mik3cap: (Default)
Recently my microwave decided to become a death ray, so I took its ass out to the curb. I think I will not be getting another one. In all honesty, I only used it a couple times a week - and when I did, it was to heat up a frozen prepared food like a boca burger. So even though microwaves are cheaper and relatively easy to get a hold of, I've decided the stove will do just fine for me. I don't need food heated up in an instant! It's better to take time to prepare my food, it's more intentional that way, and I can get more flavors into it with a real cooking process. And using the stove or oven means I don't have to worry about the uneven heating characteristic of microwave cookery.

I mean really, it's just another unwieldy kitchen appliance that sucks up electricity and is not a good multitasker. It may even be responsible for unhealthier eating in general, making "convenience food" like hot pockets easier to toss down a gullet.
mik3cap: (Default)
I think it's great that I've built a reputation amongst my friends as a foodie, and I appreciate when folks point me towards links demonstrating some kind of "sensational" food find - I always want to know what the trends in food are and what people are doing. A bunch of folks have recently told me about things being done with bacon: bacon explosion, caramelized bacon, and so on.

But I have to say, it is with most humble sincerity that I must submit: that kind of thing is KID STUFF.

I once made a five pound pizza. Pound of dough, pound of cheese, pound each of bacon, sausage, pepperoni. I made it in a huge deep dish pan, and it was so greasy the oils literally fried the one inch deep crust through all the way to the bottom. Not even The Angry Maw could finish more than one slice!! After doing that, I had the idea of having the "five pound foods" party - making things like a five pound burger, five pounds of nachos, five pounds of chili, and so on. Never quite got that far though, the five pound pizza made it seem... impractical, to say the least.

Then there was the time I made (with the help of two sous chefs towards the end, one was a vegetarian serving wench!) a meal for 10 called The Morning Eye Opener. YES. I literally prepared all of those items on a plate for ten people each. It took about a week of preparation, and five hours of execution to cook it all. I timed everything down to the minute so I could deliver all the food hot on the plate at the same time. I bought ten serving platters at the dollar store so I could serve all the food on them. The only thing I didn't do was attempt to make a giant tortilla to wrap it all into a Breakfast Burrito. After the cooking was complete, every surface in the kitchen was literally coated in a sheen of pork grease, and the floor was almost too slippery to walk on. Take a look.

I singlehandedly hosted and catered a 50 person Super Bowl party at my scary haunted house in Worcester in 2004. I made vegetarian, vegan, and meat-laden versions of every dish I prepared (hors d'oeuvres, pizzas, giant sandwiches, snack mixes, and so on).

I was part of a "meat luck" party where every dish that people brought to the party needed to contain, at a minimum, two kinds of meat in order to be considered a meat dish. A bowl of bacon was considered "salad". One of the dishes at that party was a bacon explosion of sorts, though it contained pork loin, venison, bacon, and sausage.

Another idea I've had with friends and never followed through on, but would be willing to do: The Hot Sauce Roulette Pot Luck Party. Proceed as follows: Invite N people to a pot luck party (include self). Ask invitees to prepare a dish with N-1 servings - one of the servings to contain an overwhelmingly spicy ingredient. It is critical the all servings look and smell exactly the same! Spicy ingredients must be internal or well hidden. At the time of the party, each dish is eaten in turn by all invitees (except the person who brought it) at the same time, at which point the spicy foodstuff is discovered. At the end awards would be given out for "Most Spicy Food Found", "Least Spicy Food Found", "Lucky Bastard", "Tastiest Dish" and so on.

So, yes, it is with all modesty that I must admit that things like the bacon explosion are indeed child's play.

PIE

Feb. 12th, 2009 08:35 pm
mik3cap: (Default)
There is a fancy-ass dessert bakery/cafe opening up about 500 feet from my door tomorrow. Cake! Pie! Cake made of pie!

I LOVE MY HOOD.

Stolen!

Feb. 20th, 2008 01:54 pm
mik3cap: (Default)
A quick summary of me (stealed from [livejournal.com profile] arachne8x):
33 going on 34.

Grew up in North Branford, CT but born in New Haven, CT.

Fluent in English, smattering of French, currently studying Homeric Greek.

Nearly 100% Italian - father is all Italian, mother is 75%, with some German and Irish.

Schooled publicly until college, then started studying Physics at WPI. Eventually switched to Computer Science.

Longest relationship was 4.5 years, ended in a broken engagement in 1999. Have since been alternately single and dating sporadically; current relationship is longest one since then (1 year!). [polyamorous]

Working as a consultant for Robert Half Technology, sourced to Plus One Holdings.

Leo, spiritual, anti-religious.

Very fond of cats.

Rapturous lover of preparing and eating food; most fond of pizza, wine, cheese, and chocolate.

Ambitions to get a tattoo (maybe a depiction of Quetzalcoatl).

LARPer and LARP GM/creator.

Comic book collector (approximately 5,000).

Gamer (board, card, video, miniature, role-playing, ANYTHING).

Writer (mainly poetry and short fiction).

Aspiring artist.
mik3cap: (Default)
"Oh look, a black squirrel."

"I've never seen one of those before! Holy crap!"

"Me neither. Oh look, it's going into the hair salon."

"Wow, he's just walking around in there."

