Ride for the Bulgogi

Didn't really sleep last night, kinda wired from the evening at the restaurant. Took a few early stabs at sleep, but was pretty much on the couch until 5am, where I dozed off then woke at 6:30 to get my ride gear together.

Met D at the Manhattan Bridge and we rode up through the Bronx into Westchester, then Connecticut, then the rolling hills of Pound Ridge. Had a spectacular outdoor grilling session with a large and rambunctious (in the best sense of the word) Korean family who took their food VERY seriously -- judging from the spread, most dishes took more than 24 hours advance thought to set up.

Bulgogi done just right, miso-rubbed pork ribs that tasted like a clearly struck 100lb bell sounds, a coriander-rubbed salmon cooked just right, and whole shrimp grilled so the whole shell had a delicious crunchy char. There was an odd 7-layer dip I avoided, but the corn on the cob was gob-smackingly sweet. And on top of all that, I got to ride on a segway for the first time. I can see why they never took over the streets.

BREAKFAST: 7am, granola with the good milk, 2 good donuts, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM BIKE SNACK: 11am, bag of munchos, water, 20oz of red Gatorade, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM BIKE SNACK: 1:15pm, bag of sunchips, 1.5 fudge brownies, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 2:30pm, miso pork ribs, bulogi beef, grilled whole shrimp, grilled salmon, sweet corn, a shot of shuzo, a lot of water, blueberry pie, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Amazing 4th of July meal, hosted by a friend and her family who happen to be Korean, and are really into their food. The various meat and fish were all superior to everything I've had in Little Korea, the corn was shockingly sweet.

DINNER: 9:45pm, pasta with homemade sauce, sarsaparilla soda, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Stomach feeling a little acidy, a little hungry.

Chill morning, uptight evening

Chilled out with B&E in the morning, spent the later day slamming dough and cuttin' the cheese at the restaurant. Was it my swan song there, or the beginning of the long haul? I suspect the former, but we'll see Wednesday. Shnoogins! Tomorrow, I ride.

BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Woke up hungry and queasy. This settled me well.

AM SNACK: 11:30am, farro and sausage, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, watermelon, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

RESTAURANT HAZE: 4-11pm, a few slices of pizza, a few glasses of lemonade, a ginger ale, a cream soda, a meatball with bread, water, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mackin' & Snealin'

B went out with Edie to visit a friend, and I promptly fell asleep at 8:30 without dinner. I think I might be fighting a bug or something, as I slept for almost 12 hours. Looking back at what I was eating, maybe I've just been over tired.

BREAKFAST: 7:15am, organic chex with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12pm, 2 slices grandma pizza, 2 slices white brussel sprout & bacon pizza, 1 pint beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
After class, went to a pizzeria the teacher wanted to check out. Was pretty mediocre, and crap service too. The brussel sprout pizza was interesting, and was cooked well and the cheese balanced, but the sprouts themselves were not fresh, cut in too big chunks, and kinda ruined it. The grandma pie was just a cheesy mess.

PM SNACK: 2pm, hazelnut ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was going by Jaques Torres and couldn't resist. Really good quality stuff.

PM SNEAL? MACK?: 3:30pm, tuna appetizer, ginger ale, 1 bowl
Working on a new menu time, conceptually it's good -- the star is a quality Sicilian tuna which is canned but is a cut above Starkist or whatever junk you see on TV. The execution with the minimal dressing and garnish needs work.

PM SNACK: 5:30pm, large piece of watermelon, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 7:30, small amount of chocolate cookies n' creme ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B went to town on it, so rather than the salad I was about to eat, I gravitated towards cleaning out the freezer.

Morning Boozer

Had a midday nap yesterday, which made getting to sleep difficult. Edie was sleeping so beautifully, it would made me jealous if it wasn't for the fact it's so nice being next to her as she sleeps. It's like a zone of peace on her face, with the occasional storm of a dream of nipple or soft smooth warmness.

BREAKFAST: 7:15pm, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dead tired, but desiring a smoothie. My coffee grinder died, so no flax. Good milk, good yogurt, banana, blueberries, grapes, cherries, pinch of sea salt, vanilla sugar -- I've been placing spent vanilla bean husks in plain granulated sugar in a sealed container, and finally found a use for it. 1 tablespoon of the vanilla sugar gave a solid 'nilla kick that really brought out the broad fruit flavors. It's very blue drink, I think I should start expanding it's pallet while a lot of fruit is in season. Any suggestions?

