Monday, October 25, 2004

Thoop!

This post from Maganda.org reminds one that with the falling of leaves comes soup season. In honor of that, I present this weeks list of "Soupy" Links.

I really want to try and make more soups this winter. Over the weekend I saw Michael Chiarello make this poached garlic soup, which I definitely want to try. And, while we're on the subject of my favorite Food Network boys, here's some soup recipes from Jamie Oliver.

Check out the history of the spoon.

Soup is good for the body and the soul. Chicken soup has been known in many cultures to have healing powers. Here's a recipe for Chinese ginger chicken soup. I'll have to try that when I get sick.

Soup quotes.

No Soup For You!!

*Slurp*

Legendary

Jack made this dip/spread for a dinner party earlier this year, and it was a huge hit. When I went out Friday with some of the same folks who were at that party, I found out that the stuff is legendary. So I thought I'd share the recipe (written by Jack):

Blue Cheese Spread

Ingredients:

1/3-1/2 pound Blue Cheese or Gorgonzola
2 8-ounce packages Cream Cheese
1 stick (4 ounces) butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)

Bring all ingredients to room temperature prior to
mixing. Mash the blue cheese to a semi-smooth
consitancy. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Garnish with additional pepper or with whatever you
think goes well with the spread.

If you like your spread chunkier, crumble the blue
cheese while it's cold and then immediately mix in the
cream cheese and butter.

We like it on top of warm, crusty bread the best.

The spread strengthens in flavor with age, so make the
spread a day or two in advance for best flavor.

Note: This dip is made with an "average" quality blue
cheese. The amount of blue cheese may vary if you are
using a stronger blue like Stilton or Maytag. Other
veined cheeses may also be used, however, we haven't
tried any others as of yet.

That's it... not hard at all.

I (steph) would like to add that using 1/3 less fat cream cheese does not hurt the flavor or texture at all. In fact that's what Jack used in the batch for the dinner party. So if all the butter and cheese is just too much, that's a way to cut the fat a little. Enjoy!

My weekend food

Friday Night I went out to this restaurant called The Edge for my friend Scott's birthday. The place is in Lafayette Square, and it's a pretty cool joint. There's a really nice dining room for fancier dining, a brick and wood bar area for drinking and dining with your fellow Mafia members, a room for parties (that's where we were) and I think there was another more casual bar/dining area off the main dining room. They were pretty accommodating considering 12391234894 of us showed up...without a reservation. They were able to do separate checks and bring everyone the right food.

I had the "Rigatoni a la Edge," which was rigatoni in a red meat sauce with mushrooms, peas and prosciutto. It was good...and there was a HUGE amount of it. Enough left over for almost 2 lunches! Came with a house salad (Mel said it was pretty close to Pasta House's salad), and Cheese garlic bread. I had a couple of glasses of the House Chianti, which I thought was so-so...It was pretty fruity and tangy...I like a more buttery wine. I should have tried their house Cab, but things were just too hectic.

Then most of us headed over to this piano bar up the street called The Heights. It's a really cute bar, patronized mostly by gay men (but anyone should feel welcome there). I just had a couple of Gin & Tonics. The bartender was very good. They have food there, but obviously I didn't try any that night. A couple of my friends love the Brunch they have every Sunday...I'll have to join them some time.

Saturday night, before going to a trivia night, we went over to my aunt's house. They had ordered Stefanina's Pizza. St. Charles dwellers know the place well. They do have really good pizza. It's kind of along the lines of Imo's, but heavier on the toppings, and the cheese seems gooier.

Sunday night we stayed in and had one of my favorite types of meals...Warm bread, olives, Fontinella cheese, Lebanon Balogna and Mortadello. I love eating this way...an Olive oil dip here, a slice of cheese there, an salty olive followed by a swig of fruity, rich red wine. Heaven.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Lost in the Supermarket

Happy links day, everybody! Today, I thought I'dd share some grocery store related links, since I do in fact work in the grocery business!

