The Amazing Power of Bacon Mac n' Cheese

A good weekend, I guess. Saturday woke up late, went to eat with B, caught a movie, food shopping, some cooking, vegetating in front of the TV. Made rice n' beans again, went heavier on the sofrito and added dried porcini to the pot. Used the chicken stock I made last week, much better than the packaged stuff.

Sunday morning cooked a large quantity of bacon mac n' cheese for a holiday party which we attended in the evening. The hostess kept on refilling my martini glass, but I never did get particularly drunk. The amazing power of bacon mac n' cheese! Used a simple recipe -- noodles al dente. Make a roux, add hot milk, add three kinds of cheeses. Slop all together and bake for an hour. I added a rasher of Niman Ranch bacon, sauted in battonettes, and gave a nice smokey overtone to this high-calorie dish. Fat really shouts flavor, and when you suspend bits of bacon in a souffle of high-fat cheese, it does not joke around.

SATURDAY:
BREAKFAST: 12:3opm, bagel with cream cheese and salmon, 3 slices of bacon, spoonful of potato, spoonful of Israeli salad, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, sofrito shrimp with rice and beans, topped with lime juice and jack cheese, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, handful of chocolate chips, spoonful of freshly made mint chocolate chip ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 10pm, quart

SUNDAY:
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, organic cheerios with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, half a steak sandwich with onions and cheese, steak fries, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, small plate of bacon mac n' cheese, a stuffed mushroom, 2 cheesy toasts, 4 cosmopolitans, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Surprisingly, only got slightly buzzed, and it wore off by the time we left around 7:30pm.

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, a third of a slice of chocolate mousse cake, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 10pm, quart

Last Day, for now

Despite some of the worst weather seen this year, I rode my mountain bike to work through the snow, freezing rain and sleet-slicked streets. I did this partly because I like to ride, but also because if I took the subway today I would've gotten massively depressed -- today is my last day at the restaurant for the time being.

On Wednesday, Chef R told me that due to the drop in biz caused by our cratering economy, they didn't need me any more. On the other hand, she mentioned hiring someone new for a part time shift who has pizza experience, because they need someone who can run the shop both in back and front of house.

I understood what she was saying, as it was all true. What surprised me was that when my externship ended, I was clear with her that I wanted to learn more, and volunteered to do unpaid shifts on top of the paid shifts to give her the opportunity to teach me what she does -- like run both back and front of house. I'm disappointed that she didn't have enough faith in me to simply give me the chance to see if I could rock those responsibilities. I know I could have, I have management experience, and just being a prep and assistant cook felt like only part of what I could have done there.

I hoped to see Chef R this evening but it was just me and Chef C. The owner's wife took me aside and was very, very nice to me, reminding me that their decision wasn't personal, and that she'd like to stay in touch in case things change. I thanked her, and told her that I appreciated the chance to learn, but confessed that I was disappointed I wasn't given the chance to step up the game. She said she'd pass my feelings along to Chef R, but I think I'm going to send her an email in any case. I guess Chef R either didn't have the imagination to see a dude go from c-school student and prep newbie to executive chef-in-training in such a short period, OR she truly saw some inadequacy in my performance. If the latter, I really hope she's straight with me so I don't repeat my mistakes at the next cooking gig.

The night was pleasantly busy, though I did burn a couple of pies due to my mind wandering about what was happening. Still, clowning around with Chef C and the rest of the crew made me realize that I really enjoyed being there and enjoyed the work, and won't let the economy (or potential depression) slow me down from getting to a professional spot where B (and future Norbet/Norbetta Jr) will be proud of me. Plans are in the works for 2009.

BREAKFAST: 11:30am, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Would have eaten more but nothing around.

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, cheesecake, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 5:30pm, slice with onion and sausage, soda, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:30pm, soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:30pm, pizza, seltzer, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
The last dinner, so to speak. Made my own pie, started with a base of fresh moz, and went forward from there, caramelized onion, mushroom, pancetta, a little parm, fresh cherry tomatoes, finished with oil and salt. I hit the ratios right on the head, very little of a lot of toppings and got a little bit of everything in each bite. It made me feel better about things -- it tasted like a truly professional pizza.


EVENING SNORTS AND SNACKS: 12:30-2am, 3 scotch and lemonades on ice (all light on the scotch), a couple of mushroom tortes, a terrible carob vegan cookie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went to a holiday party in Williamsburg to see a friend and blow off a little steam. Drunk chicks dig fuzzy cashmere sweaters -- I told them that pregnant wives like my own like to wear them, too!

Bleah

Feeling down, didn't leave the house except to go to the dentist to have the permanent crown put in. B came home and made me feel better!

BREAKFAST: noon, apple, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm, caprese salad, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, samosa, veg dumpling, scallion pancake, half a singapore mai fun, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B-n-me ordered in from a vegan place.

