SobaAddict70

Chicken's not looking so photogenic while it's poaching so no pix just yet. Clockwise from upper left: young onions (they have a sweet taste, not unlike a Vidalia onion), thinly sliced crimini and shiitake mushrooms, chickweed, ginger, scallions, asparagus. For the stir-fry. I'll be using some of the poaching liquid to cook the rice. Chickweed has a faintly sweet, hay-like flavor. This is the first time I'll be using it in a stir-fry. I treat it simply -- dressed in hazelnut or walnut oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. That's all you really need. I'm curious how this will turn out. I'll probably add at the last minute so I can preserve some of that crisp texture.

Never thought of that. Thanks Helen. For tonight, thanks to Shalmanese: I should mention that I don't own a microwave and I try not to have leftovers if I can help it. Unless I'm making a pot of soup or stew ... that's the exception to the rule.

Roasted asparagus and tomato salad roasted asparagus (see recipe above) 1/2 tomato, cut into small dice olive oil 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar sea salt 1 teaspoon chopped mint leaves Combine in a small bowl and set aside until needed. Poached farm egg over toast, with roasted asparagus and tomato salad and quick tomato confit. Not the image I was going for since the egg refused to behave. For a demo on how to poach an egg, click here.

You mean, like this? Linguine with wild mushrooms and chickweed in cream sauce, garnished with nasturtiums and herbs. I don't like cream sauces usually, but this hit the spot for yesterday's lunch. Very simple: chopped mushrooms cooked in a little butter, salt and pepper to taste, a little lemon juice; add chickweed; add light cream to the pan. Add cooked pasta directly to the pan, reduce sauce just a tiny bit. Serve immediately with chopped nasturtium flowers, chives and some cheese on top. That. Is. Beautiful. I've always wanted to taste those flowers. Are they kind of a sweet/flowery taste? They have a faintly spicy, peppery kick. I like to use them as a condiment in turkey or roast beef sandwiches.

You mean, like this? Linguine with wild mushrooms and chickweed in cream sauce, garnished with nasturtiums and herbs. I don't like cream sauces usually, but this hit the spot for yesterday's lunch. Very simple: chopped mushrooms cooked in a little butter, salt and pepper to taste, a little lemon juice; add chickweed; add light cream to the pan. Add cooked pasta directly to the pan, reduce sauce just a tiny bit. Serve immediately with chopped nasturtium flowers, chives and some cheese on top.

This is going to be 2nd breakfast and elevenses all rolled up into one. On Sunday, my nickname changes to SobaSLUGGARD. I woke up at 9:30. I've never been a morning person.

Ingredients for today's brunch: chicken eggs from Quattro's Game Farm, asparagus, tomatoes and nasturtium flowers. Asparagus, olive oil, kosher salt. Roast at 350 F for 15 minutes. Reserve and set aside. Quick tomato confit: Sliced tomatoes, olive oil, kosher salt, black pepper. Roast at 350 F for one hour. Use as needed when done. Be back in a little while. This is actually going to be second breakfast for me. First breakfast was a glass of orange juice with 5 grams creatine, followed by a protein whey shake. They don't call me eG's resident hobbit for nothing.

Some pix of my kitchen. It's the same apartment that I've been living in for the past 5 years and it hasn't really changed all that much since the last Foodblog back in 2008. I don't think folks can really appreciate how small it is until they've been here. The pix don't do it justice. When I say I don't have enough counter space to seriously consider baking or making pasta (one of the reasons why you'll never see baking appear on my blog), this is what I mean: Here, you can see my small but efficient cookbook collection. I don't cook from cookbooks all that much, but I do use them for sources of inspiration. When I was growing up, I'd go to the library and spend a few hours reading cookbooks.

Penny for your thoughts: If you could get only one cookbook from the following, which would it be: 1. Zuni Cafe Cookbook 2. Marcella Cucina 3. One of Madhur Joffrey's books 4. Some vegetarian cookbook That's one of the dilemmas I'm facing right now ... I can't decide. I'm not a vegetarian, although a lot of what I cook is vegetarian-friendly.

