Topic: Recipe
Cuisine: Italian
The obligatory recipe. Taken from the back of the marsala wine bottle.
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 portabello mushroom caps, sliced
1 cup marsala cooking wine
Chopped parsley
kosher salt and cracked black pepper
Half a lemon. Use the other half for water or something.
1 tablespoon cornstarch with water into a paste.
Slice chicken thighs along the center thinner section. Take each section, cover with seran, and pound flat with a mallet or flat side of a large knife. Pat dry with a dry paper towel. Season both sides of chicken with a pinch of salt and 1 crack of black pepper, or more cracks if you like pepper. Dredge the meat in flour.
In deep sauce pan, melt butter in olive oil in medium heat. Brown both sides of chicken, about 4 minutes on each side. Set aside. One good thing to do with them instead of setting them aside in paper towels is to put them on cooling racks on cookie sheets in the oven on warm heat.
Saute mushrooms, stir in wine. Cook away the alcohol. While the sauce is boiling stir in the cornstarch paste to thicken the sauce. Place chicken back into the sauce to make sure that each piece is well covered. On serving plate squeeze lemon over it and garnish with parsley.
You can add more marsala wine.... 1 cup or so with another tablespoon cornstarch into paste... for some pasta. Once coating the chicken in sauce remove chicken to serving plate and throw cooked pasta into the sauce... stir around and remove. Pour remaining sauce over chicken. You can use the other lemon half for the pasta.
Garlic Oil Bread
1/2 cup olive oil (light or extra virgin)
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tablespoon italian herbs
Warm oil in medium heat. Throw in garlic and herbs. Remove when garlic gets a little brown. You can use this as dipping oil OR...
Take a loaf of bread and slice it diagonally but not all the way so that it's still all connected. With the loaf on aluminum foil, spoon oil, herbs and all, into every other gap in the bread. Wrap up and throw into the oven at 300 degrees for 5 minutes.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Monday, May 02, 2005
Hot'n Sour Soup
Topic: Recipe
Cuisine: Chinese
Modified from a Ming Tsai recipe. Where the heck IS that guy?
*He just kicked Bobby Flay's ass in Iron Chef America :) Booya
1/2 lb julienned pork chop or other lean pork meat.
1 teaspoon sesame oil, + 1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon soy sauce, + 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Vege oil (1 tablespoon?)
3 dried chilies
1 tablespoon minced ginger
10 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup julienned bamboo shoots
2 eggs beaten (or more if you like egg)
1/2 cup wood ear
1/2 cup lily flowers
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with cold water to make a paste
3/4 cup chinese Black vinegar (If using something stronger like cider vinegar use 1/4 cup)
1 pack of silken tofu (uh... 3*4*2 block?) cut into cubes
chopped scallions
cilantro
salt, White pepper, black pepper
Most of these ingredients are decently easy to find. The not-so-easy ones would be the wood ear and the lily flowers. These may be available at the local Asian grocery store in the dried form. Of course, fresh is best. You can easily find bamboo shoots canned and already julienned.
Notes about rehydrating wood ears and lily flowers: Rehydrate in wood ears in warm water and lily flowers in boiling hot water. Every so often (20 minutes or so) change water (no need for boiling hot in the lilies the second+ time). Rehydrate for at least one hour.
Combine pork with teaspoon sesame oil, teaspoon soy and 2 tablespoons cornstarch and let sit for 30 minutes. In a pot on medium-high heat coat the bottom with oil and sear the pork. Set aside. Add chilies and ginger, stir. Add stock, sugar, bamboo, wood ear, and lilies. Bring to boil. While boiling, stir in the cornstarch paste to thicken. If you like your soup even more goopy add more paste :P While boiling again, drizzle in egg in a circular motion to make ribbons. Add vinegar, soy, sesame oil, pork, and tofu. Check for seasoning with any of the sauces.
When serving add cilantro, scallions, and pepper. Those fried chinese noodle things at Americanized chinese restaurants are awesome too, or you could just fry up some wonton skins.
This recipe can be easily modified to suit your tastes and you can add practically anything you want to it. The most important flavoring in this soup (aside from the vinegar and chiles) would have to be the pork. It just doesn't taste any good without it. Of course this recipe could be veganized but who would want that.
Cuisine: Chinese
Modified from a Ming Tsai recipe. Where the heck IS that guy?
*He just kicked Bobby Flay's ass in Iron Chef America :) Booya
1/2 lb julienned pork chop or other lean pork meat.
1 teaspoon sesame oil, + 1 teaspoon
1 teaspoon soy sauce, + 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Vege oil (1 tablespoon?)
