shaken up, rattled, and no more rolling on my bicycle

After a bit of a disastrous run-in on Bushwick the other night, I find myself laid up at Bellevue Hospital with broken bones and stitches. Did you know that post-surgery they don't let you eat? So you can imagine that by the time my visitors rolled around today, I found myself longing for real food.

Thanks to my awesome kid sister (who is sort of writing this due to my drug induced state), I was able to turn down my gray roast beef, scalloped potatoes, and vegetable medley. After standing in line amongst some Russian tourists, she brought back a delicious meal from Shake Shack. We dined on ShackBurgers, a medium grilled burger topped with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, and something called "shack sauce," and a side of crispy crinkled fries topped with a blend of American and cheddar cheese. For dessert, we shared a peanut butter milkshake (they refused to mix chocolate and peanut butter!) and a Concrete, another Shack specialty, made of vanilla custard and chocolate truffle cookie dough.










So for now, my red jello still sits untouched, and the mystery of what flavor red actually is will have to be saved for another day.





And, of course, a major thanks to my family for rushing to the city, my aunts for bringing me Reese's Pieces, and of course my gals, Isabelle and Vanessa, for keeping me alive to enjoy the Shack. xxoo.


- Posted using BlogPress from my (sister's) iPhone

Location:Bellevue Hospital

special guest post from kate, baking and crossword puzzle partner in crime

Baked Mac ‘n Cheese

Or . . . the remedy for a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

So, today (Tuesday) pretty much sucked a big one.  Normally I feel like Monday or Wednesday is the “bad” day of the week, but this week Tuesday decided to surprise me.  I won’t go into details, except to say that I got no sleep last night, had an awful morning at work, went to class, had to leave class early to go back to work because remote access decided not to work, and then had prescription insurance issues (which should have been resolved a month ago) to boot.  Anyway, all I wanted was gooey mac ‘n cheese.  I don’t have celiac disease - thank God - but wheat definitely does a number on my tummy if I have too much of it, so I do try to eat rice or quinoa pasta and the like.  Today?  Didn’t care one bit about that!  After finally making it somewhat back home I stopped at the grocery store, picked up some stuff, and walked the rest of the way home to start making yummy baked mac ‘n cheese, something I’ve never made before.  We also have fillet mignons wrapped in bacon (an Omaha Steaks present for when we moved into our house) that I learned to cook on the grill - also a feat, since I’ve never grilled before!  Oh, oh, oh - another note . . .we live in a duplex and the neighbors we share a wall with aren’t the most upstanding citizens; well, some of them aren’t, there are like a million people living in that house - do NOT even want to know what the bathroom situation is like in the morning.  Anyway, I digress...  so, while baking this Mac I had the pleasure of watching an “undercover” cop walk “his” dog down the street while stopping for verrryyyy long pauses in front of the house next door.  Oh dear!

Post-Meal Notes

• O-M-G → go throw a party or something and require every single person attending to bring the Omaha Steaks Fillets wrapped in bacon.  Seriously, while the mac was delish, those fillets wrapped in bacon MADE MY DAY!
• I would work to make the Mac more rich next time - maybe add more cheese, or maybe use parmigiana or Prima Donna Gouda (soooo yummy).  The husb even suggested adding a bit of the velveeta that I love and mixing that in.  Just some thoughts for y'all
• I like the crunchy of the smashed chips on top, but next time would probably just use the extra cheese and maybe breadcrumbs . . . or smash the chips more!
• Recipes, as they were actually made tonight, are below

mac 'n cheese

ingredients

3 cups pasta (uncooked) - I used fun shapes like shells and penne because, secretly, velveeta shells are my fave.  Ok, maybe not so secretly

3.5 - 4 cups shredded cheese.  I was lazy, because it was a bad day, and used the pre-shredded stuff from the store, but you could definitely just buy a hunk o’ cheese and shred it yourself.  I used “fancy sharp cheddar” - aka a mix of 3 different kinds of cheddar

salt and pepper - maybe about 1 tsp each?

