Well done to Kaz and Lockey of Australia who have just successfully created some serious baby!! As part of the future drinking Aussie population, here are my two favorite faux-alcohol drinks to get him started on. It’s never too early!
‘No innuendo’ banana daiquiri
Half a mashed ripe banana
One shot orange juice
A tsp lemon juice
Two tablespoons sugar
One shot water
Mix everything together and freeze. Fill a glass half full, and add sprite the rest of the way.
‘Just hanging out’ on the beach
One shot cranberry juice
One shot orange juice
One shot pineapple juice
One shot peach juice
Mix everything and pour it over crushed ice
Image blatently stolen from gothstuff.com
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22Mar
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20Mar
Milk gets squirted out of a cow, whittled down to 2%, and poured into my tea. Or a bowl of cereal, or a batch of mac and cheese, but the point is, it comes from a large female cow and gets processed. But it doesn’t have to. In India, neither cow, nor processing are any part of what ends up in my Earl Grey, and it tastes fabulous. And why is that? Unpansteurized, Roamin’ Buffalo Milk.
This stuff is lower in cholesterol, has more proteins and minerals, and more lactoferrin, lysozyme,and lactoperoxidase than cow milk. And who doesn’t want more lactoperoxidase! But the best thing about buffalo-excretion is a lower water content. Remember how good it tastes when Thai restaurants use condensed milk? Now imagine that, but thicker. Incidentally, it’s what makes Buffalo Mozzarella so nifty.
But what about processing? Well, it isn’t, and that means that buffalo milk is so fatty and thick that you could practically stand a spoon up in it, the entire surface covered with globules like chicken soup.
My point here is a recent realization that all Chai I’ve ever had is wrong. Real Chai is thick and rich with fatty buffalo milk, not the thin, limp-tasting white-liquid-with-cinnamon that passes at Starbucks. But no fear! Here is how to thicken your chai, buffalo-style (without a handy buffalo)
Buffalo-esque Chai
Mix together a piece of cushed ginger, a crushed piece of cinnamon, a tablespoon peppercorns, a teaspoon of vanilla, 6 cloves, 2 tsp cardamom, 2 whole star anise, a tsp fennel seeds, a teaspoon aniseed, and half a tsp nutmeg.
Boil three cups of water and add 4 Assam teabags. Then add the spice mixture and simmer for 20 mins.
Now here’s the tough part. Add 3.5 cups of cows milk. Bring everything to a boil and then immediately turn down the heat. Then bring it to a boil again, and turn it down. Repeat that maybe 3 or 4 times and the result should be just as thick and creamy as if you were swimming in buffalos.
Sweeten it with honey, strain, and serve. Buffalo-rific -
17Mar
Not to be too Martha Stewart, but how great of an idea is this: Take a rosemary branch, rip off all the needles except a little tuft at the tip, and use the leftover aromatic stick as a skewer, like for kababs or something. Isn’t that the coolest idea in the world? Alright, I thought it was cool.
Update: Apparently everyone in the world knew this trick except for me -
16Mar
Zaf should be sending out resumes in a desperate attempt to assuage her broke-ness. As is, she’s sitting in Soho eating leftover hamentaschen (is there anything better than leftover hamentaschen?) and reading ‘Stand Facing the Stove.’
This is a great book. It is a wordy book. It is a vastly over-researched book (10 years, says the intro). It is a loooong book. It is the story of how the Joy of Cooking, America’s first popular cookbook, was written. I am a quarter through and I’ve only just finished reading about the first writer’s great grandfather’s military service. This book manages to miss the fact that, even though it is possible to research every single breath taken by your subject during their life, you shouldn’t.
Even so, this book rocks! And incidentally, so do the hamentaschen. Here’s the recipe I used, done in the original 1930’s Joy of Cooking style:
ZAF Hamentaschen
Amusingly ornamental, use these merry tart-letes to bring a degree of agreeable anarchy to a midday tea party or soirée (I swear I couldnt make this stuff up). Preheat oven to 375, then cream together:
…… 2/3 cup butter
…… 1/2 cup sugar
Add
…… 1 egg
And either
…… 1/4 cup orange juice
Or
…… 1/4 cups of water
That has been mixed with
…… 1 teaspoon of vanila
Gradually add
…… 2 cups of flour
Mix gently, but do not kneed, then refrigerate for three hours. Roll thin using process described on P. 134 for butter cookies. Place
…… 1 tablespoon of canned poppyseed filling
Or
…… 1 tablespoon of raspberry jam
In the middle of each circle. Fold up the sides to make a triangle, Squeeze the corners tightly. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown -
15Mar
Every American has said one of the following at some point:
‘In India , they must eat a lot of different veggie burgers, because, get this, they don’t eat cow!’
‘Hey, I hear the ones In Israel are Kosher’
‘Did you know they have wine at the ones in France! Wine!’
It’s important to say those lines as though this was the most outrageous thing to ever happen to food, for the different items served at McDonalds in other parts of the world is the stuff of rumor and legend
Perhaps it’s because McDonalds is such an American institution. The idea of an alternate menu is like Halloween-themed breakfast cereal. Cute, maybe even collectable, but ultimately viewed with amused condescension. Heh, those crazy French guys sure do like their wine.
