Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

I had the opportunity to grill Jerked Cornish Game Hens on Tampa’s own Daytime TV. This was by far one of the most beautiful places I have had the opportunity to grill- I was overlooking the bay from the rooftop of Tampa Tribune building.

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Sriracha - a fiery Asian pleasure on anything you put it on!

Sriracha is the generic name for a Thai hot sauce named after the seaside city of Si Racha (according to wikipedia). This sauce has a hot yet slightly sweet nature about it that perfectly compliments seafood yet just about everything else. Key ingredients include hot chilis (Thai variety), garlic, sugar, salt, vinegar and quite often, fish sauce. When you go out for sushi and get a specialty roll with a chili sauce, here’s betting that its most likely sriracha or a homemade version. The name “Sriracha” is the generic name for the Thai red chili sauce, the most common “Sriracha” you will find in the US is made by Huy Fong Foods, the company owned by a Thai-American immigrant turned businessman.

This sauce compliments everything well- chicken, burgers, add it to your wing sauce. Give it a try and you’ll see why it’s become a household name.

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Oh blog, How I neglect you so. I have all these recipes I have successfully tried and yet not written about here.

Anyway, as a big fan of Real Simple’s “fake it don’t make it” and Sandra Lee’s “Semi-homemade” cooking, I like the time saving shortcuts that let you make a great dinner without a huge fuss.
So, I am going to share why these ingredients below are a God-send for me and why I have begon to stock them in the pantry.

#1) Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce.
“I put this SH** in everything.” These little peppers pack a fiery punch, but aside from their heat, they have a wonderful flavor and will make something average quite extraordinary without a lot of work. I was first turned onto these in a chili recipe out of Cottage Living about 4 years ago, and I have grown to LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

Here are some ideas on how I have used them before: seven layer dip (mixed in with the SC), spaghetti, coleslaw (yes, mixed in with SC or mayo it’s awesome), spicy mayo for fish tacos, hummus, beans and rice, burritos, there really are very few things that this ingredient does not make better!!!

2) Panko bread crumbs.
Take average baked chicken, fish or whatever from “ehhh” to “who hoo!” Panko, unlike other breadcrumbs, does not get soggy and retains it’s cruch so it is a great way to bake and retain flavor and crunchiness versus frying, which is not as healthy…

3) Mojo Marinade:
This stuff is great in a flash- no need to make your own rub/marinade, this low fat/sodium marinade is great on chicken and fish. For last minute grilling, great to have in the fridge. Publix sells this stuff in a huge bottle (exactly like the stuff sold by GOYA).

4) Aged parmesan:
The fresh, hard cheese kind, not the kraft in a bottle kind. This is good on everything- fish, veggies, chicken, almost anything you can think of.

5) Salsa fresca:
This is the homemade salsa you can buy in the produce section of your grocery store. It is FRESH, hence why it is called Salsa Fresca. I put this in sauteed spinach, it mixes well with vegetables, I’ve added it to empanadas, etc…. You can buy this and also doctor it with beans, fruit, etc for your own semi-homemade chutney/relish/salsa for chicken and fish… It’s also a healthy and flavorful alternative to butter/SC for baked potatoes.

5) White wine:
Good for cooking with and for cooking with. Ha ha!! Everything is better with this ingredient- before, during and after the meal

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As I mentioned in my previous blog, I said that Ricky’s Lounge and Restaurant was a former strip club. This is not technically true. We have never actually confirmed that it was, we only assumed (one of my former bosses used to say “never ASS-U-ME, it makes an ASS out of U and Me,”) that is was a strip club in its previous life. This is because it has no windows, you must enter through a side door, the bar is very large, the type where someone could do a dance and possibly a split/cartwheel on it, and well, there is a large POLE, yes, POLE, attached to the end of it.

So, as to not commit libel, I have no idea if Ricky’s lounge was ever previously a strip club or not. But, if it was, I would like it that much better because, well, Ricky’s is the bomb and that would just make it even more likable and funny.

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There is no point to this blog, if only to say how funny life is. As I write this, I share a dog bed with three dogs.

Anyway, my ethnic food experience has reached new heights since I moved to South Florida. I am the only non Hispanic, non Latin (not the same thing you know, as I just learned the difference about 3 weeks ago) person working in my office. This has opened my eyes to many new culinary adventures as we order in take out almost everyday (the office pays for it no less!) Our repertoire consists primarily of the Cuban restaurant down the street, the Argentenian place (meat, meat, meat), the Italian place that has great lunch specials on Wednesdays, and of course, IHOP. Don’t ask me how this fits in.

As the sole gringa in the group, it makes smile to see me try these new things such as “fu-fu” (fou fou?) a Cuban Dish that is primarly unripe plantains mixed with pork fat. It’s actually much yummier than it sounds. My privy information, unknown to the average “tourista” sheds light on this whole “Cuban Sandwich” novelty that everyone ‘must try” when they come to Miami. The experience is lost on a “Cuban Sandwich” when what they should yearn for is the “Media Noche,” which is very similar to a Cuban sammy, but on much softer, sweeter bread, which is almost similar to a challab break. Individuals truly blessed will know to follow this up with a pastelles de guyaba, or a guava pastry.

But, aside from the typical Miami Hispanic experience, my culinary adventures happen at every turn of the corner as South Florida exposes itself to me in its all its rich, diverse splendid ways.

Scott and I are painting the kitchen a sea-mist blue-gray and therefor takeout was on the menu for the night. So, only in Hollywood, Florida, would you find bunch of New Yorkers-turned Native Floridians working and hanging out at the local take out, hole-in the wall Chinese restaurant. The lady who owns and runs the place is actually Chinese, in that seasoned Floridian, lived through-plenty-of-Hurricanes type of way. One of their local customers/impromptu PR person, touts in a Brooklyn accent that “the Curry Chicken is the only way to go,” and he would know, he’s been eatin’ here for ten years…” Just next door is the Jamaican grocery store, Bravo, and next to that is Daddy-O’s, our favorite liquor store, run by a group of guys from the Middle East somewhere.

So I digress, but I feel so spoiled and lucky to be exposed to the diversity in food choices and people we have here in South Florida. In thinking what we wanted for dinner tonight, our top choices consisted of “Falafel Fusion, (3 Guys from NYC, Jersey and Greece), Ricky’s Wings (former strip club; Ricky himself won the donkey kong championship of the world and they made a documentary about it), Chinese, Thai, or I guess we could order Indian for delivery.

So, for a bunch of Waspy Kids from Jersey and Atlanta by way of North Carolina, we made out okay. Need I mention that our Friday night consisted of Taverna Opa, where guest are encourage to dance on the tables to Greek disco-esque music, drinks at the Latin Bar where girls dance salsa on the bar, and then on the reggae bar, where, well, we danced to Reggae of course.

The point to all of this is, that, well, there may not actually be a point. I just love life down here and am so glad I have the opportunity to make Banana pudding (it’s a Southern Thing Yall!) out of the bananas growing in my back yard. Now, I have not yet begun making coconut preserve out of the coconuts in the backyard, but, well, don’t give me any ideas.

So, for my bloggly-metaphor for the night – let’s just say that South Florida is the gravy to my white rice. Now, has anyone seen my hotsauce?

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