aging hipster

hot and steamy.

2007-01-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

chili garlic marinated tofu. broccoli. red pepper. steamed rice. black pepper.

i just steamed it all. steamed tofu is kinda funny, i'm glad the stuff i had is a little on the firm side, otherwise i think it would just turn gelatinous and suspect. the red peppers got so darned juicy, the the spicy from the chili/garlic marinade kicked things up a notch! plus brocolli is all good for your prostate. i mean, my prostate. but i'm not going to check up on that myself, at least. ew. oh yeah and the rice is buried so you can't see it. this is super good without the rice, but since i'm adding all this mileage to my run training, i need some dang ol' carb power.

i stirred it. i fried it. the end.

2007-01-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

crab meat (fake). egg. mushroom. courgette. carrot. green pepper. celery. rice. black bean sauce.

yeah i can't get enough of that black bean sauce, it is so "meaty" but i don't mean meat-tasting.. i think it provides some "Umami" (or however the japanese spelling is).. I know that umami comes from things like mushrooms and beef, and that occasionally i just have a TASTE for it. i will haev to look into this some more.

just a samich.

2007-01-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

toasted light rye. yellow tomatoes. chevre. black and green peppercorns.

yeah its just a samich. a damn hell good samich.

spite #10 and #11

2006-12-20T12:55:00.000-08:00

spite #8

2006-12-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

spite #6 and #7

2006-12-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

a little bit o' steak curry.

2006-12-11T12:53:00.000-08:00

pretty much the same stuff i put in everything.

not much to say about this one, i didn't use tumeric like normal, and it ended up being this greyish brown instead of yellow... frankly the yellow is a little nicer to look at.. but this tasted great and was darned spicy, good for sinusy head colds at the very least.

spicy steamed broccoli and teriyaki tofu

2006-12-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

broccoli. teriyaki tofu. red spicy sauce. cracked pepper (obvs).

can you tell i'm supposed to be writing papers?

this one is simple. marinate tofu in teriyaki sauce (i think i may have posted my recipe elsewhere but don't forget). steam it and the broccoli. put that really spicy hot garlic sauce on it. black pepper, because i put it on EVERYTHING.

i will say a few words about the tofu, because when i do buy it, i get 'medium firm' (hard is too hard and soft is too... soft), but i also get organic. I occupy a weird place in the organic/non organic debate. on the one hand, there is certainly something to be said for the whole organic process, some kind of regulation, yada yada yada. on the other, i don't like it when other people set regulations for me (kyla said i have a problem with "rules" it seems) and also think that in a lot of cases, two organic/non organic products from the same company will be the exact same product, with different labels and pricetags. but to make a long story short, whenever i've soaked dried soybeans, they suck up easily more water than all the other beans combined. this is, afterall, their job in the plant. so, in this case, i go organic, it really isn't that much more, and while i didn't determine the rules, at least there is perhaps less poison in my body. on that note, cheers to beers!

spite #4 and #5

2006-12-07T16:06:00.000-08:00

spitey fun? spitey fun!

spite #3

2006-12-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

i'll post two since i missed one yesterday

spite #2

2006-12-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

comix!

and now for something a little different - SPITE number one

2006-12-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

some people might remember back in the day when i was making a crappy comic.
well, HERE IT IS, resurrected from the dead.
i'm going to post one every now and then, interspersed with yummy recipe pics.

SPITE #1: when a bad day gets worse

stirry-fry..ie

2006-11-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

crab meat (fake). brocolli, courgette, onion. rice. black bean sauce. fish sauce.

this one is sorta cheating, because i used bottled sauces... oh well it was still good.

oven roasted veg and beanie/basil pasta

2006-11-29T11:49:00.000-08:00

oven-roasted veg. whole wheat pasta. white bean and basil. loads and loads and loads of swiss cheese.

i'm pretty sure i just made all those veggie as an excuse to eat cheese.

i really love cheese.

peppersteak ala something?

2006-11-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

carmelized onions. peppered steak. courgette garnish. maple-baked sweet potato.

first of all, carmelized onions = real cool top shelf.
i'm not sure why i used the courgette for a garnish except for the fact that i really had no food left at all.
this is a really simple meal, but very 'comfort food' because of the sweet potatez and yummy onions and steak is always damned nice.

the funniest steak and eggs ever

2006-11-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

this made me laugh. nothing like a smiley face in the breakfast.

comfort food for the polish?

2006-11-20T16:25:00.000-08:00

veggie stew. reuben sandwhich.

after a rainy day, nothing beats some peppery veggie stew and a grilled reuben.. that's rye bread, hot mustard, swiss cheese (i used soy swiss cos that's what i had on hand), saurkraut, and corned beef... i like to cook the kraut and the meat a bit, just in a pan, draining the extra vinegar off so the bread doesn't go soggy.

this veggie stew was left over from another day.. i took extended pics there and will put up a real recipe -- kristina, adrienne et. al. have been wanting SPECIFICS

coconut shrimp, yellow curry veggies, black thai rice

2006-11-12T21:15:00.000-08:00

cocnut shrimp. yellow curry. black thai rice.

man all i have to say is that this was good.. i had it when megs was visiting (hence the splurging on the shrimp, fancy man!)

but DIZZAM was it good. not necessarily the healthiest, but sometimes that just doesn't matter.

