102 replies to this topic

[NulloModo]

Greetings,

Hopefully I am not stepping on Walt's feet by slipping this in before he has culminated his blog in his final dinner post, but early east coast mornings and late evening California dinners seem to cause some logistical concerns ;). I am not going to actually bother any of you with real content tonight, but I figured I would get introductions out of the way, and then begin my official blog tomorrow morning with breakfast.

As far as bios go I am 23 years old, live with two roomates in Bear, DE (a little fake town of strip malls and suburbs) which is near Newark, DE (pronounced as in New Ark, not like that place in Jersey, and which is a wonderful little town with lots of charm, beautiful homes, tons of culture, great restaurants, and is somewhere I would love to attach my address to. Alas, someone built a post office near my apartment and called it Bear, so I can't). Geographically speaking in terms of places people might actually know, I Am around 45 minutes southeast of Philadelphia, and around an hour and a half north of Baltimore (I'll get around to explaining why this has significance). I am a public school music/drama/dance/etc teacher during the year (and I suppose an off-duty one during the summer) but am also teaching summer school for the next week and a half. This means that my breakfasts might not be much to look at for the next several days, but I will try to get something out. Summer school being a half-day activity I will have plenty of time to get home and play around with stuff in the kitchen however. Look forward to laughing at many pictures of me trying to cook, chopping off my fingertips, burning myself with hot oil and cast iron, and generally being a anti-posterchild for the food and kitchen safety movements.

I can claim to own four cookbooks in total (one of which was given to me by Ms. Suzilightning, thank you very much) and I'm not positive that I have ever followed a recipe exactly even from them. I have no definate plans for what I will be preparing this week, and am very susceptible to suggestions by eG members. I am prone to using lots of spice, lots of herbs, and probably miss the boat on subtlety more often than not. So as I'm sure you are tired of reading my blabbering for the moment, I will just invite you to all sit back, pop open a cold one, and try not to cringe too much as I attempt not to butcher your favorite dishes as well as my own hands in the coming week.

[mrbigjas]

Nizzice. Go for it, yo.

[Daddy-A]

Look forward to laughing at many pictures of me trying to cook, chopping off my fingertips, burning myself with hot oil and cast iron, and generally being a anti-posterchild for the food and kitchen safety movements.

Finally! A blog that won't make me feel like I have no culinary skill whatsoever!

Looking forward to it ... may the blog be with you!

DA

[StInGeR]

The title of this blog really got me
Goodluck, I'm really looking forward to this

Cheers
Tom

[hillvalley]

Ahhhhh, another teacher I've been waiting for someone to share my summer break glee. I too went back to work today, half days twice a week. It was great to see my kids, and then great to leave at 1.

Do you find your eating habits change when you aren't in school?

[NulloModo]

Ah, sorry for the late start ladies and gents. My first class each day of summer school begins at 7:15 AM. I woke up this morning at 6:45. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the school at which I am working.

Needless to say, that made breakfast a pretty much grab and go affair. This is what I grabbed:



Wow, I hadn't realized my counters were so dirty. Time to wipe those down I suppose. The breakfast consisted of a wedge of tomato, a serrano chile, and a little chunk of triple cream french brie from Trader Joe's. Lest you think I have enormous chiles about, that is a small plate.

I have just returned from work, and lunch (though not terribly exciting) will be up soon. I swung by the local Kitchens etc. on the way back to peruse the clearance sales. Unfortunately there aren't many good deals yet, but I did pick up a stainless steel Italian Moka maker (one or two cup capacity it looks like) for $15. You will probably get to see me burn myself with it, and maybe even make some Moka, as the blog progresses.

Hillvalley - My eating habits change in that in general over the summer I have more time for breakfast, so I tend to cook more elaborate things than I would during weekdays during the school year. I also tend to pack my lunch from the previous dinner's leftovers 95% of the time during the year, so over the summer I have enjoyed having a little more variety.

[hathor]

You munch down a raw chili for breakfast?? wow. That's very impressive!
Blog on!