3 dried chilies
1 tablespoon minced ginger
10 cups chicken stock
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup julienned bamboo shoots
2 eggs beaten (or more if you like egg)
1/2 cup wood ear
1/2 cup lily flowers
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with cold water to make a paste
3/4 cup chinese Black vinegar (If using something stronger like cider vinegar use 1/4 cup)
1 pack of silken tofu (uh... 3*4*2 block?) cut into cubes
chopped scallions
cilantro
salt, White pepper, black pepper
Most of these ingredients are decently easy to find. The not-so-easy ones would be the wood ear and the lily flowers. These may be available at the local Asian grocery store in the dried form. Of course, fresh is best. You can easily find bamboo shoots canned and already julienned.
Notes about rehydrating wood ears and lily flowers: Rehydrate in wood ears in warm water and lily flowers in boiling hot water. Every so often (20 minutes or so) change water (no need for boiling hot in the lilies the second+ time). Rehydrate for at least one hour.
Combine pork with teaspoon sesame oil, teaspoon soy and 2 tablespoons cornstarch and let sit for 30 minutes. In a pot on medium-high heat coat the bottom with oil and sear the pork. Set aside. Add chilies and ginger, stir. Add stock, sugar, bamboo, wood ear, and lilies. Bring to boil. While boiling, stir in the cornstarch paste to thicken. If you like your soup even more goopy add more paste :P While boiling again, drizzle in egg in a circular motion to make ribbons. Add vinegar, soy, sesame oil, pork, and tofu. Check for seasoning with any of the sauces.
When serving add cilantro, scallions, and pepper. Those fried chinese noodle things at Americanized chinese restaurants are awesome too, or you could just fry up some wonton skins.
This recipe can be easily modified to suit your tastes and you can add practically anything you want to it. The most important flavoring in this soup (aside from the vinegar and chiles) would have to be the pork. It just doesn't taste any good without it. Of course this recipe could be veganized but who would want that.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Yet another Spielberg WWII movie
And what do you know, Schindler's list is awesome. I can almost forgive Liam Neeson for being in Ethan Frome. Almost.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Sideways and Kung Fu Hustle
Sideways has Lowell from Wings and that other guy who's usually the annoying hostage who gets shot. Well... at least in the Negotiator. This movie has some amusingly funny moments but it's really a very soul searchingly depressing movie that shines some hope on all those severely depressed people who think that their lives are absolutely horrible. But like all other movies like this, it's all about "taking that first step." Whatever that means. It also makes me want to go out and buy some Pinot.
Stephen Chow made a movie almost exactly like all his other movies except with better special effects. There's a really funny Bruce Lee movie reference that makes you want to see Chuck Norris get his ass kicked. Again.
Stephen Chow made a movie almost exactly like all his other movies except with better special effects. There's a really funny Bruce Lee movie reference that makes you want to see Chuck Norris get his ass kicked. Again.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Samurai Champloo
Ridiculously silly at times and insanely serious at others. Reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop cept with a conclusive ending. BAD ASS.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Spare Ribs
Topic: Recipe
Cuisine: Continental
This one's taken from the Good Eats guy. I think it's under "who luvs ya baby back" at foodtv.com. I don't even know why I changed it... I think it was cuz I didn't have the cash to invest in spices... ah yes... the college life.
2 slabs of spare ribs.
Rub:
4 tablespoons brown sugar
liberal amounts of salt (or seasoned salt), garlic powder, rubbed thyme, cracked black pepper.
Liberal as in you're shaking the hell out of the shaker :P
Some cayenne pepper depending on how you like it.
Liquid:
1 cup white wine (cheap ass cooking wine... I used the asian stuff :P)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce (or more if you like it )
2 tablespoons honey
2 cloves chopped garlic (you can never have too much so throw some more in for good measure.)
Preheat oven at 250 degrees.
I usually just have the ribs on heavy aluminum foil (shiny side down) and shake everything on it one ingredient at a time. I guess the proper way of doing it is mix everything together so that it's all blended then rubbing it on. wrap each slab in foil and let the ribs sit for a while (1-2 hours) in the fridge.
Pour liquid into the foil pouch thingers and braise in the oven for 2.5-3 hours. you can do it longer if you like your meat more erm.... pull offable.
Unwrap and grill them for that burnt flavor. You can take the braising liquid and reduce it and use that for a sauce. I like sweet baby ray's. If crazy vegetarians like that crap on white rice... it has to be good. apply the sauce while grilling.
Now you know why I get excited when spare ribs are on sale for less than 2 bucks a pound :P
Cuisine: Continental
This one's taken from the Good Eats guy. I think it's under "who luvs ya baby back" at foodtv.com. I don't even know why I changed it... I think it was cuz I didn't have the cash to invest in spices... ah yes... the college life.
2 slabs of spare ribs.
Rub:
4 tablespoons brown sugar
liberal amounts of salt (or seasoned salt), garlic powder, rubbed thyme, cracked black pepper.
Liberal as in you're shaking the hell out of the shaker :P
Some cayenne pepper depending on how you like it.
