Oh my, the sardine sandwich I had was the best yet. I freezer-fished some of the pumpernickel I made a few weeks ago, toasted it, and mashed the fish with avocado and a drop of vinegar. It just WORKED, the rich booming flavor of the bread just complimented the fishiness and savoriness of the filling.
Spent the afternoon with Edie, road bike to Brooklyn Botanical Gardens for the cherry blossom festival, was pretty tired when I got home, got to bed by 9, as tomorrow is the 5 Boro Bike Ride.
AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 10:45am, homemade granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 1:30pm, sardine sandwich with avocado on pumpernickel bread, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 5:30pm, health salad & potato chips, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 7:30pm, beef & rice, shrimp dumplings, green salad, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Saturday, April 30
Friday, April 29
Good Food, Bad TV
Spent a lot of the day cooking and looking after the Edles, part of the afternoon on the bike with Edie and in the park, and the evening serving food to some good friends, watching really bad TV.
TODAY'S COOKING
Fruitcake Ice Cream & Fruit Cake short bread, Cookies & Creme Ice Cream: Fruitcake is gross, but one of the cakes of the Royal Wedding, so I deconstructed it. I made a batch of Cream Anglais, then when it hit the ice bath, I made two ice baths. One I hit with a little vanilla extract (it already had a lot of real vanilla, but the alcohol of the extract acts like anti-freeze, cutting down on crystallization and preventing it from getting ROCK hard) to be joined with ground up Newman-Os when churned, but the other half met some brandy for the alcohol, as well as a 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground clove, a teaspoon of freshly ground allspice, a teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg, the grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange. I let all that sit in the hot (but rapidly cooling) custard, then strained it through a chinois -- I didn't want gritty bits in my ice cream, and the large surface area of the zest gave up it's flavor pretty readily. For the shortbread, I used my recipe from Cook's Illustrated, adding a half cup of ground pistachios to the dry ingredients. As the buttery dough was coming together in the mixer, I added some ground brandy-soaked cherries -- if they went in dry, they'd get hard and yucky in the baking, and if I added them to early to the dough, the evaporating alcohol would interfere with the coming-together. I dipped the shortbread in chocolate, because, uh, I like chocolate.
Beef & Stilton Pasties, Cheese & Onion Pasties: I used this and this recipe,the crust from the beef one. It came out VERY flaky, I should of added more ice water to create more gluten, oh well. I made 7oz balls, but it seemed too much, so I cut them in half and rolled that out, came out with 14 medium sized pockets. I started by caramelizing 2 big pans of onions for about 4 hours, with vegetable lard. One pan, I cleared out, fried cubed potatoes, then tossed together with cheddar, parsley and egg. The other pan I deglazed with white wine and through in a lot of fresh chopped thyme. When actually putting together the pasties, the cheese & onion just got a lump of filling, while the beef got a layer of onion, a few snips of raw flank steak, and a sprinkle of crumbled stinky Stilton. Other than the crumbly nature of the crust (but flaky and savory in the right way), they tasted good. I did too much potato and not enough cheddar in the cheese & onion, and I was very sparing with the meat in the beef & Stilton, I could of tripled the beef in those. Live and learn. Oh, and I reversed the rations of the flours in the crust, 2 part whole wheat to 1 part white, just gave it a nice grainy flavor.
Iced Tea: Made a gallon with Sencha green tea -- came out a beautiful pale light green color, the previous tea was closer to the usual muddy brown color. Tastes weird....in a good way, both mild and strong, if that makes sense.
BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, a few pistachios, a handful of Newman-Os
LUNCH: 12:30pm, kraut perogies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, a few spoonfuls of cookies & cream ice cream
DINNER: 6:45pm, 3 pasties, fruitcake ice cream & shortbread, 2 glasses beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
TODAY'S COOKING
Fruitcake Ice Cream & Fruit Cake short bread, Cookies & Creme Ice Cream: Fruitcake is gross, but one of the cakes of the Royal Wedding, so I deconstructed it. I made a batch of Cream Anglais, then when it hit the ice bath, I made two ice baths. One I hit with a little vanilla extract (it already had a lot of real vanilla, but the alcohol of the extract acts like anti-freeze, cutting down on crystallization and preventing it from getting ROCK hard) to be joined with ground up Newman-Os when churned, but the other half met some brandy for the alcohol, as well as a 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of freshly ground clove, a teaspoon of freshly ground allspice, a teaspoon of freshly ground nutmeg, the grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange. I let all that sit in the hot (but rapidly cooling) custard, then strained it through a chinois -- I didn't want gritty bits in my ice cream, and the large surface area of the zest gave up it's flavor pretty readily. For the shortbread, I used my recipe from Cook's Illustrated, adding a half cup of ground pistachios to the dry ingredients. As the buttery dough was coming together in the mixer, I added some ground brandy-soaked cherries -- if they went in dry, they'd get hard and yucky in the baking, and if I added them to early to the dough, the evaporating alcohol would interfere with the coming-together. I dipped the shortbread in chocolate, because, uh, I like chocolate.