Thanks Jenni. I thought of you a few times when I was posting. A trip to Kalustyan's is later in the week -- I need to restock my Indian food pantry. Breakfast coming up in a little bit.

Hi Nikki, and thanks. Ricotta gnocchi is one of my staples. I usually serve them with some kind of vegetable feature though.

I focus equally on both. Everything's connected -- foodblogs, forums like eG and social networking sites like Facebook and Foodbuzz -- so the question about more interaction isn't really answerable. Sometimes I'll post something on eG with a link back to my blog, especially if it's on the Dinner! thread. I'm not particularly worried about driving traffic to my blog. Forum participation certainly helps, but it's not essential. eGullet is -- in my experience -- am extremely small percentage of the pie. I actually get more hits from Internet searches and Facebook. When I participate in foodblogging events like Weekend Herb Blogging and Presto Pasta Nights, I'll see a measurable increase in page views and commentary. Through participation on other blogs, I've also developed a small but loyal core of readers. Blogging used to own me ... now I just blog whenever I feel like it. People seem to like roasted potatoes with lemon and herbs for some reason. They like it so much that it's become the number one referral whenever someone views my blog. It's one of those mysteries of the Internet.

Sounds great, except the chickens aren't big enough to take apart like that. Think more like really small Cornish game hens. One hen equals one serving. Edit: I'll probably end up making this though, once I'm able to locate some ginger root. There's an Associated across the street from my apartment. Ginger root is, apparently, one of the items it doesn't stock. A little surreal and annoying at the same time.

Thanks Chris. I like okra too but I have to wait for it since it doesn't arrive until late July or early August.

This was dinner tonight: Smoked bacon from Flying Pigs Farm and wild mushrooms over sautéed spinach. Served with a baguette, Pamplie and a glass of pinot grigio. Chopped bacon and mushrooms (oyster mushrooms, shiitakes and criminis) cooked together; then spinach and shallots sautéed in bacon drippings. Lemon juice, freshly ground pepper and onion chives to finish. Time: 30 minutes, including prep.

Earlier Saturday morning, I went to USGM and brought back the following: fresh young onions tomatoes pencil-thin asparagus spinach edible nasturtium flowers heritage chickens Tuscan kale herbs unsalted butter cow's milk ricotta cheese chickweed wild mushrooms From this list, I'll be cooking several meals this week. Pick two to three ingredients and I'll choose the combination that appeals to me most. I may pick up other things to supplement, but by and large, each meal will feature the ingredients that you choose. This also fits in with one of my cooking resolutions for 2011. I want to break out of my cooking "mold", by trying new things. This is one way to make that happen. A few ground rules though: The more fragile items (e.g., chickweed, flowers, spinach) have to be used quickly, like sometime in the next two days. Ditto for the heritage chickens. I bought two hens ... both need to be cooked by Tuesday, otherwise they have to be frozen. I'd rather not have to do that unless necessary. There will be another trip to USGM on Wednesday and again on Friday. We'll be doing this exercise a few more times this week. I'm looking forward to these two trips in particular because I've never been to the Greenmarket on a weekday. That should prove exciting. Some more pix from today: Heirloom tomato plants. What didn't get bought today will be planted on Monday, with the harvest in August or early September. Strawberries. I should've bought a pint. I'm kicking myself now for not having done so. Cinnamon danish. Baked goods. Miniature Irish soda bread. Garlic chives. Assorted spring vegetables. Jonagold apples. Tulips. Mutsu apples.

Hi, I'm SobaAddict70 and this is my fourth eG Foodblog. Here are Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Memo to self: must try harder the next time I do a Foodblog since Kerry got it right, with a little help from Mitch. This Foodblog will be a little different from all the others. There'll be lots of the usual cooking, eating and picture-taking; however, I'm borrowing a page from Iron Chef, sort of. This week, you get to decide what Soba cooks for lunch and dinner. But I'm getting ahead of myself slightly. Back in 2008, I decided to embark on a year-long experiment -- to cook seasonally and within reason, locally. I shop almost exclusively at Union Square Greenmarket, as well as neighborhood food shops in the Upper East Side. Sometimes I'll pick something up at Citarella, especially if it's fish. Lately I've been -- against my better judgment -- becoming fond of Eataly. I usually don't use much canned or overly-processed food. I suppose that might be a little limiting but I view it as a challenge. It keeps me constantly thinking about food, what to cook, what to prepare for the next meal. And it helps sharpen my curiosity and appreciation for the beauty of food. And that's what this Foodblog is really about: that the beauty of the world around us is reflected in the food that we eat.

