Down and Dirty

I've been doing a surplus of food reading lately. My stack includes Diet for a Small Planet, Mission Street Food, and Pintxos (pronounced peen-chohs). All are totally unrelated other than that they're about food, but one thing that ties them together, at least what keeps me rotating through them every 20 pages or so, is that they all are about just down and dirty ghetto ass make-radness-with-the-shit-you-have-because-you're-poor-as-fuck food spirit.

In Erie, at least, food spirit is severely lacking. With the exception of a handful of locally owned business, this town is rampant with frozen-to-fryer mediocrity. OKAY, now before you shit a brick, I'll admit that yeah, sometimes you want some fucking french fries or chicken wings with ranch, or pepperoni balls, or a greasy pile of "lo mein" noodles slathered with msg-rich "brown sauce". We all do sometimes, but to accept mediocrity as the norm allows it to become the only. Why can't we have ghetto-ass-fatty-drunky food (that would also substitute as hangover food) that is classy and daring?

Okay, so this tangent is a spawn of springtime sunshine and Mission Street Food book. I'm getting the hankering to do something spontaneous and dank with food. Granted, there exists zero capital for a truck, let alone the time, but that doesn't quell the almost maniacal urge I have to do something sneaky and reckless, but also delicious and creative. Underground dining (http://www.casasaltshaker.com/faq.htm), pop-up, or whatever. Now, to figure out how to bring more dankness to the people... there must be a way.

Lucky Seven

so i've been getting vegetarian times for about 4 or 5 years now, and they always have recipe contests and other fun things to enter. come to think of it, i've had a subscription pretty much since i started cooking, and have never entered any of their contests. in this months magazine, there was an ad for the 2012 Lucky Seven Recipe Contest, where you can have no more than 7 ingredients excluding salt pepper oil and water, and have to use at least one of the sponsored ingredients/utensil/equipments. Well cats, this is what I came up with, its been a hot minute since of done up some pedestrian fair. Try it out and give me some feedback! xoxo

Ginger Injera with Cinnamon Crème
Yield: 6 cakes
3/4 c Bob's Red Mill Teff Flour
1/4 c Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
1 t baking powder
1 c Zevia Ginger Ale

4oz. Follow Your Heart Vegan Cream Cheese
1-2T water
1t Simply Organic Ground Cinnamon
1T Florida Crystals Organic Powdered Sugar

salt
pepper
cooking spray

1) In a mixing bowl, whisk cream cheese, cinnamon, and powdered sugar, thin with water to desired consistency. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2) In second bowl, mix teff flour, gluten free flour, baking powder, and 2 pinches of salt until well blended.
3) Slowly whisk in ginger ale till thin pancakey-like batter consistency.
4) Warm up a 10 inch nonstick skillet over low to medium heat, spray with oil, and pour approximately 2T of batter into pan.
5) Cook over low heat until bubbles form on top and burst. Flip and continue cooking til edges are crisp.
6) To serve, spread cinnamon crème on each injera and roll up. Top with powdered sugar and enjoy! <3

WTE III Matthew's Trattoria

As was previously mentioned, I had heard a number of horror stories from patrons of Matthew's Trattoria, mostly because they had food allergies or wanted to change some aspect of a dish on the menu. Friday night, my mister and I put those hear-says to the test.

As per-usual, I scoped out the menu online and was pleasantly surprised to see that there was gluten-free menu offerings, in addition to a few things that were vegetarian or could be made vegetarian. Given my predisposition to hating, I really was doing my best to be optimistic...

Upon arrival around 7pm we headed in, passed the semi-open kitchen to the host, who promptly seated us. First things first, had to check the wine list. Mister got the house malbec, and I the cab sauv, which was very enjoyabl. Matthew's, if you've never been, had a very cozy ambiance. A local musician, Frank Singer, was playing, the lighting dimmed but not cave-like, and the decor tasteful. There are couches near the bar for those gathering with friends to chill out and get their drinks and snacks at will, which I might visit again to check out.