Liquid:
1 cup white wine (cheap ass cooking wine... I used the asian stuff :P)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce (or more if you like it )
2 tablespoons honey
2 cloves chopped garlic (you can never have too much so throw some more in for good measure.)
Preheat oven at 250 degrees.
I usually just have the ribs on heavy aluminum foil (shiny side down) and shake everything on it one ingredient at a time. I guess the proper way of doing it is mix everything together so that it's all blended then rubbing it on. wrap each slab in foil and let the ribs sit for a while (1-2 hours) in the fridge.
Pour liquid into the foil pouch thingers and braise in the oven for 2.5-3 hours. you can do it longer if you like your meat more erm.... pull offable.
Unwrap and grill them for that burnt flavor. You can take the braising liquid and reduce it and use that for a sauce. I like sweet baby ray's. If crazy vegetarians like that crap on white rice... it has to be good. apply the sauce while grilling.
Now you know why I get excited when spare ribs are on sale for less than 2 bucks a pound :P
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Green Curry.... auuugggghhhh
Champaign was a pretty good food town. It's got some awesome mexican... some pretty good japanese... and some nice chinese food. It's got one of the best reubens too ;P.
But one thing that never failed to disappoint was Thai food. ONE place had some good stir fried food like pad thai (GOLDEN WOK) on the cheap but the one thing I enjoyed the most of thai food was green curry. Green curry sucked at all the thai places I tried in champaign. It was a sad time, indeed.
Now I live in a burb that mostly consists of chain restaurants with a small collection of really really nice restaurants (Bellagio? Ichiban? Spiros?). But the thing that pissed me off about the area was the asian food. But man... Thai Bur-ree has some nice food. They could definitely work on the service, but that green curry was by far the best green curry that I've had in the midwest. Granted, I haven't been to any Thai places in St. Louis proper.
Which leads to the question. Should I move closer to the city? More young people... more restaurants... closer to specialty grocery stores and farmers markets...
Gonna make a spreadsheet on this. But yeah Thai Bur-ree is the rocks. Shit I'm starting to type like Kevin.
But one thing that never failed to disappoint was Thai food. ONE place had some good stir fried food like pad thai (GOLDEN WOK) on the cheap but the one thing I enjoyed the most of thai food was green curry. Green curry sucked at all the thai places I tried in champaign. It was a sad time, indeed.
Now I live in a burb that mostly consists of chain restaurants with a small collection of really really nice restaurants (Bellagio? Ichiban? Spiros?). But the thing that pissed me off about the area was the asian food. But man... Thai Bur-ree has some nice food. They could definitely work on the service, but that green curry was by far the best green curry that I've had in the midwest. Granted, I haven't been to any Thai places in St. Louis proper.
Which leads to the question. Should I move closer to the city? More young people... more restaurants... closer to specialty grocery stores and farmers markets...
Gonna make a spreadsheet on this. But yeah Thai Bur-ree is the rocks. Shit I'm starting to type like Kevin.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Beef Soup
Stolen from Byron :P Just a bit different. All the ingredients are easy to get cept the beef paste may need some extra searching. The asian grocery store here has it so I'm happy. Obviously not as good as the beef noodle soup we all know and love but it's pretty damned good and cheap and easy to make.
1 pound beef soup bone with meat or any other relatively fatty beef with bone.
2 slices Ginger
Two things of green onion
2 cloves garlic
Any noodle you like. Flat asian ones (rice or bean) are good.
salt / pepper
1 tablespoon oil
2 quart water
1/2 cup cooking wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Two spoonfulls "gia vi nau pho" instant beef flavor paste.
Cilantro
More green onion.
Lime
Any chili sauce that you like.
Rub oil on meat (be sure to rub bones too) and season with salt and pepper. In a medium pot on medium/high heat brown both sides of the meat. When flipping to the other side of the meat throw in the green onion, garlic, and ginger onto the pot's surface. Add the cooking wine and soy sauce and let that sizzle for about 2 minutes. Add water and the beef paste. Bring to high heat to bring to a boil, then let simmer on low for at least 2 hours. This is so the meat practically falls into nice chunks when you're serving it.
Cook the noodles according to instructions. Serve soup with noodles, Cilantro, Lime, or anything else you enjoy with this type of soup. Serves 4-6 people. I think. :P
1 pound beef soup bone with meat or any other relatively fatty beef with bone.
2 slices Ginger
Two things of green onion
2 cloves garlic
Any noodle you like. Flat asian ones (rice or bean) are good.
salt / pepper
1 tablespoon oil
2 quart water
1/2 cup cooking wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Two spoonfulls "gia vi nau pho" instant beef flavor paste.
Cilantro
More green onion.
Lime
Any chili sauce that you like.