Anyway, enough philosophy. Here is the definitive list of what those insanely crazy eaters in other countries would prefer with their fries:What Where ‘Beefburgers’ (instead of using the word ‘hamburgers’) Islamic countries Lamb burgers India No Cheeseburgers Israel Kosher burgers Israel again, also Argentina and Brazil Potato flour buns Israel again Veggie Burgers Western Europe Inka cola Peru Poutine Canada Shogun burgers (pork with cabbage) Hong Kong Spicy McChicken Pakistan McChutney Burger Pakistan McKofta Pakistan Mango milkshake Also Pakistan Samurai Pork Burger Thailand McAvocado Chile EBI O-Fillet Japan Shanghai Spice Chicken Korea Bulgoki burgers Korea McOz (burger and beetroot) Australia Lean Beef Burger Australia McLobster Canada and northern US McKroket (deep fried potato and beef) The Neathelands Greek Mac Greece, Spain, Czeck Republic, and Portugal Baked rice burger Taiwan, China, and Singapore Chilled Gazpacho Spain McRice Malaysia McSoup Malaysia too McArabia (like a folded chicken sandwich) Singapore McSpaghetti. Philipines Burger McDo (a burger with banana ketchup) Philipines McShawarma More Israel Whole rotisserie chickens Costa Rica McPork All countries with a history of Mad Cow. -
14Mar
Need your morning fix? Get it for free.
From 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Wednesday, March 15, most Starbucks will be hosting the first annual “National Coffee Break”, giving away a free tall (12 oz, or small, to the rest of the world) cup of brewed coffee. WIth 62 Starbucks in D.C., you’ve got plenty of choice. In fact, if you’re vigilant, you could probably hit up at least 15 or 20 of them during the two hours of free coffee. So go out and get your free caffiene dose!
Link from Starbucks Gossip. -
14Mar
When I dream of Brazil, which is often, I think of deep fried pastries, thick bean stew, and gorgeous dark-haired chicks in the type of clothing I’d reserve for a FUD edible body-topping test (volunteers?). So it’s unfortunate that when Churrascaria of Rockville dreams about Brazil, they think of lumps of meat heated up till they turn brown.
A large dining room, where the décor can only be described as ‘eighties yacht club’, is the scene for this culinary oddity. For a surprisingly high price, each overawed soccer family and aging tourist gets all they can eat Braziliana: A large, lackluster buffet of cold pasta salad, canned corn, and dubious shellfish, and a hot one with traditional Brazilian fare like ‘lasagna’ and ‘oily chicken’.
But that’s alright because the real point of this meal is Meat Lumps. They’re carried on long spits, three at a time or as whole steaks skewered through the middle. It floats by on barges, servers at the ready with knife and fork. Some of it is very nice. But the vast majority I found fatty, rubbery, and overcooked. A piece of wood painted red and green sits at each table. Green means bring on the roast beef, lamb kabab, and ribs, red means for the love of god, don’t.
Every once in a while, conversation stops so that the servers can sing happy birthday to a giggling Midwesterner. It’s that kind of restaurant, the kind that’s only one step away from the deadly ‘hi my name is Jen and I’ll be your server tonight’. I highly recommend it if you have an aging aunt from Minnesota. She’s sure to say things like ‘cute’ and ‘exotic’. Otherwise, I’m still at a loss to figure this place out at all.
Greenfield Churrascaria
1801 Rockville Pike
301 8813397 -
12Mar
I returned home from the gym around 3 o’clock this afternoon, eager for a shower after spending the day sweating. Unfortunately, I returned home and there was no water. Not “no hot water,” mind you. No water.
No matter. Certainly this would get fixed before dinner time, meaning I can make pasta or do dishes or any of those normal Sunday kitchen-centered activities.
6:30 p.m. Still no water.
Time for plan B. Truth be told, making a dinner sans water isn’t really that difficult, particularly if you have a well-stocked pantry. It just adds some urgency to the recipe I want to share with you.
Buffalo Chili: No Water Necessary
1 pkg ground buffalo (thank you, Wegman’s)
An onion, chopped
some garlic, chopped
some red and green bell pepper, chopped
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
a couple chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
1 beer, dark (I added about half a beer to the recipe)
1 cup chicken broth
1 can crushed tomatoes
salt
pepper
cumin
chili powder
olive oil
Heat onions and garlic in oil for one minute. Add buffalo – cook until browned. Add peppers – cook briefly.
Throw in everything else, seasoning to taste. Cook on low until sauce is your desired consistency.
Easy enough. Who needs water, anyway? But washing dishes without good old H20? That’s another story. Luckily,
7:20 p.m. Water returns. -
10Mar
Bluestate.
Saturday night.
Drink beer. Listen to good music.
Be there. -
10Mar
I owe MAW a beer. Why should this be? Because last night in a moment of drunken musing I bet him that tea had more caffeine than coffee. So the real question is, why did I believe this odd piece of urban legend? I’m not sure, but it’s wrong wrong wrong.
Depending on where it’s from, tea has between 40 and 60 milligrams of caffeine. Now true, this is more than a coke (34) or a pepsi (37), but it’s less than your average drip coffee which comes in at up to a heart-racing 175 for the same sized cup. A can of Red Bull contains a paltry 80, despite being banned in France for it’s negative effects.
But what of milk, I hear you say. Popular notion says that it bonds with the caffeine and makes it less painful. Well, drinking milk can prevent caffeine-instigated bone loss, especially for the ladies, but I’m not sure where I heard the other stuff.
Anyway, it’s not true, and now I owe MAW a beer.