Hard-copy menu in hand, decision making was difficult. No gluten free section, or even annotations were on it. I asked our server about it, and there was some miscommunication as to the existence of this mysterious menu. After the third time returning to the table (bless his patience with my indecisiveness!) he said that the chef could make me a polenta dish they had done for a vegan/gluten free customer before. I chose that, while mister chose the Frutti de'Mar [sic] (is that supposed to be italian spanish or french?). Both came with mixed greens salads, to which I chose the house balsamic vinaigrette. I have to say, this dressing was AMAZING! I would have licked the plate were I not in public. Well balanced acidity to oil and not overly sweet like some balsamic dressings are.

So ravenous was I when our dinners came, my dish was a base of polenta mixed with spinach, topped with blistered sweet potato slabs and anaheim peppers, grilled onion, mushroom, and asparagus, with old school parsley mince on the border of the plate. Mister had noodles in sauce with mussels (pre-cooked) and shrimp (with tails still on :\ ). The variety on my plate was thoroughly delicious, but would have been better had the chef seasoned it, and then I noticed the salt and pepper shakers on the table... It was almost all of my favorite things to eat, but there didn't appear to be any inspiration behind it.

For dessert, we split an Italian Coffee and Fruit of the Forest pie. They were both scrumptious, but I'm pretty sure the coffee was coffee + frangelico + whipped cream, and the pie I found out later from a past employee, was from a box and garnished by the server.


Most of the other menu items did not string together in a strong semblance of a theme. There was a sesame encrusted ahi appetizer (also available at Under the Clock and Firebirds) that was presented further down in the entre section in just a larger portion. It was very erratic, but along the lines of steak, seafood, and much emphasis on the appetizers. One LARGE bone I have to pick is the chef's description of tapas. "In Spanish literally translates to small tastes"? No creo que si, jefe. For anyone who cares, tapas, *literally* means "lids", the name originating from the days when patrons would be enjoying a beverage and would need a cover for their drink to keep out flies. I fully condone expanding upon culinary traditions, giving new twists and fusing cuisines, but find it a little disappointing to have misinformation on a menu.

All in all, I can't say it wasn't a lovely meal. Our server was sweet and attentive, and it was also sweet of the chef to make me something off-menu. However, it was about 65$ for two people. Not nosebleed prices, for I've paid far more dining out elsewhere, but for a broke-ass cook I cannot say I would go back for dinner. I would like to go for drinks and try a "tapa" or two. Prove me wrong though, and check it out for yourself! My experience showed me that you can't always believe what you hear, and that just because someone doesn't cook like you doesn't mean its not good :) Happy eating ya'll.

A Test Run...

I have heard for years now stories of an ogre. He dislikes adaptation or change, and I've also heard in one night four of his charges walked out. This is all, of course, hearsay. To see if the tales are true, I am going to sit as bait at his restaurant and do an honest to goodness truthful review. More close critique than other places I've been to, but no bullshit. Tomorrow is my day off, and it looks like Sakura is going to the Trattoria. Wish me luck.

Booze and Food

Everyone is aware of wine and food pairings, i mean shit, there's even a book "what to eat with what you drink". Wine is pretty awesome, but what if its not your jam, or all you have is a slobbered on bottle of tequila?

At the moment, my flavor of the week(s) is Milagro Reposado, and id been craving mango, coconut, chocolate, won tons, and avocado. Yes, random mix, but one cant help what they crave. needless to say, ive also been craving tequila. thus follows my milagro inspired madness: mango cream pie with crispy sugared won-ton and chocomole.

get you some:
1c sugar
1/2c flour
pinch o' salt
3c (you need 2 cans) coconut milk
5-7 egg yolks/3/4c soy yogurt mixed with 2T egg replacer
mango (1, fresh, shred that bitch)
splish splash o' vanilla or guts of 1 bean
1/4c buttah/earth balance

4-6oz chocolate
leftover coconut milk
your oldest mushiest avocado
~1/4c brown suggah
cinnamon

won ton wrappers
enough oil to fill you up a skillet

for the pie you wanna:
-in a saucepan, flour thru salt, slowly whisk in the coconut milk over medium heat. KEEP WHISKIN! i kno it may look soupy, but the flour will thicken and scorch if youre not vigilant. once its thick like pudding, turn your heat off.

-whisk up you egg/vegan egg... vegg... hahaha... of choice. add one cup of the coconut milk jazz to the egg/vegg jazz, and then add that back to the coco milk jazz. whisk over medium heat about 3 minutes or so.

