SobaAddict70

Heheh. Dinner tonight was chicken pad thai (I kind of cheated here a little bit and ordered pad thai from a Thai take out, and mixed it with sliced leftover broiled chicken breasts from last night, with a little sriracha). And some hamachi and saba sashimi. I also made a fig and preserved lemon salsa that's now sitting in the fridge for later. It's really easy, as follows: dried figs chopped preserved lemon rind Italian parsley or cilantro chipotle en adobo cayenne powder lemon extract EVOO Puree all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Stir. Refrigerate to let flavors blend.

Il Buco (Eric Asimov) Related discussion regarding Frank Bruni, his colleagues and the New York Times star system can be found here. Soba

Ah well, can't be perfect all the time.

I'm afraid that's another obscure geek reference. Well not so obscure if you're a fantasy game geek like me, but obscure enough for the rest of the planet. [off-topic tangent] Hobbits in other fantasy games are called halflings; in the world of Dragonlance, they're called kender. So while a hobbit is not a kender (because kender wear shoes, are fearless and tend to exhibit natural rogue-like tendencies), a kender is indeed a type of hobbit. Kender are also packrats, in the sense that you are never sure exactly what is the answer to that infamous riddle, "What do I have in my pocket?" [/off-topic tangent]

So, anyway, dinner last night: broiled boneless skinless chicken breasts, smeared with 1 T. EVOO and Mrs. Dash green mango pickle brussel sprout pasta (see recipe below) Lactaid fruit I don't know what to call it. I used to do a version of this with roasted cauliflower instead of brussel sprouts, but was experimenting one day -- back when I didn't work out. Lo and behold, a dish was born. The green mango pickle was the jarred kind. I haven't made any chatni in ages, maybe now that it's fall I should set aside a day or two.

Thanks, Jack! Reading that reminded me of Sam's brussel sprouts four ways, from his Foodblog, Thanksgiving Haute Cuisine:

I'm going to take a break from posting while I have lunch -- which by the way is baked snapper in a tomato and olive broth, steamed rice, and sauteed Swiss chard.

I'll have to try this some time. Maybe with a little fennel too, come to think of it.

The souffle part intrigues me. I'd like to hear more. Bacon, or pancetta improves just about anything. Stuffed brussel sprouts? I guess I'll pass...not that I wouldn't eat them, just that I wouldn't make them.

In a perfect world, I would eat red meat at least twice a day, every day. Since it's not... 1. At least once a week. 2. Shell steak, t-bone steak, porterhouse steak, it really doesn't make a difference to me. Steak is steak (in my view) regardless of whether it was procured at Peter Luger's, Sparks, Strip House or my local C-Town supermarket. What matters to me is "does it taste good?" and "am I enjoying myself?". Of course, I can doff my aesthetic hat when I want to. Most of the time I don't. Not sure if that makes any sense. 3. Both. I'm just as likely to cook it at home as I would order it in either a restaurant or a diner. 4. Not to contradict myself with #2 above, but if we're talking about aesthetic dfferences, then Peter Luger's by far. Wolfgang's Steakhouse comes a close second, in my opinion. Chef Vongerichten has many, many talents, but V Steakhouse -- in my opinion -- is not one of them. These opinions apply only to New York City, and then only those establishments that I've visited within the five boroughs. I haven't tried every single steakhouse in New York, just keep that in mind. Outside of New York, well, I'll defer to those more knowledgeable than I. But if we're talking about pure pleasure, well then, each offers a great experience in its own way.

hehhe, Pan. If I'm cooking for myself, all aesthetic considerations go flying out the window. I'm perfectly serious. That means that I'm just as likely to use Mrs. Dash with my cottage cheese as using Vidalia onion marmalade. It really depends on what's in the fridge. Convenience, not aesthetics is key here. At the end of the day, the only person I need to satisfy is myself. I can see how that might not be unsuitable for some people, but hey, it is what it is. I'm unapologetic as far as my habits are concerned and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. However... If I were cooking for someone else OR if I'm dining out, then I make sure I have my foodie card in my back pocket.

Jenny -- thanks, lol. Here's a pic of me in 2003 from the Second NY Potluck Dinner: I'll post an "after" shot on the last day of the blog. No Speedos though. I have a long, long road before that happens.

Thanks for the brussels sprouts idea. I'll post what I had for dinner after I get lunch. It was one of my earliest eG-inspired creations...the brussel sprouts, not the boneless chicken breasts. As for the "dark side", that's a line from the third Star Wars movie. You know, for the geek in all of us.

They didn't have any cheese blintzes and I didn't feel like scarfing down any egg whites, so I opted for a yogurt, granola and fruit cup. For the uninitiated, imagine a clear plastic shake cup filled with unsweetened yogurt mixed with a little honey, topped with granola, and then topped with sliced strawberries and bananas. Off to get lunch in a few. I'll get to your comments in a couple of minutes.

