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clam chowdah
I made Alton Brown’s Clam Chowder recipe this weekend.
Let me say this. I love clam chowder.
That said, making it myself grossed me out.
I don’t really care for mollusks, but somehow I do alright with fried clams, clam dip and clam chowder. Mostly because their true appearance is disguised by batter, sour cream and potatoes, respectively.
MJ said she liked it, so that will be how I judge the recipe.
Something about draining the clam juice, then having to chop the clams up.
The juice was this opaque greenish/gray.
The clams were green in parts and gray in others. It was just gah-ross.
Then after the potatoes were cooked, I had to pour that green/gray juice in.
So basically, the whole thing turned me a little greenish/gray, so I couldn’t eat any.
But I had Campbells Clam Chowder for lunch Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m weird, I know. Campbell’s clams were pinkish though. . .
a phoodadventure
this is crossposted in my journal as well, but it needed to be here too :)
my cooking class took our tips from the semester and went out to dinner last night at Azuca and here’s the run down
the total bill (for food only – we each paid our own drink tab) was $448.00. so with our tip money, we each had to chip in $12. not bad i say. plus my drink cost me $3.
we each ordered our own thing, but shared and shared alike. so here’s what we had:
Baja Salad
fresh avocado, field greens and black bean salad, with red onions, orange and red wine vinaigrette
Pepita Goat Cheese Salad
pumpkin seed crushed goat cheese and mixed greens, strawberries, topped with some curly-qued beets and a strawberry vinaigrette
(this salad was yummy minus the beets and using the vinaigrette from the baja sald. the strawberry vinaigrette was a little too sweet for me)
Appetizer Samplers on the house
crab cakes, tostones, ceviche, coconut shrimp, and scampi al ajillo
don’t know what the ajillo means, but they were spicy! my favorite are the tostones with garlic mojo (basically fried plantains with a garlic sauce)
I ordered the Camarón Pelao
(6) sautéed large shrimp with garlic and tequila, huitlacoche sauce, wilted spinach, cilantro rice and plaintain sticks
was pretty good considering it was covered in fungus.
Pork Tenderloin
oven roasted bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with mashed sweet yam and tomatillo-cilantro sauce
always good, one of my favorites
Paella Latina
breast of chicken, jalapeño sausage, pork ribs, mucho seafood and vegetables, cooked with fluffy saffron rice
last night the mucho seafood consisted of mussels, whole crawfish, bay scallops, and shrimp.
Parillada Mixta (Mixed Grill)
array of beef, chicken, pork and sausage with chimichurri, grilled vegetables and mashed potatoes
Chilean Sea Bass
thick steak of flaky bass with cherry tomato-garlic stew, mashers and grilled vegetables, topped with malanga straws
Salmon Jibaro
fresh salmon fillet, crusted with thin plaintain with cilantro crab butter, baby carrots, mashers and chayote squash
Chicken Breast Azteca
tortilla crusted breast of chicken, with sautéed gandules and chipotle tomato cream sauce
this was one was kind of bland. but the bite i got was w/o the sauce, so maybe that would have made a difference.
Lamb Latino
imported lamb chops, grilled with spicy corn polenta, sautéed vegetables, beluga lentil ragout and mango-cilantro coulis
then it was dessert time (full?? who’s full!?)
Carmelized Banana Crepes
warmed, candied bananas in thin crepes, drizzled with cajeta-orange sauce and ice cream of your choice
Carribean Coco Cheesecake
creamy cake with coconut shavings, flambéd pineapple with rum and raspberry coulis
Chocolate Lava Cake
warm chocolate cake with pisco-flavored chocolate ganache, over strawberry soup
Flan Cubano
sweet caramel custard with fresh oranges, and cuban rum-marinated currants
Tequila and Raisin Pudding
warm homemade pudding with raisins, pecans, sugared buñuelo drizzled with coconut cream
at the end the chef came out and asked us how everything was and answered any questions we had. he gave away all his secrets, especially on this loose polenta cake he had under the lamb chops.
i definitely had a great time.
