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United States, North Carolina, Carrboro, English, Paul, Male, 56-60, All Music, All Food.

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Saturday, June 10, 2006

Gazpacho Begins   Oh, dear. Peppers and onions and yellow tomatoes and garlic and cukes and, holy shit, watermelon getting’ ready to lie down with one another in the same refrigerator as “Bob.” I don’t know what’s gonna happen as they sit there in the dark, merging their precious bodily fluids in the dark, you know, but I added a little bit of sea salt not in the recipe to encourage this interspecies osmosis and I suspect that, if congressional Republicans catch wind of it, they’ll be pushing for an amendment to make it like, you know, totally unconstitutional. Somethin’ ‘bout it just ain’t right!     5:34:52 PM    comment []

A Blast From The Past   Yeah, I know, another stupid bread picture. This is from about two weeks ago when computer #1, which is my photo repository, went down like a three-dollah ho. Now, I’ve finally been able to upload photos to it and access them over the network. This sourdough, oh man, is entering the third stage of its development and it has developed wisdom with maturity. I created that starter about a year and looked down and said, “Not bad…” Now it’s the best. It might have something to do with adaptation, but these loaves rise in a couple of hours with no added yeast. This has got to be the purtiest bread I ever done made.     3:33:13 PM    comment []

Here’s “Bob” in his sleeping bag, fixin’ to chill out a while.     3:17:47 PM    comment []

As the yellow (representing Silvio Berlusconi) apricots, tomatoes, and pepper look on with focused fascination, the slice of cow flesh known as London “Bob” Broil undergoes the initial stages of the process we kitchen dudes call “marination.” This term should not be confused with “matriculation,” which is when we get out of the kitchen. “Bob” was massaged more than rubbed, which is the right way. He’s bashful and can’t relax under the photo lights and jaundiced stares, so we’ll seal him up in a FoodSaver bag and stash him overnight in the fridge.   3:11:39 PM    comment []

Aye, here’s the rub   Freshly cracked pepper, smoked paprika, sea salt, garlic, and rosemary. These are pulverized into a paste, moisture provided by the garlic and rosemary, and rubbed into the cooking surfaces of the London broil. Each dish in this set, though the recipe at CBS News doesn’t say it, features a red, white, and green motif – the colors, of course (dumbass!), of the Italian flag and pizza margherita. Hey, Bach didn’t telegraph his madrigalisms, so why should Chef Shea Gallante reveal his secret mojo?   2:55:10 PM    comment []

Holy Cow, is this ever fantastic!   Yellow Tomato Gazpacho with Avocado, Mozzarella and Watermelon Char-Grilled London Broil with a Leek & Potato Salad in Black Olive Vinaigrette Bruleed Apricots with Pressed Berries and Greek Yogurt   Simple sounding, but chasing down the ingredients is a major project. Weaver Street had the Greek yogurt. I’d resigned myself to a substitution on that. Nicoise olives for the vinaigrette were an easy find, also at Weaver Street. Oh, that gazpacho – if nothing else on this menu strikes your fancy, be sure to make that. It’s as complex as a vintage wine, a full spectrum of sensational flavors that seem to burst across your tongue in waves. It is truly sensual.   I made this menu last Sunday and it was quite a learning experience. Liz ain’t complaining, so I’m making it again tomorrow. One thing I learned: When recipes say to push things, like the blended gazpacho or red raspberries, for instance, through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon, ignore the recipe. I ended up using the pestle from a tomato press for the berries, still in the sieve, and the entire tomato press for the gazpacho. I fiddled with the spoon a few minutes in the sieve but when I fetched the pestle I was finished in seconds.   I’ve had two computers down this week, so haven’t got any email or done any posting here or on The Aristocrats. Computer #1 had an OS problem that I resolved Thursday evening and computer #2 needed a new power supply. While I was putting that in I also added a new dual-layer DVD burner and blew all the dust and cat hair out of there with a can of air. There was enough cat hair to make a wig for Twyla but the sound of the air spraying scared her off (they think it’s a cat) before I could take the measurements.     1:17:23 PM    comment []