Can you amplify about WPT serranos and which Knorr? I feel pretty sure after spending a lot of time in Mexico that the "Knorr" refers to this ubiquitous green & yellow label: Knorr Caldo de Pollo We actually discussed it in another Mexican cooking thread. For the most part, the Mexican home-cooks I know all use it basically as a sub for salt. And when they refer to it, it's either "Knorr" or "caldo de pollo" or even just "caldo." Full name not required. Everybody knows that's what you're talking about. And to answer the original question... Back during the heyday of that packaged taco-kit thing, we generally used it to make Sloppy Jose's - the taco meat ladled hot onto a hamburger bun, then topped with grated cheese (immediately, so it starts to melt), shredded lettuce and chopped tomato and onion to garnish if desired, and/or pico de gallo or hot sauce for a little heat. Much easier for kids to handle instead of that crispy tortilla shell that crumbles in your hand. And those tasty juices get soaked into the bread. I raised three kids, which meant a LOT of birthday parties. These "Sloppy Jose's" were my go-to birthday/slumber party meal. The kids all loved them. To get that corn tortilla taste and crunch, either I'd break up those tortilla shells and serve them alongside, or we'd open a bag of Doritos or something. And frankly, although "inauthentic" junk Mexican food it clearly is, the grownups found them pretty good as well. Along with a cold Dos XX to wash it down. Por supuesto. _______________ Oh, that sounds good.

Light dinner tonight: Smoked bacon and wild mushrooms over sautéed spinach. Served with a baguette and good French butter, along with a glass of pinot grigio. Mushrooms were cooked along with the bacon, then the spinach was sautéed in bacon drippings, with a couple of white shallots tossed in for good measure. Finished with lemon juice, onion chives and freshly ground black pepper.

I like to make a light zucchini soup (chicken or vegetable stock, shallots, zucchini, mint or chives; puréed to which is added some crème fraiche or light cream), then spoon that into a shallow soup bowl and lay a piece of poached salmon or halibut on top. Scatter with chopped herbs and serve. This Pan-roasted black sea bass, with buttermilk corn chowder, cherry tomatoes is a variation on that theme.

Bento box dinner. Not shown are sashimi (2 pieces tuna, 2 pieces salmon, 2 pieces yellowtail, 1 piece sweet shrimp, shiso leaf); miso soup; onigiri (seaweed-wrapped Japanese rice) with ume plum. Clockwise from top left: takiawase (simmered vegetables -- carrot, mountain yam, snow peas, eggplant, bean curd, kabocha squash); tamago (egg cooked with mirin), broiled salmon, hijiki (a type of Japanese seaweed), simmered beef and onion, potato salad, pickled ginger; chicken tatsuta-age (chicken marinated in soy sauce, then deep-fried and served with lemon); Japanese rice. Not bad for $25.

Oh my. That chocolate ... I covet.

First breakfast: Whey shake with natural peanut butter and a tablespoon of olive oil, glass of water with creatine Second breakfast: Fried egg sandwich w/sausage and American cheese on a kaiser roll, orange juice Yes, I'm boring.

Very, very, very, very, very, very occasionally ... Mrs. Dash. Some old habits die hard. Although there isn't a bottle in my spice cabinet at this very moment.

There are other forums modelled on eG that survive quite nicely (no, I am not talking about MFF). I belong to a couple but I haven't posted for some time. I need to though ... my problem is I have too many distractions, one of which is Facebook. It's the nature of the Internet to encounter change constantly. Even eG is not immune to this rule, however I think it'll be around for a very long time, not just because of the rules and policies but also because of its community.