Ever been moved to cook?

If you read food blogs, the answer is probably yes. Well this weekend was one of those moments when my friend, Ade saw the grilled paella recipe in The New York Times. Being an avid cook himself, he was moved to attempt it for that Sunday evening’s barbeque. Let me tell you, the dish was FANTASTIC and the perfect thing to feed a roof full of people. Bravo to Ade!

He followed the recipe linked above with a few tweaks:

1. No wood chips. The bottom still browned and crisped nicely, so I didn’t miss ‘em.

2. A can of crushed tomatoes was added to the mix, along with some corn and calamari, while shrimp were omitted for allergy reasons.

I’m going to try this myself someday, and let you know the tweaks I put in. Lesson: tweak away!

The Omnivore’s 100

In honor of me being soclose to finishing The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I figured it was about time I got around to doing this.

The rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (one of my favorites!)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns (another favorite)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (mmmm!)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (I f’ing hate root beer)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (I would cross this out, but I want to go on The Amazing Race someday)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (absolute favorite in the whole wide world!)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (You have got to be kidding me)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Now I’m starving.

Last night’s dinner

I still haven’t gotten my act together and gotten a camera to take lots of pretty pictures of food to delight the eyes and mind, but for now, I highly recommend this recipe for sesame coated asparagus. A perfect side dish for the grilled jerk pork tenderloin. I also highly recommend the jerk rub from Penzey’s.

One last summer grill-out before Labor Day. Goodbye summer!

What’s funny about my header?

I don’t even like pizza that much. That is, unless I make it myself – in a wood burning pizza oven no less! Thanks to AFrandle for the pictures and his parents for hosting the awesome party and building a pizza oven so the header pics could be taken.