[lyz2814]

Howdy! I'm about 30 minutes west of Philly, so we're practically neighbors! Looking forward to reading your blog :)

[JennyUptown]

NulloModo has enormous...chiles. Nice.

I've been to New-ark. It only took three or four pronunciation corrections for us to catch on.

Good luck with the blog!

[jgarner53]

Chiles for breakfast? Wow. Guess it takes a lot to wake you up to deal with the kids.

[Marmish]

Chiles for breakfast? Wow. Guess it takes a lot to wake you up to deal with the kids.

I am so not a morning person. That's why they don't let me teach til 9:30. I had prep and plan first two periods. Maybe I should be eating peppers for breakfast, too!

I second Hillvalley in saying it's good to see another teacher. Isn't summer grand?

[NulloModo]

The kids were actually pretty well behaved today. It was the final day of instruction before they begin their retaking of the DSTP (Delaware State Testing Program) which is this big bad standardized test that they all have to take, and which is a big part of whether or not they get to pass on to the next grades. IMHO everyone in the DOE takes it way to seriously, but on the bright side (heh, have to work some food in here somehow) they do provide free Milk/OJ and muffins to all the kids before they begin, or at least they did last year.

OK. so, now for some more photos.

This is the Moka Pot and my new (hey, it was on clearance) black earthenware coffee cup thingie:



I forgot to pick up coffee beans at the grocery store, so I de-virginized my pot with a scoop of Chock-Full-O-Nuts brand pre-ground coffee (which, btw, has a 'best if used by' date on the bottom of June 2002). I whizzed the stuff in a coffee grinder a couple times to make it a bit more fine, filled up the pot with some tap water, read the (very poorly translated) instructions, and fired the puppy up. I fully expected total trash to come out, so imagine my surprise when what I recieved instead was perhaps the best cup of coffee I have ever had. If it is this good with crappy grounds on a first run, I can't wait to see what this baby can do down the road a bit.

I suppose eating the raw chile for breakfast may have given it away: I am a bit of a chile-head. Here is a selection of some of my hot sauces (the ones that were in easy reaching distance for a photo shoot). I decided to leave out my myriad bags of dried/ground/powdered chiles just for the sake of space.



Finally, lunch:



Lunch was leftovers (told ya it wasn't exciting). I simply had to get some stuff out of the fridge. The greenish stuff is collard greens, the whitish stuff is Vidalia and Red Onion Casserole, and the reddish thing is a piece of Italian sausage. Bizarre combo I admit, but it was tasty while I enjoyed an episode of 'Full Metal Panic' (for anyone out there who isn't famliar with this video on demand thing cable companies are starting to do, it is really pretty cool. I hardly ever find anything on TV I want to watch when I want to watch it, so, this at least gives me a couple options here and there).



Dinner should be much more exciting, I am planning something with a little bith of a southwestern flair. I picked up a pork sirloin roast and a bottle of tequila on the way home from school, anyone want to guess what I will be making?

[bleudauvergne]

Yes.

Edited to say YES to those sauces. After cheese, sauces are my favorite...

Margaritas and pork roast?

Edited by bleudauvergne, 13 July 2004 - 11:17 AM.

[NulloModo]

OK, dinner has been started, any more guesses from these mystery shots?

Before chopping/mulching/pouring/etc:



After:



EDIT: To ask - Are the pictures too many/too big? I know some of you are probably on modem connections, and I admit I run my monitor at a very high resolution, so while these look normal sized to me, they may look huge to you. IF you want smaller files for quicker load times, let me know.

Edited by NulloModo, 13 July 2004 - 01:50 PM.

[SobaAddict70]

Pictures are fine on this end. (Of course, I have DSL so they load up just fine.)

YMMV.

I'd like to take this time out to make an appeal to all y'all who are viewing Nullo's foodblog. We need people to volunteer for future installments. The success of this series thread depends on people such as Nullo who are willing to devote their time and effort to letting us take a peek into their lives, foodwise.

If you'd like to get in on the action, send a PM to me, the eG Foodblog Czar, so that I can add you to the request list.

