less. This isn’t that bad for you and 20 minutes after dinner, I’m not rummaging through the cabinets looking for desert. Success.

PARTY STARTER




I'm not sure how ideal this first dish is for our maiden post ... but it's what we're eating first so it'll have to do.

And the ingredients are:
- smoked mussels (from Maine, apparently)
- smoked paprika (from Spain, apparently)
- a garlic clove
- a couple slivers of butter
- panko
- red pepper sauce
- kosher salt
- homemade sun-dried tomato pesto

We just mixed it all up and threw it in a couple gratin dishes. We don’t really mess with times and temperatures, but the dishes went on a cookie sheet and under the broiler until brown. Smoky and spicy. It was pretty good.