Culinary Experimentation

I got home last night from a very pleasant (albeit somewhat scary due to the weather) car ride from Boston to New York. After I had thoroughly thrown my belongings all over the living room, I was famished. So I went into the kitchen and lo and behold there was nothing. Well, I shouldn't say nothing... just that there was less than something in the fridge and cabinets. With what little things I did find though, I made something akin to an ok and not too unhealthy meal (I hope).

Here's what I had available:
1 can of cannellini beans
1 sprig of drying rosemary
1 box of baby arugula
3 oz of chevre
3 small onions
1 shriveled lemon
2 cans of chicken stock
verge of being stale Ziploc baggie of crostini
an almost empty box of Kashi shredded wheat cereal
a half full box of oreos (Costco sized)
1 pint of cream
1 pint of milk (1 day away from expiration)
various condiments and spices and baking supplies

Needless to say, I've got a nice little beggared kitchen going on post Thanksgiving. I am also quite loathe to purchase any additional groceries cause I'll be going home to the Lone Star state next week... Anywho,

Here is what I made out of all of it:

Arugula and goat cheese salad with a sherry-mustard vinaigrette
Cannelini bean dip with crostini
Almost frozen cereal cookies n cream

This being a blog that starts with the word nosh, I thought I'd write out the little recipes as I've seemingly been lagging in "nosh" notes. Please bear with me as I just threw this together without measuring a thing... give it a whirl if you've got the time! And, I've got to take pictures of these things as proof!

Let's start from dessert:
Almost frozen cereal cookies n cream
I remembered this article I read about Momofuku Milk Bar's cereal milk softserv that they have there. It sounded so weird but also like the perfect treat. So I gave it a go with what little concept I had.

Ingredients:
5 oreos - crushed into bits
6-8 pieces of Kashi shredded wheat cereal - crushed
1 cup - milk
1 cup - cream
about 3 Tb of sugar
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla extract

Dissolve the sugar and salt completely in a mixing bowl with the milk, cream and vanilla. Add the oreos and cereal. Mix thoroughly.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer. I did about 2 hours.
Mind you I have an ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid but sheer laziness for correctly making ice cream led me to just freeze the whole thing. I started freaking out a little bit as I realized this may taste like the worst thing in the world. Also, it looked a little weird when I pulled it out of the freezer, what with the lumps of shredded wheat.
VERDICT: Tasty, sweet, visually unappealing but holy jeez it was like eating breakfast for dessert which I have to say is awesome. I think next time I'd like to properly assemble it all with the ice cream attachment.

Cannellini Bean Dip
This was something I had made for Thanksgiving so I just went with the flow.

Ingredients:
1 can of cannellini beans (drained)
1/2 sprig of rosemary - leaves removes and minced
1/2 cup of chicken stock
about 3-4 Tb of onions - minced
about 1 tsp of lemon zest
about 2 tsp of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for sauteing + a little for the end

Saute the onions and rosemary in a small pot until the onions are tender. Add the chicken stock and beans. Simmer on the stove for about 10-15 minutes until the beans are completely heated through and the stock has reduced a little. In a blender or with a hand blender, puree the mixture. Add lemon juice and zest and a dollop of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Serve with crostini or sliced french bread.
VERDICT: Absolutely yummy! And very filling which is a good thing. If I had pita, I would have used it like hummus. This recipe is usually quadrupled for gatherings as an appetizer.

Arugula and goat cheese salad with a sherry-mustard vinaigrette
A very simple salad that combines all my favorite things - cheese, arugula, mustard. I like my salad dressings on the more acidic side so you can tone down the mustard and other tart things if you want.

Ingredients:
About 2 cups of arugula
1 oz of goat cheese (chevre)
1 Tb - mustard (preferably something grainy or deli style)
4 Tb - olive oil
1 Tb - sherry vinegar
1 Tb of minced onions
salt and pepper to taste

For the vinaigrette, combine the mustard, vinegar and minced onions with a whisk. With the bottom of a wooden spoon, mash the onions in the mixture. While whisking the mixture, slowly add the olive oil until fully incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a mixing bowl, toss the arugula with the vinaigrette. Top with bits of goat cheese.
VERDICT: Seriously, how can you not like a good salad? The chevre really adds a little something to the arugula and dressing. It's so savory and filling!