Thank you for your time.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog program.

Soba

[sequim]

Hi Nullo! just wondering if your user name has any meaning

[NulloModo]

Hi Nullo! just wondering if your user name has any meaning

Well, it is a (poor) latin translation of 'No Method' or 'No Means'. I think I meant it to mean something along the lines of 'random' when I created it on some other board many moons ago.

Unfortunately I later became a butt of jokes on another board while using this name because apparently there was a running joke around there about 'Nullos' which are people who go through some kind of sugery to remove any trace of either gender. Ick, certainly wasn't the impression I was trying to make. However, at this point if I try for much of anything else I end up forgetting it and not being able to log on, so I stick with it.

Obligatory food related bit: (that I meant to mention earlier)

For anyone who has never toasted and ground cumin seeds before, go do it now! I have always used ground cumin, but then I picked up a package of seeds recently and decided to grind my own. The aroma while they are toasting is almost like a dog smells right after a bath, but while still wet and out in the sun... earthy, homey, and good in a strange way. Once ground they are just ambrosial. I couldn't believe the aromas sweeping my nose.... I could wear the stuff as cologne.

[bbq4meanytime]

My guess is that you have pot of chile colorado or carnitas going. Looks good in any event. What's with the Absolut along with the hot sauces?

[sequim]

Well, it is a (poor) latin translation of 'No Method' or 'No Means'.  I think I meant it to mean something along the lines of 'random' when I created it on some other board many moons ago. 

Unfortunately I later became a butt of jokes on another board while using this name because apparently there was a running joke around there about 'Nullos' which are people who go through some kind of sugery to remove any trace of either gender.  Ick, certainly wasn't the impression I was trying to make.  However, at this point if I try for much of anything else I end up forgetting it and not being able to log on, so I stick with it.

No Nullo jokes around this board, unless you count the sexless chicken ones...um, referencing the Charlie Trotter thread... Your user name is cool, I always notice it.

[NulloModo]

My guess is that you have pot of chile colorado or carnitas going. Looks good in any event. What's with the Absolut along with the hot sauces?

Bingo-Bango ;).

It is Absolut Peppar, I just grabbed it off the liquor shelf because it was sorta pepper-related.

Yay, I just found out I am going up to TJs this evening, so I will be able to pick up some real espresso grind real coffee to try out in the mocha pot tonight. I have a coffee/spice grinder, but from reading on the coffee board, I'm not positive if that is enough to give me a really fine espresso style (for Moka) grind. If not, I guess I will have to buy pre-ground and keep it in the freezer.

[tejon]

For anyone who has never toasted and ground cumin seeds before, go do it now! I have always used ground cumin, but then I picked up a package of seeds recently and decided to grind my own. The aroma while they are toasting is almost like a dog smells right after a bath, but while still wet and out in the sun... earthy, homey, and good in a strange way. Once ground they are just ambrosial. I couldn't believe the aromas sweeping my nose.... I could wear the stuff as cologne.

Oooooh, yes. Cumin that has been roasted is completely different than the stuff you get out of a jar. Incredibly smoky, earthy, and warm.

No Crystal hot sauce? Not even a bottle tucked away somewhere?

[adoxograph]

Anyone who keeps Old Bay on top of their stove - as opposed to tucked away in the back of a spice cabinet, or (heavens!) not at all - is a soul worth knowing. :)

Chile head, eh? Do you find most of your meals are spiced, or do you occasionally go through bland phases?

[NulloModo]

Oh yes, the Old Bay gets quite a workout sometimes. It adds depth to lots of things, not just seafood, a totally underrated spice blend.

I will say though that many of the spices you see in those photos are not ones I use all the time... (especially the ones on the rack). I have collected many jars from many places, and probably overflow with spices at the moment. The fresh ones that I use the most are kept in a dark cabinet, and are all in baggies from the coop, like the oregano and bird chiles you see in the first Carnitas photo.

Speaking of the carnitas, the water is taking forever to boil off, so I have turned it up. Hopefully soon I shall have crispy crunchy pork bits.

