e p o n y m o u s

I’m Going To Try This. Very Soon.

Ξ January 5th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Good Eats |

So, yummy.

An Interesting Exercise

Ξ January 5th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Art |

Fancy Brisket

Ξ December 28th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Good Eats, Red Sea Pedestrians |

Brisket Bourguignon

- serves 6 -
Ingredients

1 three-pound brisket
1 bottle of dry red wine, preferably Burgundy
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 slices of thick-sliced, center cut bacon, roughly diced (for a kosher brisket, substitute the bacon with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil)
8 ounces sliced mixed mushrooms, including oyster, shitake, and cremini
2 large onions, cut into thick rings
6 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal
2 cloves garlic, chopped
5 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup cognac
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups beef stock
Procedure

1. Put the beef brisket into a glass baking dish or a large sealable plastic bag, and cover with the entire bottle of red wine, making sure that the wine saturates every inch of the meat. Cover, and return to the refrigerator to marinate for at least 2 hours, to overnight.

2. Take the meat out of the fridge while you chop the vegetables, to give it time to take the chill off before it hits the hot pan. Take the meat out of the wine, but reserve the marinade to use as cooking liquid. Pat the brisket dry with paper towels. Then, season the meat liberally with salt and pepper, and dust with the flour, shaking off any excess. In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium-high heat, and add the brisket. Brown on one side for 3 to 4 minutes, flip, and brown the other side. Remove the meat from the pan, and set aside.

3. Add the bacon to the hot pan, and render it down for 2 to 3 minutes, until it gives off some fat, but does not begin to crisp. Then add the mushrooms, onions, carrots, garlic, thyme, and bay, and season with salt and pepper. Sauté for 10 minutes, until the onions start to become translucent, and the mushrooms soften.

4. Pour the cognac from the bottle into a separate glass, and add the cognac from that glass into the pan (this process reduces the risk of flare-ups). Deglaze the bottom of the pan as the cognac simmers and begins to evaporate.

5. Stir in the tomato paste, reserved wine, and beef stock. Nestle the brisket into the cooking liquid, down into the vegetables, and bring the wine broth to a simmer. Lower the heat to the lowest it will go, cover the pot, and allow to cook for 4 hours.

6. After 4 hours, remove the brisket from the pot, allow to rest for a few minutes, and slice thinly against the grain. Serve with the vegetables and braising liquid.

No Limit Texas Dreidel

Ξ December 15th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ain't Life Grand?, Red Sea Pedestrians |

Cory from BoingBoing brings us this new awesomeness:

No Limit Texas Dreidel combines the traditional dreidel game with Texas Hold’em poker. The objective is for each player to create the best dreidel “hand” by combining dreidel spins. You will combine dreidel “spins” in your shaker, which only you will see, with other Community Spins, which will be seen by all players. Players bet in rounds using poker betting rules. The game is best played with chocolate gelt (coins), as is the traditional wager for the Dreidel Game. No Limit Texas Dreidel is an entertaining adult party game and is family fun for everyone ages 9 to 99.

I know what the family should be doing on Hannukah.

Yummy

Ξ December 11th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Good Eats |

Provençal Fried Egg Soup
- serves 4 -

Adapted from A Platter of Figs by David Tanis.

Ingredients
4 eggs
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
6 cups chicken stock
2 bunches green garlic shoots or 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Small handful sage leaves
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced or baby spinach
4 slices baguette or other sturdy, European-style loaf

Procedure
1. Bring the stock to a simmer in a soup pot, then add the garlic and sage. Simmer for about five minutes, then check for seasoning. Salt and pepper as needed.

2. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a skillet and fry the eggs gently until the white is set but the yolk is still a bit runny. Season generously with salt and pepper. The eggs can be fried ahead of serving.

3. Add the spinach to the broth and simmer for an additional minute. Ladle into shallow bowls, float the baguette pieces, and top each with a fried egg.

T-Minus Four Days

Ξ December 10th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ain't Life Grand? |

In about 80 hours, I’ll have this view, too:

I can’t wait.

See…this is why we can’t have nice things.

Ξ December 9th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Geekery, Vanity |

Here I sit, up for almost two hours drinking coffee with two very large research papers to write, and I’m reading directions on MaximumPC on how to build my very own NAS box.

As all eight of my readers can probably guess, I have been a bit busy. Between the semester ending, applications being due, Laura coming, and prepping for the vacation (yay!) that starts Saturday, I’ve been a bit preoccupied.

Please forgive me and I’ll be back to posting silly shit like this, shortly.

Good times.

Someone Needs to Keep This Site Away From Me

Ξ December 5th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ New York State of Mind |

Or I’ll never get any work done.

Mangnen l’boulé - Ghislain Poirier feat.: Nik Myo

Ξ December 2nd, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Music |

Our Thanksgiving Menu

Ξ December 1st, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Ain't Life Grand?, Good Eats |

For those of you who are interested, Laura came to New York this weekend and we had a lovely Thanksgiving meal with my good friends Jenny, Katie, and Rob.

Here’s a sample of our menu:

For the cranberry sauce, Laura suggested this recipe which, I must say, turned out excellent:

Cranberry Tangerine Sauce

Serves 8-12
1 10oz pkg. Fresh Cranberries
1/2c Sugar
1/2c Fresh Squeezed Tangerine Juice
1t Tangerine Zest
1/2t Salt

In a 1qt saucepan bring all ingredients to a low boil and cook for about 15 minutes.

I think it would be delicious on a pork loin or pork chops, too.

Next up, the soup. We decided to go with this carrot-fennel soup which turned out simply fabulously. Adding the oil soaked, crushed fennel seeds really gave it that anise flavor right before serving and Laura thoughtfully brought along a few fennel fronds for presentation.

This broccoli rabe with ricotta salata and lemon butter turned out fabulously, however, next time I won’t sautee it right before dinner. It was also delicious cold.

And, for desert, we have the chocolate pecan pie which was so rich that I still have a quarter of it left.

Alongside our recipes, we also had fresh oyster stuffing, andouille sausage stuffing, squash casserole, pumpkin pie, and a lovely turkey prepared by Jenny.

Suffice it to say, if you weren’t in Midtown East for Thanksgiving this year, you seriously missed out.