Overall and in the end, I'm pretty happy with the random nature of the meal last night. And, I had leftovers of the dip for me to snack on at lunch the next day. I also can't wait to try some more of that Cereal Cookies n Cream tonight. I mean hey, I could have done worse. Like, ordering out. :)

What do you think? Could I have made it better? Worse? Different dishes all together?
What was your favorite impromptu meal?

And yes, I know I'm playing with fire when I make ice cream with milk that has one day to go....

Singles Ads

Ok Facebook, gmail, other sites I frequent... I know that you know in your smart HAL mind that I'm single. It's written everywhere. I should probably take it off my profile so you'll leave me alone. But wait... you won't cause now you know.

No I don't want love horoscopes and single meets at some place that I have to pay $30 to attend to chat with other poor saps just like me. I'm not in the mood for dating through religious websites such as "Christian Dating" and "Catholic Match" where the slogans read God Loves You and So Let Him Divine You A Partner.

I rather liked it when the only pop-ups and sidebar links were for things like clothes and tickets and movie reviews and the occasional porn link. But now... now you're just rubbing it in my human face with your digital palm the stink of loneliness. Well joke's on you internet cause I am happy in my world of friends and nights out and movie rentals. And even though you tempt me with sites like plentyoffish.com where the matchmaking is free, if I wanted to be matched, I would have asked Tevya to get the old lady in the village.
That's all.

You're the man, Steve Buscemi

Of all the people in the world of entertainment, I would have to subjectively say that Steve Buscemi is one of the best. (Right up there with my all time favorite Liev Schreiber.) His very unique features, voice and mannerisms are known to everyone who has seen a movie or TV show in the past couple decades. This may sound like a love letter to some. To those some, I say yes, you are correct. I love Steve Buscemi. Love the fact that he can play lowbrow characters in Adam Sandler films and yet also, the brooding, sad figure in others. Calling an actor versatile in this day and age is as common as hearing Kanye West freak out at someone. Apparently, there are Disney kids who are "versatile" for acting like a psycho patient in an episode of "Grey's Anatomy." Hmmm, I disagree. Buscemi, however, is, in true form, an actor with versatility. I mean seriously. From Reservoir Dogs and Con Air to Big Daddy and The Wedding Singer. Complete psychotic messes to drunken, silly fools. And, even though he's almost always a supporting character or bit part in a film, he always comes away as one of the more memorable moments in a show or film. He's one of those foils that either directly or indirectly spurs some leading character into action. Like a Rosencrantz or Guildenstern with a hint of Horatio in the mix. Unfortunately, like R&G, he usually ends up dead.

Below are a number of personal favorite moments in cinematic history that were made better by the addition of a Mr. Steve Buscemi:

1. Con Air (Garland "The Marietta Mangler" Greene) - First off, hooray! He lives at the end of the film! And, he's apparently a reformed psychotic serial killer. Aside from Nicholas Cage's flowing locks and semi-authentic Southern accent, this movie was a fun Bruckheimer film that made you believe that there are only 2 kinds of people who go to prison. The misunderstood "I was just protecting my pregnant wife from hecklers" ex-soldier, and the "I really am a bad guy, so bad I'm going to hijack this plane of other prisoners and then call it Con Air." With his Silence of the Lambs-esque entrance into the film and his comic relief ending (once you forget that he was sent to jail for extreme murders), Buscemi really helps flesh out this wild action romp that was pretty much the heyday of "Nicholas Cage super action superstar"-mania.
2. Armageddon (Rockhound) - Another Bruckheimer film? And he lives again!? Apparently Jerry's got some lovin' for Steve. As a perv, hypersexual drilling expert (for offshore oil rigs that is), Buscemi is again the comedic outlet to this doomsday via asteroid film that was notable for a few things: Bruce Willis bad assery and bad one-liners, Aerosmith theme music, it came out the same time as Deep Impact (which was less fun) and it marked the start of a very promising career for Ben Affleck as an actor... or did it? All in all, a good film for Steve and very enjoyable.
3. Living In Oblivion (Nick Reve) - A film school favorite that pretty much represents all the angst and frustration that any director is going to have with a film on any budget. As the beleaguered director, Buscemi gives a great performance as that "I'm going slightly mad" character that wants to throttle you with his bare hands while also trying to get the job done as nicely as he can. Everything about this film stands out from its excellent cast including Dermot Mulroney and Kevin Corrigan as DP and AC to the shooting style. A must for everyone. And, of course, Steve Buscemi is the lead!
4. The Big Lebowski (Donny Kerabatsos) - Talk about giving an amazing performance with the least amount of screen time. His role is minute in this film, but the way that Jeff Bridges and John Goodman's characters play off of Buscemi are hilarious. From Goodman's rants on just about everything to the quintessential "Shut the f*** up, Donny," Buscemi's character is probably one of the greatest (mostly silent) observers of human nature as he attempts to follow the combinations of his two cohorts. Fun fact: Buscemi has appeared in more Coen Brother's films than any other actor and has died in about half of them... this being one of them (spoiler alert)
5. Boardwalk Empire (Enoch 'Nucky' Thompson) - The fact that I pay over the internet to watch this show instead of biding my time for it to come out on DVD kind of says a lot. In it's first season on HBO, this show has really got something going. If you haven't seen the show yet, do it now. Maybe it's because I have a thing for period dramas/shows, but nothing says amazing like prohibition-era violence and power. At first I was a little skeptical that Buscemi could pull off leading man in a series. Especially a character that seems so corrupt and yet morally divided. But, after the first couple episodes I was hooked. He broods, he gets down and dirty and at the same time tries to fill a personal void with children and love. It seems cut and dry, but this show has its complexities that keep it stellar through each episode. Also, Steve's getting to show off a range of acting that one rarely sees from someone who played "Lazy Eyes" in Mr. Deeds.