GOLD! from ze frank podcast

2006-11-10T02:30:00.000-08:00

ok, this is too too funny.. from "the show" podcast with ze frank, 08/11/2006, the day after the elections:

------------------------

yesterday, you made a decision. a decision to change direction, to start on a new path. only you know what caused this change of heart. maybe it was the lying, or the rumours of infidelity and sexually inappropriate behaviour. or, perhaps you felt abandoned by someone who swore to take care of you, to protect you. maybe you were tired of the deluge of embarrassing public statements. perhaps it was the massive recent failure in attempting to conquer a foreign territory. or maybe it was because he was just too much of a schmuck.

in any case Britney, i wish you well in your divorce........

-----

GOLD!

apple-coconut cinna-nutmeg good? yes!

2006-11-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

apple. coconut. cinnamon. nutmeg.

no real recipe. just mixed 'em, and they were delicious.

bananer porridgy podge

2006-10-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

rolled oats. bran. flaxseed. banana. cinnamon. ground nutmeg.

this tastes like christmas, probably because of the nutmeg - fresh ground nutmeg has flavours that powdered stuff will just never have. i just tossed in the bananas towards the end of cooking the oatmeal, they take on this amazing almost melted texture. breakfast? yummy.

taco taco, maco paco. taco?

2006-10-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

taco shell. leftover dahl. leftover spicy spaghetti sauce. tomatoes. sprouts. hot sauce.

yeah, shove leftovers into a taco shell, and call it breakfast. seriously i ate these for breakfast. toot toot!

duh, dahl!

2006-10-07T12:58:00.000-07:00

red lentils. basmati rice. cilantro. tomatoes. mustard seed. onion. lots of spices.

yeah i know it doesn't look all that appetizing, but DAMN was this dahl satisfying. I'm pretty sure I am going to be on a pretty strict diet of this stuff, its unit cost to filling me up ratio is fantastic.

i ended up cooking this probably a bit too long, or else i should've used a lid for longer.. it is thicker (goopier) than a lot of dahl i've had, ending up more like thik chili than like soup.. i think with dahl, the goal is in the middle: a stew-type thing. still, you can't beat the non-meat protein and price, plus it is darn good!

half the fun of dahl is that everybody makes it a different way.. i'll just end up making it a different way every time.

i cracked... black pepper on steak

2006-10-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

steak. black peppercorn. coarse sea salt. pasta. mushroom. bell pepper. crushed tomato. dried chili. mozza cheese.

tonight i finally cracked and made myself a chunk of meat. not that i was trying to not eat meat (heaven forbid) but mostly because meat is SO EXPENSIVE here in Van that I have significantly reduced my intake of it... that being said, today I had a hankering for a big beefy hunk (um.. what?) and some dirty ol' carbs, so I made myself one of my favorite comfort food meals. the peppercorn steak was super juicy and spicy, and the pasta was also nice and spicy...

kristina was asking if i work from a recipe or if i just sort of "do it" and i guess the answer is something closer to the second.. sometimes a recipe will seem interesting, and i'll try to just rock it together. this is why i like COOKING vs. BAKING. baking = requires careful measurement. cooking = requires a big ego and a sense of danger. i'm dangerous. look out.

fry those noodles

2006-10-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

rice noodles. tarragon. scallops. zuchinni. chili peppers.

yeah so this is basically just the soup i made a few days ago minus the broth. i really need to go grocery shopping today. this was still delicious, i steamed the mussels in garlic wine. i have a feeling that is not a very asian thing to do. lets call it fusion.

fast break-fast

2006-10-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

eggs. roasted red pepper. mushroom. mozza cheese. rosemary toast.

simple and yummy.

scallop noodle soup

2006-09-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

scallops. zuchinni. broccoli. rice stick.

it seems like i'm really caught up in this "asian-inspired-noodle-soup" thingy. the scallops came from the sketchy asian market, but really were not sketchy at all once cooked -- deeeliciously tender. i'm pretty sure the brocolli and zuchinni are not the traditional vegetables for this kind of concoction, but i was just working with what was on hand. the broth is basicall soy paste and fish sauce. fish sauce is really salty, savory, and delicious. dried chili pod (as always, yum) and.. frig.. some other herb that i can't think of right now.. darnit.. green, leafy, dried... TARRAGON that's it.. tarragon leaves.

not as pretty as the udon below, but really, really tasty.

udon-inspired udonny udon

2006-09-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

udon noodle. shanghai bok choy. mushroom. carrot. tofu. soy. chili pod. black pepper.

first try at an udon-type dish. not made with any of the proper pastes or anything, but the base is a little bit of chicken stock powder, soy paste, and white wine (will use sake next time). freaking delicious. i hope this is as good the next time i make it. i'm calling it "udonny" or an udon-type thing because what i made will not please the purists. but i ate it with chopsticks!

eggs benefake

2006-09-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

eggs. rye. hot mustard. roasted red pepper. orange. mozzarella.

those who know me well know my addiction to breakfast. the mustard is hot and tangy and reminded me of hollandaise.. kinda like eggs benedict.

beginning new

2006-09-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

since i haven't been using this, i decided to do something to inspire me to use it. so, i'm going to post some pics of some of the food i've been making. that way, the "loneliness" of making it for just one person might be lessened slightly. i've also been thinking of trying to put together a video podcast if i can rent a proper camera for free from somewhere on campus... either that, or maybe i can do it with my photo cam? it can record video... edit it on macbook? enjoy, and please post comments on the food if you'd like.