I found an old email today.
I’ve spent the last hour and a half cleaning out my inbox. Deleting the crap, and sorting the rest into the appropriate folders.
I found this gem from Herr Roman:
On Dec 9, 2004, at 4:12 PM, Roman wrote:
I’m just writing what the book says. You should, of course, adjust
the garlick requirements since they’re kinda lame in this recipe.
Spanish Garlick Soup:
Serves 4
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Large garlick cloves, peeled (you seriously need to adjust this one)
4 Slices of French Cursty bread, about 1/4” thick
1 Tbsp paprika
1 Qt beef stock
1/4 tsp ground cumin
a pinch of saffron strands
4 eggs (you may use less, depends on your tastes)
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
fresh chopped parsley, to garnish (my soup never makes it that far)
1) Heat the oven to 450°F. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the
whole garlick cloves and cook until golden; remove and set aside. Fry
the bread in the oil until it turns a golden brown; set aside.
2) Add the paprika to the pan and fry for a few seconds. Stir in the
beef stock, cumin and saffron. Add the reserved garlick, crushing the
cloves with the back of a wooden spoon, and season with salt and
pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.
3) Ladle the soup into 4 oven proof bowls (or two big ones, which is
what i’ve done) and break an egg into each one (or the egg whites, if
you prefer). Place a slice of fried bread on top of each egg. Put
the powls in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes until the eggs are set (which
is a lie! don’t do it! the egg won’t even be touched by the heat. i
did it for about 10 minutes, and it was yummy). Sprinkle each portion
with parsley and serve and enjoy immediately
Little It'ly
She begged and begged and begged. So we finally went last night.
We got a waiter trainee name Joe Angel .. or is it Joangel?
Bald, neckless, and trying very hard.
They have no liquor license (just beer/wine), so no diSarrono Sour for me.
Two sprites please. With lemon.
They brought over two small slices of their napolitana cheese pizza. It was the best NY Style pizza that I’ve ever had outside of NY.
We ordered the Fritto Misto (something or other) for Two. It came with two gigantic butterflied fried shrimp, two cigar sized mozzarella sticks (MJ said they looked like turds, a lovely comment when one is trying to eat, btw ;) ), and a mess o’ fried calamari.
The calamari was tougher than I’m used to, but still edible and good.
The shrimp was perfect, I could have me a whole plate o’ them.
Oh, but he brought our salads before the appetizer. I was not impressed with the mostly whitish-green iceberg lettuce salad. And a wad of my lettuce has the waterloggedness you get when its been sitting in the back of the fridge and freezes then defrosts. Gets close to translucent, you know?
Salad aside, the warm crusty bread was delish.
MJ got the charcoal chicken. It was chicken stuffed with bread crumbs, parmesan, and something in a lemon sauce with mushrooms. Came with a side of garlic spinach, and the requisite pasta (MJ choose the garlic butter sauce). That was mighty tastee. But mine was better.
I got that evening’s special: Chicken Saltimbocca.
Two chicken breasts with mushrooms served in a three wine sauce: sherry wine, marsala wine, and i think white wine.
Then topped with proscuitto, mozzarella, and spinach. I also chose the pasta with garlic butter sauce.
That was soooooooo good. But as usual, by the time the main course arrived, I was already nearing stuffed, so I have lots of it for lunch today. MJ had leftovers too.
Then we went to Baskin Robbins for dessert. MJ had the creme brulee ice cream, I had a scoop of Cherries Jubilee, and got a pint of Rainbow Sherbet to go.
ze paaaaaancaaaake haaaaaus
We went to the Magnolia Pancake Haus for breakfast this morning and I had the Apfel Pfannekuchen and it was just like being home in Germany again.
It was soo big tho. I couldn’t finish it. And you know something is good when you get pissed off when you can’t finish it all.
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