Posted on July 15th, 2008 by iamnotachef
Otto is a great pizza joint with lots of other good food available, in addition to having an excellent bar and a fantastic wine list. To top it off, the bartenders are pros, and so are some of the waiters. Some guy named Batali runs the place, or at least wanders in occasionally, and obviously he knows what he is doing. Anyway, I have had a wonderful antipasto there that they call, simply, “Shrimp, Ceci, Chiles.” Great stuff, and almost as simple as it sounds. Tommy:Eats has written about it, breaking down the dish pretty damned well. So, I happily stole it and served it on Saturday night, to great fanfare and rejoicing. Now, Mario Batali stole it from someone, and Tommy stole it from Batali, and I have stolen it from Tommy. At some point it will enter the public domain, but don’t let that stop you from making it now. Thievery in the service of your palate is a noble thing. Read more »
Filed under: Cooking, recipes | 3 Comments »
Posted on July 9th, 2008 by iamnotachef
It is officially hot, and time for all of those wonderful summer drinks that go so well with sitting on the patio, doing absolutely nothing. The usual suspects (and I say that lovingly) are gin and tonics, margaritas, gimlets…and about a dozen other fun, hot-weather drinks. But they all have distilled spirits, and sometimes I feel like drinking something different. Yeah, yeah, what about Sangria? Well, what about it? I think that it is disgusting, a crime against nature, and there ought to be a law against it. Read more »
Filed under: Drinks, Wine | 7 Comments »
Posted on July 4th, 2008 by iamnotachef
Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by iamnotachef
Yum, yum yum.
Perhaps that doesn’t pass as a review of this wine, but really, that’s all you need to know. It’s an Aussie blend, it has a screw-top, and it tastes great. If I had to provide a down side, I would say that the name isn’t as amusing as that of some of its competitors. But for all of you who won’t take my word, here is what I think.
It’s a dark purple, thick-looking wine, with a nice nose of mild spices, maybe some smoke (or cedar…I can’t be sure) and a hint of fruit. It has a great, thick mouth feel, almost velvety smooth. There is plenty of fruit, but it is subtle, with a nice backbone of tannins and more of that smoke. I’m not sure how it will age, but why bother, when it tastes so damned good right now. And for $16 at deep discount, it is a steal.
Filed under: Wine | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 30th, 2008 by iamnotachef
The good news is that Universal Studios has some great rides, including the movie-themed rides that have become popular, but that I have never ridden…until last week. And, because they are indoors, they are lovely and cool, courtesy of a power bill that must be astronomical. The roller coasters aren’t too shabby either. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel on the property, which allowed us the luxury of cutting every line, so it really was a pleasure. I am confident that nothing could get me near one of those parks without that expensive, but fantastic perk.
But on to the food. Eh. And no, I wasn’t expecting anything great, but I was disappointed that the Read more »
Filed under: Restaurants | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 29th, 2008 by iamnotachef
Well, maybe purgatory, but certainly not heaven. I just got back from Orlando. Specifically, Universal Studios, where no food goes unfried. I’ll describe it in excruciating detail soon, but suffice it to say that in the last several days I have eaten enough frying oil to last a lifetime. But the rides are great!
Filed under: Food | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 24th, 2008 by iamnotachef
A foul-mouthed, sarcastic smart-ass. What could be better? Well, she can cook too.
Thursday Night Smackdown is the name, but don’t be afraid; she isn’t a professional wrestler — she just curses like one.
Filed under: blog | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 23rd, 2008 by iamnotachef
My wife likes white wine. Specifically: buttery, oaky Chardonnays. And I like them too. Just not every day. So we usually have two bottles of wine with dinner. That is not to say that we drink two bottles with dinner. As much as I would like to drink a bottle of wine, my head and waistline can’t tolerate it. Oh, sure, occasionally with dinner guests we will drink lots of wine, but that is usually with a long meal, on a weekend. A more typical meal includes a glass or two of wine. And that is the challenge. Many every-day reds are tough enough to handle 24-48 hours before they begin to decay Read more »
Filed under: Wine | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 17th, 2008 by iamnotachef
Great goat cheese is a rare thing, and we are lucky that Cypress Grove Cheeses exists. And even luckier that they aren’t in France or Italy (the Euro is expensive enough), but in good old Humboldt County, California. I guess some people don’t grow marijuana in Humboldt; instead they make the best cheese in America. These folks make wonderful cheese, but their Humboldt Fog is amazing. It isn’t particularly pungent, just creamy and a bit crumbly for texture. Wonderful stuff. Expensive too, but sometimes it’s worth spending a few extra dollars for the best, and this definitely falls into that category.
Filed under: Cheese | 2 Comments »
Posted on June 12th, 2008 by iamnotachef
I am not a big fan of strict recipes for things like marinades, because the thickness of the meat* (yes, meat! What else is there to marinate?) and the amount of water in it can affect how quickly the marinade flavors it. For instance, if I were marinating something very thick I would use more salt than if the meat were cut thinner. I speak from bitter…er, salty experience, most recently last night.
Anyway, I have a fallback marinade that works very well with pretty much everything, but because it seems like a summery mixture I tend to use it when I barbecue, and that is usually during the summer. I love the flavor of chipotle, which is smoked jalapeños, usually found canned in an Read more »
Filed under: recipes | No Comments »