[insert the screaming of a bunch of women, followed by chasing with a broom, and a squirrel plastered up against a glass window trying desperately to get outside]

Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn is a lot of fun, and not just because of squirrel terrorism. There's a bunch of adorable little cafes, bars, and restaurants of all stripes - including The Chocolate Room which I believe may be the best retail chocolate store in the city (I'm not counting boutique chocolatiers who sell their own chocolates). It's the first place I've found that actually sells Domori chocolate bars (sophisticated Italian chocolate from Venezuelan cacao) and also has the full line of Vintage Plantation chocolate bars from Ecuador and I believe elsewhere (not even Murray's or other gourmet stores I've shopped at carry all of these). Additional, TCR is staffed by an amazing pastry chef; kitteridge and I devoured a dark and dense chocolate cupcake that was impossibly moist and slathered with a pudding consistency ganache, and were entranced by the selection of other cookies and confections available.

Most of the cafes and restaurants there seem to be burgeoning businesses, and have extremely thrifty prices for the quality of food served. Luscious was a small take-out joint which looked as though it was just starting out; a comfort food establishment, where you can purchase meatloaf, stuffed chicken breasts, and a variety of sides like mac n cheese, corn spoonbread, tabouli, broccoli and such. I had a tasty cuban mojo with ham and pork on a ciabatta, and loved it dearly.

There's a street fair happening there on Sunday, May 20th, and I plan on attending...

Nine Words

Apr. 14th, 2007 10:08 am
mik3cap: (Default)
Fried peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwich... with BACON.

Elvis wept!!! Washed down with a Welch's grape ice cream soda.

Many thanks to Sylvia for taking me to Peanut Butter & Co. last night! :D
mik3cap: (Default)
I had the day off today, and decided to walk around Manhattan in the beautiful, beautiful weather. I made my way down to Bleecker Street in the West Village, and hit Murray's Cheese shop and the pork store next to it... purchased handmade sweet sopressata and hot cappicola, a ciabatta, and a seasonal goat cheese from Piedmont, Italy known as the Caprina Noce de Cora. It was wrapped in blackened walnut leaves, and had a beautiful musty odor.

It was almost a muffaletta - I lacked only the olive tapenade. But I smeared half the goat cheese on the ciabatta, layered interwined meats on top of it, and baked the whole thing on low wrapped in aluminum foil for about fifteen minutes.

This sandwich was very nearly a religious experience. I chased it down with a bottle of Fentimans Curiosity Cola, and savored every delicious bite.

I still have half of it left in the fridge. I need to get some kalamata olives and smash them up in a little olive oil...
mik3cap: (Default)
Located near East 4th Street and Avenue B, the E.U. takes good food seriously, yet still has a casual flair for its atmosphere. The cavern-like dining area is decorated sparsely, but creatively, with neo-industrial lighting and artifacts; a miniscule bar at the back of the establishment speaks to the recent acquisition of their liquor license.

Read more... )
mik3cap: (Default)
Henceforth, all foodstuffs shall be produced in the shape of small people and cute animals, to facilitate the biting off of heads. The tastiest foods shall have faces, and be decorated fancifully with looks of shock and horror.
mik3cap: (Default)
A week and a half ago my bosses took me and three other co-workers out for dinner at Abbicci, an amazing restaurant right up the street from me. Turned out that this was their last dinner before major renovations that will be taking place over the coming 4 plus months (raising the building off its foundation, pouring a good one and making a basement, and adding an addition to the first and second floors). It was also one of their wine pairing meals - 7 courses with 7 wines from the Piedmont region of Italy... they even had the actual vintners from Italy eating with us! It was an amazing experience.

This is what we had )
mik3cap: (Default)
I had some great company this weekend. Treyvana and boy came to visit, and we had a merry time. I feel that I could have been a bit more entertaining, but I found myself doing a lot of house related things like laundry and keeping the place generally tidy. We spent a lot of the time petting the cat and doing TV related activities, though we did go out to dinner Saturday night.

I did a fair amount of excellent cooking though (if I may say so). I finally bought the waffle iron I wanted, and used my homemade baking mix to make a dozen tasty, crispy Belgians on Saturday. Today I fired up the oven and quick cooked a skirt steak on my cast iron pan - turned it into three huge, delicious steak and onion quesadillas.

I think that I'm going to end up running a bed and breakfast some day. There's nothing I love more than having company and cooking for them.

I wrapped up my weekend by going to see Brokeback Mountain with Becca. Yes, I cried. There's nothing to my mind more tragic than not taking the chance. If you can see the path to happiness, and you have the ability to take that path, don't stop yourself from going down it. Regret what you have done, not what you haven't.

DQ!!

Jan. 31st, 2006 07:27 pm
mik3cap: (Default)
"Love is in the air. And the entire single population is wondering... am I too short, too tall, too bald, too pale, too big, too skinny, too nice, too mean, too picky, too boring, too busy, too hairy, too weird? Well, the answer is... maybe."

But Dairy Queen loves me just the way I am. :)

FREAKY

Jan. 27th, 2006 10:23 pm
mik3cap: (Default)
I just peeled an orange, and it looked like a grapefruit inside. BIZARRO!!

Apparently it is a "red navel" or Cara Cara orange, grown in California in the winter months. It's mighty tasty!
mik3cap: (Default)
Wake up check

Do laundry check

Make tomato sauce in crock pot check

Make bacon/breakfast check

Get dressed check

Go shopping at TJ's check

Make chicken stock check

Make pizza dough check

Caramelize onions, Sautee mushrooms check

Make pizza mmmmmmmmm SO check

Go to DJ's, win 42" HD television no dice!

Go to sleep pre-emptive check
mik3cap: (Default)
oh damn them brownies came out goooooooood.
mik3cap: (Default)
I'm going to make a pan of brownies with white chocolate chunks in em.

Profile

mik3cap: (Default)
mik3cap

June 2010

S M T W T F S
  12345
6 7891011 12
131415 16 171819
20212223242526
27282930   

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 10th, 2025 05:18 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios