I got a copy of David Chang's Momofuku cookbook, and it is some of the most enjoyable food porn (and writing) I've seen in a long time. He paints himself as a bit of a bumbler, if perhaps one with borderline sociopathic passion for good food, and frankly I find that entirely charming. The fact is, this dude likes to eat the way I like to eat, throwing the low in with the high without regard for anything but deliciousness (and maybe the occasional gleeful fuck-you gesture).
Plus, there are recipes for nearly everything we ate at the restaurants. Nom nom nom nom nom nom.
I think that part of the reason I loved the sauce that came with our bo ssam is that it may actually have been pureed kimchi. And pureed kimchi is such a blindingly simple, wonderful idea that I can barely imagine I never thought of it myself. I am going to puree up some kimchi and start putting it on EVERYTHING.
UPDATE: now I've read through the bo ssam part of the book, and the sauce I really loved wasn't the puree, but I now know for sure why I loved it so much. He thins down his spicy sauce with sherry vinegar, my hands-down favorite vinegar of all time. OMG yum.
Still gonna puree some kimchi though... and maybe thin it down with sherry vinegar too so it'll drizzle. Be still my heart.
I have hated celery for years. As a child, I never liked any of the standard 1970s snack preparations: celery stick with peanut butter, celery stick with cream cheese, celery stick with dip. BLECH.
Readers of this site may recall that in recent years I have come to enjoy celery, even raw celery, in certain preparations -- notably the celery and pressed tofu salad in certain Chinese restaurants. (RIP Wing's Kitchen *sob*)
With this newly-opened mind, I decided that for my most recent cocktail party I'd put my oft-used green-olive cream cheese spread into celery sticks for a fancier presentation. I tried piping it with a big star tip but that was a non-starter so I snipped the end off the ziplock and piped it that way. Much more successful, if perhaps a little more rustic than I'd imagined. I figured other people would like it, but I'd probably not dig it so much.
WRONG.
The olive-pimento-parsley flavors in the cream cheese are great with the savory celery. The whole thing is like a crunchy martini in your mouth. Love them, and have been eating a couple before starting dinner prep every night this week. Yum!
Who knew?
We got some fish frames for free and I made two soups with 'em. First I made a big pot of fish stock, pulling out the fish once it was cooked and picking off the meat, returning the bones and skin to the simmering soup.
Half the stock became a ghetto bouillabaisse, with only the picked fish meat in it along with the fennel and onion and saffron. Very nice, and much cheaper than the regular bouillabaisse we make for company.
The other half became a Russian fish soup with potato, onion, mushroom, tomato, wine, garlic, dill, lemon and paprika. I used some Trader Joe's mahi mahi and mixed seafood (scallop, squid and shrimp) since the free fish bits were all gone. This was very nice indeed, warming and refreshing at the same time.
mmmmm... mashed potato and celery root with butter and salt and pepper and just the littlest bit of milk. diet-ish food that is SO tasty.
Had lunch with K today at Kaya in Porter Square, and they now have tofu kimchi bokum on the menu. Turns out to be a very nice version indeed, quite rich and full of delicious chewy rice cakes. Nom nom.
Still in a place where the last thing I want to do with my leisure time is stay parked on my ass in front of the computer. Sorry, Internet. However, while on a conference call, I share with you a few nuggets:
- a can of adobo flavored Muir Glen tomatoes plus a can of kidney beans plus random salsa makes a chili that really isn't half bad for something that took all of 3 minutes.
- pie plus cheddar cheese really is the breakfast of champions. Yum, and usually I'm not ready for lunch until after 1pm.
- dark chocolate covered shortbread stars from Trader Joe's are freaking AWESOME.
- also, Trader Joe's Nutty Bits nut-and-seed candies are pretty great too.
- I LOVE STUFFING.