Beef & Stilton Pasties, Cheese & Onion Pasties: I used this and this recipe,the crust from the beef one. It came out VERY flaky, I should of added more ice water to create more gluten, oh well. I made 7oz balls, but it seemed too much, so I cut them in half and rolled that out, came out with 14 medium sized pockets. I started by caramelizing 2 big pans of onions for about 4 hours, with vegetable lard. One pan, I cleared out, fried cubed potatoes, then tossed together with cheddar, parsley and egg. The other pan I deglazed with white wine and through in a lot of fresh chopped thyme. When actually putting together the pasties, the cheese & onion just got a lump of filling, while the beef got a layer of onion, a few snips of raw flank steak, and a sprinkle of crumbled stinky Stilton. Other than the crumbly nature of the crust (but flaky and savory in the right way), they tasted good. I did too much potato and not enough cheddar in the cheese & onion, and I was very sparing with the meat in the beef & Stilton, I could of tripled the beef in those. Live and learn. Oh, and I reversed the rations of the flours in the crust, 2 part whole wheat to 1 part white, just gave it a nice grainy flavor.
Iced Tea: Made a gallon with Sencha green tea -- came out a beautiful pale light green color, the previous tea was closer to the usual muddy brown color. Tastes weird....in a good way, both mild and strong, if that makes sense.
BREAKFAST: 8am, iced green tea, a few pistachios, a handful of Newman-Os
LUNCH: 12:30pm, kraut perogies, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 4pm, a few spoonfuls of cookies & cream ice cream
DINNER: 6:45pm, 3 pasties, fruitcake ice cream & shortbread, 2 glasses beer, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Thursday, April 28
Royal Ice Cream
Woke up without enough sleep, took Edie to class 10-11:30. On the way home got lunch from my favorite Chinese cart (the kind where there is no English and the vendor doesn't speak English except to shout, "FEESHBAHL!" at you) and home. When Edie napped, I ate and got ready for class. I seriously considered calling in and saying I couldn't come, but a) in two years I haven't missed a class yet and b) despite my lack of energy, this has been such a good group, they'll probably motivate me.
And I was right, it was a kick-ass class with a group of 7, running through all the recipes we did last time, PLUS everyone making pasta from scratch. Other than a kid jamming a bench scraper into the roller while on and busting it, it was a pretty good class.
Got home in a haze, good thing I finished the grocery shopping yesterday. Some cooking, some TV, then sleep
TODAY'S COOKING
Two kinds of ice cream custard: Having dinner for a few friends over tomorrow, basically a TV watching party of the Royal Wedding. Couldn't care less, but it's a good excuse. British themed food. I split a batch of my vanilla custard, one half to be B's favorite, cookies n' cream, the other half hit with cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg, orange zest and lemon zest. Also started a soak of cherries in brandy overnight, which along with nuts will go into some shortbread to compliment the ice cream, as I hate tough and crunchy nuggets in smooth ice cream, Ben & Jerries be damned!
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, rice noodle fish ball, 2 lotus leaf wrap, Newman-Os, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
SCHOOL DINNER: 7:15pm, meatballs, fresh pasta with fresh sauce, baked ziti, broccoli steamed in wine, sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 ice cream sandwiches, Newman-Os, cheesy poofs, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I go on crap binges when I'm over-tired, I find.
And I was right, it was a kick-ass class with a group of 7, running through all the recipes we did last time, PLUS everyone making pasta from scratch. Other than a kid jamming a bench scraper into the roller while on and busting it, it was a pretty good class.
