It doesn’t matter whether it’s fresh or frozen, I cannot for the life of me get this vegetable right. For instance, I bought a whole big bag of fresh cut florets from Costco and threw them in the freezer. I figured they’d keep for as long as it would probably take me to use them – several months.
I also thought they’d be easy to prepare. Boil up a little water, maybe add some salt, throw in the broccoli and let simmer for several minutes. Poof – instant side dish!
Well, not so much.
Over the course of those several months, I’ve consistently prepared some of the most inedible greens this side of the Mason-Dixon.
It’s not that they look terrible (the pictures are of actual samples of the ghastly veggies). It’s just that they are completely tough, taste terrible and stink up the house for at least two days. I’m serious! My wife could not stop gagging the last time I tried this.
In short, I need some help with broccoli. Won’t you please take part in my poll or leave a comment? You will be saving an innocent vegetable from being mangled in new and horrifying ways, and you might just contribute to the domestic peace and tranquility of yours truly.
My mom used to serve this as a side dish rather than a dessert. That’s why I’ve always found it weird that actual carrot cakes have icing. Mom’s never did.
What she did do was make this cake in a bundt pan. And because I never had one, I didn’t even attempt making this thing. But when my mom replaced her bundt with something new, guess who got the hand-me-down?
That’s right, me. I fished out the recipe and went to work.
So, one day I came home to find a rather large box at the door.
I opened it up, expecting to see a major award, only to find a styrofoam-insulated, ice-packed package of Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti sent to me from the good folks at Foodbuzz.
Though I was bit perturbed at the waste of packaging (the Al Gore in me screamed out in pain), I was just as excited to give these fresh pasta pillows a try.
Is there any movie more purely enjoyable than The Goonies?
While I love the whole adventure, it’s characters like Mouth, Data, the Fratellis and Sloth that really make this film an undeniable classic.
But there’s one character I hold closest to my heart: CHUNK. The food-obsessed klutz has some of the best lines, by far the most memorable facial expressions and a charm that shines through even the most serious scenes.
Of course, Chunk’s most famous quality is his ability to eat in the face of danger. For a rundown of his edible conquests, keep reading…
As you may have noticed, my posting frequency has taken a nosedive over the past few months. I won’t go into all the excuses, but I think this once-a-weekend schedule is probably going to be sticking around for a while.
Since I’m now doing a lot of quick hits on Twitter, I’m going to try to give you longer, more in-depth reads for the main site. That’s why I’m smushing together three separate meals into one amazing article (amazingness not guaranteed).
While I learned about this event too late to enter, I thoroughly enjoyed being a judge.
Of course, everybody who walked through the door was technically a judge. But I think I took my responsibilities a little more seriously than others.
There were 15 chilis, six of which were vegetarian. As you can see from the picture, it was a blind tasting, with each platter marked only by a letter.
I proceeded through the chilis in alphabetical order, tasting each one and writing down a few notes. Out of the nine meat ones, there were only two I couldn’t stomach (one was extremely sweet), and only two I thought were really up to snuff. Quite a few were bland-tasting, which surprised me.
Two other things caught me off-guard:
Shredded meat made an appearance twice. Now, I love shredded meat, whether pork, beef or what-have-you. But this seemed like a strange choice for chili. And while the meat in both were tender, there wasn’t much flavor in either. Quite a disappointment.
The vegetarian chilis were better than the traditional ones. There was only one of the six vegie ones that I strongly disliked. The others were all as good as the one I picked as the winner of the meat division, or better. They had more spice, were more flavorful and, in the case of the winner, put a truly unique twist on chili. (Hint: it involved potatoes and curry.)
Somehow, I managed to pick the winner of both the meat and vegetarian divisions, although I wasn’t as lucky with the runners-up.
A good time was had by all. But more importantly, nobody got indigestion! It was truly a Chili Cook-Off miracle.
And so it came to pass that yours truly took part in a truly unique cooking event set in the basement of art studio in Soho.
Kinda random, huh?
The event was sponsored by Electrolux, maker of fine kitchen appliances, and featured Executive Chef of Brooklyn’s River Cafe, Brad Steelman, preparing three dishes and (and several passed hors d’oeuvres) using Electrolux products.
I’m not a big beef jerky fan. I say this not because I’ve tasted a lot of jerky in my life and can’t stand the stuff. Rather, it’s just one of those fringe foodstuffs that rarely, if ever, crosses my mind.
Until, that is, I received a sampling of Garlic Parmesan Beef Jerky from the good folks at the Green Light Jerky Company.
The first thing I noticed upon opening the package was that it looked different. Instead of a red, slightly rubberized dog treat, the pouch contained asymmetrical strips of brown meat-bark. It certainly looked as all-natural as the website promised.
The Smell
Opening the pouch yielded a smell like none other. Smokey, salty, rich and spicy – this was possibly the most evocative scent I’ve experienced in quite a while. Each time I opened it in subsequent days, the smell hit me like a locomotive. They could probably package this smell and sell it as a manly air freshener: Carnivore Potpourri.
Taste and Texture
What really surprised me about the taste was not the flavors, which I had anticipated liking based on the smell, but the texture. Dryer than dry, this really was the tree bark of the meat world. I know this reference will be lost on most, but I could only think of Hugh Jackman’s performance in the sci-fi head-scratcher, The Fountain, in which a man keeps himself alive indefinitely by partaking of the bark of the Tree of Life. Although, I’m fairly sure even the Tree of Life didn’t taste this good.
Green Light has five other flavors to choose from, and while I can’t vouch for all of them, I’d very much doubt that there’s a rotten one in the bunch.
First, an apology. I once again have to rely on the photos of others to do the visual work for me. But this time, it’s not my fault. My wife and I were late in arriving and it was raining, which prohibited any good outside shots of the new restaurant, Nisi Estiatorio.
However, if pictures are your thing, I highly recommend a visit to Nisi’s site, which features a beautiful rolling photo gallery of interior, exterior and food shots. I refer to it often, and you should too.
While I don’t want to get too bogged down in the online world, the website does provide a good lead-in to the restaurant’s impressive design sense. Neither too stuffy, nor over-the-top gaudy (always a risk with New Jersey “fine dining”), the dining room is invitingly simple and open. It’s rare that my wife and I notice the decor, but it is to Nisi’s credit that we both complimented the physical design as sophisticated and not overly-showy.
But enough with the prologue… let’s talk about the eats!
Well, not so much.
I opened it up, expecting to see a 
I proceeded through the chilis in alphabetical order, tasting each one and writing down a few notes. Out of the nine meat ones, there were only two I couldn’t stomach (one was extremely sweet), and only two I thought were really up to snuff. Quite a few were bland-tasting, which surprised me.
The first thing I noticed upon opening the package was that it looked different. Instead of a red, slightly rubberized dog treat, the pouch contained asymmetrical strips of brown meat-bark. It certainly looked as all-natural as the website promised.