-add shreddy mango (strain the juice off first) vanilla and buttah/vuttah, and IMMEDIATELY pour into souffle cups or tiny bowls, or if youre a bastard ripping off my idea into a store bought pie crust bc youre a lazy fuck. (joking! <3)

-chill out! the top shelf of the fridge is best so it wont raise the temp too much.

for the chocomole:
-in a small saucepan, toss in your chopped chocolate and just enough coconut milk so the chocolate is not swimming. LOW heat.

-break down your avo and throw it in a blender. if its super mushy you can throw it in as is, but if its a bit younger you want to chop it up a bit. shake some cinnamon in, and add sugar. once the choco-coco mix is melty, add that too the blender party.

-pulse a few times to blend a bit, then on a low speed slowly add coconut milk until you have a smooth consistency. TASTE! add sugar or more coconut milk depending on your preference.

for won-tonery:
-heat up some canola (NOT OLIVE OIL DUH) or safflower oil in a skillet, fry your won tons, i like to cut them in fun pointy shapes first. once crispy and brown place on a paper towled plate and sprinkle some sugar on them.

ASSEMBLY:
-once pies are cool and firmed up, stick a few won tons in your pie, and add a hearty helping of chocomole.

-pour you a shot of milagro reposado

-sip, bite, sip, munch, repeat.




<3 with love from sakura.

20th post porn-a-ganza

Creme de la creme of the porn gallery. Enjoy~

Epic Sheppherd's Pie

Holy shit, another blog post. No, I'm not dead. Yes, I'm apathetic in maintaining this blog, still surprised anyone reads it. Well motivation has hit me like a Louisville to the face ever since I got my newest cookbook (a recommendation from my kitchen schooled bro) Culinary Artistry.

So now that my living situation involves feeding ravenous boys on the shoestringiest of budgets, I decided it was time to call out the old timey favorite of Shepperd's Pie. Simple ingredients that are usually on hand, and sometime nice to have leftovers of that will eventually get eaten or frozen for another lazy day.

What you will need:
Beans- black, pinto, azuki, white
TVP or red lentils
cooked red quinoa (1pt quinoa 2pts h2o)
kale
onion
wheat free tamari or soy sauce
frozen veggies- carrots, corns, peas, anything you like
red potatos
daiya or chreese vegan cheese.. or both
olive oil, Earth Balance
garlic
hickory smoke seasoning
almonds
Vegemite (optional)
salt/pepper


+Depending on how epic you want your pie to be, you can make the beans accordingly, or just make a bunch to freeze some later, which is much easier than guestimating. Cook off the beans, adding a little hickory smoke seasoning to the water as well as a bit of tamari.

+In a lidded container, mix 1pt tamari with 3pts water and several hickory smoke squirts, deposit almonds for soakage. These will be chopped up for sprinkling on top later.

+Dice onion, sautee in olive oil over medium heat til caramelized, add chopped kale and add a little tamari and about 1T of water, or just enough to help steam the kale. Cover until kale turns bright green.

+Meanwhile, bring a large pot of cold water and diced red potatoes to a boil, remember if its non-stick add salt after it has come to a boil as not to pit the pot. Let simmer until potatoes are tender.

+To this large sautee pan, add TVP/lentils, cooked beans, quinoa. Season with s & p, Vegemite, then transfer to a large casserole dish, packing down evenly.

+Layer thawed veggies over the bean mixture, season with a little s & p.

+For my pie, I mixed the Chreese up, and then added Daiya mozz. Make your own epic cheese(less) sauwce, just make it dank. Add this to your mostly drained potatoes when they're done. Mash everything together, use a hand mixer if you've got one, or just a whisk. You can break off onto a number of flavour profiles from here. Cheesy dill potatoes, cheesy chipotle potatoes, throw some tomato paste in there and herbes de provence if you're really feelin frisky.

+Layer these whippy potatoes over the veggies, smoothing them out so that all corners are covered. Then sprinkle the chopped marinated almonds. Put your pie in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes, let that shit cooool doooown before you try to eat it though, or you'll burn your tastebuds off... not that that's happened before...

Good luck with your pie!! Happy eating!