AM SNACK: 9:30am, chocolate almond croissant, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
When I'm tired, I always eat heavier. Went to the Madeline shop on break and ate this chewy/crispy/chocolaty/buttery/almondy bomb. Really good, but just...a bit too much. Everything is just turned up to 11. I think they do a mini-version of this thing, which would probably be a more appropriate (and probably more authentic) version.

AM SNACK: 11-12:15pm, various sips of wine, french bread with goat cheese, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
White wine tasting at school, some of the wines were incredibly delicious and had to swallow instead of spit. The sweet and thick yet still good Sauternes got my mind going once again, I gotta cook with this stuff, except it's not cheap.

PM SNACK: 1:15pm, spag with one meatball, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
A pizza cook at the resto brought in some home cooked food, pretty good.

LINNER: 5pm, large green salad, reasonable portion of farro and sausage, half a brownie, cookie , 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
B had a friend over who brought her a brownie from the Baked bakery. Nice balance of cakey and buttery.

EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, ramen noodles, small cup of chocolate cookies n' creme ice cream, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got hungry after a few resto friends stopped by to give regards to Birdie and try my 'cream.

I don't know who is more beautiful...

I guess it would have to be B, because lil' Edie is looking a whole mess like I did when I was a biddy baby. When I was changing her diaper, I was reminded of the class in c-school where we had to properly truss a chicken and pork shoulder for roasting. Grabbing her ankles and lifting her butt in the air, its like the first step to putting the string under the chicken and tying the legs up! She's my little chicken, but more delicious. I just want to take her apart, dip her in buttermilk blended with fresh herbs, deep fry her in tallow, and eat her all up!!

Ummm, for legal reasons, let me state clearly NOT LITERALLY. You weirdo.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, good granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11am, farro and sausage, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, half a bagel and butter, pickled diakon, small piece of pawlet cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

This Korean pickled radish stuff is heavenly, and the soft cheese I picked up from the Unfancy Food show is wowzers.

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, 1 slice streetza, small cup of fudge brownie vegan ice cream, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

Heavy weather, so B went home and I walked up to Union Square. Had a slice at St. Mark's and A, a slice joint notable for being my go-to slice joint when I worked in the music biz and the night my mom died. Totally not good, a big bed of cheap cheese. I went by Stogo, not because I particularly like their stuff, but I like how lightly sweetened it is and after all that bad diary, something defiantly not felt good. Also, it's something that's artisanal, compared to all the cookie cutter frozen yogurt places that have sprung up everywhere.

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, large wedge of watermelon, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

This morning did a rare run to the local supermarket with a granny cart and picked up all sorts of stuff that's too heavy to transport by bicycle, like 40 lbs of cat litter, 2 gallons of Gatorade, and in particular a whole watermelon. Thought it would be too early in the season, but when I knocked it, it sounded pleasantly hollow but heavy for its size, its white splotch was creamy bright and only $3 for the whole thing. Tasted sweet and clean and crisp.

DINNER: 7:30pm, 2 shrimp tacos, a little Gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Mediocre Mexican ordered in.

First Comes Love, then Comes Fage, then...

BREAKFAST: 10-11:30am, various chocolates, cookies, small moz and tomato panini, brownies, 5 shots of various Manhattan Special products, 2 little cheese cake cups, a bit of duck sausage, 2 little wedges of Batali pizza, some things I forget..., 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Spent the morning at the Fancy Food Show at Jacob Javits, officially on school business for the second year (last year I was in culinary, this year management), but I hope to be able to swing this every year -- all the new products, some established products, different countries showing off their culture, all on overload, most wanting you to taste a sample or talk about what they do.

Highlights: Manhattan Special had a booth, a company really hard to wrangle as a product buyer at the restaurant. I had some words with them, they promise to make some calls. Low and behold they have a whole line of different sodas, but I would of never known because no one ever tried to sell me on them.

Then there was the Metromint people from last year, which was quite shocking -- various mint-flavored mildly-sweetened waters. I almost barfed last year when I tried it, because I thought I was drinking some one's toothpaste backwash. I was sure they would be out of business by now.

Batali's brand was hawking a new pizza sauce, which tasted exactly like a thousand other jarred sauces. They were making pizzas on soft pita-like shells and baking them in a toaster oven. The only good thing about the sample is that it was heavy on the sauce, usually shitty pizza is heavy on the cheese.