I know I've left out a lot of good films and shows that Steve Buscemi was in like Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, 30 Rock, The Sopranos, Ghost World, The Hudsucker Proxy, Airheads... but if I did that then this would seem a little bit stalker-ish on my part.

Speaking of stalker-ish, I'll leave you with some random tidbits about Mr. Pink Steve Buscemi:

• He grew up in Valley Stream, NY
• Was a fireman of the NYFD. After the WTC Towers fell, he worked as a volunteer with the NYFD to sift through rubble and look for missing firefighters. He is still a volunteer fireman today.
• He originally auditioned for the part of George Costanza on "Seinfeld"
• In April of 2001, he was stabbed in the head, throat and arm at the Firebelly Lounge in Wilmington, NC. Actor Vince Vaughn was arrested for fighting back one of the attackers.
• In his youth, he was struck by a bus and also a car.

You'd think he was more taciturn in his early days.

What were some of your best moments of Steve Buscemi? Private Investigator from 30 Rock? Poor wood chipped criminal in Fargo?

Step Away From the Fridge

I love celebrating the holidays. I love cooking even more. (Look forward to some tasty recipes coming your way for the rest of the month.)

What I don't like is feeling bloated and stuffed and generally tired from eating too much. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat. It's my favorite pastime right next to drinking. In some instances, I think I substitute food for love, but I'm not about to marry that blueberry pie I made. I do, however, seem to gain a disgustingly large amount of the L-Bs from Thanksgiving to New Year's.

It's hard to stay on top of exercising when the holidays throw you into a smorgasbord of delights from pies to stuffing to you name it. And with your family around, you'd rather be putting together puzzles and watching football than drag yourself outside in the cold for a jog. Then of course there are the leftovers. Don't deny it, you can't just throw all that good food away. So you store it in your little plastic boxes and bowls. Ziploc up that turkey leg you couldn't eat earlier. Also, didn't a parent once tell you that there are all those starving kids in Africa? Of course you'll feel horrible and feel like you have to finish the leftovers. Oh leftovers. It's not the scrumptious banquet that you had at Thanksgiving. It's the airtight containers of that same meal that are sitting in your fridge right now that are ruining your hard won waistline.

My attitude towards leftovers in the fridge is if it starts to smell funky, even the slightest, toss it. I'd say shelf-life is about one week to a week and a half (2 weeks - you're really pushing it)... But who knows? Maybe you found a really good way to preserve whatever the hell it is you have in the fridge. Freezing helps too.
But, you still have all this stuff in your fridge. It's like a ticking timebomb of possible gastrointestinal discomfort, and it's wasting your precious fridge space. So what do you do?
You eat with a fervor that is only seen in puppies. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you do something with those leftovers to make it more palatable, slowly whittling them down and regaining control over storage containers. Turkey pot pie, mashed potato croquettes, stuffing scrambled eggs. Until finally... finally... it's all spoiled or you're fed up or you finally ate everything.

This is generally the scenario I have. Though I'm pretty sure that by this weekend I will have disposed of the rest of the turkey pot pie because seriously, I need to poultry detox for the next holiday.

So eat away fellow foodies... but beware of those carbs you're heating up. They'll come back to bite you in the bum... literally.