Thrown together from a combination of:

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/01/pork_meatball_banh_mi

and

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=216

The quick-pickled carrots, radishes, and cucumbers were pretty awesome.  They had some serious FUNK to them, and I was a bit worried they’d be nasty.  But they were actually fantastic.  The lime in the picture is totally superfluous, by the way.  We didn’t even use it.

Been AWOL for a while, but maybe I’ll be back again soon.  Too busy actually cooking to post stupid pictures of my cooking.  Got some new cookbooks over Christmas, perhaps reviews are in order?

Rooster sauce!

Incidentally, that wine is awesome.  Casillero del Diable – a Chilean Carmanere.  Pretty inexpensive, very very good.

You will nevermind, please, the intense mess behind the food.  And the fact that we’re always eating on TV trays. Dinner time is about the only time Kristin can take a break from school work to relax and watch some tube, so no judging, okays?

Steak, sweet potato “frites,” frisee salad w/ homemade vinaigrette, a really nice (and cheap) 2009 bordeaux (which I will be buying more of), not to mention fresh whole wheat bread and brie.  Holy North Carolina South Yet Somehow French, Batman!

I swear, sooner or later I’m going to stop with these probably jealousy-inducing posts and get around to some good old honest food talk, maybe share some recipes, that kind of thing.  Sorry folks.  In the mean time, I am in the process of planting one heck of a container herb garden.  More updates to follow!

Celery root Dijon salad thing (one of the few times recipes packaged with ingredients actually seemed worthwhile), roast Yukon Gold potatoes, zucchini, and Japanese eggplant.

Oh yeah, and a pretty well-cooked tuna steak.

I still kind of suck at poaching eggs.  I’ve seen lots of people say that your water should be around 160-180 F when poaching eggs, but I’m starting to think this is too low.  I did them at 170F today, for 3:30 minutes or so, and the yolks were okay, but the whites were less firm than desirable.  So I watched Jacques Pépin do it, and judging by the activity of the water, he starts much higher than that, a bit under boiling, and then lowers the heat after adding the eggs.  So maybe next time I’ll try that.

Or I can just get one of those little egg-cup things Katie G. had that sit under the water and let you pour the eggs right into them.  They worked quite well, actually.

Made with a 1/3 batch of Julia Child’s hollandaise recipe from Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom.  My arm kinda hurts now

“Oil, Cajun trinity, andouille sausage, garlic, salt pepper, bay leaf, ham hocks, a bag o’ peas, some stock, cook for an hour, hour and a half.”

But, you know, you don’t need any more than that.  Like a lot of my favorite recipes, it’s dead simple, and yet you’ll never be able to figure out exactly what magic is at work to transform such ordinary ingredients into the delicious amalgamation it becomes.

Here you have your aromatics:

And you add that yummy pork stock you made (or whatever stock you have – homemade is seriously best.  Not only is it the most flavorful and has more gelatin for thickening potential, it’s completely without unnecessary additives).

Try it sometime.  It’s cheap, it’s easy, its redonkerously flavorful, and it will feed you for about a week.

"Salad's funny because it thinks it's real food!"

The salmon was purdy good though.  Four kinds of plants in that meal.  FOUR KINDS!  South Beach friendly.

I *think* lentils are okay on the South Beaches.  Hope so!

Note: Beer is not South Beach friendly.  This is my plate

Like our Christmas Tree?