In other pizza-related things there, there was a booth for a horrible nightmare some company is trying to bring to the freezer aisle:

Pizza in a cone, baked in your microwave in a box that keeps it upright. In the literature, one of the selling points is "acceptable taste and aroma", I kid you not. Yikes!

It was nice to see a booth/pavilion for Fage yogurt, what I call the "good" yogurt. I was happy to see it, and felt compelled to take a picture not because I'm a huge fan, but because it's one of the few foods me and B eat and love (though she eats the crappy fat-free version), and I remember when I was wooing her, we'd go food shopping in her neighborhood, like a trial run as a real couple. When ever we'd go, we'd always end up buying some Fage, and also talking about the prices of the stuff in various markets in the neighborhood. The foundation of my marriage was cemented thanks to Fage!

DINNER: 6:30pm, big green salad, homemade farro and sausage, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Made a recipe from c-school, one I really loved and was a joy to make again. Basically: brown sweet Italian sausage in olive oil, deglaze with white wine (my added step), then soften diced Spanish onion. Add a whole mess of tomato concasse, diced fresh fennel, cubed Idaho potato, a pound of farro and cover in chicken stock. Simmer for 30 minutes, add a pound of cooked red kidney beans, simmer for another 15 minutes. Finish with salt and red pepper flake. The fennel gives a nice flavor, the starch from the farro and potato thicken the remaining stock into a nice sauce, the farro itself a nice grainy flavor to contrast with the pork and fennel, all brought together with that wonderful mouthfeel that a proper stock gives.

Went a bit too far with the pepper fake, and can probably add more salt. Should have broken the sausage into smaller bits before I threw it in the oil.

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, chocolate cookies n' creme ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Day of Fun Food 1

Good day, maybe ate a little too much towards the end but had a nice relaxing day.

BREAKFAST: 10am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, cashews, .5 bowl

PM SNACKING: 12:30pm, water, jerky, salted chocolate caramels, a little diakon and kimchi, smokey ricotta, half a whitefish sandwich on black bread, quarter of a beef pie, a few bits of pickle, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
The Unfancy Food Show in Williamsburg was fun, very similar to last year's. Of note was Gerald's Jerky, who do a beef jerky like I've never had. I've read about the stuff, but never made it or even seen it. I've had Slim Jims growing up, and have seen those dusty plastic-wrapped sheets from tourist traps out west with lists of ingredients as long as any slim jim, but this was different. Tough and tender in a weird balance, spicey like pastrami but not so strong -- you can really taste the beefy steak flavor of the dried product. Wow. And the pickled diakon from the kimchi vendor was unreal. The white fish sandwichs offered from Marlow & Sons was shocking how good it was -- I thought it would pale in comparison to what Russ & Daughter's do, but with it's hearty black bread, thin slices of kiwi and fresh lightly dressed pike, it was just right.

Tomorrow, I check out other Fancy Food Show with school...

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, white wine spritzer
At home gettin' my drink on with B&E.

LUNCH: 3:30pm, poutine, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out to Pommes Frites with E, an echo of out trip years ago to Montreal. The fries were great, the cheese curds were good, the brown gravy was over-salted and tasted like it was made from bullion - yuk!


PM SNACK: 4:30pm, popcorn, cherry icee, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
At the movies. Ahh, the taste of high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, artificial flavors, guar gum and if I'm lucky, pectin!

PM SNACK: 7pm, beef jerky

DINNER: 8:45pm, "homemade" "pizza", 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Had this pizza kit thing laying around a while, and happened to have some spare moz and parm from the last time I cooked pizza, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. Ewww! I followed the instructions, and the dough mix gets mixed by fork with water, rest for 10 minutes, then stretch into a pan. My dough was lumpy, wet and hard to work with. I got it on to a piece of parchment, but someone who isn't experienced would have a huge mess on their hands. The sauce that came with the kit was absolutely disgusting, tasting mostly like overcooked tomato paste and salt. There was a spice packet that came with it, but it was congealed into one dry brick that I had to discard. The main ingredient it was...nutritional yeast? Wha? I baked at the recommended temp of 450 for about 15 minutes, to get some color on the crust. Oddly enough, the crust tasted....freezer burned? What I thought was freezer burn on a frozen pizza kept to long was just poor quality and cheap fillers, I guess.

I'm all for making pizza at home and including the kids on it, but this is ridiculously gross. I guess kids would find it yummy, but shouldn't adults like it too?