I have a special side dish in the works as well.

While at TJs I picked up a can of the Mexican Double Roasted Coffee, not sure why I picked that one, but it looked good, so I will go for round two of Moka pot tongiht as well.

[JennyUptown]

Would you mind posting your carnitas recipe?

[GG Mora]

Rots, man. I'm outta town for the next 5 days, so I'll miss out.

Bloggedy.

[NulloModo]

Dinner:

The side Dish:



Jicama (a mexican potato/apple sorta hybrid type texture and taste thing) sticks with a dressing made of fresh cilantro, mint, lime juice, and tequila. I also dusted the finished product with some chipotle powder to give it a color and taste contrast.

I also decided to make a quick fresh salsa to go with the carnitas from the following:



And finally, the finished product:



I served up the Carnitas with the salsa, some Crema Mexicana, and the Jicama Sticks.

Carnitas Recipe:

I started with about a 4 lb Pork Sirloin Roast. It unfortunately had a huge honkin bone in it that I pretty much managed to cut out. I roughly cubed it into big chunks.

Toss into a big pot with 1 cup of tequila, 1 bottle of beer, a chopped onion, a couple cloves of chopped garlic, some powdered dried chiles (or ground up whole dried chiles), some oregano, a couple tablespoons worth of fresh toasted and ground cumin seeds, salt, pepper, juice of two limes, juice of one lemon, and enough water to cover it up barely.

Let that pot simmer until all the liquid is gone and it starts to fry. I had to add a little more fat to get it to sizzle, and then once browned on bottom tossed it under the broiler to brown on top.

Serve it up with whatever you like.

Edited by NulloModo, 13 July 2004 - 06:59 PM.

[wnissen]

Wow, this is a little embarassing, but I get all my Latin from Disney, so I thought NulloModo was a play on Quasimodo, which according to the fine documetary animated film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" means half-formed. Thus I thought it meant unformed.

I'll have to try Old Bay in more dishes; I grew up in outside of D.C. so I can't imagine serving crab without it, but I have to say it doesn't often make an appearance. And hot sauce, for God's sake! I have precisely three bottles: Tabasco regular, "Scorned Woman," and Snake Venom. You must have as many hot sauces as I have wines!

Walt

[herbacidal]

It is Absolut Peppar, I just grabbed it off the liquor shelf because it was sorta pepper-related.

Yay, I just found out I am going up to TJs this evening

You should infuse a habenero vodka. You'd enjoy it.



There's a Trader Joe's near you?





Hey from Philly!

[NulloModo]

The nearest TJs is like a 30/45 minute drive because of the abominable traffic on Concord Pike (Route 202 into Westchester, PA). That is where the TJ is, so I avoid it usually, but my roomate was driving up, so I jumped in the car to hitch a quick ride and pick some stuff up while he did his business elsewhere in the shopping center.

I was underwhelmed by the Absolut Peppar, mainly why it is still here after over half a year. It will likely dissapear the next time we host a 'gathering'. I might try that habanero infused idea though...


Those photos make the food look a lot darker than it actually was. Wow, it looks like I smothered the jicama in chili powder from that shot, there was really just a dusting.

Walt -

The Quasimodo translation, and your idea of my nick translation, may very well be correct. I made it up on the fly a couple years out of HS latin and never bothered to check it honestly.

I will avoid photographing my wine-rack as I am sure it would make me the laughingstock of eGullet ;).

Edited by NulloModo, 13 July 2004 - 08:12 PM.

[NulloModo]

A question for those knowledgable:

Where does one go to get a knife sharpened? Our apartment knives are a set of Chicago Cutlery given to my roomate by his parents as a housewarming gift. I rather like the chefs knife in the set, but in over two years, it has never been sharpened, and it is quite dull. This has led to me almost chopping my fingers off (and partially succeeding) a couple times in the past weeks, this has to stop.

Only problem is, I have no idea where I would go to have a knife sharpened. So where does one take a knife? Do kitchen stores do it? Do you have to find a knife place? Thanks.