Although it's competition to my company, one of my favorite area grocery stores is the Global Foods Market in Kirkwood. I have so much fun there...perusing all the aisles. Each Aisle represent a couple different countries. I especially love the Asian and Indian areas. I'll have to see if my library has this book , so I can get more from the Indian Aisle. This is where we get our Sriracha chile sauce, wasabi peas, Mexican oregano, Korean red pepper flakes (most of our spices, really..they're cheaper here, and there's more of 'em). They also have a fun Produce section, with a few kinds of bananas, lots of mushrooms...oh I could go on and on. And the cheeses! Good god. We also get these flatbread they have which makes the perfect pizza crust. Okay, enough gushing over one place...you're bound to hear more about it in th future.

In other local news, I hear the STL is getting it's first Trader Joe's . I'm way excited about this. I hear they have an excellent wine selection, and lots of other cool stuff.

Staying with the International groceries, here is a fun gallery of Hawaiian Groceries. And if you're thinking of grocery shopping in Rome, Here's some tips!

Now, travel back in time, with this collection of vintage grocery store photos.

And I can't forget one of my favorite links, a collection of found grocery lists.

Thankyou for shopping at Ironstef. Have a great day!

Il Vicino

Friday Night Jack and I went to Il Vicino in Clayton with Julie & Scott. It's wood oven pizza, and it's delicious. That night it was "bumpin'" (Scott's word of the day!), but we only waited about 10 or 15 minutes to be seated. The setup is different than most restaurants. You order and pay (and tip) at the counter, then you are seated with a number and everything is brought out to you. The service was very good. Julie and Scott said it's even better on slower nights. I got the Da Vinci pizza and Jack got the Testarossa pizza. Julie and Scott both Got House salads and Margherita pizzas. Next time I'll have to get the salad...it looked yummy.
Oh, and the girl who took our order gave me a frequent pizza card, and gave me 4 stamps, even tough Julie was payng and had already gotten the 4 stamps! Bonus! Also, Jack and I tried the house beer, which was an amber. I think this may have been Jack's favorite part. We were very impressed with the beer. Complex flavor with a -believe it or not- Hazlenut aftertaste! yum. I'll be researching whether we can buy bottles of it somewhere.
Also, the food was cheap! I think it was about $47 for the 4 of us, including our 2 beers. Looks like I'll be using that frequent customer card!

Monday, October 11, 2004

sausage links

I love making lists of related links, you know, web zen style.

For my first one on this blog, I present "Meat is funny." (sorry vegetarian friends)

There are meat hats!

Online Museum of potted meat!

I wouldn't have thought eating bunnies was very funny, but this site kind of changed my mind. Poor Bunnies

Japanese meat sculpture A web classic.

One of the funniest comic strips ever.

Curry night

Last night Jack made curry. Just the normal golden curry-powder kind we all know and love. He made the sauce first, with onions, curry powder, black mustard seeds, Chicken broth, coconut milk, red chile flakes...that's all I know for sure. Our apartment (and the hallway outside) will smell like curry for the rest of the week, which is fine with me. Such a spicy, sexy sweet smell...warms me up.

Anyway, when it was time to eat, he stirfried chicken, sliced carrots, onions and potatoes (which he blanched first). After all of that was almost soft enough, he ladeled in some of the sauce, added green pepper peices and cashews, and heated everything through. Served over rice, It's one of my favorite meals.

Soon we hope to learn how to make Thai green curry and red curry. Here's a good source for all things Curry

Sunday, October 10, 2004

now arriviving in kitchen stadium...

Hello! This is my first entry in this blog. I've decided to have a blog dedicated to something that has a very special place in my heart and my life...FOOD. Besides being necessary for life, food has soooo many uses. It can be comforting, healing, sensual, uplifting, energizing, relaxing. Certain tastes and smells can make you relive treasured memories and moments with loved ones. Food is also strongly tied to culture. You can learn a surprising amount about the world just by exploring different tastes, ingredients and cooking methods. Food is my friend, and with this blog I intend to share that friendship, broaden it, and learn from it. chow down.
steph