Good morning! Breakfast #1 was your typical whey shake with Lactaid. Something that I probably don't mention is that I hydrate myself within 15 minutes of waking up. I don't know about you but putting away a gallon of water a day is a pretty daunting task. I've practically gotten it down to a science though. Basically it means that as soon as I get up, I make sure to drink a glass of water. Since the beverage I usually consume most often is either water, milk/Lactaid or tea -- wine being the exception and only if I'm dining out -- it's not difficult for me to fulfill this particular requirement. I'm off to get breakfast #2. Fridays, the cafeteria has cheese blintzes with raspberry jam, so I might get a couple of those in place of the usual hardboiled eggs. We'll see....maybe they haven't run out yet.

Folks, I hate to be the one who rains on this parade, but I've just had to remove several posts which delved into off-topic chat. Ideally, we should be talking about we wear whilst cooking or whilst being in the kitchen, not references to human anatomy and other tangents of that nature. Thanks. Soba

Hale and Hearty Soups has a branch in Rockefeller Center, on the concourse. Just got some lentil with double-smoked bacon and red onion soup, a tuna salad sandwich and some Asian peanut dressing on the side. Oh yes, and a glass of milk. (photo courtesy of bleudauvergne)

Hi, Chufi. Re appreciation of food, that's what cheat days are for. I think that if I viewed every single meal as an opportunity to pack on pounds, that I would quickly lose interest in eating and view it as a chore. I make sure that I set aside one or two meals a week where I don't worry about caloric or macronutrient intake, and just eat for the pleasure of eating. The way I view things, it's all right to skimp on one or two meals as long as I'm consistent the rest of the time. Percentage wise, if 10% of a day's meals are off the charts, then the other 90% will more than make up for it. It's not an issue as far as I'm concerned. As for running out of ideas, it'll be a cold day in hell before that happens. Besides, there's always eGullet for ideas.

Dinner tonight will most likely involve brussel sprouts in some form. Originally I was going to roast them, now I am not so sure. Ideas please? For protein, there will be my (infamous) boneless skinless chicken breasts, broiled with a little EVOO and some Mrs. Dash.

I think it's the texture or the sliminess, which is weird. I like unagi sushi and sashimi. I absolutely adore unagi-don (bbq eels on top of Japanese rice). I'm a fan of okra and natto. There's something about jellied eels that makes me want to puke though. I've never tried durian, so I can't attest to that. It's really not a lot of food. Well, compared to my "all-you-can-eat-sushi" days, it isn't.

I'm leaning toward Otto for this Sunday's blowout. I haven't been there in quite some time, and there selection of gelatos was amazing if memory serves. Hm, quality of hunger. It kind of depends. Usually I'm at my hungriest as soon as I get up in the morning, especially if I haven't had my cottage cheese snack the night before. Other times, it's usually after leg day or chest/back day. If I've had a great workout, I'm ravenous once I get home. My stomach can't differentiate between "ravenous" and "starving". It just knows that it's time to go chow down. As for foods that don't work....besides milk (note I can eat cheese, butter and cream and those won't affect me as much as milk will), I'd say stinky cheese (epoisses, limburger, cabrales); bottled or freshly made gefilte fish, or jellied eels (I like natto though so go figure); or insects. For instance, in Thailand, they deep fry caterpillars and serve them like French fries. I don't think you'd ever catch me trying those, not even if Tony Bourdain were by my side. Other than that, if you put it in front of me, chances are that I'll eat it.

Barbara -- Think of it as a huge amount of food broken down over the course of several hours a day. Not strange once you think of it that way. Also, I think Abra or someone mentioned elsewhere that the food is out of the ordinary. Honestly, less than 20% of all the stuff I eat would be classified as "alien", I think. There's a time and a place for my foodie badge, and there are times when the foodie badge doesn't apply.

Hi, folks. I woke up late this morning, so pretty much had just my morning whey shake and a triple natty peanut butter sandwich. That's three slices of bread slathered with as much natty peanut butter as it can hold. Oh, and some fruit. Right now I'm in the midst of scarfing down some sesame-glazed chicken breast, scallion and ginger rice and green bean stir-fry. I'm thinking maybe some chicken and rice from the street carts outside later or maybe a roast beef sandwich from a sandwich shop downstairs later on. (I work in Rockefeller Center, so I have a good selection of eateries if the cafeteria doesn't strike my fancy. Contrast this with the neighborhood when I was at my previous firm; it was a culinary wasteland. )

I thought a stream of black on light blue text would prove to be too much eye strain for my audience. "two t. natty peanut butter" = two teaspoons natural peanut butter. sometimes abbreviated as 2 t. natty pb. Don't worry, I'll train you eventually.

As soon as I left the gym, I headed over to Thalia's little takeout store (an annex to the main restaurant) and bought a layered veggie sandwich with pesto and fresh mozzarella. Also a little tub of house-made spaghetti and tomato sauce. Very occasionally I'll stop in here straight from the gym and pick up a couple of tubs of seared salmon. If I'm going to get some protein, there's no reason why it can't taste good. (For the record, the seared salmon often comes with potato puree and plum tomatoes. Not bad for $5 per serving.) Once I got home, I had a Nitrean shake w/two t. natty peanut butter and a glass of Lactaid. Dinner tonight was some leftover matzoh ball soup, broiled shell steak, the veg sandwich and pasta. I'm answering e-mail and other techie geek stuff, then my bedtime snack. No tuna this time though.