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 cup of milk, plus an extra splash or two

2 tsp red pepper flakes - you can leave these out if you don’t want the heat

directions

1. Make your pasta!  While that pasta is going, pre-heat the oven to 350 and start to melt the butter in a sauce pan on the stove

2. Add the flour to the butter and mix to make a nice roux.  Add half of the milk and stir, throwing in about 1 C cheese

3. STIR - like you mean it!

4. Add the other half of milk, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes.  Add the rest of the cheese.  Add an extra splash (or two) of milk if you need it

5. Again - STIR like you mean it . . . it’ll take some time, but be patient (I know, I know, really hard after a horrible day.  Maybe some wine or beer will help with that.  I think it probably will - at least it did for me)

6. Butter/Cooking Spray/whatever a baking dish.  I used a round Corningware, but an 8x8 baking dish (like the kind for brownies) would probably be just fine

7. Add the pasta and cheese and mix it all up.  I topped it with extra cheese and some smashed up (ya know, to get out that anger and frustration from the day) blue tortilla chips

8. Into the oven for about 30 minutes

fillets

1. Umm - the husb started the grill (I watched and now know how - woohoo!)

2. Salt the fillets, plop on grill salt side down and salt the side that’s now facing up

3. Cook for a few minutes on each side.  

• Do you know the hand trick to tell when your steaks are to the temperature you want?  It’s pretty awesome! Medium-rare was the name of the game tonight (hold your non-dominant hand out, palm facing you, and lower your pointer finger towards your palm - the feel of the “squishy” part of your palm near your thumb is what medium-rare feels like.  want medium? lower your middle finger down.  crazy and like your steaks well-done (umm, who ARE you?!) lower your pinky down - make sense?)

4. Take off grill and top with butter

5. Let sit for a few minutes (5ish?) before cutting

6. Wear bug-spray!  I add this only because in the 10 minutes we were outside I got 3 bug bites on my right foot and 2 on my left - what the heck mosquitos?!?!

a mediterranean staycation

I have unfortunately been suffering from a troubling affliction for quite some time now.  An illness with no cure.  The travel bug.  Since my first solo trip abroad about eight years ago, I've wanted nothing more than to jetset around the world visiting one fabulous, exotic location after another.  Well, maybe not nothing more, I yearn for very many things but travel has always been way up there on the list.  Though I've been afforded the great opportunity to visit many cities and countries since I became a passport holder, one locale that I haven't had the chance to jet off to is the Mediterranean, particularly the Eastern coast.  This dream of mine does not begin and end with the crystal blue waters, the luxurious lifestyles, or the rich (art) histories of the region, though.  No no no.  What I might look forward to the most about my eventual trip is the food.  The spicy and savory spices, the fresh and hearty cuisine, colorful, (relatively) healthy, and foods as ancient as the traditions.  

Since I'm currently unable to afford a vacation (no Mom, New Jersey doesn't count,) I occasionally base an entire meal around the culinary masterpieces of the Mediterranean.  Plus, the food is all pretty simple to make, healthy and perfect for summertime because none of it's super hot.  Since my desire to make something late last night led me to whipping up an ungodly amount of hummus, tonight became one of those wonderfully themed suppers!

To start, that wonderfully simple hummus with red peppers, carrots and pita chips.  Hummus, like the guacamole I make so well, is pretty much made to taste with a few simple ingredients.  It's a recipe that doesn't really require a recipe.  So here are the basics:

hummus

ingredients

chick peas

lemon juice

olive oil

garlic

tahini

salt & pepper

directions

1. Blend together in a food processor or blender until desired consistency is reached.

Simple enough for you?  You can mix it up and make it a little more 'complicated' by throwing in pine nuts, roasted red peppers, fava beans, sun dried tomatoes, or my personal favorite, olives!  

For the main course, falafel stuffed pitas, salad and pasta salad with Greek twist.  I'd love to say that I make my falafel completely from scratch, but I'd be fibbing if I did.  Instead, I use one of the many packages you can find in the 'ethnic' aisle of your grocery store.  All you have to do is add water, shape into little balls, and fry.  I suppose you could bake the falafel, but I feel like that would be cheating even more than I already do so, into the skillet they go!  I make up for the unhealthy frying by using whole wheat pitas.  Then, I load up the pitas with falafel, chopped onion, hummus, tahini, diced tomatoes, lettuce, and tzatziki.  Tzatziki is another simple, to taste recipe.  All you have to do is mix together plain Greek yogurt (the super thick kind,) fresh dill, chopped cucumbers, salt and pepper.  Voila!  

A simple salad with a vinaigrette and whatever leftover veggies you have makes a perfect side.  Another perfect side is my Greek pasta salad.  A nice twist on the traditional picnic side of canned black olives, tri-color spirals, raw carrots and Italian dressing, my pasta salad is loaded with veggies and drenched in a savory Greek dressing from one of my many classic loves, Mr. Paul Newman.  Put this next to the boring old pasta salad at your next bbq and see which one goes first, I dare you.

Greek pasta salad

ingredients

1 lb tri-color radiatori pasta

fresh baby spinach

mixed Kalamata olives, pitted

chopped tomato

chopped cucumber

crumbled feta cheese

1 bottle Newman's Own Greek Vinaigrette dressing

directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and dump in the pasta.  Cook about 8 minutes until al dente, pasta salad pasta should never be mushy.  When cooked, drain and rinse with cold water to make sure it completely stops cooking.