Rub oil on meat (be sure to rub bones too) and season with salt and pepper. In a medium pot on medium/high heat brown both sides of the meat. When flipping to the other side of the meat throw in the green onion, garlic, and ginger onto the pot's surface. Add the cooking wine and soy sauce and let that sizzle for about 2 minutes. Add water and the beef paste. Bring to high heat to bring to a boil, then let simmer on low for at least 2 hours. This is so the meat practically falls into nice chunks when you're serving it.
Cook the noodles according to instructions. Serve soup with noodles, Cilantro, Lime, or anything else you enjoy with this type of soup. Serves 4-6 people. I think. :P
Sunday, April 10, 2005
The Shoveler, Alec Baldwin, that chick from ER
The Cooler has the Shoveler from Mystery Men aka that Guy from Fargo as a severely depressed guy whose bad luck oozes out on other people and works in Baldwin's casino to "cool" the hot tables. He falls in love with the ER chick and his luck changes. I really don't know what to make of this movie. I really enjoyed it. It made me want to know what happened next and the acting was good. What's bothering me about this movie? I dunno. I'll prob watch more movies with the Shoveler and maybe actually know his real name.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Adaptation, The Upside of Anger, and Sin City
Charlie Kaufman does some crazy soul searching in this movie that makes you appreciate his crazy mind but also makes you wish you spent your time doing something else like watching anime... about BREAD.
I still don't forgive Joan Allen for being in Ethan Frome. Everyone who was in that movie should die horrible deaths in the rest of their films. Like that british guy who was qui gon. But alas... this was a pretty darned good movie... one that I can actually recommend to my coworkers for its... how do you say it... more mature nature. Mature as in senior mature... not boobies mature.
Now Sin City's got boobies. Lots of them. Definitely for people who like melodramatic eye candy... and violence. Lots of violence. Definitely a dvd worthy movie. But yeah I can understand how one can not appreciate it because it's definitely a guy's movie. Did I mention that it has lots of boobies?
I still don't forgive Joan Allen for being in Ethan Frome. Everyone who was in that movie should die horrible deaths in the rest of their films. Like that british guy who was qui gon. But alas... this was a pretty darned good movie... one that I can actually recommend to my coworkers for its... how do you say it... more mature nature. Mature as in senior mature... not boobies mature.
Now Sin City's got boobies. Lots of them. Definitely for people who like melodramatic eye candy... and violence. Lots of violence. Definitely a dvd worthy movie. But yeah I can understand how one can not appreciate it because it's definitely a guy's movie. Did I mention that it has lots of boobies?
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Streetcar Named Desire
One cannot help but think of how severely fucked up this movie would have been if it were made today, regardless of the original play. Worth watching for its influence and for its milestone...ness. Oh yeah. that chick from gone with the wind is a whore.
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
An intriguing movie that makes you know that something's just not right from the start. You go through the whole thing expecting to get fucked over right at the very end. This movie plays through all the angles... phychoanalytic crap... fate.... fuck fate man... just go with what is cuz just sometimes what is that is right now if the best fucking thing you could possibly have. Don't fucking listen to what I'm saying just go watch the movie.
Ichiban
My favorite japanese place in the St. Louis Area. It's located behind the TGI Friday's on 270 and Olive. However, a crap load of their stuff reminds me of Korean food. The rolls are good, the udon is good. Everything's good :P That and it just simply looks good. Go there now!
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Words of wisdom
Don't pick your nose and take a shit at the same time. There's a pretty damned good chance you can get a nose bleed.
Sunday, January 23, 2005
@#$*!@#
Man... I got my first ever speeding ticket today. Driving 80 in a 65 mph zone. What are you gonna do. Oh well. This weekend consisted of eating really good guacamole and reading a really good book with anna. Yes... the books that she picks out for me to read are really good, damnit. :P
So yeah another weekend come and gone and it's about time to start thinking about the next weekend... hopefully I'll be getting a visit? yes? oh yeah the whole moving thing's gonna be a pain but what can you do.
Nerdy time: What is with people liking Air so much? I don't think it's that great! "it's well done" or "it looks amazing" pshaw. It's about some dude who can move dolls with his mind, damnit! ok now I'm gonna watch episode 3 and then football to convince myself that I'm not a tool.
Alright so I'm paying more and more attention to sports so that I can have some common ground with the older folks... being a tool it is. :P
So yeah another weekend come and gone and it's about time to start thinking about the next weekend... hopefully I'll be getting a visit? yes? oh yeah the whole moving thing's gonna be a pain but what can you do.
Nerdy time: What is with people liking Air so much? I don't think it's that great! "it's well done" or "it looks amazing" pshaw. It's about some dude who can move dolls with his mind, damnit! ok now I'm gonna watch episode 3 and then football to convince myself that I'm not a tool.
Alright so I'm paying more and more attention to sports so that I can have some common ground with the older folks... being a tool it is. :P
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