FRESS:

[yiddish] To eat like an animal, i.e., quickly, noisily, and in great quantity.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Pre made Turnip Cake at home

Whether at dim sum or from a hole in the wall vender, turnip cake has that comforting combination of savory mush with contrasting crispy exterior. Although there are recipes to make it at home from scratch, my family has always preferred to buy the pre made package available at Asian grocers. For a few dollars, you can enjoy the goodness at home with minimal hassle.


You just need to slice it and throw it on a pan with a little oil. Unfortunately the first pan I used was crappy and not a non-stick so that resulted in no outer crisping and major stickage to the pan.


bad pan= fail










Luckily, I found a griddle top in my kitchen and used that for the second batch.


Ok now we are getting somewhere.




















Throw on some scallions and okinamiyaki sauce from the fridge along with bok choy sauteed with scallion, garlic, shallot, mirin, and topped with a vinegar, chili oil, and sesame oil. Its healthy, easy, and really cheap, with enough leftovers for my lunch today.

I made strawberry jam


The supermarkets in Flushing often have amazing produce deals. Last weekend I picked up 2 pints of strawberries for $1. The only problem is that while they look great for 24 hours, they quickly get nasty. Instead of throwing out my second pint, I made a little batch of strawberry jam. It was super easy and tastes delicious. Sugar, sliced strawberries, and lemon juice are boiled and then simmered until it all gels up.

I used this recipe http://www.portlandpreserve.com/smallbatchjam.pdf, but since some of my berries were not usable I had less than a pint and used 3/4 cup of sugar.

Its such an easy, simple thing to do but it results in a lot of happiness. At least I think so. 

And it makes for a bangin pb&j.

.

Hooters

Our Turkish friend was leaving the country so we had to take him to a place that symbolizes all that is America for his send off: Hooters.




Ah, Sara Hoots from Texas, I remember watching her win the Hooters pageant last year on ESPN. I was rooting for her the whole time. Unfortunately none of the waitresses in midtown NYC came close to resembling Ms. Hoots.

Thats ok, we were really there for the wings and pitchers of beer to go with it.


We got about 80 wings for our group, allowing us to sample all the different varieties. The standard "hot" was my favorite, though they were really more of a medium.

I was disappointed in myself for eating a lot less wings than I thought I would. During my first Hooters trip back in high school I ate more than any guy at the table.




We used a lot of paper towels.






I was day dreaming about my fried pickle order long before we were even seated.


Sitting at wooden table outside was nice, though we were farther from the Hooters girl action taking place inside.

A blackened fish sandwich disappointed and the burger was nothing special. The food and beer is all way overpriced, but still, its fun. The contagious cheeriness of the waitresses and grease laden food make for a few hours of escapist merriment. Sometimes the craving hits for an atmosphere that is "delightfully tacky, yet unrefined".




Duped by The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/kfc_no_longer_permitted_to_use


"Issuing a condemnation of Kentucky Fried Chicken's recent Boneless Variety Bucket commercials, the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday fined the fast food giant $600,000 and ordered it to discontinue all broadcasts containing "false and misleading suggestions" that its heated chicken products are intended for consumption."


I thought I was reading breaking news, then someone pointed out the article was from The Onion.