2.  In a large bowl, toss together a few handfuls of spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives.  Once the pasta is fully drained and cooled, mix it in with the veggies.  Pour the dressing over the mix (use as much as you want though I usually stick to only half a bottle.)  Toss everything together well, making sure everything gets a good coating of dressing.  

3. Top the salad with crumbled feta cheese.  Cover and chill for at least an hour.  The salad can be served cold or at room temp.

So what if I can't jump on the next flight to Cyprus and lounge on a yacht for awhile.  I've got almost all of the goodness of the region here in my tiny Brooklyn kitchen.  It's exotic enough for me now.  And regionally themed suppers cure my wanderlust, for a few moments at least.  Until next time.

my hurricane survival kit

In case you haven't heard yet, there's a wicked storm a-brewin'.  I'm talking about that badass lady, Hurricane Irene.  Here in Brooklyn they have us all hunkering down, cowering in our apartments (or the local bar,) trapped without any means of public transportation, the bodegas quickly running low on supplies, and threats of zones and power outages taking over all the airwaves.  After many warnings, mostly from my mom but the Mayor, too, I decided that it was probably a good idea to put together a hurricane survival kit. Me being me though, my priorities may be a little different than other folks so I made a few adjustments to the traditional survival kit.  Here's how I'll be getting through the wild and windy evening:

Basic Supplies -  I have a freezer full of water.  I have candles, matches and a flashlight.  I've got chips and salsa, cheese and crackers, pb&j, and plenty of iced coffee.  And if the power does go out and all that frozen meat starts to defrost, enough bbq to feed the whole block!  I think I'm covered in the basic supplies area.

Power - Staying in touch with the rest of the world is important and for up-to-the-minute weather and news, the internet is key.  So, I've been charging all day and have a fully-loaded phone and laptop.  Thankfully the internet is still working so I can watch awesome movies like Desperately Seeking Susan now streaming on Netflix!  Also take note of the wine.  It's important to keep myself calm and collected to remain in charge of any crazy situations.  That's what the wine is for.

Gear - Staying dry is important, but so is being comfortable and fashionable.  Hence the flashy galoshes and purple hot pants.  And all those years of my parents pushing ponchos on me has finally paid off.  I have a stash of them ready to throw on at a moments notice... and you better believe those suckers are getting bedazzled!

Entertainment - It's important to not get bored during natural disaster-ish times like this because boredom only leads to bad things like looting and getting struck by lightening.  So I've gathered a wide selection of flicks including The Notebook and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, because you never know what kind of movie mood you'll be in when stuck indoors for hours on end.  If a movie marathon gets to be a little too lazy, board games are always a great backup.  Among my collection are Scrabble, Uno, Mystery Date and Jenga!  Those are sure to keep you busy with or without electricity.  And for when my brain starts to feel like it's turning to mush, I've got plenty of intellectual entertainment in the form of three jam packed bookshelves.  Currently off the shelf being read are George Eliot's Middlemarch and Esmeralda Santiago's Conquistadora.  Plus, don't you just love reading by candlelight?  So what if it's bad for your eyes, it's so classically romantic and makes me feel like Jo from Little Women.

Stay entertained and don't go looting!  And don't get struck by lightening either.  Be smart and stay inside.  And if your power is still on and you're feeling inclined to hang out in the kitchen like I did for most of the day (when I wasn't napping that is,) here's my special hurricane-themed culinary creation: Dark and Stormy cupcakes!  How perfect are these?  The national drink of Bermuda transformed into a confection.  Start with a chocolate rum cake, top with ginger lime icing and decorate with candied ginger and all of a sudden it's like you're drinking that delicious combo of dark rum and ginger beer.  Share them with your friends and neighbors since you'll probably be spending a lot of time with them over the course of the next two days.  You'll be the new building favorite!  

sir shitballs approves of these cupcakes

dark and stormy cupcakes

dark rum & chocolate cupcakes

ingredients

1 c unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c sugar

4 eggs

1/2 c plus 2 tbsp Gosling's dark rum

2 c flour

1 c dutch processed cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 c warm water

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and line or grease two cupcake tins.  In your mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, continuing to mix on a medium speed.  Add the rum and continue mixing until everything is completely combined.

2. Sift together flour and cocoa powder.  Mix in baking soda, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.  Add the dry mix to the mixer alternately with the water, beginning and ending with the dry mix.  Continue to mix on a low speed until all the ingredients are well combined.

3. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove cupcakes from the tin and let cool completely before icing.

lime ginger icing

ingredients

12 oz cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 c unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c confectioners sugar

1 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice

2 tsp dry ground ginger

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger

directions

1. In the bowl of your mixer cream together butter and cream cheese until well combined.  Gradually add in the sugar.

2. Mix in both gingers and lime juice.  You can add more sugar if the frosting gets too thinned out for your liking.  You can also add more fresh ginger if you want a little more of the spicy zest that ginger beer is so famous for!

if you buy the big bottle & some quality ginger beer, you can mix matching cocktails!

Remember, don't go out if you don't have to.  Stay in touch with friends and family and don't be alone.  Take this opportunity to get to know the other people in your building.  Have a potluck and share supplies.  Also, make sure you have an escape plan in case things do get nasty.  My escape plan includes my bicycle and an air mattress.  I think I'll be alright!  Happy Hurricane everyone!

special guest post from Sarah of Desirous of Everything!

 Hi Delirious Kitchen readers!  I'm Sarah and I blog over at Desirous of Everything.  I was so excited when Jillian asked me to do a guest post on her blog about one of our new favorite neighborhood hangouts.  You see Jillian and I have a lot of things eerily in common.  We grew up in the same neighborhood (around the corner from each other), we were both in the color guard in high school, we are both librarians, we are both bloggers (Delirious...Desirous...) AND not only do we both live in Brooklyn now, but in THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD!  Weird right?  But also I think, meant to be.

So how perfect is it for me to guest post about a new great place that we both love in our shared hood called The Onyx.  Jillian and I live in a part of Greenpoint that people are starting to call Greenpoint Heights.  On the other side of Mcgorlick Park, next to the vinyl sided row houses and across the street from a warehouse or two is The Onyx- formerly a Polish night club, it's now an awesome neighborhood bar (soon to be renamed Greenpoint Heights) with really good beers on tap (OMG Watermelon Wheat Beer) and an amazing menu.

I have proudly said on more than one occasion that one of my favorite kinds of food is high quality bar food.  I'm not talking about chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, I'm talking about juicy grass fed hamburgers, summer salads with cherries,  and the most delicious bowl of macaroni and cheese you could ever eat.  You can order it with bacon too- but I prefer the cheesy goodness all alone.

You can tell the menu at The Onyx was thoughtfully created and mix that with the friendly bartenders who know how to make a really good Margarita,and why would you ever need to venture over to Greenpoint proper again?

Elizabeth, the head chef of The Onyx, agreed to talk to me about this great bar.  Read what she has to say, and then head on over and try the food and drinks for yourself!

This is the first kitchen that you have been completely in charge of.  How does that feel?It feels amazing! Although the work load can be heavy, the pay off is absolutely worth it. Being able to create a menu and make food that I love to eat is one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in a kitchen. I work by myself for the time being and look forward to working with other creative people, hopefully in the near future!

When did you know that you wanted to run a kitchen, how did the idea of running a Kitchen in a bar come to be?
I have always dreamed of running my own restaurant but had always thought it was something way out reach. Only in the last few years had I been thinking seriously about the possibility of running my own place. I was actually looking more in the direction of running a truck or cart or something a little more in my price range when the Onyx fell into the laps of my girlfriend Julia and her business partner Dave. They were looking for a small, humble place to open an ice cream shop, with the hope of maybe coming across a good, cheap bar space. This place ended up coming their way and in record time they were managing and I was running the kitchen! I have worked in restaurants and around food my whole working life and am grateful for this amazing opportunity.

What's a typical work day like for you?
A typical work for me usually goes something like this: wake up around noon or one, try to eat breakfast/lunch, go to various bakeries/butchers/stores collecting food stuffs, arrive at the Onyx around two or three, start prepping and setting up the line. If we are slow to start, I usually start playing around with recipes, making ice cream or trying to think of something new to add to the menu or making something on it better. Then, I work the line from five to midnight, clean up and most nights hang out at the bar trying some of our amazing whiskey and getting to know our wonderful regulars a little better. It usually makes for a long day, but there's nothing I'd rather be doing with my day at this point in my life!

What is your process for creating your menu?
My process is ever evolving. The best thing about running a kitchen is that I can literally walk around the market, see some delicious cherries or meat or cheese, take it back to the restaurant and create whatever I want. I change the menu a few times a week now. I like to pay attention to what's in season and incorporate that into whatever I'm making. I'm also trying to pay attention to what people in the neighborhood would like to see.

What's your favorite thing to order at The Onyx?My favorite things are the fish and plantain taco. I eat them everyday!

Thanks for talking with me Elizabeth!  And reader's be sure to like The Onyx on Facebook for daily updates on specials and events! And stop over at Desirous of Everything and say hello!  I'd love to meet you.