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, other half of the noodles, half a soda, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Undercover Eggs

Today at the restaurant, we hosted a large group from a local college. Chef R made something that looked like potato kugel, and while she was in the back, I popped a bite in my mouth and really enjoyed it. When she got back, I asked her what it was, and she told me it was frittata made with leftover potatoes from the weekend brunch. Eggs! I hate eggs. So I ate another bite, one with less potato and more other stuff, and indeed, I had a hard time not spitting it out, as it tasted like a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

BREAKFAST: 1pm, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, raw cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACKING: 3pm-9:30pm, 2 sodas, some caprese salad, a few bites of frittata, a few croutes with chevre, 1 bowl hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:30pm, pizza with vegetable topping, chocolate cake, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: midnight, quart

Temple of Culinary Retardation

After yesterday's warm day of exercise, today was a cold, snowy day of feeling unwell. Woke up early to make it to B's checkup, everything is good with the Norbetto/Norbetta Jr. I was going to go to yoga, but just went home and collapsed.

Went out with a friend to see Neil Young at Madison Square Garden in the evening. $7.25 for a hotdog! A not very good hotdog! All through the night, every ten seconds or so, someone would come by with a crate of bud or budlight on their heads pitching beer. Yick. Stadiums are temples built to honor culinary retardation. Well, at least this one.

AM SNACK: 7:45am, chocolate donut, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST: 9:45am, brioche french toast, bacon, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, apple, small piece of jack cheese, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, tablespoon of peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 4:30pm, 2 slices of pizza, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Straight outta the freezer, from the restaurant.

DINNER: 8:15pm, boar ragu tagliatelle, 1 small piece of bread, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EARLY MORNING SINNING: 2am, 2 small cheeseburgers, a 'medium' fries and a 'medium' sprite, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I guess the culinary retardation rubbed off on me, because I was in a rare mood when I got off a very long subway ride in my 'hood. Not much going on on at 2am on Wednesday, and I was in the mood for cheap, greasy, unhealthy....evil. McDonald's was considered a treat when I was a kid, and I remember going there once in a blue moon, usually when my mom took my brother and me to visit our grandmother in Peter Cooper Village. I got basically what I would of got as a kid, except it would of been one burger, not 2, and the medium fries would of been easily 1/2 the size. According to the calorie listings, I just wolfed down 1,200 calories or so. Imagine if I supersized it, or had a Big Mac or something.

It was a long, high-strung day, thinking about the future and not feeling well. I definitely will not be feeding my kid McDonald's. When they get to my point in their life, hopefully they'll reach for a fresh knish or a properly made pancake.

I Am...Norbert Fierce!

Woke up after 10am today due to the late restaurant holiday party -- was hoping to make an 8:15 am ferry to the Jersey shore to go riding due to the unseasonably warm weather. Got out and road out over the 59th St Bridge to Little Neck Bay in Queens, but ditched when I got back to Flushing Meadows due to rain. Still, got 40 miles in and felt really good, the body and the bike were both responding well despite not being used this way in a month or two, and probably won't be again until the winter passes, mid to late March. This yoga thing is doing well for me, my back was not really bothering me this morning or on the bike.

My eating was ok, kinda light on the bike, small amount of high-energy food, felt right. A brick of Chinese was a nice filling reward, rounded out with the remainder of the salad from the salad pizzas I made and broccoli in the actual dish. For a stupid-unhealthy meal, not as bad as it could of been.

BREAKFAST: 10:30am, good yogurt with honey, raw cashews, vanilla., .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

BIKE WATERING: 11am-3pm, 24 oz

BIKE LUNCH: 2pm, gatorade, small bag of corn ships, 3 small chocolate chip cookies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 4:45pm, small green salad, Chinese food including pork egg roll, pork fried rice and shrimp with broccoli, small amount of apple cider, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 7pm, quart

My B is the Best B who ever B'd a B

Isn't she lovely? I spent Sunday morning rolling, cutting and baking gingerbread while she was in the bedroom baking Norbert/Norbertetta Jr. By the time I had to go to E's house to help her get her party ready, B wanted to frost the cookies she was bringing to the party we were to meet at later. So I helped her get through a simple royal icing recipe (3 cups sifted confectioner's sugar into 2 stiff-whipped egg whites with a big dose of fresh lemon juice), getting it into a piping bag and then let her rip. She's so great! I was really under the gun for time and feeling frazzled and she just....made me happy to be there with her.

The chopped liver was a surprising hit at E's party, all of it being consumed well before the end of the party -- I thought I had made too much. It's gratifying to know that I can make something well that I don't personally care for.

In the late evening, B and I went to the restaurant for their holiday party, was a lot of fun with drinks abounding and Japanese food, but I could see B was fading fast and took her (and her baked good) home soon after midnight.

SATURDAY
BREAKFAST: 10:30am, good granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:45am, glass of apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2pm, homemade scallop and chicken parsley pizza, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had left over ingredients for another pie. Funny, took just as long as if I was making a crappy frozen pie. This was a bit crappy because I didn't have to to let the oven properly warm up, oh well.

PM SNICKLE SNACK: 5:30pm, vegan chocolate chip cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7pm, popcorn, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9:30pm, vegan kimchi udon noodles, a few spoonfuls of peanutbutter chocolate thingy, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11:45pm, pint of water

SUNDAY
AM SNACKING: 9am-noon, bits of gingerbread cookie, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LATE BREAKFAST: noon, good cornflakes with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
When I finished baking, realized I didn't feel well because didn't really eat anything proper and felt like I was running on fumes.

PARTY FOOD: 1pm-11:30pm, 6 perogies, gingerbread cookies, brownies, 2 alcoholic drinks, water, bits of sushi roll, spring roll, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Attended three parties, including one late one at the restaurant.