Got home in a haze, good thing I finished the grocery shopping yesterday. Some cooking, some TV, then sleep
TODAY'S COOKING
Two kinds of ice cream custard: Having dinner for a few friends over tomorrow, basically a TV watching party of the Royal Wedding. Couldn't care less, but it's a good excuse. British themed food. I split a batch of my vanilla custard, one half to be B's favorite, cookies n' cream, the other half hit with cinnamon, allspice, clove, nutmeg, orange zest and lemon zest. Also started a soak of cherries in brandy overnight, which along with nuts will go into some shortbread to compliment the ice cream, as I hate tough and crunchy nuggets in smooth ice cream, Ben & Jerries be damned!
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 12:30pm, rice noodle fish ball, 2 lotus leaf wrap, Newman-Os, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
SCHOOL DINNER: 7:15pm, meatballs, fresh pasta with fresh sauce, baked ziti, broccoli steamed in wine, sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 ice cream sandwiches, Newman-Os, cheesy poofs, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I go on crap binges when I'm over-tired, I find.
Wednesday, April 27
Power Breakfast
Did food shopping last night, got home late, got to bed around 1:30, up with Edie around 7. Got the weight lifting in, with the help of a powerfully caffeinated breakfast. Need it to man up to the prospect of another hot 13 hour shift in a bustling room centered around a 550 degree oven with no air conditioning.
However, due to Passover being over and kids back in school, the day was light and relaxed, and passed sleepily.
AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, smoothie, handful of chocolate covered espresso bean, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1pm, beef tamale, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, 1 square Sicilian, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 5pm, 2 hot dogs, 1 small ice cream cone, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 1 slice white pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, chocolate truffles, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
However, due to Passover being over and kids back in school, the day was light and relaxed, and passed sleepily.
AM SNACK: 7:15am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, smoothie, handful of chocolate covered espresso bean, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 1pm, beef tamale, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
PM SNACK: 3pm, 1 square Sicilian, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 5pm, 2 hot dogs, 1 small ice cream cone, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 1 slice white pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, chocolate truffles, water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Tuesday, April 26
Tuesday Haze
Long but fun day in a busy restaurant. I'm blown.
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
RESTAURANT HAZE: 11am - 10:30pm, a few cookies, a porgie with millet and carrot, a few sodas, a beer, many cups of water, a slice of pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 11:45pm, hotdog, cheesedoodles, ice cream sandwich, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
BREAKFAST: 8:30am, iced green tea, brown rice crispies with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
RESTAURANT HAZE: 11am - 10:30pm, a few cookies, a porgie with millet and carrot, a few sodas, a beer, many cups of water, a slice of pizza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 11:45pm, hotdog, cheesedoodles, ice cream sandwich, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Monday, April 25
Monday Haze
A long, but good, day at work. Weather was questionable, but turned around, and I was able to place phone calls early enough that by the time everything was in high gear and the room was full, the staff I needed to stay relatively comfortable appeared. And a visit from the Snicklesnack Bridgade didn't hurt, either!
AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:45am, toasted bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
RESTAURANT HAZE: 12:30-8, 2 slices sicilian, 8oz sprite, pomegranate soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, a little Chinese with coworkers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, a couple frozen burgers, a little potato chips, 2 ice cream sandwiches, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
AM SNACK: 7:45am, iced green tea
BREAKFAST: 8:45am, toasted bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
RESTAURANT HAZE: 12:30-8, 2 slices sicilian, 8oz sprite, pomegranate soda, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, a little Chinese with coworkers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
EVENING SNACK: 11pm, a couple frozen burgers, a little potato chips, 2 ice cream sandwiches, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Sunday, April 24
Easter yo
Felt out of sorts early, went to the diner around the corner to chill. Took a few strangers out on a training ride for the 5 boro next week out to Coney Island in the morning, in the afternoon went to E's house for a proper Easter dinner, which was fun. People dug my cheesecake, I think.
TODAY'S COOKING:
Pirogies: Between riding and dinner, then in the eve when everyone was asleep, I assembled about 75 pirogies.
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, BLT on rye, homefries, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
BIKE SNACK: 11:30am, gatorade
LUNCH: 1:30pm, cheese perogies, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, 1 beer, ham, potato, green bean casserole, roll, chickpea salad, strawberry shortcake, chocolate egg thing, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
TODAY'S COOKING:
Pirogies: Between riding and dinner, then in the eve when everyone was asleep, I assembled about 75 pirogies.
BREAKFAST: 8:15am, BLT on rye, homefries, diet coke, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
BIKE SNACK: 11:30am, gatorade
LUNCH: 1:30pm, cheese perogies, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
DINNER: 6pm, 1 beer, ham, potato, green bean casserole, roll, chickpea salad, strawberry shortcake, chocolate egg thing, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
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